Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Are major programs considered temporary of permanent organizations

Are significant projects thought about impermanent of lasting associations From an administration point of view, should significant projects be viewed as lasting or brief associations? Change is perpetual thusly all associations are impermanent. So does it make a difference if the executives views significant projects as transitory or perpetual associations? The appropriate response is it does. Significant projects are a social build and there seems, by all accounts, to be noteworthy contrasts in culture, conduct and execution that differ with the discernment an association connects to its life expectancy. In this exposition we will ask what significant projects are, the means by which they come to fruition, what their motivation is, the manner by which they are arranged and how the entirety of this ought to be considered while thinking about whether they ought to be viewed as transitory or lasting associations. We will investigate social and conduct qualities to be found in perpetual and brief associations and consider how this influences execution and results. We will allude to speculations of authoritative plan to perceive how significant projects may be grouped and organized so as to evaluate whether a transitory or lasting association is most appropriate to compelling administration. At long last, we will arrive at a decision about; regardless of whether, from an administration point of view, activities ought to be viewed as brief or perpetual. Significant projects can be seen as the huge variant of projects which, themselves, are an assortment of undertakings being worked for a shared objective. Large in this contextâ [1]â refers to long length (c7-10 years), and significant expense (>$1bn). Underneath the surface there are numerous other convoluting factors that give each significant program with its individual character. These incorporate however are not constrained to: critical bespoke item customisation, uncommon scale, huge reputational factors, transformational change, ceaseless changes all through life. With this consolidated they present a significantly more perplexing and testing condition than the single venture. Significant projects are authorized so as to convey a stage change on a vital scale. Quinn (1978) says they are a reaction to change shortfall. Thiry (2007) says the need to change is normally brought about by an unsuitable condition (p.119) which could be unsatisfied desire. As they devour a considerable portion of the associations asset and capital for a continued period they are approved through the key arrangement. The need to keep up this connect to key aim makes one of the most significant issues and difficulties identifying with impermanent or lasting structure. In his broadly regarded work The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning Mintzberg makes the contention that plans and methodology are not all conscious. They work inside an unsteady existence where factors outside authoritative ability to control are continually collaborating to make new real factors. In this world the planned procedure is affected or supplanted by what Mintzberg terms as developing technique. Because of their term, significant projects must conform to changed conditions by making changes to their own arrangements and targets. By prudence of their scale they additionally need to criticism into the procedure arranging condition as an info, which will thusly impact emanant system by means of a Double Loop process (Thiry and Deguire 2007). From an organization the board viewpoint it is consequently significant that a significant program is worked through an association whose future and theory is lined up with vital expectation as opposed to explicit beginning and end focuses along a straightforward course of events. In the assessment of Thiry this requires ordinary surveys to guarantee the program is on track, requiring modification and still required. The end date that is controlled by the acknowledgment of advantages as opposed to a handover to tasks at item culmination (Thiry 2007). Taking this thought even more, some significant projects are presently sorted out around a Build Own Operate (BOO) model, Jaafari (2007). BOOs are perpetual associations intended to counter the hazard that task groups consider themselves to be impermanent associations who are not engaged with acknowledging benefits. To scholars like Thiry the connection between the significant program association and procedure is central. He expresses that projects need to create business level advantages and are a connection among methodology and activities Thiry (2007) p.114). So from its beginning to its end point the life of a significant program is represented by key conveyance. The job of the arrangement likewise has an impact on the items of common sense of working by means of an impermanent or changeless structure. Undertaking groups sorted out as indicated by regular venture the board measures work best with fixed and precise plans. The arrangement is the vehicle for their association. By endorsing the arrangement the perpetual association is viably making an agreement that delegates position to a nearby association Ives (2005) p.45 that can take choices and act rapidly without continually alluding to the levels of leadership as it continues on ahead. This style of undertaking the board, functions admirably with a very much characterized and precise arrangement. Yet, the arrangement for a multi year significant program costing $1bn is unavoidably going to be incorrect (ref Mintzberg). The job of the outer condition is probably going to be more noteworthy, the program head will be compelled to invest energy managing outside bodies (controllers, pressure g atherings) Hobbs and Miller (1988) p.147, there will be a need to evaluate and survey Thiry (2007) p.133 and, with so much organization asset tied up in its activity, the program has a task to carry out in institutional learning, staff preparing and advancement. These liquid conditions don't bolster the fixed arrangement model. They are increasingly recognizable to head supervisors in a changeless association than venture chiefs in an impermanent association. This makes a pressure in authoritative structure. The way that venture the executives has become the famous motor of progress in any event, prompting colonization and the projectification of society Maylor et al (2006) p.664 vouches for disappointment with past execution. Significant projects had a background marked by flopping even before they were called significant projects. The selection of an undertaking approach is verification that associations need uncommon assistance to conquer inside obstruction and restriction to key change. The venture based transitory association offers the guarantee of being progressively determined, target driven, dynamic, better at sidelong correspondence, quicker at choice taking and acting, undistracted, specific and clear in mission. To investigate the ramifications of receiving an impermanent association structure in more detail it is helpful to allude to A hypothesis for the transitory association Lundin, R.A. also, Soderholm, A. (1995). This hypothesis alludes to fundamental ideas of Time, Task, Team and Transition. It recommends that changeless associations have a perspective on the world that depends on their quality proceeding until the end of time. By differentiate transitory associations use time as an essential measure. Key occasions activities are dimensioned against a straight course of events. While perpetual associations are responsible for money related execution, the impermanent association is given agreement from monetary commitments and some other interruptions. The impermanent association (Team) is supported to convey a yield which will in the end be moved (through Transition) to the changeless association who will utilize it to make an incentive in accordance with the vital goal. The impermanen t association could be viewed as a pioneering replacement for showcase valuing. As per the hypothesis the impermanent association goes through a succession of stages that start when a gathering advances the Task for the undertaking (Action based entrepreneurialism). Fracture of responsibility building happens when the group decouples from the association from other past, contemporary or even future arrangements of exercises. Arranged separation depicts the procedure where the group closes itself away by intentionally disconnecting the association to execute the arrangement for which the entire activity ought to continue like a train moving at rapid towards the end station without undesirable stops. Standardized Termination portrays the procedure where the group is recoupled to the association and conveys their yield to tasks by means of a crossing over procedure. In spite of the fact that this grouping would bolster an ordinary venture, a transitory association following this conduct is probably not going to effectively traverse a multi year significant program lifecycle. The accentuation on detachment, time based conveyance and a fixed arrangement is unreasonable. Over a multi year time span the brief and perpetual association should efficiently trade information, staff and reexamined plans. Mind blowing seclusion with fast conveyance and no undesirable stops isn't reasonable. Lundin and Soderholm just thought to be two kinds of venture. Remarkable where the venture was investigating new ground and dull which was an undertaking (like development) in light of recently attempted and tried plans. To push the conversation ahead it is helpful to look at how as a program may be grouped so as to make a suitable hierarchical structure that fits the necessities of procedure. On account of significant projects even redundant undertakings (for instance connect building) present adequate nearby variety for the supervisors to feel their assignment is one of a kind. To consider whether transitory or lasting is best it would be valuable for the executives to have the option to survey the setting of their particular task. Shenhars Diamond Model Shenhar (2007) in view of possibility hypothesis is helpful for this. It gives off an impression of being relevant to the full range of tasks from single venture to significant program. Shenhar shuns the one size fits all p.10 Shen har (2007) strategy of standard venture the executives for utilizing old style possibility hypothesis to address the requirement for adjusting the correct style to the correct undertaking Shenhar (2007). Having contemplated 600 ventures Shenhar built up a view utilizing Uncertainty and change,

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Theme of Love Essay Example For Students

Subject of Love Essay In the public arena today, when somebody specifies the word â€Å"Love† and are alluding to cherish between two of no connection, it is ensured that at any rate a large portion of the individuals encompassing you will shiver. Regardless of whether it be through perception or experience, individuals have come to discover that Love is a long way from being the perfect state where one should live in and, so far as that is concerned, many decide to avoid it. It is known to break hearts, to and, in all honesty, it really isn't in every case joyfully ever after. Indeed, Love has its positive focuses. It is exciting and energizing when you’re in adoration, it is some of the time even euphoric however the contention here isn't whether Love is fortunate or unfortunate for you. The contention is that it has the same number of cons to it as it does aces. We will compose a custom paper on Theme of Love explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now One isn't everlastingly cheerful when they are infatuated. There are negative viewpoints to it too. There is misleading, visual impairment, weakness, just as navet. It requires a lot of exertion to work at a relationship. Love can be uneven, hopeless, even only intoxicating.The rate pace of self destruction because of adoration being dismissed, not taboo, is amazingly high. This is a piece of the real world and it has been acknowledged by a portion of the populace, yet there are a few people that despite everything trust it is a fantasy world. Are the depictions of affection in Like Water for Chocolate, The Princess Bride, and Tristan Iseult the perfect impression of what genuine love today is really about, or are watchers being tricked by a defective picture? When inspected, Like Water for Chocolate, Tristan Iseult, just as The Princess Bride each epitomize illegal yet constantly otherworldly love, in this manner misleading perusers and watchers into the deception that â€Å"Love vanquishes all† and setting a misshaped picture that without affection, there is nothing and with adoration, you needn't bother with whatever else. The Princess Bride discusses Heartbroken, Buttercup who goes into grieving for her lost love, and reappears five years after the fact as the reluctant lady of the hour to-be of the malevolent Prince Humperdinck. To exacerbate the situation, Princess Buttercup winds up being seized by a trio of ruffians. Luckily, Buttercups genuine affection, Westley, is as yet alive and has returned to safeguard her. Obviously, before the couple can be brought together in favored marriage, there are various intriguing impediments to survive. The Princess Bride brings out the miracle of fantasies, with its ladies in-trouble, underhanded beasts, and liberal segments of sentiment tossed. A great fantasy it is and realizing without a doubt that nothing is to be taken truly, it is just normal for one to filter the genuine importance behind this film. Love overcomes all. The same number of times as this expression is to be utilized, it is important to continue referencing it. It is justifiable to state that this film has been made for youngsters, yet is it not off-base to hoodwink them about affection? It constructs a superfluous thought that there is no halting Love when it comes your way.There is slight enduring in the film when Buttercup feels the loss of her genuine romance, and afterward loses him again for the second time after the Prince endeavors to kill him. However, Westley restores, twice, on the premise that he has guaranteed his one and genuine affection that he will be back for her. Nothing is going to stop him. Concerning Buttercup, she remains devoted for a long time until she is compelled to wed the ruler and would prefer to bite the dust with her adoration than to live without him. Do youngsters additionally remember that Buttercup and Westley had barely articulated multiple words to one another at once before they weakly experienced passionate feelings for? Unexplainable adoration may exist, yet not in the manner in which it is shown in the film. Another marginally upsetting issue is that this film isn't just made for childrenLike Water for Chocolate is a novel that is blended in with adoration, despise, connections, humor, convention, predetermination and enchantment that are completely uncovered through food made in the kitchen. The different plans that present every part cover up

