Jitter measurements for Performance enhancement in the Service Sector

In a leading service economy like India, services lie at the very center of economic activity. Competitive organizations now look not only at the skills and knowledge, but also at the behavior required by an employee to be successful on the job. Emotionally competent employees can effectively deal with occupational stress and maintain psychological well-being. This study explores the scope of the first two formants and jitter to assess seven common emotional states present in the natural speech in English. The k-means method was used to classify emotional speech as neutral, happy, surprised, angry, disgusted and sad. The accuracy of classification obtained using raw jitter was more than 65 percent for happy and sad but less accurate for the others. The overall classification accuracy was 72% in the case of preprocessed jitter. The experimental study was done on 1664 English utterances of 6 females. This is a simple, interesting and more proactive method for employees from varied backgrounds to become aware of their own communication styles as well as that of their colleagues' and customers and is therefore socially beneficial. It is a cheap method also as it requires only a computer. Since knowledge of sophisticated software or signal processing is not necessary, it is easy to analyze

Educational Loans And The Higher Education Sector In India

In 2001 the Indian Banks Association have come up with a model frame work for educational loans in the country. With the approval of the Central Government the public sector banks in India started to give education loans. The private and cooperative banks also joined the fray. Due to growing NPAs and the intervention of the Government these norms were modified in 2011. The budget allocation for the primary and higher secondary education is on the increase in India. However, higher education has been of late relegated or left to the mercy of the private players. There has been a steady growth of educational loans disbursed, private colleges and deemed universities started and enrolments of students in higher education during the years 2001 to 2011. This paper is a humble attempt to 1) analyse the growth of the educational loans vis-à-vis other forms of personal loans at the national level, 2) showcase the disbursements of educational loans in Kerala State, 3) to assess the growth of educational institutions and enrolment of students in higher education in India from secondary data and 4) to make suggestions based on the findings

A Study on Non Performing Assets of Public Sector Banks in India with Special Reference to State Bank of Travancore

The reforms in Indian banking sector since 1991 is deliberated mostly in terms of the significant measures that were implemented in order to develop a more vibrant, healthy, stable and efficient banking sector in India. The effect of a highly regulated banking environment on asset quality, productivity and performance of banks necessitated the reform process and resulted the incorporation of prudential norms for income recognition, asset classification and provisioning and capital adequacy norms, in line with international best practices. The improvements in asset quality and a reduction in non-performing assets were the primary objective enunciated in the reform measures. In this context, the present research critically evaluates the trend in movement of nonperforming assets of public sector banks in India during the period 2000-01 to 2011-12, thereby facilitates an evaluation of the effectiveness of NPA management in the post-millennium period. The non-performing assets is not a function of loan/advance alone, but is influenced by other bank performance indicators and also by the macroeconomic variables. In addition to explaining the trend in the movement of NPA, this research also explained the moderating and mediating role of various bank performance and macroeconomic indicators on incidence of NPA

Implication of Trade, Livelihood and Employment Exclusion among Workers in Plantation Sector in Kerala

