Shoes with Soul: Two Friends Realize a Dream

Shoes With Soul: Two Friends Realize a Dream 1. Renee Albertelli and Richard Rodriguez had certain things about their personality characteristics that helped them navigate the struggles of starting any kind of business. One of these characteristics they demonstrated is something every owner needs in order to run any type of business, which is having passion, enthusiasm, and determination, with these characteristics are needed to launch their new business. The excessive interest and energy they had to start this business never failed them; it was the most essential fuel for their vision on how they want to fully build their business.Albertelli’s characteristics portrayed how unselfish she is because of her current job, it allowed her to travel to different parts of the world and opened her eyes and made her aware and realize how many people from these different parts of the world earned their money. Also, both Albertelli and Rodriguez were both risk takers, they enjoyed seeing the options that potentially fail, but keep it at something positive, aside from being risky, they were committed because they both cashed in their retirement plans in order to fund the production of the products they want to sell. 2.Rodriguez and Albertelli’s decision to focus their marketing efforts on the Artisans who made the shoes was a wise decision. Giving the credit to those who worked hard in creating these shoes creates a belief that would be appealing to their consumers. The belief and idea of their business becomes the trademark of the company, and they will be remembered for their honest ways of wanting others to know where their product is created. This could potentially be a huge hit to those who share the same beliefs and values in wanting to credit those who devote their lives to certain things.The women’s desire to make a living and provide for their families by preparing the leather, designing, and assembling each paid of sandals was very impressive, and without them the product could never have been made. Personally, anyone who has any share in any type of business deserves to be given credit throughout the company’s success. Because without them there would be no business to work with. I’m quite impressed with the way they took their cause and made it a business but stayed devoted to who worked hard completing it.This product could easily have the influenced consumers who share the same admiration Albertelli had and purchase the product because of the positive belief the product has. 3. The management challenges that might cause Shoes with Soul to stagger would probably be the lack of experience. Even though Albertelli and Rodriguez are indeed educated and are knowledgeable in their current arrangements of marketing and finance, they probably aren’t aware or familiar with certain tasks when it comes to being a new business entrepreneurs’.This could be a down fall because of having to seek different advice from different people who could potential help, or harm them. There is a huge possibility that they might face stiff competition from other firms that have been running in the business longer than they have. However, if this business begins to grow and develop, they will need to hire employees who will assist them in running their business because the work load may become too over bearing.Some ways to avoid these â€Å"stumbling blocks† and allow them to guide their new business to success is to develop a new distribution channel, create new products, and cost cutting measures. By doing so, this could open a new door for consumers to see the business developing and exploring to expand, yet doing it in a costly matter rather than having expensive products take control of their company. This allows the country to stick to its main morals, beliefs, and values.

Short Term Preparation Refers to the Period Prior

) Short Term Preparation Refers to the Period Prior to a Competitive Performance Using the Headings Physiological, Psychological and Technical. Outline the Strategies and Considerations Elite Athletes Take Into Account By Abscissa PEE Essay Question IQ) Short term preparation refers to the period prior to a competitive performance using the headings physiological, psychological and technical. Outline the strategies and considerations elite athletes take into account in their short term preparation for global games. Marks) Prior to an event/performance an athlete will need to do an effective warm-up, this will increase the athletes heart rate, increases the temperature of muscles to an optimum level this will reduce the risk of injury. The four stages of an effective warm up are gross motor activity e. G. Jogging, stretching e. G. PEN, dynamic stretching. Also there is sports specific exercise and skills e. G. Passing drills this is done for the opening of neural pathways and the prep aration of firing patterns.Closer to a major event and elite athlete should taper there training this is done so that the athlete is able to rest their body in order to perform at their optimum level during events, however all training should not be stopped during this period technique and skill training can be done. An athlete should also monitor their sleep pattern to get enough sleep in-between training and their events e. G. The British swim team were on different sleeping patterns during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.A factor the athlete should consider is the new form of Carr- loading however this should only be used if the athlete is participating in a endurance event, if the athlete is a power athlete they may use creative supplements o increase their PC stores as they will be using the TAP-PC system during their event. Another factor the athlete should consider in their diet is hydration, the athlete should take isotonic fluid before and during the event/ training and t ake hypersonic fluids after the event/training this is so that the athlete is able to replenish ions such as Ca+ and An+ lost thorough sweat.The athlete would also need to acclimates to the climate of the venue, if the climate is hot the athlete would need to adapt to these conditions, an example of when an athlete didn't acclimates and it lead to a or performance is Lenox Lewis didn't acclimates properly when he was fighting against Raman which lead to him losing. To reach an optimum level of arousal the athlete should use mental preparation techniques such as watching previous good performances.Drive theory that was developed by Cajon states that if an athlete's anxiety increases it will lead to their dominant performance to come out. For the athlete to reach their optimum level of arousal they can visit the venue and over aroused or they can listen to music that will psyche them up if they over roused, to get to their optimum level of arousal athletes could also use routine howev er this will be need to be perfected over a long period of time, An example of this is Joe Callaghan used the same routine before every fight and he remained unbeaten throughout his entire career.If it's a team in order to be working positively there must be good group cohesion and team spirit to get the entire team going to the same direction. To prepare for the opposition the athlete should watch tapes of the opposition from this an athlete will be able to highlight the opposition strengths ND weaknesses, technology such as Prone can be used to analyses opposition and work out playing patterns and ways to play against them. Also athletes can use Dwarfish to perfect there technique.For technical preparation the athlete must check that the equipment that they are using is suitable for the playing surface and climate also they should use taping and strapping to prevent injuries. Also recovering aids can be used e. G. The Australian Team used Ice Vests in the 2000 Olympic Games in Syd ney as they climate there was very hot the ice vests would cool the athletes down. Also hypoxia chambers can be used e. G. The England Football team had built in hypoxia tents in there hotel rooms before World Cup 2010 in South Africa.The athlete should also use holding camps this will help them prepare for the competition as is would get them away from friends, family and media if would allow them to use world class facilities with world class coaching. Also coaches can monitor everything that athletes do within the holding camps, an example of when a holding camp was used was before the World Cup 2010 in South Africa the England squad used Restrung as their holding camp.

School Vending Machines

Dylan Norwood per. 5 #25 2-7-11 Vending Machines Did you eat anything today? â€Å"No. † Well how did you do on the test, not too good right? I believe that children who are’nt hungry do better on tests and focus more in school. Studies show that when children eat breakfist they do better in school. That’s true, but kids tend to get hungry right after breakfist. I think vending machines would be a good idea to have in schools; having vending machines would allow kids not to starve which willl cause children to focus in school.Well what about more trash on campus or too much children eating in class you wonder. Those issues can be easily resolved by putting more trash cans where children walk to their classes and also by the vending machine. I think the reason children don't focus in class when they're hungry is because they focus more on eating at lunch time instead of working on their classwork. If vending machines were at school, kids won't have to wait until l unch to buy food. Therefore kids won't be hungry during class, and they will focus more in school.You might think that kids will eat too much before lunch, but that's why I suggest we put a limit of how much you can buy. How can we do this you might ask? It's simple; by using children's school ID's to buy snacks would only lets them buy snacks three times a day. One of the most common issue is what will be in the vending machines. Most concerned parents are worried that schools would put a lot of unhealthy snacks such as cheetos, lays, chocolate, etc. Schools might put these things in the vending machines because it tastes good, and kids will buy them.I admit that it is true the majority of kids don't want to buy nutritious food because it doesn't taste good, but there are some other nutritous food like granola bars, fruit snacks, and many more. Parents will always try to think of new problems that concerns vending machines at school. I admit some problems the school might not be ab le to fix, but what matters most is it does more good than bad. I believe children that aren't hungry do better on tests and focus more in school.