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

The Best List of Exemplification Essay Topics

The Best List of Exemplification Essay Topics The main idea of writing an exemplification essay is to use different examples to support or elaborate your claim. It’s all about an effective way to express the generalization supported by examples. Feel free to use a collection of relevant ideas when writing about your chosen subject. You need to use example to elaborate, explain, and prove your major argument or point, which can be comprehensive and brief. By using specific examples and having enough details, you can be sure to write a winning exemplification essay. If you struggle with this academic assignment, use a number of helpful tips and look for good exemplification essay topics. Intro To write this type of essay correctly, take a standard argumentative paper and add more details. It’s necessary to find many facts to support your words and blend them in. When it comes to being exact in citations and numbers, your teachers are quite likely be easier on you. Pay close attention to each part of your exemplification essay to be sure to write it correctly. Talk to tutors and read detailed instructions to determine the style guide that you must follow when formatting this academic paper. What to describe in essay? An exemplification essay is also known as an illustrative paper, and it uses different examples to elaborate on a strong thesis and prove a major argument. To write it in a satisfactory manner requires valid details, relevant sources, and interesting information to get your point across to the targeted audience. Your basic task is to pick useful examples carefully to improve your essay and add more intensity to its content. Ensure that this piece of writing consists of these important elements: Details; Clear ideas; Complex data to support a thesis; Brief examples; Strong arguments and points. Each example that you want to use in your exemplification essay should be relevant to your beliefs. Check available sources of information to find the most representative ones toward a major argument. If some of them lead to contradicting views or conclusions, it’s advisable to either alter your draft or eliminate this information completely. To write a winning paper, every point that you state should work in favor of your thesis statement. Make your supporting data evidential, unless you want to make a point to discuss exceptions to the chosen subject. Reference on how to write exemplification essay The process of writing a perfect exemplification paper includes an important preparation process, which means that you need to go through detailed instructions to identify every basic element. This simple step can help you identify key issues that you’ll need to address in your essay. Go through relevant texts to gather interesting ideas for your preparation of exemplification essay. Identify other useful sources of information that can provide you with some valuable content to ensure that your piece of writing is easy to understand. Writing a rough draft allows you to identify brilliant ideas for exemplification essay topics. Look for different sources associated with every part of your paper to make it contain relevant examples within every section. Besides, you should identify different matters that must be addressed when writing a rough draft. When it’s ready, you need to proofread it and write a final draft. Ask other people to go through it correct all kinds of grammar and other errors. This simple step can help you ensure that a final essay meets the necessary requirements and instructions. To write an exemplification essay with enough clarity, you should start it with an interesting introductory paragraph. Think about using a brief story or anecdote to tie into your subject matter clearly. It will help other people relate to your paper and keep reading it. The more you personalize it, the more relevant it will be to the targeted audience. Include relevant facts and stats throughout body paragraphs to show readers that your statement is valid. Don’t forget about a logical format and a correct organization. Use special transitional sentences in every paragraph to guide people as they consider your points. The conclusion of your exemplification essay should sum up the entire piece of writing, including your thesis and main body. Use the information that is more reflective and philosophical. The key purpose of your paper is to leave a strong impression. If there’s any specific information that matters to your chosen subject matter, you should include it in a concluding paragraph. Essay samples for inspiration If you lack inspiration or knowledge of how to write an excellent exemplification essay, look for relevant samples and examples because they will serve you as helpful guide. Use them to structure your piece of writing and ensure that it’s logical and error-free. You can find many examples of exemplification essay topics online if you have no idea of what to write about in this paper. Tips for writing Any exemplification means providing examples about a specific subject. Typically, writing an exemplification paper involves fiving many suitable examples to support your generalization about the chosen subject. They act as strong supporting materials to clarify or explain this generalization. First, you need to decide on exemplification paper topics. What generalization do you prefer to exemplify in your piece of writing? Some teachers prefer to assign easy exemplification essay topics to provide their students with a specific set of generalizations to choose from. If you’re free to make this choice, look for suitable and interesting exemplification essay topic ideas. Determine your targeted audience and a clear purpose of writing this paper to choose matching examples and write a strong thesis. What angle of generalization of do you intend to present? Think about future readers and decide how you think they will feel about your chosen generalization. Make a short list of relevant examples and narrow them down later. Include interesting facts, anecdotes, short stories, stats, and other effective examples. Pick only the most relevant examples from this list and ensure that they all can help you support your generalization. Choosing the ones that contradict your thesis is a bad idea. Write a strong thesis statement that introduces your generalization and makes it clear what you want to support with examples. Write an introductory paragraph to let readers know what to expect from your paper and include a strong thesis. Write the main body with a few paragraphs that support your statement and generalization. Arrange all examples logically and categorize them to avoid confusing the audience. Use important transition words and phrases to guide other people through your exemplification essay. Write a concluding paragraph to summarize your main points and restate a thesis. Make it clear what you want others to take away with them. A list of topics for exemplification essay Check these useful exemplification essay topics examples if you’re struggling to find a good idea for your paper: Is it necessary to decriminalize drugs? Should people have a college degree nowadays? If classes are separated based on genders, can they offer a better learning environment for students? Should all people have their access to better healthcare? Do gun regulations be stricter? The above-mentioned topic ideas require a lot of research to support your opinion. Feel free to defend any position that you like because it’s not always necessary to agree with the chosen subject or argument to end up with a winning exemplification essay. All you need to do to succeed is to be able to defend your stance, no matter of the chosen side. How to choose a right topic? As an exemplification essay is focused on addressing an argumentative part, it’s necessary to pick the topic that resembles the subject expected in this type of academic writing. Look for the matters that can be easily adapted for both argumentative sides. Be sure to find funny exemplification essay topics that are a bit hard to address in regular conversations. You need to support any information you write with strong arguments. Use only solid facts in your paper and avoid trying to talk readers into your position or opinion because you will fail to present a good exemplification essay. Conclusion When completing this type of academic assignment, you need to follow an argumentative side of things while supporting your point of view with detailed and strong facts. It’s not as simple as stating your stance because readers want to see a new opinion on the chosen topic. You should describe it, bring new feelings, and through personal jabs at the overall subject to leave the audience thinking about it. They may never thing about it in this new light. If you’re confused or don’t know how to write a good exemplification essay, use the above-mentioned guidelines to solve this problem. If you still need extra help, don’t hesitate to turn to our custom writing experts. They offer high-quality paper writing services online whenever you need them. Our services are fast, efficient, and affordable. Place your online order and forget about all academic worries.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Motivation Research Curiosity And Career Related

Assignment Paper 1 My motivation to do research is both curiosity and career related. I like the idea of living life by asking questions and figuring out why things work the way they do. I feel like it is more beneficial to me to ask clarifying and probing questions; to be content with the state of a problem is to stop looking for more. In a career setting, I recognize the importance of research to a psychology graduate program. Graduate school is centered around a large-scale research project. The ability to effectively research has the potential to take me exceptionally far. In the realm of career application, research can play a role in the day to day assignments of and industrial-organizational psychologist, my ideal career. My primary interest in the realm of psychology is efficiency. This directly applies to industrial-organizational psychology as this area of psychology focuses on efficiency and productively within the workplace. The concepts behind doing tasks as well and quickly as possible truly fascinate me. In the fast-paced society that we live in, time is of the essence. I am interested in research that looks in to how this applies to people in the workplace. To a certain extent, the mindset within corporations, especially large ones, is changing. Industrial-organizational psychology attempts to address the people side of business. Happy workers are productive workers. If the employees within a corporation are well organized, efficiency and, eventually,Show MoreRelatedMotivation and Research Methods in Teaching899 Words   |  4 Pagesis - Motivation. â€Å"Why do students engage or not engage in certain activities/tasks? How can teachers use student interest to facilitate learning? How ca n students self -regulate their learning and behavior?† (Edmunds Edmunds, 2010, p.11) This topic is of particular interest to me as it relates to the instruction of adult learners. I am currently facilitating employment preparatory courses to adult students and am observing differentiated learners with a very wide range of motivation. TheRead MorePublic Health At The Asmara College Of Health Sciences988 Words   |  4 Pagesprograms could easily alleviate preventable diseases, it reminded me of the death of Adhanom and how basic public health programs could have easily saved his and others’ lives. This one-time lecture provided me with a basic knowledge but also opened my curiosity to know more about public health. This subsequently led to my decision to pursue international health which opened up the world of public health and immensely broadened my understanding of the fundamentals of public health, creating a desire to knowRead MoreMotivation Concepts1537 Words   |  7 Pagesthe unknown? Research explores that the operands of curiosity and explorati on are motivational drivers. Motivation can be defined as the arousal, direction and persistence of behavior. (Franken, 1994) Motivation is an internal state or condition that activates behavior giving direction towards ones desire or want. The motivational drive is a basic or instinctive need associated in the effort of behavior directed towards a goal-oriented cause. Curiosity is central to motivation for exploratoryRead MoreTeacher Motivation and Its Effect on the Academic Achievement of Kindergarten Children6095 Words   |  25 PagesFall 2011 Gender differences on Intrinsic Motivation in Hong Kong Higher Education Hon Keung Yau Man Shan Kan City University of Hong Kong Alison Lai Fong Cheng Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there are different levels of intrinsic motivation towards study, curiosity and external regulation among males and females. This study focuses are attained by conducting a survey (137 students) among a local university in Hong Kon g. Results show that among all students, no matter malesRead MoreDefinition Of Self Directed Learning1166 Words   |  5 Pagesbeing directed by a lecturer or teacher. The self-directed learner must have integrity, self-esteem, and self-confidence in order to achieve a balance in learning and understanding what is learned with a view to putting down words in writing or in research to the understanding of the targeted audience to which the paper was written. It involves taking initiative, independence mindset, and persistence in reading, ability to view problems and challenges as not being an obstacle to learn, creating schedulesRead MoreMy Personal Learning Experience Of Corporate Finance And Investments Module Essay1202 Words   |  5 Pagesexplain my motivation of studying particularly this module, my strengths and weaknesses, critical and analytical learning, as well as my future career expectations. 1.1 Motivation As stated by the business dictionary, ‘’Motivation is leaded by internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or make an effort to obtain a goal.’’ I strongly agree with the definition as if there is motivation, there is powerRead MoreTHEORIES AND BEHAVIOURIAL DYNAMICS ïÆ'Ëœ Autonomy in carrying out a job Talk about any job or any1100 Words   |  5 Pagescarrying out a job Talk about any job or any country, people are always concerned about motivation and they struggle at their workplace. People are often moved by external factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations, or the opinions they fear others might have of them. Yet just as frequently, people are motivated from within, by interests, curiosity, care or abiding values. It is more of an Autonomous motivation which is personally important, which involves engaging in an activity with eagernessRead MoreMotivation, Learning, Classroom Processes, Learner, And Learning1729 Words   |  7 Pageswould be Chapter 10 in our PSY 220 textbook which is called â€Å"Motivation and Learning†. This particular subject is important because it is one that all of us, teacher and student alike can relate to. We all have different motivations and learning agendas and this topic really highlights the highly talked about issues in Education and in Educational Psychology. So what is Motivation and why is it so vital to all of us today? Motivation itself can be defined as the â€Å"process whereby goal-directedRead MoreWhen I go back in time, the images that make the fondest memories of my childhood are primarily600 Words   |  3 PagesWhen I go back in time, the images that make the fondest memories of my childhood are primarily the ones related to computers. While I was growing up, I spent a good amount of time learning new things about computers through whatever source I could. What started as a leisure pursuit soon turned into passion, and when the time came to choose my subject for pre-university, computer was my first choice. I studied technology and hardware workshop, computer networks, information bank, operating systemRead MoreEmployee Motivation At Fis Is The World s Largest Provider Of Banking And Payments Technology Solutions998 Words   |  4 Pages500 Index. (FIS, www.investor.fisglobal.com) Employee Motivation at FIS To start with, it is useful to infer from the literature and research that motivation in organisations refers to the process by which employees are enabled and induced to behave in particular ways. Thus, motivation is often associated with a search for the means by which people s job performance and productivity may be improved or maintained. Many theories about motivation begin by addressing the interrelated issues of human

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Brief Article Teaches You the Ins and Outs of Thesis Writer and What You Should Do Today

Brief Article Teaches You the Ins and Outs of Thesis Writer and What You Should Do Today Together with the UK Essay Help undergraduates can't be worried about the time but delight in a complete life. If someone is denied sleep above a time period, the individual becomes confused and can't think straight. You should make sure that you build in sufficient time to permit somebody else to read over your work. If it's so, then you'll be having some difficult time for a student along with being a writer. Another benefit of our website is the quickness. In any case, you'll certainly like our price policy. You can rely on the very best essay help online. When you wish to buy thesis on the internet you should look at buying it from us. Critical essays allow you to definitely use your critical reasoning abilities. You want to employ our writers to acquire the thesis papers done in the manner in which you desire. Writing a thesis might be the most rigorous thing that you do in yo ur academic journey. It requires too much time. A thesis proposal is a brief document that explains what the thesis you wish to write will be about, what sort of research you'd do in order to write this, and what type of problem you're trying to solve by writing it. Fortunately, despite what you might have been told, writing a thesis statement is truly incredibly straightforward. Short sentences are good since they are simpler to follow. You might want to be sure your writing tone is businesslike and technical in nature once it comes to your thesis proposal, so think about a fundamental paragraph and essay writing course too. Due to discover academic writers provide students to look for new thesis writing services. While it's true that there are a few excellent writers in college some find it extremely tricky to write. Professional thesis writers believe that personal loss can cause people to experience grief. What is Actually Going on with Thesis Writer It is crucial to realize that the thesis proposal is really an extremely brief thesis. A thesis statement is a condensed overview of your whole essay. Today, most college students find it difficult to compose an essay on a specific topic. Rather, article writers want to take a look at the people who will observe the essay and quit considering how therefore many people are reading the essay that's barely readable (quantification an integral portion of the subject but that is for the next essay). It is crucial to get a real method of arranging your long essay. Simply fill in the blanks about the subject of your essay and that which you plan to prove and you're done. There are lots of essay composing online companies which may be obtainable. Choosing Good Thesis Writer The writers are eager to work and make certain that you've got the top quality paper that you need at your quality time. The dissertation topic and question ought to be sufficiently focused that it is possible to collect all the essential data within a comparatively brief time-frame, usually about six weeks for undergraduate programmes. In most instances, the thesis is a last project where the candidate presents the outcomes of their long-term resear ch and offers their solution to the specific scientific issue. It is a type of paper with high complexity and quality of research, usually prepared by the person who runs the undergraduate program in order to get an academic degree or professional qualification. The Most Popular Thesis Writer With us, you're going to get the best results in writing. The actual men and women highly praise our essay help site. So should you need to employ college essay writer online, we're just the people that you will need to contact. Anyway, you can also speak to our writers and professionals at any moment. Top Choices of Thesis Writer Theses comprise of several essential elements. Each graduate program that needs a dissertation or thesis has adopted a proper formatting and documentation style employed in scholarly publications within the field. Make certain that each paragraph covers just one topic. Now you have a topic for your paper, think about what you would like to say regarding the topic. The One Thing to Do for Thesis Writer Because the thesis proposal is so critical, you should know what things to include and see examples so you can make certain your proposal is accepted the very first time. Therefore, developing a thesis statement is a recursive procedure. Though your thesis does include all the necessary elements, the wording is less than perfect, and it's still true that you have to revise for clarity and fashion. When it has to do with revising the thesis and receiving all essential approvals for it, you can depend on our team. The Bad Secret of Thesis Writer Writing the law thesis is a challenging job as it requires a lot of effort to first search the topic and after that choose the research objectives and begin working on them. Writing a dissertation needs a selection of planning and research skills th at'll be of fantastic value in your upcoming career and within organisations. Possessing a profound study of religion and its disciplines can assist the student to have a profound understanding about theological subjects. Thesis statement examples for high school students are quite important since they enable students to understand how exactly thesis statements ought to be written.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Characteristics of the Romantic Music Period Free Essays