The first part of the study has focused on the trends in area, production and productivity comparing the state’s performance with of national level performance. Also an attempt was made to understand the trends in commodity price over the years especially in the post liberalization period from the early 1990s. Plantation commodities occupy an important share in the country’s export basket and thereby earning foreign exchange to the national exchequer. Taking into consideration the competitive dimension of natural rubber, cardamom and pepper in the export market was analyzed to see penetration of these commodities in the world market.The second part of the study has tried to understand the plantation workers livelihood by understand the employment generation in the sector. Livelihood assets of plantation workers were analyzed to understand the nature of ownership of various assets. Understanding the poor quality and ownership of various livelihood assets and their relative deprivation the study also tried to understand the income-expenditure patterns and the nature of indebtedness among workers and the factors responsible for deprivation and thereby social exclusion.Area, Production and productivity trends of rubber, pepper and cardamom show a mixed picture. Area, Production trends are impacted greatly by the commodity price of the plantation crops.High correlation exists between commodity price and area and production trends of plantation crops in the state.In terms of Natural Rubber, Kerala experienced a steady growth over the years in terms of area production and productivity as the price of rubber has increasedIn terms of black pepper, the state witnessed a deceleration in growth.In the case of cardamom the area of cultivation declined whereas production increasedProductivity of natural rubber, pepper and cardamom has increased substantially over the yearsEmployment pattern in rubber and spices sub-sector has been analyzed by looking in to the commodity prices so as to see the changes in employment pattern over the years. The study has helped to understand that commodity price and employment generation in plantations are interconnected to such an extent that a fall in the commodity price have greater reverberations on the employment pattern in plantations.Livelihood analysis both in the small and large holdings show that workers belonging to rubber (large and small rubber) plantations have shown better possession of livelihood assets when compared to spices plantation workers as 16.2 percent of the spices sub-sector workers claimed about ownership of house which is considered to be an important and primary livelihood asset.In the case of natural assets like accessibility, availability and duration of water for drinking and other household purposes, the situation of workers in spices plantation still remain poor as around 80 percent of workers depending on public well public taps and canals as source of drinking water.Evaluating financial assets also give clear indication that the road to secure financial assets still remains a distant dream for the workers in plantation sectorEvaluating income and expenditure trends pinpoints to the fact that disparity in terms of income exist among the plantation workersWhile observing the employment though wage levels have improved because of improvement in commodity price of plantation crops, significant improvements are not visible in their livelihood and they remain excluded compared to other sections of the society.

SHGs and Cooperatives in the Fishing Sector: An Inclusive Development Option for the Fisher folk of Kerala

The Kerala model of development mostly bypassed the fishing community, as the fishers form the main miserable groups with respect to many of the socio-economic and quality of life indicators. Modernization drive in the fishing sector paradoxically turns to marginalization drives as far as the traditional fishers in Kerala are concerned. Subsequent management and resource recuperation drives too seemed to be detrimental to the local fishing community. Though SHGs and cooperatives had helped in overcoming many of the maladies in most of the sectors in Kerala in terms of livelihood and employment in the 1980s, the fishing sector by that time had been moving ahead with mechanization and export euphoria and hence it bypassed the fishing sector. Though it has not helped the fishing sector in the initial stages, but because of necessity, it soon has become a vibrant livelihood and employment force in the coastal economy of Kerala. Initial success made it to link this with the governmental cooperative set up and soon SHGs and Cooperatives become reinforcing forces for the inclusive development of the real fishers.The fisheries sector in Kerala has undergone drastic changes with the advent of globalised economy. The traditional fisher folk are one of the most marginalized communities in the state and are left out of the overall development process mainly due to the marginalization of this community both in the sea and in the market due to modernization and mechanization of the sector. Mechanization opened up the sector a great deal as it began to attract people belonging to non-fishing community as moneylenders, boat owners, employers and middle men which often resulted in conflicts between traditional and mechanized fishermen. These factors, together with resource depletion resulted in the backwardness experienced by the traditional fishermen compared to other communities who were reaping the benefits of the overall development scenario.The studies detailing the activities and achievements of fisher folks via Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the cooperative movement in coastal Kerala are scant. The SHGs through cooperatives have been effective in livelihood security, poverty alleviation and inclusive development of the fisher folk (Rajasenan and Rajeev, 2012). The SHGs have a greater role to play as estimated fall in demand for marine products in international markets, which may result in reduction of employment opportunities in fish processing, peeling, etc. Also, technological advancement has made them unskilled to work in this sector making them outliers in the overall development process resulting in poor quality of physical and social infrastructure. Hence, it is all the more important to derive a strategy and best practice methods for the effective functioning of these SHGs so that the

The Impact of Electricity Sector Privatisation on Employees in Argentina and Brazil

This book investigates country-specific responses to privatisation by examining two of the most important Latin American examples of the 1990s, the Argentine and the Brazilian programmes, and one essential public service sector, electricity. In doing so, it aims to: identify the impact of privatisation on electricity sector employees in Argentina and Brazil during the 1990s; explore how the impact came about; and analyse the reasons for this impact. A multi-dimensional perspective provides a comparative analysis of privatisation processes, regulatory contexts, and results, striving to capture the phenomenon by combining insights from political and economic analysis.