The IOM Future of Nursing report related to the nursing workforce Essay

The IOM Future of Nursing report related to the nursing workforce - Essay Example Importance of the IOM â€Å"Future of Nursing† Report Nurses practice in various settings such as schools, retail health clinics, battlefields, public health centers, long-term care facilities, homes, and hospitals. They have differing levels of competencies and education in the entire nursing sector. The committee put into consideration nurses at all levels including their settings, education levels, and roles in an attempt to envision the profession’s future (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2011). The Future of Nursing report is very important since it addresses some of issues facing nurses such as differing education and competency levels. Several barriers obstruct the nurses from responding effectively to the rapidly transforming health settings as well as the evolving health care system. The barriers have to be overcome to make sure that nurses are in a good position to advance health and lead change. Apart from seeking to remove these barriers, the report recommends the improvement of the nursing education system. This is because patients’ needs are becoming more sophisticated and thus, the nurses have to attain requisite competencies in order to deliver care that is of high quality (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2011). ... Some of the main issues raised by the report are that nurses should practice to the greatest extent considering their training and eductaion; and that the education system that is in place to train nurses should be improved so as to encourage higher training and education of nurses for better servieces(Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2011). In this respect, the report recommends that varous boards, government bodies, accrediting societies and healthcare organizations should support nurses during their residency once they have successfully completed the prerequisite courses or when they are taking new areas related to clinical pratice. In addition, the report recommends that the proportion of nurses holding a baccalaureate degree should be inreased from 50% to 80% and the number of nurses with a doctorate dregree doubled by 2020 (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2011). In order to achieve this goal, academic nurse leaders should join forces and partner with other organizations to establish a workforce that is responsive to the diverse healthcare needs of the population. Furthermore, the report notes that nurses should participate fully in redisigning the country’s health care. Yet again, the report notes that better information collection and infrustructure is valuable if effective policies have to be made and the workforce properly planned. The Intent of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action represents an exceptional initiative to tackle the elevated demands for care by using all the talents, experience, skills, and knowledge of nurses. The main aim of the Campaign for Action is to manage the implementation of the IOM landmark report recommendations. The campaign

IT in Small Business Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IT in Small Business Accounting - Assignment Example Both sides of the Balance Sheet increase by $5000. Journal entry that would affect the Income Statement would be: DR CR Retained Earnings $2000 Wages Expense $2000 Assumption: Retained Earnings decreases with the debiting and Wages Expense account decrease while being posted to the expenses in the Income Statement. Assignment 2 The primary objectives of accounting are to fairly present the financial information in the financial statements with necessary disclosures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) so that users of the financial statements can use them to make informative decisions. This fulfills one of the main objectives which is to give assurance to the public about financial statements. The main objective of the firm producing financial statements is to monitor business performance throughout the year and possibly compare with past results. When comparative financial statements are compiled, a better understanding of the level of consistency can b e obtained. A part of this objective of accounting is to judge the performance of management and employees. Why isn't the company doing well when Sales have gone up? Are employees being careless with materials? Using this financial information the company can analyze the data to find out why the budgeted amounts for the operations budget and the actual data differ. In doing this, management will be able to answer questions about employee performance and it's own performance. Another objective is to record all expenses and revenues in the correct period. This is important since in order to find the financial position we must know when to post revenues and expense to the income...This fulfills one of the main objectives which is to give assurance to the public about financial statements. The main objective of the firm producing financial statements is to monitor business performance throughout the year and possibly compare with past results. When comparative financial statements are c ompiled, a better understanding of the level of consistency can be obtained. A part of this objective of accounting is to judge the performance of management and employees. Why isn't the company doing well when Sales have gone up? Are employees being careless with materials? Using this financial information the company can analyze the data to find out why the budgeted amounts for the operations budget and the actual data differ. In doing this, management will be able to answer questions about employee performance and it's own performance. Another objective is to record all expenses and revenues in the correct period. This is important since in order to find the financial position we must know when to post revenues and expense to the income statement. We also need this information to prepare tax records. Another objective is to prepare for the future of the company. Management needs to know which parts of the company are functioning inefficiently or efficiently. Certain departments m ay be functioning inefficiently and its important to know why and what can be done to prevent waste or inefficiency.

Racism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Racism - Essay Example The concept of ‘other’ creates the boundaries between people. Racism is prevalent everywhere one goes. Asians go to the European countries and do menial jobs for minimum wages. It is hard for them to score jobs they dream of doing. Even the economic analysts consider the Asian community as the labor community; washing dishes, working at gas stations or flipping burgers. The situation is not only prevalent in European countries, Silicon Valley United States is considered a dream place to get a job. However such a statement is highly overrated because the situation on ground is based on segregation. Hence it is true that racism is not only physical but it is a mental state. And in Silicon Valley it is termed as environmental racism. The immigrants are the ‘others’. The definition of other is that there is always ‘us’ and there is ‘other’ which is different from ‘us’. The other looks, different, talks, walks and eats different. These differences create imaginary walls between the two (i-e us and them). On the same psychological basis people divide other people in nations, ethnicities and races. This segregation goes on to include religions, cultures and any other classifications. There are two aspects of racism. One is when a white person feels superior because of the skin color. The other is when a black person feels inferior because of his color. The standards of beauty are defined by the modern media (especially Hollywood productions) that project white beauty and white lifestyle as the symbol of success and prosperity. Screenwriters, storytellers, movie directors and producers are biased in portraying a story or a life event. Hollywood movies do not explicitly show racist culture in their movies. But the majority of the movies in Hollywood show white lead role. The black guy is in his accomplice. The black guy is usually

IP 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

IP 2 - Essay Example Belief has only little evidences, which few people deem they are true whereby those who may express different opinion do so based on their life’s experiences. For instance, I may claim my significant other’s love towards me is evident on how she is not afraid to express it even in the public. However, this to some people may refer her as a showy character that is possessive and only out to scare other females from making attempts of approaching me. Therefore, the issue of love or affection in this case only emerges as a belief specifically held by very few people and me alone because it does not have adequate and concrete evidence that I can give but to justify. Since, people differ based on respective opinions on how one ought to express love because of likes and dislikes to the extent the conventional ways (holding hands in public) may not be acceptable to some. Despite the evidences outlined in the above regarding pieces of evidences, I still hold onto my former categorization of both knowledge and belief. This is because in the latter’s evidences comprise of individual experiences, mythology and observation whereby in the former two confirmations apply only to the person who has felt them can prove (Zalabardo, 2012). In most cases, those close or around him or her may end up not believing the experimenter because they are not sharing similar circumstances. In addition, it is quite tricky to prove an aspect of belief from an individual level like love and faith whereby even the observer contrary to knowledge may end up misinterpreting the relayed information. This is evident in the example that I have given above regarding publicly expressing love whereby some may term as either of the partners being possessive. This is because belief in most cases encompasses justifying by the convinced (Broeck & Brestoff,

Online Personality Tests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Personality Tests - Essay Example I can tell that the test was valid because occasionally, it asked for a response to a question and later again asked for a response to a statement negating the prior question. For example, if a respondent said â€Å"very accurate† in response to the statement â€Å"I easily get upset†, he/she should say â€Å"very inaccurate† to the next statement â€Å"I am not easily frustrated†. After the test, the next screen explained my personality using adjectives constituting one to two words like â€Å"fun-loving and broad-minded† etc. I think the descriptions offered by test results were the true reflection of my personality. Such online tests give a person a clear insight into his/her personality so that he/she can know what can he/she change about his/her behavior to convert into a better person. Such online tests can be occasionally dangerous if an individual starts believing them blindly. It was a long test based on 45 general and about 20 particular questions that pertained to investigating the demographics of an individual. As the name implies, the test was designed to measure five key personality traits namely, â€Å"openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.† I would criticize the test for a number of reasons. First, it was too taxing to answer about 70 questions in order to get a computer assessment of my personality. Often, the statements were too long and cumbersome. Secondly, the test had some unnecessary details about myself. The items constituting the test were fundamentally assessing my behavior. I can tell this from the fact that the five personality traits I have mentioned before are the most underlying components of an individual’s behavior. The screen that popped up once I submitted the completed test showed a grading for my personality on the scale of the five personality traits as named befor e. The grading was

Human Sexuality Extra Credit Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Sexuality Extra Credit Paper - Essay Example While this effect seems negative, the process is positive. Each person in the relationship helps chip away pieces of the other person to reveal the best self. The best ‘sculptor’ in this scenario is one who helps the partner reveal his ideal self just as a sculptor draws the ideal form from the block of granite. The effect becomes negative when one partner tries to mold the other into what he believes she should be. This phenomena is the â€Å"Pygmalion Effect,† and it usually leads to an ineffective relationship. 4. Our text and most other reading that I have done agree with this essay. A positive relationship is one of acceptance between partners. However, it is impossible to have a relationship without the partners having influence on one another. 2. I was interested in this essay because most of the people I know have a Facebook page. I have always believed that a Facebook page is detrimental to a relationship. I do not feel the collapse between private and public life has been good for society, so since this essay dealt with that subject, I read it. 3. The essay confirmed many of my suspicions. In her essay, Haag confirms that â€Å"Facebook intrusion was linked to relationship dissatisfaction† (Haag). The reasons for this effect derived from a multitude of factors. Facebook users were likely to add ex-lovers as friends, they were likely to investigate the lives of their current lovers, and they were likely to be jealous of posts on their lovers’ walls. Facebook makes lovers jealous, even when there is no cause for the jealousy. Additionally, the publication of relationship status on a Facebook page is only linked to an increase in relationship satisfaction for the male in a male-female relationship. All of the jealousy caused by Facebook is a result of the publication of the private life, a phenomena not present in earlier eras. 2. The title