string(44) " increasing length during the Romantic era\." It is arguable that some Romantic music made greater demands upon its listeners than did music of previous historical periods. What were those demands? Why did these changes come about? And what strategies can you formulate for listening to this music today? In consideration of the musical changes present in the Romantic era, this essay will contend that these changes are very much related to the wider social and technological changes in society around that time. Thus, it is important to identify the broad time period encompassed by this era. We will write a custom essay sample on Characteristics of the Romantic Music Period or any similar topic only for you Order Now The definition of Romanticism in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is: â€Å"A movement or, more commonly, period of cultural history. When understood as a period, Romanticism is usually identified with either the first half or the whole of the 19th century. The term is used with reference primarily to the arts, but it can also embrace philosophy, socio-political history and, more widely, the ‘spirit’ of the era. † [i] Consequently, this essay views that Romantic music encompasses the whole of the nineteenth century and will consider some of the key changes which occurred around that time period. It has been argued that these changes have resulted in music which makes greater demands upon its listeners and this essay will highlight these demands and how they were influenced by those social and technological changes of that time, concluding with strategies for listening to this music today. Some of the music which can be used to illustrate these changes are specific works by Beethoven, a composer, who is viewed as a major influence on the music of the nineteenth century. This can be evidenced by the Grove article on Romanticism, which deems it to be widely accepted that Beethoven â€Å"inaugurated a ‘Romantic era’†[ii]. The demands of Romantic music are characterised by several key changes. These changes can be summarised as follows: an increased intensity, both technical and musical; a greater use of radical contrasts in the music and a significant increase in the length of musical compositions. The increased intensity of Romantic music can be demonstrated by an analysis of the Diploma syllabus of the ABRSM[iii]. This syllabus provides an â€Å"authoritative assessment framework† [iv] for technical and musical ability and one can see that the vast preponderance of its pieces fall into the Romantic category. Furthermore, as one progresses through the levels of syllabus, the â€Å"repertoire becomes more demanding† [v] and the volume of Romantic pieces increases steadily. A major factor in this change is the related technological advancements of that time period which resulted in the upgrading of a number of musical instruments to more advanced forms. This can be illustrated with reference to the specific example of the piano, an instrument refined considerably during the Romantic period. Key changes incorporate the introduction of modern style pedals, greater string diameters and tensions, an extended number of octaves, the double escapement action and the cast iron frame[vi] [vii]. Thus, the instrument of the nineteenth century is far superior to its eighteenth century counterpart. The resultant musical changes include a greater quantity of octaves available and a greater range of power and dynamics made available to the composer. This had the obvious corollary of composers producing pieces with greater use of radical dynamic contrasts. According to Winter[viii], Romantic composers used their new piano to great effect: The single most important development in the sound of the Romantic piano was doubtless the new emphasis on the sustaining (or damper) pedal. † These key changes of distinctive contrasts and increased intensity were aided by the accompanying social change in music around the Romantic period, which can be characterised by the rise of the virtuoso. Franz Liszt, the legendary pianist, dazzled audiences across Europe, garnering rave reviews wherever he travelled, considered by The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians to be â€Å"the greatest piano virtuoso of his time† [ix]. The improved piano was critical to his displays of technical prowess. Without it he would not have been able to play pieces as demanding on the instrument. The â€Å"hitherto unimagined difficulty† [x] of his Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pour le piano[xi], was considered too much by the composer, he revised the Etudes and later published his Etudes d’execution transcendante[xii], – the latter still ferociously difficult but surpassed in that respect by the former. Given that a key feature of Liszt’s playing style and compositions was technical skill, one could argue Liszt could not have been the performer, or composer, he was, in the preceding century. Nicolo Paganini was another virtuoso of the highest calibre – a violinist[xiii]. He, too, gave fantastic performances to rapturous crowds in numerous countries. William Ayrton, editor of The Harmonicon, remarked that: â€Å"[H]is powers of execution are little less than marvelous, and such as we could only have believed on the evidence of our own senses; they imply a strong natural propensity for music, with an industry, a perseverance, a devotedness and also a skill in inventing means, without any parallel in the history of his instrument. † [xiv] Paganini, similar to Liszt, composed works for his instrument, which were considered some of the hardest in its repertoire[xv] – pushing the boundaries of the Romantic violin to previously unseen heights. An excellent way for a virtuoso to show off their talents is a concerto. The concerto provided a perfect vehicle to showcase the new technically advanced instruments and the music that could be performed on them[xvi]. One characteristic of Romantic concertos is their length. Indeed, this increased length is another key aspect of Romantic music as a whole. To take one concrete example of this, Vladimir Askenazy’s interpretations of Beethoven’s piano concertos[xvii] are significantly greater in length than his interpretations of Mozart’s concertos[xviii]. Further illustration of this is the opening movements of Beethoven’s piano concertos numbers 4 and 5, which both last longer than a number of Mozart’s concertos in their entirety and are longer, by far, than any of Mozart’s first movements. Similarly, other forms of musical composition demonstrated increasing length during the Romantic era. You read "Characteristics of the Romantic Music Period" in category "Papers" Beethoven’s Piano Sonata number 29 ,‘Hammerklavier’, being a case in point, according to Marston[xix], the extremely long solo piece was â€Å"most likely the longest ever written at that time†. The Hammerklavier sonata is also a perfect example of the other previously stated Romantic characteristics. The use of pianississimo and fortissimo a bar apart in the final section of the first movement is but one example of the radical contrasts present in the piece as a whole[xx]. Another hallmark of Romantic music is present in this piece: extreme technical difficulty – Andras Schiff declared Hammerklavier â€Å"virtually unplayable† [xxi]. This increase in length was also evident in the Romantic symphony. One striking example being Beethoven’s Symphony number three, ‘Eroica’, first published in 1804 [xxii], at the very dawn of musical Romanticism – its opening movement â€Å"dwarf[s] any comparable previous movement† [xxiii]. According to Bonds[xxiv], Eroica is the start, for Beethoven at least, of music displaying profound Romantic characteristics: â€Å"Particularly from the ‘Eroica’ onwards, Beethoven was seen to have explored a variety of ways in which instrumental music could evoke images and ideas transcending the world of sound. Overall, these properties of Romanticism were influenced by the social changes of the nineteenth century. These changes meant that composers of the Romantic era had greater freedom than ever before. Unlike their counterparts in previous historical periods, they no longer had to be almost entirely dependent on the church or the state or weal thy, upper-class patrons[xxv] [xxvi]. As highlighted previously, musicians could support themselves by giving public concerts, â€Å"Paganini earned so much money in one year that he could have bought 300 kilos of gold. [xxvii] [xxviii] As we can see in this example from Grove, the orchestra of the Romantic age was distinctly different from its predecessors in that it was not for the personal amusement of royalty or a symbol of status: â€Å"During most of the 18th century orchestras had been an accompaniment to and an expression of aristocratic court culture; in the 19th century the orchestra became a central institution of public musical life. † [xxix] Given the demands illustrated through these changes, several strategies are suggested. One possible strategy would be to learn a piece. As reading music is a necessary precursor to this, it would be a required and fruitful use of one’s time to learn to do so if the skill has not already been learnt. Learning to play a piece of music would be the ideal realisation of this strategy. However, this is not always possible and would be impractical for a piece with a large number of parts – a symphony, for example. Nevertheless, one can study and appreciate the technical or musical difficulty involved in a piece without being able to master it. Once able, listening to a piece of music whilst consulting the score is also a useful tool for following a piece and picking out specific parts. This is especially true of any orchestral piece. Another related strategy would be to try and put oneself in the shoes of a listener of the Romantic era. Listening to recordings performed on period instruments would be an ideal method of doing this. Also, learning more about the people of the period and what it would have been like for a nineteenth century person to listen to a certain work for the first time would be a further way to pursue this strategy. To learn, and appreciate, any other art forms linked with a piece of music is another strategy for listening to Romantic music – for example, Beethoven’s Symphony number 9. Beethoven based the final movement on the poem ‘Ode to Joy’ by Friedrich Schiller[xxx] – the movement is scored for orchestra, four vocal soloists and a choir – who sing the words of the poem. The case can be made that, to fully appreciate this work, one must appreciate the poem on which it is based. Additionally, understanding of the language the words are in – German – would take this strategy even urther. Separating a piece of music into parts is another strategy for listening to Romantic music. For example, a symphony or sonata can be listened to as individual movements, easier to absorb than, perhaps, thirty minutes or an hour’s worth of music. Exploring huge compositions or collections at one time is not the correct strategy, the sheer volume of n otes can be daunting and there is a danger that listening to too much music dulls one to the finer points of that music, it simply becomes noise. The distinct movements many composers put in their music should be utilised when first discovering a work, only once more understanding is cultivated should one attempt to listen to an entire concerto, sonata or symphony. Conclusively, it has been shown that Romantic music made greater demands upon its listeners than did music of previous historical periods. These demands were: increased technical and musical intensity; the use of bold, vivid contrasts and a considerably augmented duration of musical compositions. These changes came about due to technological advancements of the period, less reliance on patronage and the ‘musician’ became a respected and viable profession in the nineteenth century. There are many strategies which can be devised for listening to Romantic music, in the present day. These are: learning how to read and play music; to put oneself in the shoes of a listener of the time period; to study any art forms which are linked to a piece of Romantic music and dividing a composition into more easily manageable sections. These strategies will further aid the listener in appreciating and understanding Romantic music. ———————- [i] Jim Samson, â€Å"Romanticism†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [ii] Jim Samson, â€Å"Romanticism†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (1. History of usage) [iii] ABRSM, â€Å"Music Performance Diploma Syllabu s from 2005†, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [iv] Ibid. [v] Ibid. [vi] Philip R. Belt, Maribel Meisel/Gert Hecher, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (5. The Viennese piano from 1800. ) [vii] Michael Cole, â€Å"Pianoforte†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (6. England and France, 1800–60. ) [viii] Robert Winter, â€Å"Pianoforte†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (2. Romantic period) [ix] Alan Walker, et al. , â€Å"Liszt, Franz†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, , [Accessed 2 December 2009] [x] Howard Ferguson and Kenneth L. Hamilton, â€Å"Study†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xi] Franz Liszt, Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pour le piano, 1839, Vienna: Haslinger [xii] Franz Liszt, Etudes d’execution transcendante, 1852, Leipzig: Breitkopf Hartel xiii] Edward Neill, â€Å"Paganini, Nicolo†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xiv] Edward Neill, â€Å"Paganini, Nicolo†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (7. France and Great Britain, 1831–4, and last years, 1835–40. ) [xv] Ibid. [xvi] Arnold, Denis and Timothy Rhys Jones, â€Å"conc erto†, The Oxford Companion to Music Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xvii] Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven: The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. by Georg Solti, (Decca, 1995) xviii] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart: The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. by Vladimir Ashkenazy, (Decca, 1995) [xix] Nicholas Marston, â€Å"Approaching the Sketches for Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata†, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), p. 404-450, University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society, p. 404 [xx] Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 29 ‘Hammerklavier’, 1891, Stuttgart: J. G. Cotta Final three bars of first movement – â€Å"Allegro† [pic] [xxi] Andras Schiff, Lecture on Piano Sonata no. 9 ‘Hammerklavier’ by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wigmore Hall, May 2006, Publis hed by The Guardian, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xxii] â€Å"‘Eroica’ Symphony†, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xxiii] Mark Evan Bonds, â€Å"Symphony†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (II. 19th century, 2. Beethoven) [xxiv] Ibid. [xxv] Joseph Dyer, â€Å"Roman Catholic church music†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (V. The 19th century, 1. Catholic church music and the Romantic aesthetic. [xxvi] Joseph Dyer, â€Å"Roman Catholic church music†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (IV. The 18th century) [xxvii] John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, â€Å"Orchestra†, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (7. The Romantic orchestra (1815–1900). ) [xxviii] Edward Neill, â€Å"Paganini, Nicolo†,Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (8. Playing style. ) [xxix] John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, loc. cit. [xxx] Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 9, ca. 1925, Leipzig: Ernst Eulenburg How to cite Characteristics of the Romantic Music Period, Papers