The role of institutions as actors influencing Uganda’s cassava sector

We aim at mapping out a detailed framework that reveals the proportionate flow of cassava and its products along the value chain (VC). Furthermore, we aim at establishing the role of institutions and the linkages between institutions and other VC actors that influence the cassava VC in Uganda. We use both primary and secondary data obtained from four regions in Uganda. Results show that farmers, processors, transporters, traders, consumers and institutions are the major actors. There are four categories of institutions, viz, government, non-government, community based organisations and international agencies. Roles performed by institutions include: development and enforcement of policies, Research and Development (R&D), capacity building, and creation of market access linkages for cassava and its products. Findings reveal that there is no clear nexus and no coordination among farmers/producers, processors, traders, transporters and consumers. However, institutions are well coordinated and play various roles along the VC to influence the dynamics of actors. Policy-wise it is important to establish strong private-public partnerships to bridge the impaired linkages between the actors (farmers/producers, processors, traders, transporters, and consumers) and institutions. Strong partnerships are envisaged to reduce the associated transaction costs amongst the actors.

El estudio del sector profesional en los distintos ciclos formativos en IES Polígono Sur

Materiales para el aula relativos al módulo profesional 'Estudio del sector' de los diferentes ciclos formativos del centro.

Determinación de necesidades de Formación Profesional en el sector de la minería del carbón en Asturias.

Conocer las necesidades de Formación Profesional del sector de la minería del carbón en el Principado de Asturias y su aplicación en los siguientes aspectos de formación: perfeccionamiento y/o promoción, adaptación a nuevas técnicas, reconversión o actualización profesional, iniciación profesional. Todas las empresas del sector con 25 o más trabajadores. En total 33 cuestionarios, 17 a empresas de hulla y 16 a empresas de antracita, recibiéndose contestados 8 y 6 respectivamente. Una parte del equipo investigador recogió datos económicos, laborales, educativos y de seguridad con relación al sector minero, mientras el resto del equipo hacia el análisis de las ocupaciones, centrándose en las tareas fundamentales y sus contenidos profesionales (análisis que fue contrastado con expertos de diversas empresas). Simultáneamente, se enviaron los cuestionarios para obtener información acerca de la estructura de las empresas, formación de los trabajadores, empleo de nuevas técnicas, inversiones y previsiones de futuro, los cuales fueron analizados. Se recogieron datos sobre: número de trabajadores, previsiones de producción, incorporación de nuevas técnicas, inversiones, formación actual de los trabajadores, formación específica en minería, necesidades de formación, lugar de impartición y seguridad. Cuestionario ad hoc para determinar las necesidades de formación. La profesión minera engloba un amplio número de ocupaciones, que se caracterizan por no estar profesionalizadas, por ello, existe un vacío de formación muy importante. Los cursos que se imparten en las empresas pueden ser de tres tipos: de formación general, de adaptación al puesto, y de actualización. La mayor parte de la formación es impartida por las empresas de más de 500 trabajadores, principalmente Hunosa. Las mayores necesidades de formación se detectaron en la formación y especialización de los ayudantes mineros y en la actualización de los trabajadores en activo, producidas por la introducción de nuevas técnicas y maquinaria. Se ha detectado la necesidad de profesionalizar las ocupaciones mineras, lo cual se lograría definiendo éstas y determinando los contenidos teóricos y prácticos necesarios para cada una de ellas y estableciendo itinerarios profesionales integrados dentro de los sistemas formativos que permitieran relacionar las diferentes ocupaciones. Para un futuro próximo se prevé en este sector una reducción de plantillas y un aumento de la producción y facturación, como consecuencia de la introducción de innovaciones tecnológicas.