Bates Motel Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bates Motel Analysis - Essay Example Given that monopolists have control over price, quality, and output, they therefore maximizes on the economic returns. In the short-run, monopolists enjoy supernormal profits given that they are price makers. Monopolists are profit maximizers and choose their equilibrium level of output and price at the point where marginal revenue equals to marginal cost (MR=MC) (Stackelberg, Bazin, Urch, & Hill, 2011). A practical example of industries that enjoy monopoly power is the electricity and power generation industries. The energy sector enjoys patent rights and protection that give it monopoly power. Therefore, the industry only prices at the point where marginal cost of production matches marginal revenue generated from the sales. Under perfectly competitive market, the equilibrium prices are naturally determined by the market forces of demand and supply with no single player having power to influence the prevailing prices, hence no price exploitation (Goldberg, 2000). Secondly, this market structure is characterized by production and allocative efficiency since they produce at the point where price equals marginal cost (P=MC) and produces quality products that are homogeneous in nature (Stackelberg, Bazin, Urch, & Hill, 2011). This market structure therefore produces a pareto optimal level of output and price that eliminates dead weight loss to both consumers and suppliers. One of such markets includes textile manufacturing industry that is characterized by free entry and exit. Given many buyers and sellers, consumers therefore benefit from high quality cloths and clothes at relatively affordable prices as no seller will benefit by increasing price above the equilibrium market rates. Monopolistic Competition is a media form of market structure that is dominated by advertising. This owes to the fact that monopolistic competition market structure deals in

Introduction to MS project 2003 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Introduction to MS project 2003 - Assignment Example This software was programmed to help its users to improve their operations in the business world, this software was meant to raise the profile of various services and products. With Microsoft Project 2003, one can create a new system, improve customers experience and expectations and also engage in any activity that is towards improving the customer’s efforts. Whenever any project is in session, it is important to give out reports about the project itself when using this program. For one to be able to see all the reports while using this program, they just click on the view button. From this point, they will be able to select the stories then they at the same time select the category that they require (Culp & VTC Incorporated 2005). This software also uses what is known as the assessment process, in that the program can constitute the development of projects bit by bit but in a perfect way. At the same time, the software is built with a compensation plan, this is a component that is capable of working well in a network marketing. This makes it be the best even though other versions are coming up, that are best and easy to operate than this version. The versions are also have an friendly interface. To conclude, this Microsoft Project 2003, is useful for business management. It is more efficient in the world of project management, and many business oriented companies that would want to succeed should consider

Great Depression and Person Adolf Hitler Essay Example for Free

Great Depression and Person Adolf Hitler Essay â€Å"If you want to shine like sun first you have to burn like it.† The words were rightly said by mankind’s greatest mind and most despised person Adolf Hitler. Many Historians wonder how such a commonplace, comical-looking figure could have become the object of mass hysterical adulation. Many see Hitler as a diabolical adventurer, motivated solely by envy for personal power; he was misunderstood for his mental capabilities. He was not interested in grappling serious, wit profound intellectual problems. Instead, he portrayed himself as a â€Å"great simplifier† who could solve problems and reduce them to elementary slogans and solutions. His success in pulling Germany out of the depression and virtually eliminating unemployment reinforced this view of himself as a great simplifier. This taught me that no matter how big or complex a problem is; a trick is all u need to make it simple enough even for the dull to understand. Hitler precisely said â€Å"Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so, you are insulting yourself.† Because of competition among the major world powers, he felt under confident but then because of sturdy will he was able to overpower them all. Many a times when I feel under confident, just because I am compared to the better people out there, I remember this and get right back on the track. For the first few months He took to the stage, he appeared nervous and spoke haltingly. Slowly he would begin to relax and his style of delivery would change. He would start to rock from side to side and begin to gesticulate with his hands. His voice would get louder and become more passionate. He ranted and raved about the injustices done to Germany and played on his audiences emotions of hatred and envy. By the end of the speech the audience would be in a state of near hysteria and were willing to do whatever Hitler suggested. This gave me the optimism to interact to people of higher status and education level. Speaking in front of huge crowds and in formal organizations is surely nerve-wrecking. But if a man of his altitude can be nervous so why can’t I. Slowly and gradually I gained more confidence. He possessed an unusually retentive memory much like that of an elephant. So he could remember his faults and not repeat it ever again. From this I got encouraged to remember and learn from my mistakes. He saw everything in terms of extremes opposites. People were either his followers or his enemies. War for Germany meant either world power or defeat. My perspective to this was weather give in your 100% or don’t try it. Adolf Hitler was not a power hungry psychopath; rather a patriot who was determined and devoted to work for the country. The man was plainly a nationalist. Just his methods for vengeance were vicious. There are innumerable examples wherein Hitler used his extraordinary power as dictator to push both evil and good policies such as providing cars and radios, making highways making laws for animal integrity. Again, it’s important to keep in mind the ‘yin yang’ concept, when attempting to make sense of such information concerning a person and his achievements. I would like to end with another of Hitler’s saying â€Å"It is not truth that matters, but victory. Because if you win, you need not have to explain..If you lose, you should not be there to explain.†

SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction

SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction In chapter 1, an overview of the whole dissertation has been provided. It can be considered as a backbone of the dissertation with the clear objectives and purposes stated. As an illustration, the chapter has mentioned about the overview of Vietnam banking system as well as credit services in Vietnamese bank in general and BIDV in particular. Moreover, chapter 1 has also presented about the significance of this study, research scope, research purpose, the research questions, research hypotheses. Moving to chapter 2 of this dissertation, SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction and its theories and concepts will be discussed. Moreover, some literature reviews of critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam as well as other countries will be mentioned. Lastly, the limitations of previous researches will be concluded. 2.2 SERVQUAL Model 2.2.1 Origins of SERVQUAL Model Managers in banking industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resources constrains under which banks must manage it is essential that customer satisfaction are properly met and measured and that from the customer satisfactions, any gaps in services quality are indentified. This information the assists a manager in identified cost effective ways of closing services quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scare resources. SERVQUAL Model which is a popular model of quality research of services and the most common application in the marketing research as well as other industries such as hospitality and economy. It can be said that the origin of SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 based on expectation perception gap model. In 1985 work, Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry illustrated that consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of four distinct gaps occurring in organizations. These gaps on the service providers side, which can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality, are: Gap1: Difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of consumer expectations. Gap2: Difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications. Gap3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered. Gap4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to consumers. Gap5: Difference between service expectation and perceived service quality According to Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry (1985), perceived service quality is defined in the model as the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, which in turn depends on the size and direction of the four gaps associated with the delivery of service quality on the marketers side. In addition, Brown and Bond (1995) stated that the conceptual of service quality also called the expectation perception gap model is one of the best received and most heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature. The model identifies the keys discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with service delivery to customers. The Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3 and Gap 4 are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality (Shahin A., 2006). 2.2.2 Dimensions of SERVQUAL Model As Shahin A.( 2006) concluded that one service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990). SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 and originally 10 dimensions of service quality were reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, tangibles. Later, ZeithamI, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988 tested the variables and reduced them to five factors including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (combining communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy) and empathy (combining understanding and knowing the customer with accessibility (Saleh, F. and Ryan, C., 1991). Figure 2.1 SERVQUAL MODEL Reliability Responsiveness Customer satisfaction Services quality Tangibles Assurance Sympathy Ravichandran et al, 2010 Reliability Reliability shows the ability to provide services accurately, on time, and credibly (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). This requires consistency in the implementation of services and respects commitments as well as keeps promises to customers. Responsiveness This criterion measures the ability to solve the problem fast, deal with customers complaint effectively and the willing to help customers as well as meet the customers requirements (Parasuman, 1988). In other words, responsiveness is the feedback from banks to what customers want. Tangibles Tangibles are the images of the facilities, equipment, machines, attitude of staffs, materials, manuals, and information systems of the bank (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). In others words, the tangibles refer to the effect of physical facility, equipment, personnel and communication materials on customer (Sureshchandar, Rajendran and Kamalanabhan, 2001). The atmosphere also called servicescapes influences directly both employees and customers in physiological, psychological, sociological, cognitive and emotional ways (Sureshchandar, 2001). Assurance This element creates credibility and trust for customers, which is considered through professional services, excellent technical knowledge, attitude courtesy, and good communication skills, so that customers can believe in the quality of firms services. Sympathy Sympathy is the caring, consideration, and the best preparation for customers, so that they can feel as guests of the firm and are always welcome at any times, anywhere. Human factors are the core of this success and the more caring the bank gives to customers, the more customer understanding increases. 2.2.3 Applications of SERVQUAL Model There is no doubt that a firm wants to survive in a competitive environment, they have to ensure about the quality of products and services they are supplying to the market. Some firms provide only services therefore the quality of services is an important issue for all of these firms. Competing goods firms such as department stores, supermarket may sell a wide range of products and quality of services is a primary means of competitive differentiation. Firms that supply only services like telecommunication companies, airlines etc. have a little to offer if their quality is not good (Berry, 1986). It can be said that SERVQUAL is multiple item scale with good reliability and validity that help firms to have better understanding evaluation the services expectations and perception of customer and improve the services as well. Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/ perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. SERVQUAL shows its best valuation when it is used to track service quality trends as well as in combination with other forms of service quality measurement. Moreover, SERVQUAL is used to evaluate the firms quality according to the five services dimensions by averaging the difference scores on items making up the dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,1985). Similarly, an overall measure of service quality in the form of an average score across all five dimensions. Determining the relative importance of the five dimensions affecting customers overall quality perception is one potential application of SERVQUAL. Another application of SERVQUAL is used in categorizing a firms customers into several perceived quality segments on the basis of their individual SERVQUAL scores (Parasuraman et al.,1988). 2.3 Theories and concepts of SERVQUAL Model 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.1.1 Service quality Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service quality. The most common definition used to define service quality is the extent to which a service meets customers needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can also be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and the result is customer dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). 2.3.1.2 Customer Satisfaction There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) Satisfaction is a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumers prior feelings about the consumption experience. While Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as: a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. While Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated satisfaction is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customers anticipate and what they receive, regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desire. 2.3.2 Service Quality Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service quality (Baumann, Burton, Elliott and Kehr, 2007; Bitner, Booms and Tetreault, 1990; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml, 1993; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993; Robledo, 2001). However, service quality is more difficult to measure than goods quality (Gronroos, 1982) due to the intangibility of services. For this reason, firms actually find it more difficult to understand how customers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981). According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) also shared the opinion with Lewis and Booms (1983) by the statement: Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance. To demonstrate the above statement, Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) proposed the SERVQUAL scale for measuring the service quality. Cronin et al. (1992) summarized four different measurement models for service quality these are SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, Weighted SERVQUAL, and Weighted SEVPERF. However, SERVPERF was regarded as the best of four models. Furthermore, Martilla et al. (1977) conducted the Importance Performance Analysis which was considered as another measurement for service quality. 2.3.3 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al Wugayan et al., 2007). Al Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customers initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customers perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations. There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995). In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customers needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customers wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organizations profitability. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word of mouth communication. From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of purchase. Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention. According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitability. Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001). 2.3.4 Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is often defined as the customers post-purchase comparison between pre-purchase expectation and performance received (Oliver, 1980; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed in numerous previous papers during the past decade. First of all, many researchers present that service quality has positive related relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, service quality influence customer satisfaction and vice versa customer satisfaction influence quality (Jun and Cai, 2010). There is no doubt that in the worlds today intensive competition, once a business wants to survive, they have to improve the service quality that helps them to achieve a different advantage over their rivalries. Service quality, therefore has become one of the critical factors for satisfying and retaining valued customers in every industries and banking is not an exception. Many scholars indicate that high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the product or service. A satisfied customer will have the willingness to recommend someone else, reduction in complaints and the bank can achieve the customer retention. Furthermore, a satisfied customer is likely to be a loyal customer who will give repeatin g business to the firm (Heskett et al., 1997). More importantly, according to Bedi (2010), the cost of retaining existing customer by improving the quality of product and services is perceived to be significantly lower than the cost of achieving the new customers. On the other hand, when regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in some industries as banking, some scholars point out that service quality is not related to customer satisfaction under certain circumstances. For example, through numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1985) indicated that even though customers were satisfied with a particular service, they did not think that it was of high quality. Another scholar also agrees with this idea, Storbacka et al. (1994, pp. 24) stated that: A customer could, therefore, respond on a questionnaire that a particular bank is of high quality, even if this did not mean this customer was satisfied with using the bank. Its interest rates on loans may be too high or it might not fit the customers preferences for some other reason. 