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

The Features of Strategic Human Resource Management

Introduction During the recent years, the traditional discussion of the human resource management (HRM) policies was changed with the accentuation of the strategic human resource management (SHRM) as the way to overcome the possible challenges and to respond to the contemporary trends of the developed global business.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Features of Strategic Human Resource Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The researchers and economists state that the orientation to the strategic human resource management is advantageous, and it contributes to the company’s progress within the industry. However, it is important to focus on the differences between the traditional human resource management and strategic human resource management as the more innovative approach. According to Davidson, HR professionals should â€Å"bring their specialist HR functions more closely into alignment with corporate objectives and strategies† (Davidson as cited in Stone 2011, p. 36). This idea reflects the main function of SHRM which is to implement and use HR practices and policies effectively in order to achieve the definite organizational goals. Thus, the aim of the paper is to discuss the particular features of SHRM in relation to such concepts as the correlation between HR and strategic goals, sustainability, competitive advantage, corporate planning and performance which reflect the definite aspects of the company’s progress. To discuss all the mentioned aspects, it is important to concentrate on the specifics of SHRM, on the methods to make the shift from HRM to SHRM, on the role of HR in the company’s development, and on the possible barriers to complete the task. The Particular Features of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Comparison with Human Resource Management (HRM) Today, the accents in the business world are made on the globalization pro cesses and a number of integration strategies. From this point, the concept of strategic HRM is more appropriate to be used to compete effectively within any industry. It is not enough to discuss human resources independently within the company, and SHRM is oriented to integrating HR policies and to the realization of the definite organizational goals with the help of HR. The concept of SHRM was developed because of the necessity to respond to the changes in the approaches to the organizational performance and evaluation of HR.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It was found that the short-term goals and actions used for HRM were ineffective to correlate with the determined company’s goals which could be discussed as more general in character (Brandenburg, Haas Byrom 2006). That is why, the long-term strategic goals were accentuated with references to the developed HRM policies. Thus, many HR practices and policies can be effectively used to contribute to the organizational performance and the general effectiveness of the work when they are discussed in relation to the company’s strategies and goals (Lado 2000). The development and implementation of SHRM policies and practices within the firm depends on some factors. It is necessary to use the possibilities of HR such as knowledge and skills appropriately, for the company’s further progress and for completing the organizational objectives. From this perspective, HR management systems can contribute much to the organization’s development and form the company’s competitive advantage. The competitive advantage of using human resources effectively is in managing the costs and these resources appropriately and in gaining more benefits from integrating the human resources and the developed strategic policies within the company. Brandenburg, Haas, and Byrom pay attention to th e fact that the competitive advantage can be achieved only â€Å"with effective systems of human resource management practices† (Brandenburg, Haas, Byrom 2006, p. 89) . Thus, the HR management is important to achieve the definite level of the corporate performance according to the developed business strategy. That is why, human resources can be discussed as the only way to implement the definite firm’s competitive strategy effectively (Brandenburg, Haas, Byrom 2006, p. 89). It is possible to explain Davidson’s statement with references to the main idea of SHRM. Thus, HR professionals are not independent in their activities, and it is more advantageous for the organization when HR professionals also focus on the larger perspective. In this situation, their vision can be discussed as a strategic one.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Features of Strategic Human Resource Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More HR professionals should play the significant role in developing and implementing definite strategies to complete the company’s goals. HR strategies should not be focused only on completing the narrow goals fixed within the department (Brewster 1999, p. 46). According to Becton and Schraeder, â€Å"the importance of the need for a ‘fit’ between HR strategy and the overall business strategy cannot be over emphasized† (Becton Schraeder 2009, p. 14). The traditional functions of HR professionals should be rethought from the point of their strategic importance. Thus, the principles of SHRM are based on the fact that such functions as the employees’ recruitment, selection, and training should be determined by the company’s strategic goals. All the HR programs and practices used in the company can be discussed as more effective when they are correlated with the larger strategic plans of the whole organization. SHRM can be c onsidered by many HR professionals as a challenging approach because the main accents are made on the results of the activities and certain practices. If HRM policies traditionally work within the definite department, SHRM policies are developed to combine the efforts of the representatives of several departments within the firm in order to present the definite positive results as the outcomes of the strategic planning and strategic approach to the work organization (Kazmi Ahmad 2001). Becton and Schraeder state that â€Å"HR must place more emphasis on results and work to understand how internal decisions and actions affect the bottom line† (Becton Schraeder 2009, p. 15). In this case, the orientation of HR professionals and the staff to the completion of the definite tasks and strategic goals is more important for the company than the accentuation of the process itself. The Shift from HRM to SHRM To start the implementation of the principle of SHRM within the company, it is important to determine such significant factors as the orientation to the human resources with references to their skills, knowledge, and commitment; the necessity of new approaches to monitoring and managing the work of the human resources; the integration of HRM practices and policies with the company’s strategies which were worked out in relation to the definite strategy (Karami, Analoui Cusworth, 2004, p. 52).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, there are three stages according to which it is possible to transform the traditional HRM approach into the contemporary SHRM approach. Krishnan and Singh concentrate on such stages as the formulation of the business HR strategy in relation to the vertical fit; the implementation of the definite strategy according to the company’s objectives and principles; the evaluation of the results in relation to the horizontal fit (Krishnan Singh 2011). It is important to determine the company’s mission and goal in relation to the definite strategy at the early stage because these facts can be discussed as basic ones to develop the further plan of actions for the company to follow. Furthermore, the stage of formulating the business strategy with references to the human resources is the period when the environmental analysis is important, and it can be discussed as the necessary one to continue the development of this or that strategy (Farazmand 2004). The last task at this stage is the formulation of the strategy for its further implementation. It is significant to determine all the steps in the strategy’s development and pay attention to the expected and desired outcomes at these stages. The next stage is the implementation. Many HR professionals can experience some difficulties at this stage because their competence is challenged with the necessity to adapt and transform the traditional HRM practices, programs, and policies to implement the definite new strategy which was developed in association with the other departments (Budhwar 2000). Nevertheless, it is possible to speak about the effectiveness of this or that strategy only after its evaluation. The activity of the employees should be evaluated from the point of its effectiveness for completing the determined goals and objectives. As a result, the new role of the HR manager is to monitor the activities of the employees in relation to their appropriateness to the completion of some b usiness objectives. To integrate HRM practices into the plan of the strategic development of the firm, it is important to combine the efforts of the HR professionals oriented to the development of HRM with the efforts of the representatives of the other firm’s department. The selection and training processes and practices realized by the HR managers should be correlated with the decisions in relation to the firm’s strategy and possible outcomes (Brewster 1999). From this point, the activity of HR professionals should be more diverse to respond to the requirements of the modern global tendencies, and HRM should be integrated into the company’s strategic development. Kazmi and Ahmad pay attention to the fact that â€Å"SHRM is a planning process and the resulting plan must be a long-term plan† (Kazmi Ahmad 2001, p. 139). That is why, the company’s human resources should be involved in the planning process to achieve the definite goal with the help o f the certain strategy chosen by the specialists. Nevertheless, the process of transforming the HRM into the effective SHRM is rather complicated. In spite of the fact the HR professionals can successfully perform and manage the work of the staff, the goals and perspectives which are provided by the HR professionals can differ significantly from the objectives determined by the specialists in relation to the developing strategies. That is why, the combination of HRM and strategic management depends on the assessment of the general role of the company’s human resources in the strategic planning (Becton Schraeder 2009). The main advantage of SHRM is the possibility to combine the efforts of the company’s human resources and strategic managers in order to accomplish the definite goal. The Role of Human Resources in the Company’s Development Each employee within the company has definite duties and fixed responsibilities. The task of the HR manager is to help employ ees complete their tasks effectively and perform according to the company’s standards. The task of the HR professional who works using the SHRM methods is to improve the work of human resources and to be oriented to the company’s strategic goals. The employees should work as a team to complete the task and achieve the goal (Brandenburg, Haas Byrom 2006). SHRM is based on the idea of the organizational learning when the employees work in a team to combine their efforts and to present the definite positive results which are significant in the context of the company’s strategic plan. Thus, SHRM is oriented to the collective work and on the abilities performed by each individual (Budhwar 2000). HR managers should focus on recruiting and training the skilled employees to respond to the company’s needs in relation to the human resources. Thus, such concepts as the work-life balance and employees’ performance are discussed from the other perspective, and it is the HR managers’ task to create the necessary conditions for the employees to lessen the turnover and increase the productivity and performance of the staff (Teo et al. 2008). However, the effective completion of the strategic goals is impossible without referencing to the traditional HR practices of reward and recognition in order to motivate and stimulate the employees. SHRM depends on the provision of the effective performance of human resources for developing the ideas and strategies. That is why, SHRM is also based on such HR practices as the selection and training which are used to increase the employees’ potential and develop their skills and abilities orienting to the employees’ motives and to the organization’s values (Karami, Analoui Cusworth 2004). From this point, the combination of the traditional HR practices with the new goals can be used as the method to contribute to the improvement of the human resources’ performance. As a result, the role of human resources in contributing to the achievement of the definite business goals is more obvious with references to SHRM. Kazmi and Ahmad state that the â€Å"concept ‘our people make the difference’ is the outcome of that theme† (Kazmi Ahmad 2001, p. 138). Thus, those employees who are effectively selected, trained, and motivated can contribute much to the company’s development, and the realization of the definite strategy depends on the cooperation of the team members (Lado 2000). That is why, HR professionals are responsible for using more innovative approaches to organizing the work of employees and contributing to their productivity and high performance. It is necessary to concentrate on the role of the organizational performance as one of the outcomes of using the principles of SHRM. HR professionals can provide the effective organizational performance when it is connected with the methods of the organizational theory and cultu re. Basing on the developed and accentuated organizational culture, it is possible to stimulate and motivate the employees and lead them to the organizational success and positive outcomes (Karami, Analoui Cusworth 2004). When the organizational culture is strong the new approaches which are related to SHRM are implemented quicker and can result in many positive outcomes (Teo et al. 2008, p. 686). Nevertheless, it is the HR professionals’ task to contribute to strengthening the organizational culture and achieving the corporate goals. The Possible Barriers to Implement SHRM HR departments and professionals traditionally focus on stimulating and reinforcing their employees to contribute to their good performance. SHRM is based on involving human resources and HR professionals in resolving the strategic questions directly, guaranteeing the larger perspective for actions. It is important for HR professionals to monitor the employees’ activities from the point of their re levance to the definite strategy in order to provide the competitive advantage (Krishnan Singh 2011). The problem is in the fact that it is rather difficult for HR professionals to rethink their major function and orient to the cooperation with the departments which work to develop the company’s strategy. The main task of the HR professional is to overcome the first barrier and state the necessity to stimulate the firm’s human resources in order to achieve the determined and fixed business objectives. It is important to pay attention to the fact that it is a new approach to discuss HR not only as the developed operational system but also as the necessary component to work out the definite strategy. HR professionals should cope with the mentioned barrier in their activity when the impact of the human resources on the decision-making process and the general planning is not discussed. According to the traditional HRM scheme, HR professionals pay much attention to the adm inistration issues and monitoring without references to the strategic planning (Kazmi Ahmad 2001). This approach can be considered as the significant barrier to realize the principles of SHRM within the company because of the lack of the HR professionals’ readiness to transform the traditional system into the new one which is more effective. Being challenged by the necessity to respond to the large perspective and strategic goals, HR professionals can experience many problems with implementing the principles of SHRM within the company. However, following the three stages of the new system’s implementation, it is important to pay much attention to the evaluation stage. HR professionals’ task is to identify the best practices and programs which were used. It is necessary to concentrate on the programs which were effective to inter-relate the activities of the human resources and different departments to accomplish the strategic goals (Farazmand 2004). It is impor tant to note that the review of HR performance in relation to completing the SHRM plan is significant in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the used methods and techniques. Conclusion Many researchers agree that traditional approaches to HRM do not work in the modern competitive business environment. That is why, it is important to transform the traditional methods and use the SHRM principles in order to integrate the possibilities and potentials of human resources and the company’s strategies to achieve the definite strategic goal. HR professionals should analyze the corporate tasks and goals from the large perspective and correlate the human resources’ skills and abilities with the company’s goals. This approach can be discussed as more advantageous because SHRM is oriented to the effective planning which leads to the success and positive results. Human resources and HRM should not be discussed as independent approaches because of the ineffecti veness of this method. The processes of integration are more appropriate in the context of the global competition. Thus, the integration of human resources and corporate strategies and goals in relation to SHRM methods is not only popular business tendency but also it is the effective approach. Reference List Becton, B Schraeder, M 2009, â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management: Are we there yet?† Journal for Quality Participation, vol. 31 no. 4, pp. 11-18. Brandenburg, S, Haas, C Byrom, K 2006, â€Å"Strategic management of Human Resources in construction†, Journal of Management in Engineering, vol. 22 no. 2, pp. 89-96. Brewster, C 1999, â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management: the value of different paradigms†, Management International Review, vol. 39 no. 3, pp. 45-64. Budhwar, P 2000, â€Å"Evaluating levels of strategic integration and devolvement of human resource management†, Personnel Review, vol. 29 no. 2, pp. 141-161. Farazmand, A 2004, â⠂¬Å"Innovation in Strategic Human Resource Management: Building capacity in the age of globalization†, Public Organization Review, vol. 4 no. 1, pp. 3-24. Karami, A, Analoui, F Cusworth, J 2004, â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management and resource-based approach: The evidence from the British manufacturing Industry†, Management Research News, vol.27 no. 6, pp. 50-68. Kazmi, A Ahmad, F 2001, â€Å"Differening approaches to Strategic Human Resource Management†, Journal of Management Research, vol. 1 no. 3, pp. 133-140. Krishnan, S Singh, M 2011, â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management: a three-stage process model and its influencing factors†, South Asian Journal of Management, vol. 18 no. 1, pp. 60-70. Lado, A 2000, â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management†, The Academy of Management Review, vol. 25 no. 3, pp. 677-679. Stone, R 2011, Human Resource Management, John Wiley Sons, UK. Teo, S, Lakhani, B, Brown, D Malmi, T 2008, â€Å"Strategic human resource management and knowledge workers: A case study of professional service firms†, Management Research News, vol.31 no. 9, pp. 683-696. This essay on The Features of Strategic Human Resource Management was written and submitted by user Colten Holt to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Friday, March 20, 2020