An??lisis sociocultural en el sector educativo de Infiesto

Describir el sector, la situaci??n familiar de los alumnos y su situaci??n personal y acad??mica. 258 alumnos de colegios atendidos por el SOEV de Infiesto. Dentro de la descripci??n del sector se analiza su ubicaci??n en Asturias, la zona y los colegios que son atendidos por el SOEV de Infiesto. Dentro de la situaci??n familiar de los alumnos se analiza, su posici??n dentro del n??cleo familiar, h??bitat, situaci??n profesional, estudios, expectativas y nivel econ??mico de los padres, libros existentes en casa, horas semanales de lectura de los padres, ??ndice cultural familiar e interacci??n padres-hijos. Dentro de la situaci??n personal y acad??mica de los alumnos se analiza el expediente acad??mico, capacidad intelectual general, aptitudes profesionales y vocacionales. Encuesta 'ad hoc' ECSEF (b). Expediente acad??mico. Cuestionario de preferencias profesionales G. y Lujan. El ??ndice econ??mico medio de las familias es de nivel medio-bajo, existiendo diferencias entre las distintas zonas de influencia de los colegios. Lo mismo ocurre con el ??ndice cultural familiar, pudi??ndose calificar este de bajo. A??n m??s bajo es el ??ndice de interrelaci??n padres-hijos. En los ciclos inicial y medio se observa una evoluci??n acad??mica normal, algo tendente hacia las puntuaciones altas; sin embargo, en el ciclo superior hay un cambio en la tendencia de las puntuaciones, que sufren un desplazamiento general hacia niveles m??s bajos. Los alumnos tienen un nivel intelectual medio y a nivel global no se observan diferencias en funci??n del sexo. A nivel aptitudinal general no se observan diferencias entre los sexos, pero s?? entre el h??bitat rural y el h??bitat semiurbano. Las chicas rurales, con menos nivel intelectual y menos aptitudes y motivaciones escolares, obtienen mejor rendimiento acad??mico que sus compa??eros de clase. Los chicos rurales y semiurbanos tienen peor rendimiento acad??mico que las chicas. Existe una gran diferencia entre los sexos con respecto a la inadaptaci??n escolar.

Modeling the Transport Sector: The Role of Existing Fuel Taxes in Climate Policy

Existing fuel taxes play a major role in determining the welfare effects of exempting the transportation sector from measures to control greenhouse gases. To study this phenomenon we modify the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model to disaggregate the household transportation sector. This improvement requires an extension of the GTAP data set that underlies the model. The revised and extended facility is then used to compare economic costs of cap-and-trade systems differentiated by sector, focusing on two regions: the USA where the fuel taxes are low, and Europe where the fuel taxes are high. We find that the interplay between carbon policies and pre-existing taxes leads to different results in these regions: in the USA exemption of transport from such a system would increase the welfare cost of achieving a national emissions target, while in Europe such exemptions will correct pre-existing distortions and reduce the cost.

Does it pay to be socially responsible? Evidence from spanish retail banking sector

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of strategic competition in retail banking when some of the financial firms are non-profit organisations that invest in social activities. Banking literature about competition is fairly large, but the strategic interaction between profit maximizing and non profit maximizers has not been extensively analysed except for Purroy and Salas (1999). In this paper, a completely different approach is taken. An adaptation of Hotelling’s two stage model of spatial competition is developed to take into account consumer perceptions respect to the two different types of financial institutions. The empirical analysis confirms that consumers take into account other features different from the price, such as social contribution or closer service to make a deposit or mortgage decision. These conclusions are of interest in the debate about a firm’s social or ethical activities. It is shown that if consumers value social activities, firms can improv

Projecte d'infraestructures d'un sector residencial a Tossa de Mar

Projecte de millores d'infrastructures de la urbanització de Santa Maria de Llorell (Tossa de Mar