2.4 Previous research 2.4.1 Critical summaries of previous research a. Title: Lending Policies of Informal, Formal and Semiformal Lenders Evidence from Vietnam Authors: Thi Thu Tra Pham and Robert Lensink (2007) Country: Vietnam Data collection: the data used in this study are from a household survey on living standard in Vietnam that conducted by Vietnams General Statistical Office in 1998 with the sample of 6,002 households. Summary: This paper aims to compare lending policies of formal, informal and semiformal lenders towards household lending in Vietnam. The study points out that the probability of using formal or semi formal credit increase when borrowers provide collateral, a guarantor and/or borrow for business-related activities. The probability of using informal credit increases for female borrowers. Formal loan contract terms such as loan interest rate and form of loan repayment affect strongly default risk of formal credit. While internal characteristics of the borrowing household influent much on default risk of informal credit. Lastly, this paper aims to explore how different types of lenders try to avoid adverse selection as well as moral hazard by screening, monitoring and enforcement instruments. b. Title: Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam Authors: Mikkel Barslund and Finn Tarp (2008) Country: Vietnam Data collection: A survey of 932 rural households (in four provinces of Long An, Quang Nam, Ha Tay and Phu Tho) in combination with information from the 2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. Summary: This paper aims to indicate how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households can obtain the credit provided by both formal and informal lenders. Normally, formal loans are used for production and asset accumulation, whereas informal loans are supplied for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are extremely different. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. The study indicates that credit policy in Vietnam only has one size fits all approach would be inappropriate. c. Title: Research on Customer Satisfaction: Take the Loan Market of the Taiwanese Region as An Example. Authors: Chih-Chung Chen, Su-Chao Chang (2006) Country: Taiwan Data collection: In this study, 650 questionnaires were distributed of which 413 valid questionnaires returned. Moreover, this research also conducted interviews five native branch office managers. Summary: This study aims to examine the feasibility of employing customer satisfaction model in the loan departments of banks. The research presents that once customer expectations are significantly as well as positively related to the banks performance, customer satisfaction and loyalty will be high and the complaints will be few as the result. d. Title: Credit and Non Interest Rate Determinants of Loan Demand: a Spanish Case Study Authors: Manrique, J. and Ojah, K. (2004) Country: Spain Data collection: This survey contains data for 21,155 Spanish households. 430 observations were excluded due to missing and/or inconsistent information, leaving a final sample of 20,725 observations. Summary: This research aims to investigate the potential relationship between the condition of being credit unconstrained and holdings loans as well as the determinants for a household being credit unconstrained, consumer loans and real estate loans. Spanish households desire and capacity to hold loans depends on the family size, education, permanent and transitory incomes. Lastly, this research provides deeply insights that attract credit consumers, credit suppliers, and policy makers in Spain. e. Title: Consumer Credit and Money Policy in Malaysia Authors: Kassim, Salina Hj and Manap, Turkhan Ali Abul (2008) Country: Malaysia Data collection: The study uses monthly data from January 1998 until March 2006. Data such as interest rates and bank loans come from Bank Negara Malaysias Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Data on the economic conditions such as the CPI and the IPI are gathered from the respective publications of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Summary: The study aims to find out the consequences of interest rate on consumer credit in Malaysia based on empirical investigation. The authors categorized aggregate consumer loans into specific types including loans for purchase of residential property, loans for credit cards, loans for personal needs, loans for purchase of securities and so on, so forth. Through categorizing types of loans, the paper aims to present the relative sensitivity of each loan to interest rate shocks. f. Title: Credit demand of Rural Enterprise and Loan Supply in China Authors: Du Zhixiong (2004) Country: China Data collection: The two databases were collected during two fields of rural enterprises, undertaken in 2000 and 2001 in different provinces, namely, Jiangsu province in coastal China, and Anhui province in the central part of China. Summary: This study aims to supply the information about the real situation of rural enterprises financing. Moreover, this paper also illustrates information on the banking systems restructuring and the ways banks provide credit for rural enterprises to overcome the financing constraints. Undoubtedly, the article shows useful information on financing of rural enterprises based on using data from two surveys of rural enterprises. g. Title: Deteriorating Bank Health and Lending in Japan: Evidence from Unlisted Companies under Financial Distress Authors: Fukuda, Shin-Ichi, Kasuya, Munehisa, and Nakajima, Jouchi (2006) Country: Japan Data collection: The data are taken from Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) Database Service about 3644 Japanese unlisted firms. Summary: This study aims to investigate the impacts of banks weakened financial conditions on loans outstanding to medium size firms in Japan. The paper examines the determinants of lending to unlisted Japanese companies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Moreover, the study indicates that the bank health, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and ratios of non-performing loans had opposite impacts on lending. In the case of regulatory capital adequacy ratios, its deterioration had a perverse impact on the banks lending. h. Title: An Investigation of the Relationships among Consumer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Market Share in Kuwaiti loan services Authors: Al-Wugaya, A., Pleshko, L.P., and Baqer, S.M. (2007) Country: Kuwaiti Data collection: the paper used the survey of nearly 700 customers using Kuwaiti loan services. Summary: This research aims to investigate the relationship among customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market share of loan services in Kuwaiti. Based on the research result, the authors indicate that the relationship between customer satisfaction and market share is not supported in banking industry. However, customer loyalty is pointed out to be related to market shares. Moreover, customer loyalty is not derived from customer satisfaction but rather on other factors like price, special deals or bank customer relationship. i. Title: Provisioning of Rural Credit: an Indian Perspective Authors: Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.R., and Choudhury, S. (2009) Country: India Data collection: the survey covering 90,000 rural households in 6,552 villages in India was conducted from January to December 2003 by the National Sample Survey Organization. Summary: The paper aims to analysis rural credit provisioning measures as well as the rural credit delivery scenario in India through different rural financial institution. The study indicates that rural credit delivery still has been suffered from low levels of access to credit by the farming community, declining share of agricultural loan as a share of the total credit uptake, inadequate coverage of small and marginal farmers and exclusion of tenant farmers and share croppers. j. Title: The Incidence of Loan Collateralization in Small Business Lending Contract: Evidence from the UK. Authors: Cowling, M. (1999) Country: the UK Data collection: the data were used as random samples of 272 small businesses from a survey conducted by Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Summary: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between small firms and banks focusing on the incidence of loan collateralization. The study indicates that age of the small firms and close relationship with the banks that helps to reduce the incidence of loan collateralization, which implies that relationship banking can bring tangible benefits to small businesses. 2.4.2 Limitations of previous research General speaking, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that previous research has provided readers comprehensive knowledge about sectors it mentioned especially in customer satisfaction as well as credit facilities provided in different countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. However, the previous papers also show their limitations as there were a few studies specializing in credit facilities provided by Vietnamese banks. Further the real situation of credit services in Vietnam including outstanding loans, loan structures well as the quality of credit facilities has not been comprehensively researched. Accordingly, the customer satisfaction on credit facilities was not paid much attention by previous scholars. Therefore it can be said that the previous studies do not provide adequate information about customer satisfaction on credit facilities in Vietnamese banks. 2.5 Criticism of SERVQUAL Model It can be denied that although SERVQUAL has grown popularly and widespread applied it still has been subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms as below. Under theoretical aspects, first of all SERVQUAL is criticized due to its inappropriate base on an expectations disconfirmation model rather than an attitudinal model of service quality. Secondly, it does not build on extant knowledge in economics, statistics and psychology (Francis Buttle (1996). Cronin and Taylor (1992; 1994) said that SERVQUAL is paradigmatically flawed because of its ill-judged adoption of this disconfirmation model. Moreover, they stated that perceived quality is best conceptualized as an attitude. They criticized Parasuraman et al. for their hesitancy to define perceived service quality in attitudinal terms, even though Parasuraman et al. (1988) had earlier claimed that service quality was similar in many ways to an attitude. Another criticism has been proposed by Anderson (1992), he indicated that SERVQUAL fails to draw on previous social science research, particularly economic theory, statistics, and psychological theory. Parasuraman et al.s work is highly inductive in that it moves from historically situated observation to general theory. Andersson (1992) reckoned that Parasuraman et al. renounces the principle of scientific continuity and deduction. For theoretical aspects, Francis Buttle (1996) also presented a related set of criticism of SERVQUAL including factors involved in Gaps model, process orientation and dimensionality. In Gaps model, there is little evidence shows that the customer assess quality in terms of Perception Expectation gaps. For process orientation: SERVQUAL has been criticized for concentrating on the process of service delivery rather than focusing on the outcomes of the service encounter such as technical dimensions (Kang and James, 2004). In other words, the SERVQUAL measurement does not adequately explain a technical attribute of service (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). Dimensionality: SERVQUALs five dimensions are not universals; the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a positive inter correlation between the five RATER dimensions (Buttle ,1996). Under operational aspects, many scholars have argued that the components of SERVQUAL fail to fully evaluate customer perception on service quality in certain industries (Cronin Taylor, 1992; Finn and Lamb, 1991). Two attributes of service was proposed by Gronroos (1984) which have been identified as dimensions of service quality relied on the conceptualization of service quality as between expectation of service and perceived service. Rust and Oliver (1994) extended Grunions model by providing a three-component model explaining service quality through service product, service delivery and service environment. Whereas Brady and Cronin (2001) suggested three service quality dimensions including service outcome, consumer-employee interaction and service environment. It can be said that the conceptualization of service product/service outcome and service delivery/consumer employee interaction is consistent with the idea of technical attribute as well as functional attribute derived fro m Gronroos model. (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). 