When Family Isnt Supportive

When Family Isnt Supportive I received a heart-breaking Facebook message from a 15-year-old young man who asked me how to get his writing accepted. When I explained about polishing his words, agents, publishers, indie and the like, he replied: For me, I come from an unsupportive family that doesnt take writing as a talent or a valuable art. How can I practice in such conditions? My husband supports me unconditionally, often following me to my appearances. One son out of town reads my work and  gives honest feedback. My sister-in-law in Iowa reads every book within days of release. Other than that, nobody else in my family has read my novels much, and definitely havent read any articles, blogs or other items Ive published. While I thank my lucky stars for the three people I have, I know how that stings when family doesnt care. I told the young man this: At your age, its a matter of being well-read first and foremost, then attempting to write stories from what youve absorbed via those good authors. They are your family right now. You are young. You will be an adult in good time and be able to do what you wish, when you like, but in the meantime, read with a writers eye, seeing what makes for a grand story, great character, and snappy dialogue. Write as you can. And know that successful authors everywhere are in your corner. When family doesnt believe in your writing, you do the following: 1) Join a writers group. Use it like a support group. 2) Read with a writers eye. Nobody puts down reading. 3) Write when you can: lunches, night, early mornings, outside, riding in the car, or while everyone else is watching TV. 4) Relate your interest in writing to your family members interest in something else. I once used my teenagers interest in playing hockey. Ask them how much time and money they invest in their sports, hunting, cars, video games, etc. 5) Carve out time and call it yours. It doesnt have to be called writing time, but you use it as such. Just make sure you capitalize on it and write instead of doing other non-productive things. 6) Refuse to feel guilty about a beloved hob 7) Display how much writing makes you whole . . . and happier. If you act grumpy, you accentuate their opinion. 8) Ask them when theyll give up reading, watching television, going to movies, listening to music, playing online games, because a writer allowed all of those entertainment opportunities to happen. 9) When someone asks when youll do something other than that writing stuff, tell them you adore what you do. Eighty percent of the world hates their job, and you arent one of them.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

How to Use the French Expression Cest la Vie

How to Use the French Expression Cest la Vie The very old, very common French idiomatic expression Cest la vie,  pronounced  say la vee, has been around the world and back as a mainstay in dozens of cultures. In France, its still used in the same sense as always, as a sort of restrained, slightly fatalistic lamentation that this is how life is and theres not much you can do about it. It seems natural that this expression is often said with a shrug of the shoulders and a bemused, but furrowed brow. In English, it is translated as Thats life, and Such is life.  A vulgar slang equivalent in English would be Sh happens. Non-French Speakers Prefer the French Original The French Cest la vie, surprisingly,  is preferred in non-French cultures, and Cest la vie is used far more in English than in French. But  unlike many expressions  that English speakers have borrowed from French, the meaning is the same in both languages. Cest la vie,  even in English,  is a sad, Chaplin-esque acknowledgment  that something less than ideal must be accepted because thats just the way life is. Here is an exchange highlighting the fatalism inherent in this expression: Il a perdu son boulot et sa maison le mà ªme jour, tu te rends compte  ?   He lost his job and his home the same day. Can you imagine?Cest la vie !  Ã‚   Cest la vie! / Thats life! Variations on the Theme, Some Good, Some Not Cest la guerre Thats war. Cest la vie, cest la guerre, cest la pomme de terre. Thats life, thats war, thats the potato. (Only English speakers use this strange saying.) In French, Cest la vie can also be used non-fatalistically. As such,  the emphasis is on the  presentative cest introducing la vie and the idea that were talking about something thats essential to life or a particular way of life, as in:Leau, cest la vie.   Water is life. Cest la vie de famille qui me manque.   Its family life that I miss. Vivre dans le besoin, cest la vie dartiste.   Living in poverty is the life of an artist. Related Expressions Cest la vie de chà ¢teau (pourvu que à §a dure).   This is the good  life. Live it up (while it lasts). Cest la belle vie ! This is the life! La vie est dure ! Life is hard! Cest la bonne. Its the right one. Cest la  Bà ©rà ©zina. Its bitter defeat / a lost cause. La vie en rose Life through rose-colored glasses La  vie  nest  pas en rose. Life is not so beautiful. Cest  la  zone ! Its a pit here! Cest la vie, mon pauvre vieux  ! Thats life, my friend! Alternate Versions of Cest la Vie Bref, cest la vie ! Anyway, thats life! Cest  la  vie.  / Cest  comme cela. /  La  vie  est  ainsi faite. Life is life. Cest  la  vie.  / On ny peut rien. / Cest  comme à §a.   Ã‚  Thats the way the ball bounces. / Thats the way the cookie crumbles Examples of Usage Je sais que cest frustrant, mais  cest la vie.​   I know it is frustrating, but thats life.   C’est la vie, c’est de la comà ©die et c’est aussi du cinà ©ma.  Ã‚  Thats life, thats comedy, and thats  cinema, too. Alors il ny a rien faire. Cest la vie! Theres nothing to be done then. Cest la vie!

Sunday, February 16, 2020

BHS 400 STRESS MANAGEMENT (Module 5 SLP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

BHS 400 STRESS MANAGEMENT (Module 5 SLP) - Essay Example Good psychological adjustment to the situation and realization of inner capabilities would help to develop stress resistance. The diverse approaches of effective coping and stress management can be broadly classified into three Categories: Cognitive (Thought) Or Re-Framing Strategies and Emotion-Based Strategies (Feeling) are palliative tactics which are conceptualized to control emotional disturbances and distress. Action-Based Strategies falls under the Instrumental or problem focused approaches. Action-Based Strategies are directed towards changing stressed environment or adapt oneself to the situation to avoid the stress effectively (Koslowsky, Kluger, & Reich, 1995, p. 129, 130). The person starts blaming himself/herself for the negative consequence. The illogical thinking includes catastrophizing (exaggeration of harmful effect), personalizing (holding responsible for negative outcome), all-or-nothing thinking (feeling of losing always), overgeneralizing (fixing oneself to unpleasant endless pattern), and mental filtering (ignoring good part). (Tuller, Jan 22, 2002). Cognitive strategy is basically dealing with alteration of a thought process. Person is made to rethink the perception about the situation that made him upset. Basic assumptions about certain event is strategically changed or reframed to reduce negative outcome of the event. This might involve restructuring of words to change their meanings about worrisome event. The bothersome unnecessary thoughts are displaced by good and pleasing thoughts. This optimistic interpretation would help to sound and feel more pleasant about the same situation. The stressed individual should edit the situation by d eleting the undesirable aspects in mental process, and make the condition more favorable (Pargman, 2006, p. 145). Reducing of thought errors is a difficult,

Sunday, February 2, 2020

MENU COMPARISON ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MENU COMPARISON ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The food items that may be conventionally prepared are seafood, entrà ©e foods, salads, soup, vegetarian meals, pasta, pizzas, sandwiches, and specialties. The food items that may be convenience are appetizers and risottos because they are mostly ordered as per the customers’ requests as additional accompaniments to the main course meals. The Villa Blanca Restaurant is a tad more expensive than the Quartino Restaurant. For instance, the cheapest salad at Villa Blanca is the char-grilled chicken salad at 15 dollars while the most expensive salad at Quartino is the Tuscan kale salad at only 9 dollars. The purchasing system of chicken is 4.5 dollars per pound at the store, which is more expensive than kale at 2 dollars at the groceries in market value, which creates the cost difference. Similarly, the most expensive pasta meal at Quartino is the linguine with clams at 12.50 dollars. The ingredients include clams with pinot grigio wine, red chili, and extra virgin olive oil, with red or white sauce. The most costly pasta meal at Villa Blanca is the penne and tiger prawns at 24 dollars. The ingredients are tiger prawns with peppery tomatoes, basil, garlic, and ground red pepper. The linguine costs 24 dollars per 12-ounce packet and clams cost 5.99 dollars per pound, while the penne costs 12 dollars per 16-ounce packet and tiger prawns costs 14 dollars per 500g packet, hence the differing contribution margins of prices from the two

Saturday, January 25, 2020

BPR Microfinance Institution in Indonesia

BPR Microfinance Institution in Indonesia Chapter 1   Introduction 1.1  Background It is believed that microfinance helps low-income people alleviate their life from poverty circumstances in many developing countries. As an economic instrument which has been raised in the middle of seventies, the thought of microfinance came up from the fact that low-income people difficult to access financial services from commercial or formal banking institution which may disadvantage them or even not including them as potential clients. The reason is that, which often we may hear for several times, low-income people lack of collateral for guarantee some amount of money they want, and in the commercial financial institutions point of view it is costly to serve them due to unequal cost-benefit and high transaction cost: low-income people tend to borrow in small amount but the commercial financial institution maintain high cost for processing and assuring their repayment. These costs are not proportional with the amount of loan given to them. A formal microfinance institution existing in Indonesia is the Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR (People’s Credit Bank or Rural Bank)[1] which is established by the Banking Act. The main objective of the BPR is to serve small businesses[2]. It means that BPRs can enhance their role and contribution in the development of micro and small business[3]. In Indonesia, like other developing countries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)[4] play significant role in economy. The role of MSMEs can be viewed as an important factor for Indonesia to recover from economic crisis and to lead economic growth and employment. Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik/BPS) and Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises reported[5] that, the average contribution of SMEs’ share to total GDP Indonesia from the period of 2001 2007 was 60.77%, while at the same period large enterprises (LEs) contributed 39.23% which can be seen in Table 1. Source:  Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises (various editions) In terms of employment creation, MSM enterprises have passed over large enterprises. Table 3 provides worker absorption by types of enterprises. It shows that small enterprises have absorbed approximately 91% of employment during 1999-2006, while medium and large enterprises have provided by 5% and by 4% of employment in Indonesia. Source  : Cooperative Statistics cited in Nazara and Gitaharie (2008), edited by author Based on the data which are discussed in the previous paragraphs, it can be concluded that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have a big role and a potential as a driver of the domestic economy. Nevertheless, they still have several constraints, for instance, product market accessibility, lack of management skills, and limited access to financial sources, especially from commercial banks, to meet their demand for finance. A survey conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) concluded that the biggest problem for micro and small enterprises is lack of capital for financing their business.  The survey recognized that  problem in finance for micro enterprises was accounted for 40.48%, while for small enterprises was 36.63% (Wardoyo and Prabowo 2003: 31). In Indonesia, small and medium enterprises can acquire their finance from several sources. According to Nazara and Gitaharie (2008) which refer to statistical data from BPS 2000; 82,960 SMEs got their finance from non banking financial institution; 385,383 SMEs got their finance from banks; and 661,630 SMEs got their finance from other sources. It is clearly from the data that most of SMEs rely on sources other than formal institutions. These figures were not taking into account for SMEs which have no legal entities (Nazara and Gitaharie 2008: 8). From SMEs point of view, they face kinky administrative procedure and also they have to provide collateral as guarantee to get loans from commercial banks. This condition leads SMEs favoring in Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR (People’s Credit Bank or Rural Bank) and other financial institutions which provide simpler in administrative procedures, but higher in interest rates compared to commercial banks (Nazara and Gitaharie 2008: 8). Even though entrepreneurs are burdened with high interest rates, they do not much complain about it as long as they have access to formal credit (Berry et al. 2001 as cited in (Sunarto 2007: 2)). In line with the condition in which SMEs favoring in BPRs, Sunarto (Sunarto 2007: 4) stated that BPRs have several advantages in serving to SMEs, those are: (1) its location which is close to SMEs, (2) simpler in credit procedures, (3) accentuate a personal approach in its services and (4) more flexible.   This paper is focused on the role and contribution of BPR, one of the formal types of microfinance institutions in Indonesia, as the suppliers of funds to different types of enterprises especially to micro and small. The discussion emphasizes on credit allocation delivered by BPRs to the micro, small and medium enterprises. Comparative analysis will be made between commercial banks[6] and BPRs for analytical purposes in two things. Firstly, the comparison in terms of allocation of credit which does not consider other variables playing a role in borrowing, for instance interest rates and so on. The comparative result is not in the amount of the credit disbursed but in the percentage of allocation for each type of enterprise. Secondly, the comparison in terms of performance will be discussed through some indicators. Furthermore, the performance indicators of BPRs will be compared with their criteria which set by Bank Indonesia to see whether those indicators improving or deteriorating. 1.2  Research Objective and Research Questions Research Objective The objective of this paper is to study the role and performance of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR), as one of microfinance institutions in Indonesia, in financing micro, small and medium enterprises. Research Questions In order to achieve the research objective, this paper proposes research questions as follows: 1.  What is the role of BPRs as supplier of funds to different types of small and medium enterprises, in particular micro enterprises? 2.  What is the performance of BPRs in relation to credit provision to micro and small enterprises? 1.3  Research Hypothesis Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) was established with the main objective is to serve small-scale business and people in rural areas. Therefore, the first hypothesis is that BPRs are reaching their main objective as supplier of funds to micro, small and medium enterprises as mandated by regulation (i.e., banking act). In order to meet the objectives, it is needed good performances which are reflected from their performance indicators. Therefore, the second hypothesis is that performance indicators of the BPRs have met with the standards which set by the Indonesia banking authority. 1.4  Organization of the Paper This paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is introduction which contains background of the research, research objective and research questions, research hypothesis, and organization of the paper. Chapter 2 is review of the literatures and analytical framework for the research. Literature reviews discuss about definitions of microfinance and microfinance institution, the approaches can be taken by a microfinance institution in order to serve the clients, the models of microfinance institutions, the types of microfinance institutions in Indonesia and the pyramid of them in relation to potential customers and performance indicators. Analytical framework discusses about the way in which the research will be achieved. Chapter 3 is the microfinance institutions in Indonesia which contains their brief history and recent condition. Chapter 4 is analysis of the role of BPRs in financing micro, small and medium enterprises which contains overview of the chapter, data source for the analysis, methodology of the analysis, some information about commercial banks and BPRs, and analyzing to answer the research questions. Chapter 5 is conclusion.   Chapter 2   Literature Review and Analytical Framework 2.1  Literature Review There are many definitions about microfinance proposed by several researchers and institutions. This paper uses some definitions given by Robinson, Ledgerwood, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to describe microfinance. Robinson (Robinson 2001: 9) defined microfinance as small size financial services (mainly saving and credit) given to people who having farm or fish or herd; people who running micro or small enterprises which producing, recycling, repairing or selling goods; people who offering services; people who working for commissions or wages; people who having earnings from renting the land, vehicles, draft animals, or machinery and equipment; and people or other individuals and groups from both rural and urban areas at the local level from the developing countries. Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)[7] which uses terminology â€Å"poor people† and Ledgerwood which uses terminology â€Å"low-income clients† pointed out to person who receives basic financial services from microfinance including self-employed people. Furthermore, Ledgerwood (Ledgerwood 1999: 1) stated that definition of microfinance comprises not only in financial intermediation but also in social intermediation. Many of microfinance institutions (MFIs)[8] provide this social intermediation function (i.e., group arrangement, self-confidence development, training to enhance capabilities and to increase capacities in terms of financial literacy and managements) go along with financial intermediation. Moreover, she argued that microfinance is a development instrument and it is not just banking.   Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Santoso et al. 2005: 7) defined microfinance into two understandings. Firstly, it refers to an institution when it designates to an organization which offer financial services or banking products, especially loans to the poor people. Secondly, it uses for different methods or activities which assigned to the poor people in order to access financial services. The poor people usually ask for loans, meanwhile commercial banks do not qualify them for loans. These understandings are close to each other. An institution which provides products for poor people called as microfinance institution. The usage of products (i.e., credits) which is provided by MFIs will be beneficial for poor people in generating more earnings.   Ledgerwood (Ledgerwood 1999: 65-66) stated that the approaches that can be done by microfinance institutions can be divided into two main categories: the minimalist approach or integrated approach. When MFIs do minimalist approach, they only perform functions of financial intermediation, although sometimes they offer social intermediation in limited services. Premise that underlie this approach is a-single missing piece that can be offered by MFIs to the clients in the form of access to credit for them due to the clients are getting less coverage of services from financial institutions, for instance to grow enterprises. On the other hand, integrated approach is a combination of four aspects those are social and financial intermediation, enterprise development and social services. Thus, it is needed a holistic view of the client when a MFI taking this approach. If MFIs are not able to meet all four services, MFIs only offer services that are really needed by the client as long as this service in line with goal and objective of MFIs. Since the large-scale demand for services microfinance activities is in existence, the activities are shown in many countries. The poor people are usually un-bankable, because of such conditions: low skills, poor capacity and severe inabilities. They might not be served in the commercial banking system. It is because the system needs for formal requirements, along with the proper economic scale and certain guarantee. In official terms, this kind of market is un-named and un-served. There are niche markets for the supply of services for MFIs (Santoso et al. 2005: 8). Clients of microfinance institution can not be classified as the poorest of the poor. Generally, they are self-employed and low-income entrepreneur, including; traders, food vendors at the street side, small farmers, small producers and artisan who produce souvenirs in at tourism area and so on. The nature of their business usually provides a stable source of income (Ledgerwood 1999: 2). In various forms, income is provided by micro enterprises owned by the poor. This is done by providing employment. The recycling and repairing better than littering a good, making cheap food, clothing, and transportation to be available are some examples. It is also made to them who are from the low level of formal sector that are usually very difficult to live with their salaries. The people of this kind of life are often can cope with such a problem with the typical cases mentioned above, but can not handle the more serious problem. The other types of problem that are often found are deficiency of capital, skill, official status, and business security. In the meantime, naturally they already have the ability to face sharp business sense, strong life skills, long hard work practice, market knowledge, extensive communication and informal support networks. They also used to have the ability to live supported by their flexibility basic consideration (Robinson 2001: 12). A recent study in Bosnia and Herzegovina carried out by Hartarska and Nadolnyak (Hartarska and Nadolnyak 2008) used the financing constraint approach. The approach states that microenterprises that have good access to credit will be less rely on internal funding in their investment. Using the Living Standards Measurement Survey and the existence of the MFIs in their area, they compare sensitivity of investment to internal funds in the microenterprises which there are MFIs in municipalities they located to microenterprises which there is no MFIs in municipalities they located. They concluded that the MFIs reduce the constraint of microenterprises funding when they are exist close to business. There are some models of microfinance institutions. The first model is Grameen Bank. This model is founded in many countries, especially in Bangladesh, from which it established for the first time by Muhammad Junus. In determining target poor clients, Grameen Bank will do it carefully which is usually done through a series of tests. Loans are given to the group in which each group typically consists of five people and each member of the group guarantee the loan of the other members. This model intensively requires supervision and motivation from the staff to the group borrowers. The second model is Village Bank. An implementing agency establish individual village bank together with 30-50 people and sets capital for on-lending to other members. Repayments of the loan are usually in a week until 16 weeks whereas the village bank pays the principal plus interest to implementing agency. The third model is Credit Unions (CUs). Credit Unions are non-profit financial cooperatives which owned and controlled by its members. Besides saving, CU also provides loans for both productive and non-productive purposes to the members. The membership of CUs compared to Grameen Bank is more heterogeneous and usually based on similar bond. The fourth model is ‘self-help’ groups (SHGs). This model is close to the second model, village bank, although their structure is less well compared to the village bank.  The membership of SHGs is based on the similarity in income and the number of membership approximately 20 people. In principle, they use internal funding, that is saving, to lend it to the members, even though they can also seek external funding as additional source of funds. Several NGOs are facilitating and promoting SHGs, but basically, SHGs are directed as an independent institution. The task of seeking additional financing from outside is usually helped by NGOs which link between SHGs and other external parties or other funding agencies. This NGO’s job close related to social intermediary function they have, while other NGOs are functioned as financial intermediaries which funding SHGs  (Conroy 2003: 4-5). In terms of forms, microfinance institutions can be classified as bank (government and commercial), nonbank financial institution, saving and loan cooperative, credit union and nongovernmental organization. Pawnbrokers, rotating saving and credit association, and moneylender also part of MFIs and hold significant roles in functioning financial intermediation although they are more informal in legal status (Ledgerwood 1999: 1). In Indonesia, several institutions have already served microfinance services for such a long period. Those institutions can be divided into four types. The first type is formal microfinance institutions (MFIs). This type of MFI is regulated and supervised as banking institution and therefore their activities as financial intermediaries subject to banking regulation and supervision. Such institutions included in this type are BRI Unit (state-owned microbank), commercial banks with microfinance services and Rural Bank (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR). The second type is semi formal MFIs which registered and or licensed by state authorities or local governments, therefore they are not regulated by banking authority (Bank Indonesia). Including in this type are cooperatives, Islamic-based cooperatives (Baitul Maal wat Tamwil/BMT), rural credit institution (Badan Kredit Desa/BKD) and microfinance owned and managed by NGOs. The third type is informal MFIs that operate outside the framework of government regulation, among others, are credit union, rotating credit and saving association (ROSCA), moneylenders, landlords and so on. The fourth type is microcredit programs established by the government in channeling credit to subsidize the poor through a variety of institutions (Nugroho 2008: 181-182). Further explanation about these four microfinance services especially the first three types of MFIs will be presented in chapter 3.   In Figure 1 we can see the pyramid of microfinance institutions with their potential customers in Indonesia. The top layer shows formal MFIs (BRI Unit, Rural Banks/ BPRs and LDKPs). They provide financial services for the top level of microfinance market. This type of MFIs is intended to serve small business which has characterized with stable income flows; therefore these MFIs’ potential clients are non-poor and not so poor people. In the middle layer, semi- formal MFIs serve microfinance services for the poor households. This layer includes rural credit institutions (Bank Kredit Desa/BKD), cooperatives, BMT and NGOs. Clients in this layer are characterized by unstable flow of income. At the bottom layer of the pyramid the huge number of potential clients which need microfinance services. They are very poor people which are characterized by unpredictable income. They need the microfinance services in order to ensure their uncertain income, so they need a small loan to overcom e the difficulties of life (Nugroho 2008: 184-185). Figure 1: The Pyramid of Microfinance Services in Indonesia Source: BI and GTZ (2000) cited in Nugroho (2008) As mentioned above, Rural Bank (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR) is one of the formal types of microfinance in Indonesia. Its existence is established by Banking Act number 7 of 1992 as amended by Banking Act number 10 of 1998. The main goal of the rural bank is to serve small business and rural communities. In order to deliver their services to the customers, a microfinance institution requires a good performance. This performance can be seen from some indicators. Looking at these indicators, we can decide how well they not only can do financially but also it can also build the future performance goals. There are a large number of performance indicators that can be used by MFIs in measuring the financial performance. One of the principles that can be used is the CAMEL system, ACCION. This system examines five traditional aspects which are regarded as the most important thing in the practices of the financial intermediaries. The five aspects (capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, and liquidity) be the sign of the financial condition and operational strength of the MFI in common (Ledgerwood 1999: 205,227,229). 2.2  Analytical Framework Based on the theoretical framework that has been presented in the previous section, the author uses Figure 2 below describing the analytical framework used in the research which answering the research questions asked. There are two parties involved in the financial market.  