2.5 Chapter Summary To conclude, first of all SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction as well as its theories and concepts have been presented. After that this chapter has reviewed many academic previous researches about critical factors determining customer satisfaction in di SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction In chapter 1, an overview of the whole dissertation has been provided. It can be considered as a backbone of the dissertation with the clear objectives and purposes stated. As an illustration, the chapter has mentioned about the overview of Vietnam banking system as well as credit services in Vietnamese bank in general and BIDV in particular. Moreover, chapter 1 has also presented about the significance of this study, research scope, research purpose, the research questions, research hypotheses. Moving to chapter 2 of this dissertation, SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction and its theories and concepts will be discussed. Moreover, some literature reviews of critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam as well as other countries will be mentioned. Lastly, the limitations of previous researches will be concluded. 2.2 SERVQUAL Model 2.2.1 Origins of SERVQUAL Model Managers in banking industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resources constrains under which banks must manage it is essential that customer satisfaction are properly met and measured and that from the customer satisfactions, any gaps in services quality are indentified. This information the assists a manager in identified cost effective ways of closing services quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scare resources. SERVQUAL Model which is a popular model of quality research of services and the most common application in the marketing research as well as other industries such as hospitality and economy. It can be said that the origin of SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 based on expectation perception gap model. In 1985 work, Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry illustrated that consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of four distinct gaps occurring in organizations. These gaps on the service providers side, which can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality, are: Gap1: Difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of consumer expectations. Gap2: Difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications. Gap3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered. Gap4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to consumers. Gap5: Difference between service expectation and perceived service quality According to Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry (1985), perceived service quality is defined in the model as the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, which in turn depends on the size and direction of the four gaps associated with the delivery of service quality on the marketers side. In addition, Brown and Bond (1995) stated that the conceptual of service quality also called the expectation perception gap model is one of the best received and most heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature. The model identifies the keys discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with service delivery to customers. The Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3 and Gap 4 are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality (Shahin A., 2006). 2.2.2 Dimensions of SERVQUAL Model As Shahin A.( 2006) concluded that one service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990). SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 and originally 10 dimensions of service quality were reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, tangibles. Later, ZeithamI, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988 tested the variables and reduced them to five factors including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (combining communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy) and empathy (combining understanding and knowing the customer with accessibility (Saleh, F. and Ryan, C., 1991). Figure 2.1 SERVQUAL MODEL Reliability Responsiveness Customer satisfaction Services quality Tangibles Assurance Sympathy Ravichandran et al, 2010 Reliability Reliability shows the ability to provide services accurately, on time, and credibly (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). This requires consistency in the implementation of services and respects commitments as well as keeps promises to customers. Responsiveness This criterion measures the ability to solve the problem fast, deal with customers complaint effectively and the willing to help customers as well as meet the customers requirements (Parasuman, 1988). In other words, responsiveness is the feedback from banks to what customers want. Tangibles Tangibles are the images of the facilities, equipment, machines, attitude of staffs, materials, manuals, and information systems of the bank (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). In others words, the tangibles refer to the effect of physical facility, equipment, personnel and communication materials on customer (Sureshchandar, Rajendran and Kamalanabhan, 2001). The atmosphere also called servicescapes influences directly both employees and customers in physiological, psychological, sociological, cognitive and emotional ways (Sureshchandar, 2001). Assurance This element creates credibility and trust for customers, which is considered through professional services, excellent technical knowledge, attitude courtesy, and good communication skills, so that customers can believe in the quality of firms services. Sympathy Sympathy is the caring, consideration, and the best preparation for customers, so that they can feel as guests of the firm and are always welcome at any times, anywhere. Human factors are the core of this success and the more caring the bank gives to customers, the more customer understanding increases. 2.2.3 Applications of SERVQUAL Model There is no doubt that a firm wants to survive in a competitive environment, they have to ensure about the quality of products and services they are supplying to the market. Some firms provide only services therefore the quality of services is an important issue for all of these firms. Competing goods firms such as department stores, supermarket may sell a wide range of products and quality of services is a primary means of competitive differentiation. Firms that supply only services like telecommunication companies, airlines etc. have a little to offer if their quality is not good (Berry, 1986). It can be said that SERVQUAL is multiple item scale with good reliability and validity that help firms to have better understanding evaluation the services expectations and perception of customer and improve the services as well. Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/ perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. SERVQUAL shows its best valuation when it is used to track service quality trends as well as in combination with other forms of service quality measurement. Moreover, SERVQUAL is used to evaluate the firms quality according to the five services dimensions by averaging the difference scores on items making up the dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,1985). Similarly, an overall measure of service quality in the form of an average score across all five dimensions. Determining the relative importance of the five dimensions affecting customers overall quality perception is one potential application of SERVQUAL. Another application of SERVQUAL is used in categorizing a firms customers into several perceived quality segments on the basis of their individual SERVQUAL scores (Parasuraman et al.,1988). 2.3 Theories and concepts of SERVQUAL Model 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.1.1 Service quality Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service quality. The most common definition used to define service quality is the extent to which a service meets customers needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can also be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and the result is customer dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). 2.3.1.2 Customer Satisfaction There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) Satisfaction is a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumers prior feelings about the consumption experience. While Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as: a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. While Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated satisfaction is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customers anticipate and what they receive, regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desire. 2.3.2 Service Quality Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service quality (Baumann, Burton, Elliott and Kehr, 2007; Bitner, Booms and Tetreault, 1990; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml, 1993; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993; Robledo, 2001). However, service quality is more difficult to measure than goods quality (Gronroos, 1982) due to the intangibility of services. For this reason, firms actually find it more difficult to understand how customers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981). According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) also shared the opinion with Lewis and Booms (1983) by the statement: Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance. To demonstrate the above statement, Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) proposed the SERVQUAL scale for measuring the service quality. Cronin et al. (1992) summarized four different measurement models for service quality these are SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, Weighted SERVQUAL, and Weighted SEVPERF. However, SERVPERF was regarded as the best of four models. Furthermore, Martilla et al. (1977) conducted the Importance Performance Analysis which was considered as another measurement for service quality. 2.3.3 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al Wugayan et al., 2007). Al Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customers initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customers perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations. There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995). In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customers needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customers wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organizations profitability. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word of mouth communication. From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of purchase. Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention. According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitability. Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001). 2.3.4 Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is often defined as the customers post-purchase comparison between pre-purchase expectation and performance received (Oliver, 1980; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed in numerous previous papers during the past decade. First of all, many researchers present that service quality has positive related relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, service quality influence customer satisfaction and vice versa customer satisfaction influence quality (Jun and Cai, 2010). There is no doubt that in the worlds today intensive competition, once a business wants to survive, they have to improve the service quality that helps them to achieve a different advantage over their rivalries. Service quality, therefore has become one of the critical factors for satisfying and retaining valued customers in every industries and banking is not an exception. Many scholars indicate that high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the product or service. A satisfied customer will have the willingness to recommend someone else, reduction in complaints and the bank can achieve the customer retention. Furthermore, a satisfied customer is likely to be a loyal customer who will give repeatin g business to the firm (Heskett et al., 1997). More importantly, according to Bedi (2010), the cost of retaining existing customer by improving the quality of product and services is perceived to be significantly lower than the cost of achieving the new customers. On the other hand, when regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in some industries as banking, some scholars point out that service quality is not related to customer satisfaction under certain circumstances. For example, through numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1985) indicated that even though customers were satisfied with a particular service, they did not think that it was of high quality. Another scholar also agrees with this idea, Storbacka et al. (1994, pp. 24) stated that: A customer could, therefore, respond on a questionnaire that a particular bank is of high quality, even if this did not mean this customer was satisfied with using the bank. Its interest rates on loans may be too high or it might not fit the customers preferences for some other reason. 