On one hand, there is a supply side which is financial institutions that act as financial intermediation agents or it might be function as other than financial intermediation like social intermediation or something else. These financial institutions include commercial banks, non-banks financial institutions (insurances company, ventura capital, etc), and microfinance institutions (in different types and forms). On the other hand, on the demand side, there are some parties that require financing for different purposes, among others for working capital and investment usage which is belongs to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The problem is that not all of these financial institutions allow MSMEs as their client due to several requirements which can not be fulfilled by MSMEs (collateral and bureaucratic procedures, for instances) or it might be comes from the MSMEs itself that no need too much funds (small financing). Here, microfinance institutions fit with the need of MSMEs. The mechanism then runs as common supply and demand in the market: MFIs, as financial intermediaries, offer credit or loan to MSMEs. Furthermore, MSMEs use the loan for running their operational activities (working capital usage) or for accumulating their physical capital (investment usage). At the end of the story, output of MSMEs will contribute to national income (GDP) and at the same time generates income for the owners and employees. Figure 2: Analytical Framework of the Research: Supply and Demand in Financial Market Source: author’s graph This paper focuses on the supply side of particular financial intermediaries in the financial market those are microfinance institutions. In other words, using Ledgerwood’s terminology mentioned in literature review, the paper mainly looks at the role of MFIs in terms of â€Å"minimalist approach†; how they perform as financial intermediations in delivering credit or loan. Special attention given to Rural Banks, one of formal MFIs in Indonesia in allocating their credit to different types of enterprises such as micro, small, medium and large enterprises. There are several reasons why this paper discusses on Rural Banks as unit of analysis. Firstly, it is states in the regulation (Banking Act) that the main objective of Rural Banks is to serve small scale business and looking into the pyramid of MFIs appeared in Figure 1. It means that Rural Banks have a specialization as small scale business’ banking, especially micro enterprises. This paper wants to see to which extent this mission is successfully executed. Secondly, Rural Banks are the second largest microfinance institutions in terms of asset, third party funds collected and number of debtors. According to Bank Indonesia (2008)[9], they posses 35% of total MFIs’ assets; 30.43% of third party funds collected on total MFIs and 29.15% of total number debtors on total MFIs.   This study proposes two research questions. The first research question relates to the role of rural banks as financial intermediaries in delivering credit to different types of business especially micro and small enterprises. In addressing the first research question, the paper uses comparative analysis and simple calculations in terms of credit disbursement for both commercial banks and rural banks so that the share (percentage) of credit allocation to different types of enterprises to be known. In order to obtain the result, some criteria and assumption are applied in the study. This is done due to there is no data available about the definite amount of credit disbursed by either Rural Banks or commercial banks to different type of enterprises. The discussion focuses only on the amount of credit allocation, so that other variables that determine the credit such as interest rate, collateral, and so forth are not discussed in this study.   The second research question indicates the performance indicators of rural banks in relation to credit provision to micro enterprises. These indicators include; Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), Returns on Assets Ratio (ROA) and Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPL) which refer to Director of Bank Indonesia Decree number 30/12/Kep/Dir and Bank Indonesia’s Letter No. 30/3/UPPB about Rural Banks Soundness Evaluation. Furthermore, comparison will be made between these indicators and criteria. Chapter 3 Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia 3.1  Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia As developing country, Indonesia has long experience and history in developing microfinance institution which has made it possible for poor or low-income people to overcome financial constraints and to access financial institutions. For this condition, some researchers like Berenbach and Churchill called that Indonesia is â€Å"the most developed market for microfinance services in the world† (Barenbach and Churchill 1997 as cited in (Santoso et al. 2005: 43)). The development of microfinance institution began for the first time in Dutch colonial era when several well-educated local people saw deteriorating economy happened in their community and they looked for the need of this services and started organize it. The two famous institutions best known as pioneer in microfinance institutions and exist since colonial era are cooperative and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI). As mentioned in chapter 2, microfinance institutions in Indonesia can be classified into four types (Nugroho 2008), those are; formal microfinance institutions, semiformal MFIs, informal MFIs and microcredit program which is established by the government for delivering credit to poor people through several institutions. In this chapter the latter type of MFI will not be discussed. The discussion is emphasizes on three other institutions. Formal MFIs are financial intermediary institutions which refer and subject to banking regulation and therefore supervised by Bank Indonesia. Semiformal MFIs are not regulated by Bank Indonesia as a banking authority, but they are licensed and or registered by other state authorities or local government. Informal MFIs operate outside government regulations. Nugroho (Nugroho 2008) described institutions which include in each type of MFI as follows: formal MFIs including BRI Unit, Rural Bank (BPR) and The Rural Credit Fund Institutions (Lembaga Dana Kredit Pedesaan/LDKP); semiformal MFIs covering rural credit institution (Badan Kredit Desa/ BKD), microfinance NGO, credit cooperatives including Islamic-based cooperatives (Baitul Maal wat Tamwil/BMT); informal MFIs including credit unions, rotating credit and saving association (ROSCA), moneylenders, traders and landlords. Table 3.1 provides map of microfinance institutions by types in Indonesia in terms of units and their financial services. Bank Rakyat Indonesia Unit Lembaga Dana Kredit Perdesaan (LDKP) – The Rural Credit Fund Institutions The Rural Credit Fund Institutions (LDKP) is the term of credit fund institution that operates in rural area, including a variety of non bank microfinance institutions with different names, ownership, organization, services and outreach, that was established on initiatives of provincial government. LDKP belongs to provincial, district or village government which, in their operation, have to obtain license from and was regulated by provincial government within the national regulatory framework. they get technical support and supervision from regional development bank (BPD) which are owned by provincial government.. since it was established in 1970s, the number of LDKP getting less from 1978 to 630 in 2000, this decrease due to the conversion of LDKP to peoples cerdit banks(BPR) and recently only about one quarter of LDKP  have become banks. The Badan  Kredit Desa (BKD) BKD is a profitable and sustainable village level financial institution that provide financial services with a outreach to low income people. it was operated by a committee that controlled by head of village and have sustained the operation since colonial era. On behalf of Bank Indonesia, BRI branch offices supervise and provide technical assistance  for BKD. in 1970s indonesian government did not pay much attention to this system. instead, the government  give more attention to the cooperative system. this make hard for BKD system to developed. in 1990s BRI tried to revive BKD by providing basic capital, improving administrative system and introducing new saving instruments, however, 1992 banking act burden the expanding BKD system. BKD is recognized as peoples credit bank (BPR) and has been operating as a licensed and regulated bank  since 1992 banking act but the frame work setting, supervision and technical assistance has not changed since 2000. Cooperatives Here, the brief history of cooperative in Indonesia refers to Santoso et al (2005) and Ministry of Cooperative, Small and Medium Enterprises’ website (www.depkop.go.id, 2009) as references. The thought of cooperative was delivered for the first time by Patih R. Aria Wiriatmaja at Purwokerto, a small town in Central Java, in 1896. Then, De Wolffvan Westerrode continued his efforts. In 1908, the year of national movement, Dr. Sutomo founded Budi Utomo which played a significant role for cooperatives improving the life of society. Then, Verordening op de Cooperatieve Vereeniging was established. Twelve years after that, in 1927, another type of cooperative called Regelling Inlandsche Cooperatieve was launched. In the same year, to develop bargaining power among local entrepreneurs, Islamic Trader Union (Serikat Dagang Islam) was established. Indonesian National Party (Partai Nasional Indonesia) which had activities in promoting cooperative spirit was established in 1929. 3.2  Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) Brief History Steinwand (Steinwand 2001) provided detail periodical history about Rural Bank. He divided the history into four parts of periods; the evolution of the colonial BPR (1895-1945), the period from independence to financial sector reform (1945-1983), the period from financial sector reform to financial crisis (1983-1999) and at the present condition. Rural Bank Position in Financial System in Indonesia Chapter 4   Analysis of the Role of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) in Financing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 4.1  Overview Chapter 4 consists of 6 sections which each section aimed to answer the research questions. Section 1 is a general information about what will be discussed in this chapter; section 2 discusses about the source of the data used in the analysis; section 3 is the methodology; section 4 is about overview the condition of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPRs) and commercial banks (CBs) in Indonesia using selected indicators, third party funds and credits; section 5 tries to reply the first research question by using comparative analysis between commercial banks and BPRs; and section 6 is the last section which answering the second research question about the performance indicators of BPR Microfinance Institution in Indonesia BPR Microfinance Institution in Indonesia Chapter 1   Introduction 1.1  Background It is believed that microfinance helps low-income people alleviate their life from poverty circumstances in many developing countries. As an economic instrument which has been raised in the middle of seventies, the thought of microfinance came up from the fact that low-income people difficult to access financial services from commercial or formal banking institution which may disadvantage them or even not including them as potential clients. The reason is that, which often we may hear for several times, low-income people lack of collateral for guarantee some amount of money they want, and in the commercial financial institutions point of view it is costly to serve them due to unequal cost-benefit and high transaction cost: low-income people tend to borrow in small amount but the commercial financial institution maintain high cost for processing and assuring their repayment. These costs are not proportional with the amount of loan given to them. A formal microfinance institution existing in Indonesia is the Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR (People’s Credit Bank or Rural Bank)[1] which is established by the Banking Act. The main objective of the BPR is to serve small businesses[2]. It means that BPRs can enhance their role and contribution in the development of micro and small business[3]. In Indonesia, like other developing countries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)[4] play significant role in economy. The role of MSMEs can be viewed as an important factor for Indonesia to recover from economic crisis and to lead economic growth and employment. Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik/BPS) and Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises reported[5] that, the average contribution of SMEs’ share to total GDP Indonesia from the period of 2001 2007 was 60.77%, while at the same period large enterprises (LEs) contributed 39.23% which can be seen in Table 1. Source:  Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises (various editions) In terms of employment creation, MSM enterprises have passed over large enterprises. Table 3 provides worker absorption by types of enterprises. It shows that small enterprises have absorbed approximately 91% of employment during 1999-2006, while medium and large enterprises have provided by 5% and by 4% of employment in Indonesia. Source  : Cooperative Statistics cited in Nazara and Gitaharie (2008), edited by author Based on the data which are discussed in the previous paragraphs, it can be concluded that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have a big role and a potential as a driver of the domestic economy. Nevertheless, they still have several constraints, for instance, product market accessibility, lack of management skills, and limited access to financial sources, especially from commercial banks, to meet their demand for finance. A survey conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) concluded that the biggest problem for micro and small enterprises is lack of capital for financing their business.  The survey recognized that  problem in finance for micro enterprises was accounted for 40.48%, while for small enterprises was 36.63% (Wardoyo and Prabowo 2003: 31). In Indonesia, small and medium enterprises can acquire their finance from several sources. According to Nazara and Gitaharie (2008) which refer to statistical data from BPS 2000; 82,960 SMEs got their finance from non banking financial institution; 385,383 SMEs got their finance from banks; and 661,630 SMEs got their finance from other sources. It is clearly from the data that most of SMEs rely on sources other than formal institutions. These figures were not taking into account for SMEs which have no legal entities (Nazara and Gitaharie 2008: 8). From SMEs point of view, they face kinky administrative procedure and also they have to provide collateral as guarantee to get loans from commercial banks. This condition leads SMEs favoring in Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR (People’s Credit Bank or Rural Bank) and other financial institutions which provide simpler in administrative procedures, but higher in interest rates compared to commercial banks (Nazara and Gitaharie 2008: 8). Even though entrepreneurs are burdened with high interest rates, they do not much complain about it as long as they have access to formal credit (Berry et al. 2001 as cited in (Sunarto 2007: 2)). In line with the condition in which SMEs favoring in BPRs, Sunarto (Sunarto 2007: 4) stated that BPRs have several advantages in serving to SMEs, those are: (1) its location which is close to SMEs, (2) simpler in credit procedures, (3) accentuate a personal approach in its services and (4) more flexible.   This paper is focused on the role and contribution of BPR, one of the formal types of microfinance institutions in Indonesia, as the suppliers of funds to different types of enterprises especially to micro and small. The discussion emphasizes on credit allocation delivered by BPRs to the micro, small and medium enterprises. Comparative analysis will be made between commercial banks[6] and BPRs for analytical purposes in two things. Firstly, the comparison in terms of allocation of credit which does not consider other variables playing a role in borrowing, for instance interest rates and so on. The comparative result is not in the amount of the credit disbursed but in the percentage of allocation for each type of enterprise. Secondly, the comparison in terms of performance will be discussed through some indicators. Furthermore, the performance indicators of BPRs will be compared with their criteria which set by Bank Indonesia to see whether those indicators improving or deteriorating. 1.2  Research Objective and Research Questions Research Objective The objective of this paper is to study the role and performance of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR), as one of microfinance institutions in Indonesia, in financing micro, small and medium enterprises. Research Questions In order to achieve the research objective, this paper proposes research questions as follows: 1.  What is the role of BPRs as supplier of funds to different types of small and medium enterprises, in particular micro enterprises? 2.  What is the performance of BPRs in relation to credit provision to micro and small enterprises? 1.3  Research Hypothesis Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) was established with the main objective is to serve small-scale business and people in rural areas. Therefore, the first hypothesis is that BPRs are reaching their main objective as supplier of funds to micro, small and medium enterprises as mandated by regulation (i.e., banking act). In order to meet the objectives, it is needed good performances which are reflected from their performance indicators. Therefore, the second hypothesis is that performance indicators of the BPRs have met with the standards which set by the Indonesia banking authority. 1.4  Organization of the Paper This paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is introduction which contains background of the research, research objective and research questions, research hypothesis, and organization of the paper. Chapter 2 is review of the literatures and analytical framework for the research. Literature reviews discuss about definitions of microfinance and microfinance institution, the approaches can be taken by a microfinance institution in order to serve the clients, the models of microfinance institutions, the types of microfinance institutions in Indonesia and the pyramid of them in relation to potential customers and performance indicators. Analytical framework discusses about the way in which the research will be achieved. Chapter 3 is the microfinance institutions in Indonesia which contains their brief history and recent condition. Chapter 4 is analysis of the role of BPRs in financing micro, small and medium enterprises which contains overview of the chapter, data source for the analysis, methodology of the analysis, some information about commercial banks and BPRs, and analyzing to answer the research questions. Chapter 5 is conclusion.   Chapter 2   Literature Review and Analytical Framework 2.1  Literature Review There are many definitions about microfinance proposed by several researchers and institutions. This paper uses some definitions given by Robinson, Ledgerwood, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to describe microfinance. Robinson (Robinson 2001: 9) defined microfinance as small size financial services (mainly saving and credit) given to people who having farm or fish or herd; people who running micro or small enterprises which producing, recycling, repairing or selling goods; people who offering services; people who working for commissions or wages; people who having earnings from renting the land, vehicles, draft animals, or machinery and equipment; and people or other individuals and groups from both rural and urban areas at the local level from the developing countries. Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)[7] which uses terminology â€Å"poor people† and Ledgerwood which uses terminology â€Å"low-income clients† pointed out to person who receives basic financial services from microfinance including self-employed people. Furthermore, Ledgerwood (Ledgerwood 1999: 1) stated that definition of microfinance comprises not only in financial intermediation but also in social intermediation. Many of microfinance institutions (MFIs)[8] provide this social intermediation function (i.e., group arrangement, self-confidence development, training to enhance capabilities and to increase capacities in terms of financial literacy and managements) go along with financial intermediation. Moreover, she argued that microfinance is a development instrument and it is not just banking.   Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Santoso et al. 2005: 7) defined microfinance into two understandings. Firstly, it refers to an institution when it designates to an organization which offer financial services or banking products, especially loans to the poor people. Secondly, it uses for different methods or activities which assigned to the poor people in order to access financial services. The poor people usually ask for loans, meanwhile commercial banks do not qualify them for loans. These understandings are close to each other. An institution which provides products for poor people called as microfinance institution. The usage of products (i.e., credits) which is provided by MFIs will be beneficial for poor people in generating more earnings.   