2.4 Previous research 2.4.1 Critical summaries of previous research a. Title: Lending Policies of Informal, Formal and Semiformal Lenders Evidence from Vietnam Authors: Thi Thu Tra Pham and Robert Lensink (2007) Country: Vietnam Data collection: the data used in this study are from a household survey on living standard in Vietnam that conducted by Vietnams General Statistical Office in 1998 with the sample of 6,002 households. Summary: This paper aims to compare lending policies of formal, informal and semiformal lenders towards household lending in Vietnam. The study points out that the probability of using formal or semi formal credit increase when borrowers provide collateral, a guarantor and/or borrow for business-related activities. The probability of using informal credit increases for female borrowers. Formal loan contract terms such as loan interest rate and form of loan repayment affect strongly default risk of formal credit. While internal characteristics of the borrowing household influent much on default risk of informal credit. Lastly, this paper aims to explore how different types of lenders try to avoid adverse selection as well as moral hazard by screening, monitoring and enforcement instruments. b. Title: Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam Authors: Mikkel Barslund and Finn Tarp (2008) Country: Vietnam Data collection: A survey of 932 rural households (in four provinces of Long An, Quang Nam, Ha Tay and Phu Tho) in combination with information from the 2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. Summary: This paper aims to indicate how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households can obtain the credit provided by both formal and informal lenders. Normally, formal loans are used for production and asset accumulation, whereas informal loans are supplied for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are extremely different. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. The study indicates that credit policy in Vietnam only has one size fits all approach would be inappropriate. c. Title: Research on Customer Satisfaction: Take the Loan Market of the Taiwanese Region as An Example. Authors: Chih-Chung Chen, Su-Chao Chang (2006) Country: Taiwan Data collection: In this study, 650 questionnaires were distributed of which 413 valid questionnaires returned. Moreover, this research also conducted interviews five native branch office managers. Summary: This study aims to examine the feasibility of employing customer satisfaction model in the loan departments of banks. The research presents that once customer expectations are significantly as well as positively related to the banks performance, customer satisfaction and loyalty will be high and the complaints will be few as the result. d. Title: Credit and Non Interest Rate Determinants of Loan Demand: a Spanish Case Study Authors: Manrique, J. and Ojah, K. (2004) Country: Spain Data collection: This survey contains data for 21,155 Spanish households. 430 observations were excluded due to missing and/or inconsistent information, leaving a final sample of 20,725 observations. Summary: This research aims to investigate the potential relationship between the condition of being credit unconstrained and holdings loans as well as the determinants for a household being credit unconstrained, consumer loans and real estate loans. Spanish households desire and capacity to hold loans depends on the family size, education, permanent and transitory incomes. Lastly, this research provides deeply insights that attract credit consumers, credit suppliers, and policy makers in Spain. e. Title: Consumer Credit and Money Policy in Malaysia Authors: Kassim, Salina Hj and Manap, Turkhan Ali Abul (2008) Country: Malaysia Data collection: The study uses monthly data from January 1998 until March 2006. Data such as interest rates and bank loans come from Bank Negara Malaysias Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Data on the economic conditions such as the CPI and the IPI are gathered from the respective publications of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Summary: The study aims to find out the consequences of interest rate on consumer credit in Malaysia based on empirical investigation. The authors categorized aggregate consumer loans into specific types including loans for purchase of residential property, loans for credit cards, loans for personal needs, loans for purchase of securities and so on, so forth. Through categorizing types of loans, the paper aims to present the relative sensitivity of each loan to interest rate shocks. f. Title: Credit demand of Rural Enterprise and Loan Supply in China Authors: Du Zhixiong (2004) Country: China Data collection: The two databases were collected during two fields of rural enterprises, undertaken in 2000 and 2001 in different provinces, namely, Jiangsu province in coastal China, and Anhui province in the central part of China. Summary: This study aims to supply the information about the real situation of rural enterprises financing. Moreover, this paper also illustrates information on the banking systems restructuring and the ways banks provide credit for rural enterprises to overcome the financing constraints. Undoubtedly, the article shows useful information on financing of rural enterprises based on using data from two surveys of rural enterprises. g. Title: Deteriorating Bank Health and Lending in Japan: Evidence from Unlisted Companies under Financial Distress Authors: Fukuda, Shin-Ichi, Kasuya, Munehisa, and Nakajima, Jouchi (2006) Country: Japan Data collection: The data are taken from Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) Database Service about 3644 Japanese unlisted firms. Summary: This study aims to investigate the impacts of banks weakened financial conditions on loans outstanding to medium size firms in Japan. The paper examines the determinants of lending to unlisted Japanese companies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Moreover, the study indicates that the bank health, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and ratios of non-performing loans had opposite impacts on lending. In the case of regulatory capital adequacy ratios, its deterioration had a perverse impact on the banks lending. h. Title: An Investigation of the Relationships among Consumer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Market Share in Kuwaiti loan services Authors: Al-Wugaya, A., Pleshko, L.P., and Baqer, S.M. (2007) Country: Kuwaiti Data collection: the paper used the survey of nearly 700 customers using Kuwaiti loan services. Summary: This research aims to investigate the relationship among customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market share of loan services in Kuwaiti. Based on the research result, the authors indicate that the relationship between customer satisfaction and market share is not supported in banking industry. However, customer loyalty is pointed out to be related to market shares. Moreover, customer loyalty is not derived from customer satisfaction but rather on other factors like price, special deals or bank customer relationship. i. Title: Provisioning of Rural Credit: an Indian Perspective Authors: Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.R., and Choudhury, S. (2009) Country: India Data collection: the survey covering 90,000 rural households in 6,552 villages in India was conducted from January to December 2003 by the National Sample Survey Organization. Summary: The paper aims to analysis rural credit provisioning measures as well as the rural credit delivery scenario in India through different rural financial institution. The study indicates that rural credit delivery still has been suffered from low levels of access to credit by the farming community, declining share of agricultural loan as a share of the total credit uptake, inadequate coverage of small and marginal farmers and exclusion of tenant farmers and share croppers. j. Title: The Incidence of Loan Collateralization in Small Business Lending Contract: Evidence from the UK. Authors: Cowling, M. (1999) Country: the UK Data collection: the data were used as random samples of 272 small businesses from a survey conducted by Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Summary: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between small firms and banks focusing on the incidence of loan collateralization. The study indicates that age of the small firms and close relationship with the banks that helps to reduce the incidence of loan collateralization, which implies that relationship banking can bring tangible benefits to small businesses. 2.4.2 Limitations of previous research General speaking, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that previous research has provided readers comprehensive knowledge about sectors it mentioned especially in customer satisfaction as well as credit facilities provided in different countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. However, the previous papers also show their limitations as there were a few studies specializing in credit facilities provided by Vietnamese banks. Further the real situation of credit services in Vietnam including outstanding loans, loan structures well as the quality of credit facilities has not been comprehensively researched. Accordingly, the customer satisfaction on credit facilities was not paid much attention by previous scholars. Therefore it can be said that the previous studies do not provide adequate information about customer satisfaction on credit facilities in Vietnamese banks. 2.5 Criticism of SERVQUAL Model It can be denied that although SERVQUAL has grown popularly and widespread applied it still has been subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms as below. Under theoretical aspects, first of all SERVQUAL is criticized due to its inappropriate base on an expectations disconfirmation model rather than an attitudinal model of service quality. Secondly, it does not build on extant knowledge in economics, statistics and psychology (Francis Buttle (1996). Cronin and Taylor (1992; 1994) said that SERVQUAL is paradigmatically flawed because of its ill-judged adoption of this disconfirmation model. Moreover, they stated that perceived quality is best conceptualized as an attitude. They criticized Parasuraman et al. for their hesitancy to define perceived service quality in attitudinal terms, even though Parasuraman et al. (1988) had earlier claimed that service quality was similar in many ways to an attitude. Another criticism has been proposed by Anderson (1992), he indicated that SERVQUAL fails to draw on previous social science research, particularly economic theory, statistics, and psychological theory. Parasuraman et al.s work is highly inductive in that it moves from historically situated observation to general theory. Andersson (1992) reckoned that Parasuraman et al. renounces the principle of scientific continuity and deduction. For theoretical aspects, Francis Buttle (1996) also presented a related set of criticism of SERVQUAL including factors involved in Gaps model, process orientation and dimensionality. In Gaps model, there is little evidence shows that the customer assess quality in terms of Perception Expectation gaps. For process orientation: SERVQUAL has been criticized for concentrating on the process of service delivery rather than focusing on the outcomes of the service encounter such as technical dimensions (Kang and James, 2004). In other words, the SERVQUAL measurement does not adequately explain a technical attribute of service (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). Dimensionality: SERVQUALs five dimensions are not universals; the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a positive inter correlation between the five RATER dimensions (Buttle ,1996). Under operational aspects, many scholars have argued that the components of SERVQUAL fail to fully evaluate customer perception on service quality in certain industries (Cronin Taylor, 1992; Finn and Lamb, 1991). Two attributes of service was proposed by Gronroos (1984) which have been identified as dimensions of service quality relied on the conceptualization of service quality as between expectation of service and perceived service. Rust and Oliver (1994) extended Grunions model by providing a three-component model explaining service quality through service product, service delivery and service environment. Whereas Brady and Cronin (2001) suggested three service quality dimensions including service outcome, consumer-employee interaction and service environment. It can be said that the conceptualization of service product/service outcome and service delivery/consumer employee interaction is consistent with the idea of technical attribute as well as functional attribute derived fro m Gronroos model. (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). 2.5 Chapter Summary To conclude, first of all SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction as well as its theories and concepts have been presented. After that this chapter has reviewed many academic previous researches about critical factors determining customer satisfaction in di