Ledgerwood (Ledgerwood 1999: 65-66) stated that the approaches that can be done by microfinance institutions can be divided into two main categories: the minimalist approach or integrated approach. When MFIs do minimalist approach, they only perform functions of financial intermediation, although sometimes they offer social intermediation in limited services. Premise that underlie this approach is a-single missing piece that can be offered by MFIs to the clients in the form of access to credit for them due to the clients are getting less coverage of services from financial institutions, for instance to grow enterprises. On the other hand, integrated approach is a combination of four aspects those are social and financial intermediation, enterprise development and social services. Thus, it is needed a holistic view of the client when a MFI taking this approach. If MFIs are not able to meet all four services, MFIs only offer services that are really needed by the client as long as this service in line with goal and objective of MFIs. Since the large-scale demand for services microfinance activities is in existence, the activities are shown in many countries. The poor people are usually un-bankable, because of such conditions: low skills, poor capacity and severe inabilities. They might not be served in the commercial banking system. It is because the system needs for formal requirements, along with the proper economic scale and certain guarantee. In official terms, this kind of market is un-named and un-served. There are niche markets for the supply of services for MFIs (Santoso et al. 2005: 8). Clients of microfinance institution can not be classified as the poorest of the poor. Generally, they are self-employed and low-income entrepreneur, including; traders, food vendors at the street side, small farmers, small producers and artisan who produce souvenirs in at tourism area and so on. The nature of their business usually provides a stable source of income (Ledgerwood 1999: 2). In various forms, income is provided by micro enterprises owned by the poor. This is done by providing employment. The recycling and repairing better than littering a good, making cheap food, clothing, and transportation to be available are some examples. It is also made to them who are from the low level of formal sector that are usually very difficult to live with their salaries. The people of this kind of life are often can cope with such a problem with the typical cases mentioned above, but can not handle the more serious problem. The other types of problem that are often found are deficiency of capital, skill, official status, and business security. In the meantime, naturally they already have the ability to face sharp business sense, strong life skills, long hard work practice, market knowledge, extensive communication and informal support networks. They also used to have the ability to live supported by their flexibility basic consideration (Robinson 2001: 12). A recent study in Bosnia and Herzegovina carried out by Hartarska and Nadolnyak (Hartarska and Nadolnyak 2008) used the financing constraint approach. The approach states that microenterprises that have good access to credit will be less rely on internal funding in their investment. Using the Living Standards Measurement Survey and the existence of the MFIs in their area, they compare sensitivity of investment to internal funds in the microenterprises which there are MFIs in municipalities they located to microenterprises which there is no MFIs in municipalities they located. They concluded that the MFIs reduce the constraint of microenterprises funding when they are exist close to business. There are some models of microfinance institutions. The first model is Grameen Bank. This model is founded in many countries, especially in Bangladesh, from which it established for the first time by Muhammad Junus. In determining target poor clients, Grameen Bank will do it carefully which is usually done through a series of tests. Loans are given to the group in which each group typically consists of five people and each member of the group guarantee the loan of the other members. This model intensively requires supervision and motivation from the staff to the group borrowers. The second model is Village Bank. An implementing agency establish individual village bank together with 30-50 people and sets capital for on-lending to other members. Repayments of the loan are usually in a week until 16 weeks whereas the village bank pays the principal plus interest to implementing agency. The third model is Credit Unions (CUs). Credit Unions are non-profit financial cooperatives which owned and controlled by its members. Besides saving, CU also provides loans for both productive and non-productive purposes to the members. The membership of CUs compared to Grameen Bank is more heterogeneous and usually based on similar bond. The fourth model is ‘self-help’ groups (SHGs). This model is close to the second model, village bank, although their structure is less well compared to the village bank.  The membership of SHGs is based on the similarity in income and the number of membership approximately 20 people. In principle, they use internal funding, that is saving, to lend it to the members, even though they can also seek external funding as additional source of funds. Several NGOs are facilitating and promoting SHGs, but basically, SHGs are directed as an independent institution. The task of seeking additional financing from outside is usually helped by NGOs which link between SHGs and other external parties or other funding agencies. This NGO’s job close related to social intermediary function they have, while other NGOs are functioned as financial intermediaries which funding SHGs  (Conroy 2003: 4-5). In terms of forms, microfinance institutions can be classified as bank (government and commercial), nonbank financial institution, saving and loan cooperative, credit union and nongovernmental organization. Pawnbrokers, rotating saving and credit association, and moneylender also part of MFIs and hold significant roles in functioning financial intermediation although they are more informal in legal status (Ledgerwood 1999: 1). In Indonesia, several institutions have already served microfinance services for such a long period. Those institutions can be divided into four types. The first type is formal microfinance institutions (MFIs). This type of MFI is regulated and supervised as banking institution and therefore their activities as financial intermediaries subject to banking regulation and supervision. Such institutions included in this type are BRI Unit (state-owned microbank), commercial banks with microfinance services and Rural Bank (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR). The second type is semi formal MFIs which registered and or licensed by state authorities or local governments, therefore they are not regulated by banking authority (Bank Indonesia). Including in this type are cooperatives, Islamic-based cooperatives (Baitul Maal wat Tamwil/BMT), rural credit institution (Badan Kredit Desa/BKD) and microfinance owned and managed by NGOs. The third type is informal MFIs that operate outside the framework of government regulation, among others, are credit union, rotating credit and saving association (ROSCA), moneylenders, landlords and so on. The fourth type is microcredit programs established by the government in channeling credit to subsidize the poor through a variety of institutions (Nugroho 2008: 181-182). Further explanation about these four microfinance services especially the first three types of MFIs will be presented in chapter 3.   In Figure 1 we can see the pyramid of microfinance institutions with their potential customers in Indonesia. The top layer shows formal MFIs (BRI Unit, Rural Banks/ BPRs and LDKPs). They provide financial services for the top level of microfinance market. This type of MFIs is intended to serve small business which has characterized with stable income flows; therefore these MFIs’ potential clients are non-poor and not so poor people. In the middle layer, semi- formal MFIs serve microfinance services for the poor households. This layer includes rural credit institutions (Bank Kredit Desa/BKD), cooperatives, BMT and NGOs. Clients in this layer are characterized by unstable flow of income. At the bottom layer of the pyramid the huge number of potential clients which need microfinance services. They are very poor people which are characterized by unpredictable income. They need the microfinance services in order to ensure their uncertain income, so they need a small loan to overcom e the difficulties of life (Nugroho 2008: 184-185). Figure 1: The Pyramid of Microfinance Services in Indonesia Source: BI and GTZ (2000) cited in Nugroho (2008) As mentioned above, Rural Bank (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat/BPR) is one of the formal types of microfinance in Indonesia. Its existence is established by Banking Act number 7 of 1992 as amended by Banking Act number 10 of 1998. The main goal of the rural bank is to serve small business and rural communities. In order to deliver their services to the customers, a microfinance institution requires a good performance. This performance can be seen from some indicators. Looking at these indicators, we can decide how well they not only can do financially but also it can also build the future performance goals. There are a large number of performance indicators that can be used by MFIs in measuring the financial performance. One of the principles that can be used is the CAMEL system, ACCION. This system examines five traditional aspects which are regarded as the most important thing in the practices of the financial intermediaries. The five aspects (capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, and liquidity) be the sign of the financial condition and operational strength of the MFI in common (Ledgerwood 1999: 205,227,229). 2.2  Analytical Framework Based on the theoretical framework that has been presented in the previous section, the author uses Figure 2 below describing the analytical framework used in the research which answering the research questions asked. There are two parties involved in the financial market.  On one hand, there is a supply side which is financial institutions that act as financial intermediation agents or it might be function as other than financial intermediation like social intermediation or something else. These financial institutions include commercial banks, non-banks financial institutions (insurances company, ventura capital, etc), and microfinance institutions (in different types and forms). On the other hand, on the demand side, there are some parties that require financing for different purposes, among others for working capital and investment usage which is belongs to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The problem is that not all of these financial institutions allow MSMEs as their client due to several requirements which can not be fulfilled by MSMEs (collateral and bureaucratic procedures, for instances) or it might be comes from the MSMEs itself that no need too much funds (small financing). Here, microfinance institutions fit with the need of MSMEs. The mechanism then runs as common supply and demand in the market: MFIs, as financial intermediaries, offer credit or loan to MSMEs. Furthermore, MSMEs use the loan for running their operational activities (working capital usage) or for accumulating their physical capital (investment usage). At the end of the story, output of MSMEs will contribute to national income (GDP) and at the same time generates income for the owners and employees. Figure 2: Analytical Framework of the Research: Supply and Demand in Financial Market Source: author’s graph This paper focuses on the supply side of particular financial intermediaries in the financial market those are microfinance institutions. In other words, using Ledgerwood’s terminology mentioned in literature review, the paper mainly looks at the role of MFIs in terms of â€Å"minimalist approach†; how they perform as financial intermediations in delivering credit or loan. Special attention given to Rural Banks, one of formal MFIs in Indonesia in allocating their credit to different types of enterprises such as micro, small, medium and large enterprises. There are several reasons why this paper discusses on Rural Banks as unit of analysis. Firstly, it is states in the regulation (Banking Act) that the main objective of Rural Banks is to serve small scale business and looking into the pyramid of MFIs appeared in Figure 1. It means that Rural Banks have a specialization as small scale business’ banking, especially micro enterprises. This paper wants to see to which extent this mission is successfully executed. Secondly, Rural Banks are the second largest microfinance institutions in terms of asset, third party funds collected and number of debtors. According to Bank Indonesia (2008)[9], they posses 35% of total MFIs’ assets; 30.43% of third party funds collected on total MFIs and 29.15% of total number debtors on total MFIs.   This study proposes two research questions. The first research question relates to the role of rural banks as financial intermediaries in delivering credit to different types of business especially micro and small enterprises. In addressing the first research question, the paper uses comparative analysis and simple calculations in terms of credit disbursement for both commercial banks and rural banks so that the share (percentage) of credit allocation to different types of enterprises to be known. In order to obtain the result, some criteria and assumption are applied in the study. This is done due to there is no data available about the definite amount of credit disbursed by either Rural Banks or commercial banks to different type of enterprises. The discussion focuses only on the amount of credit allocation, so that other variables that determine the credit such as interest rate, collateral, and so forth are not discussed in this study.   The second research question indicates the performance indicators of rural banks in relation to credit provision to micro enterprises. These indicators include; Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), Returns on Assets Ratio (ROA) and Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPL) which refer to Director of Bank Indonesia Decree number 30/12/Kep/Dir and Bank Indonesia’s Letter No. 30/3/UPPB about Rural Banks Soundness Evaluation. Furthermore, comparison will be made between these indicators and criteria. Chapter 3 Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia 3.1  Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia As developing country, Indonesia has long experience and history in developing microfinance institution which has made it possible for poor or low-income people to overcome financial constraints and to access financial institutions. For this condition, some researchers like Berenbach and Churchill called that Indonesia is â€Å"the most developed market for microfinance services in the world† (Barenbach and Churchill 1997 as cited in (Santoso et al. 2005: 43)). The development of microfinance institution began for the first time in Dutch colonial era when several well-educated local people saw deteriorating economy happened in their community and they looked for the need of this services and started organize it. The two famous institutions best known as pioneer in microfinance institutions and exist since colonial era are cooperative and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI). As mentioned in chapter 2, microfinance institutions in Indonesia can be classified into four types (Nugroho 2008), those are; formal microfinance institutions, semiformal MFIs, informal MFIs and microcredit program which is established by the government for delivering credit to poor people through several institutions. In this chapter the latter type of MFI will not be discussed. The discussion is emphasizes on three other institutions. Formal MFIs are financial intermediary institutions which refer and subject to banking regulation and therefore supervised by Bank Indonesia. Semiformal MFIs are not regulated by Bank Indonesia as a banking authority, but they are licensed and or registered by other state authorities or local government. Informal MFIs operate outside government regulations. Nugroho (Nugroho 2008) described institutions which include in each type of MFI as follows: formal MFIs including BRI Unit, Rural Bank (BPR) and The Rural Credit Fund Institutions (Lembaga Dana Kredit Pedesaan/LDKP); semiformal MFIs covering rural credit institution (Badan Kredit Desa/ BKD), microfinance NGO, credit cooperatives including Islamic-based cooperatives (Baitul Maal wat Tamwil/BMT); informal MFIs including credit unions, rotating credit and saving association (ROSCA), moneylenders, traders and landlords. Table 3.1 provides map of microfinance institutions by types in Indonesia in terms of units and their financial services. Bank Rakyat Indonesia Unit Lembaga Dana Kredit Perdesaan (LDKP) – The Rural Credit Fund Institutions The Rural Credit Fund Institutions (LDKP) is the term of credit fund institution that operates in rural area, including a variety of non bank microfinance institutions with different names, ownership, organization, services and outreach, that was established on initiatives of provincial government. LDKP belongs to provincial, district or village government which, in their operation, have to obtain license from and was regulated by provincial government within the national regulatory framework. they get technical support and supervision from regional development bank (BPD) which are owned by provincial government.. since it was established in 1970s, the number of LDKP getting less from 1978 to 630 in 2000, this decrease due to the conversion of LDKP to peoples cerdit banks(BPR) and recently only about one quarter of LDKP  have become banks. The Badan  Kredit Desa (BKD) BKD is a profitable and sustainable village level financial institution that provide financial services with a outreach to low income people. it was operated by a committee that controlled by head of village and have sustained the operation since colonial era. On behalf of Bank Indonesia, BRI branch offices supervise and provide technical assistance  for BKD. in 1970s indonesian government did not pay much attention to this system. instead, the government  give more attention to the cooperative system. this make hard for BKD system to developed. in 1990s BRI tried to revive BKD by providing basic capital, improving administrative system and introducing new saving instruments, however, 1992 banking act burden the expanding BKD system. BKD is recognized as peoples credit bank (BPR) and has been operating as a licensed and regulated bank  since 1992 banking act but the frame work setting, supervision and technical assistance has not changed since 2000. Cooperatives Here, the brief history of cooperative in Indonesia refers to Santoso et al (2005) and Ministry of Cooperative, Small and Medium Enterprises’ website (www.depkop.go.id, 2009) as references. The thought of cooperative was delivered for the first time by Patih R. Aria Wiriatmaja at Purwokerto, a small town in Central Java, in 1896. Then, De Wolffvan Westerrode continued his efforts. In 1908, the year of national movement, Dr. Sutomo founded Budi Utomo which played a significant role for cooperatives improving the life of society. Then, Verordening op de Cooperatieve Vereeniging was established. Twelve years after that, in 1927, another type of cooperative called Regelling Inlandsche Cooperatieve was launched. In the same year, to develop bargaining power among local entrepreneurs, Islamic Trader Union (Serikat Dagang Islam) was established. Indonesian National Party (Partai Nasional Indonesia) which had activities in promoting cooperative spirit was established in 1929. 3.2  Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) Brief History Steinwand (Steinwand 2001) provided detail periodical history about Rural Bank. He divided the history into four parts of periods; the evolution of the colonial BPR (1895-1945), the period from independence to financial sector reform (1945-1983), the period from financial sector reform to financial crisis (1983-1999) and at the present condition. Rural Bank Position in Financial System in Indonesia Chapter 4   Analysis of the Role of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPR) in Financing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 4.1  Overview Chapter 4 consists of 6 sections which each section aimed to answer the research questions. Section 1 is a general information about what will be discussed in this chapter; section 2 discusses about the source of the data used in the analysis; section 3 is the methodology; section 4 is about overview the condition of Bank Perkreditan Rakyat (BPRs) and commercial banks (CBs) in Indonesia using selected indicators, third party funds and credits; section 5 tries to reply the first research question by using comparative analysis between commercial banks and BPRs; and section 6 is the last section which answering the second research question about the performance indicators of