Deconstructivist Architecture Controversy

Deconstructivist Architecture Controversy Opinions about Deconstructivist Architecture are controversial and often contradictory- some critics consider it as a purely formal exercise with little social significance and ambiguous meaning whereas others see it as a way of locating the inherent dilemmas within buildings (and promoting) a serious and necessary criticism of unbridled consumer culture and media-driven hyper reality. In view of the debate surrounding the nature of Deconstructivist Architecture, discuss the ideas and philosophy related to it and argue in favour or against one of the opinions expressed above. Use examples as appropriate. INTRODUCTION: Deconstructivist architecture is a type of architecture developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike any other type of architectural type, it escapes the conventional architectural pattern, breaking in that way all the rules of constructive theory. The leader of this movement was the French Philosopher Jacques Derrida, who as we shall see later, with his ideas and philosophy has much influenced other architects into accepting and applying this unpredictable type of architecture. In this course of paper, we will make a discussion on the concept of deconstructive architecture analysing at the same time its elements and background basic idea. Moreover, a historical development will be made on deconstructivism showing what are the origins of the movement. The philosophy will also be discussed behind this type of architecture and all will appear simultaneously with examples of buildings illustrating the concept of deconstructivist architecture. In addition to the above, some criticism will be made on the subject showing that the debate surrounding the nature of this form of architecture is both controversial and contradictory. Examples and commentary will be given by architects that have given their personal opinion on the subject throughout the years. MAIN PART: As already mentioned above, deconstructivist architecture is a style of architecture that contradicts the conventional methods of architecture. While an architect would dream of pure form, by using geometric shapes as cylinders, spheres, cones etc. avoiding instability and disorder, deconstructivist architecture supports the exact opposite. This type of architecture marks a different sensibility, one in which this stability and uniformity is disturbed. And it is exactly this ability to disturb our thinking that makes these projects deconstructive. The history and development: Deconstructivist architecture has initially had two main facets-modernism and postmodernism. While those two schools have ruled almost all of the forms of architectural styles, deconstructivist architecture opposed to their rationality. The journal Oppositions (published 1973-84) in which postmodernist architects and deconstructivist architects published their theories alongside each other, has been the decisive separation between the two movements. While postmodernism followed the historical references of modernism, deconstructivism has gone the other way- rejecting its acceptance and idea of ornament as an after-thought or decoration. Deconstructivism has also been influenced by the Russian Constructivism and Futurist movements of the early 20th century. Both tendencies were concerned with the radical simplicity of geometric forms, all expressed in graphics, sculpture and architecture. However, Constructivism has followed the ornamentation of building, whereas Deconstructivism refuted it. Maybe that is why this style of architecture is called deconstructivist; because while it draws from Constructivism, it radically deviates from it. Some Russian artists from which Deconstructivism has been inspired, include Naum Gabo, Kazimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko. The ideas and philosophy: Deconstructivist architecture is characterised by ideas of fragmentation, and manipulation of a structures surface or skin. It refers mainly to the architectural language being displaced and distorted with forms that are often set within conflicting geometries. Usually the building would be designed in parts or pieces in a weird manner with no attention or logic to be given to architecture norms. It would reflect pieces joined together to form unrelated abstract forms. Generally, the finished visual of the projects that illustrates the deconstructive styles, is characterized by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos. The whole philosophy of deconstructivist architecture was created by Jaques Derridas ideas influencing many later architects. Peter Eisenman and Derrida himself were concerned with the metaphysics of presence and this can be said to be the main subject of deconstructivist architecture philosophy in architecture theory. One of the most important events in the history of Deconstructivism includes the collaboration between the two Eisenman and Derrida on the project of the Parc de la Villette competition, 1.Parc de la Villette, Paris, 1982-1998Â  documented in Chora I Works; and the selected final project by Bernard Tschumi. Other seminal events include the 1988 Museum of Modern Art Deconstructivist architecture exhibition, organised by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley in New York, which crystalized the movement, and brought fame and recognition to its practitioners. 2.Frank Gehrys own Santa Monica residence, 1978 The idea is that architecture is a language capable of communicating meaning and of receiving treatments by methods of linguistic philosophy. The philosophy examines the nature of reality and the relationship between the matter and the mind. The individual is seen as a composite of linguistic and social sources and can therefore be constructed. The dialectic of absence or presence is a part of the elements to be found and as Derrida notes, is to be found both in construction and deconstruction. According to him, any architectural deconstruction requires for a strongly-established conventional expectation to play flexibly against. Just as a building can be constructed by using the conventional rules of architectures, so a functional building can be built by using non-conventional methods of deconstruction. One example of Deconstructivist Architecture is the design of Frank Gehrys own Santa Monica residence. Beginning with an ordinary house in an ordinary neighbourhood, he changed its massing, spatial envelopes, planes and other expectations in a playful subversion. 3.Vitra Design Museum in Weil-am-Rhein, 1989 There have been many other examples of buildings illustrating the type of deconstructivist architecture over the years. Some of these would include the Turning Tosco in Malmo and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil-am-Rhein by Frank Gehry. Furthermore, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and the Mits Stata Centre are some of the many buildings that were influenced and made from the deconstructivist architecture style. It appears from the examples and analysis above, that deconstructivist architecture has established a different mode and type of architecture. This has been criticised both with good and bad commentary. The opinions around this matter are controversial and contradictory. Controversial and contradictory opinions: Some critics evaluate this type of architecture as a purely formal exercise with little social significance with ambiguous meaning. Certain architects such as Charles Jencks the famous American theorist, architect and designer, claim Deconstructivism as a new paradigm, whereas others questioned the wisdom behind this type of architecture and the impact it might have on future generations of architects and the built environment. It has been described as fundamentally destructive, because of its rejection of all architectural rules, and its lack to provide clear values as replacements of those. 4.Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, 1997 Moreover, Deconstructivist Architecture has been seen as an intentional aggression on human senses, using certain mechanisms in order to express discomfort and anxiety. More specifically, Nikos Salingaros, calls the Derrida philosophy a virus, that invades the design thinking in order to construct destroyed forms. He further claims that it is an attack on logic, which does not produce logical statements. According to his views, what deconstructivist architecture itself is; meaning the dismantling of structures, traditional beliefs, logical statements and observations, it can easily resemble to the way in which a virus survives and proliferates. This occurs especially where deconstructivists insist on arguing that they are merely analysing and commenting on text. In infecting contemporary architecture, this virus attacks a forms internal organisation and coherence, leaving forms embodying disorganized complexity. One example of a building with which he condemns the philosophy and idea of deconstructivist architecture is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain by Frank Gehry. In his opinion, this vanguard style represents an unnatural imposition of free-flowing ribbon forms sheathed in a continuous, shiny metal skin. It also eliminates all components that would otherwise lead to coherence. In general, architecture is everything Derrida rejects: beauty, consistency, coherence, functionality etc. in reality, deconstructivist Architecture rejects the reason for which architecture itself exist; for the expression of human needs. And therefore, an architecture that creates disorder, as in the case of Constructivist Architecture; is no longer architecture. In addition to the above, Kenneth Frampton, describes deconstructivist architecture as elitist and detached. In his view this is justified by the self-alienation of an avant-garde without due cause. While Constructivism intended a synthesis, with the creation of a new architecture, Deconstructivist Architectures anti-thesis, derives from the acceptance that global modernisation is pushing those norms beyond the barriers. The two aspects of critical theory are found in deconstructivist architecture; that is analysis and urgency. A building that illustrates this is the Wexner Center for the Arts, by Peter Eisenman. There is the tendency in Deconstructivism to set aesthetic issues in the foreground as of much importance. Huge buildings with extravagant materials and impressive colours would be just some of the characteristics. One building showing the Guggenheim Museum mentioned above. However, if that is made only for elite, and since such buildings are quite expensive to be built, it may increase the level of complexity while it will only attempt to reconcile modern architecture with local differences. 5.Wexner Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, , 1989 Moreover, there are those that argue that architecture is not a language capable of communicating. However, there are those who believe that deconstructivist architecture is innovative and still has things to offer to architecture. It is however often misled. There is the presumption that such an architecture style is a demolition or a dissimulation. Maybe that happens because people often relate the taking apart of a structure to be deconstruction right away. However things are not like that. Deconstructive architecture on the contrary, gains all its force by challenging the values of stability, harmony and unity, and unlike other forms of architecture, proposing for a different view of structure; a structure in which flaws are intrinsic. Such flaws cannot be removed without firstly being destroyed, and therefore they are structural. For this reason, the deconstructivist architect simply locates the inherent dilemmas within buildings and promotes a serious and necessary criticism of unbridled consumer culture and media-driven hyper reality. He is not a person that destroys or dis mantles buildings; what he actually does is to examine deeply the pure forms of the architectural tradition and examine the consequences and reactions where such forms are repressed. In taking those results, he creates something new yet structural. For this reason deconstructivist architecture may not appear as bad as it is made. It is not always bad to try and experience and create something new by altering certain things in a building; this does not necessarily mean that a building cannot be structural or functional. This fragmentation and discontinuity for example of Frank Gehry could Moreover, Deconstruction can be seen as a laughing matter. It is always ironic, playful, humorous and irrelevant about itself, a betrayal of the non-faith. This liberating dissection is what makes it so different from the existing constructions and orthodoxies. As Nietzsche puts it in the canonic Deconstructionist text, Thus Spake Zarathustra: He who must be a creator in good and evil- verily, he must first be a destroyer, and break values into pieces. It can be seen as an essential part of the comic tradition where for a long period now unfinished buildings or rough materials are used. Furthermore, Derrida in his interview, states that the impression deconstruction was given to the public by the media as an association with the end of philosophy is misleading. The media has given the idea that deconstruction is destructive towards texts and traditions, as well as to philosophical heritage. He comments on this idea given, arguing that to create an institution, it must to some extent break with the past while at the same time inaugurating something completely new. Deconstructivist architecture does not mean that we are reproducing but also try something that hasnt been done before. For this reason it has been criticised as violent, as it has no guarantee by previous rules. While it follows the premises of the past it creates something completely new, and this is risky. However, there is no need for absolute guarantee; we ourselves should invent the rules. In his opinion, that is what destruction is made for: not the mixture but the tension between memory, fidelity, t he preservation of something that has been given to us, and, at the same time, heterogeneity, something new, and a break. In general, Deconstructivist Architecture, attacks conventions with its codified unconventionality. One strong example could be the cubiculum of a Roman House in Boscoreale, now found in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. However, it can have further social significance than the one already stated to have. It is a matter of fact that even if unconventional, it can be useful and helpful in tracing defects of the already established norms of architecture. Moreover, as Derridas philosophy states, it is a method through which thinking can be communicated. Through the complicated and unconventional structure of the buildings, spaces need not always be the same, but also express the different emotions and feelings people have. CONCLUSION: Those who truly value Deconstructivist Architecture, it is for that creativity and inventive freshness that they create new rules in architecture. One the other hand, those who doubt this approach, are those who are always sure of the negative results and the anti-social nature of the activity. It could also just be a matter of self-denial. After all, deconstructivist architecture may appear odd to some people due to its unconventional and out-of-barriers technique and looks, but it has managed to find its own place in the world of architecture. It has also proven that it still retains social significance and recognition amongst the public. This can be illustrated by the demand of consumers to more and more ask for modern and different impressive buildings. It can also be seen by the famous buildings made by well-known architectures. However, this could not be made without the bad or good criticism. Even though, the buildings still manage to impress and attract, as except of being functional and structurally stable, they are also unique.