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Examines Six Sigma as a strategy for improving service which tries to reduce defects and therefore improve a firm’s marketing position. Looks at how this as been applied in business and then examines its place in healthcare. Concludes that the few healthcare institutions that have implemented Six Sigma have done so in the interest of business and not so much in the area of patient care, where it is proposed that it will improve things dramatically.

The economic development of Bangladesh is heavily reliant on the banking industry, yet it faces numerous hurdles, including liquidity issues, capital shortages, non-performing loans, inefficiencies and so on. Therefore, this study investigated the performance and efficiency of scheduled banks (state-owned, private commercial, foreign commercial and specialized banks) operating in Bangladesh.

The research was conducted using secondary data from annual reports of banks. The CAMELS rating system and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods were employed to measure the performance and efficiency of banks, respectively.

In the overall bank rankings, results revealed that foreign commercial Standard Chartered Bank and state-owned Sonali Bank Limited came in first and last position, respectively. Among the four categories of banks, foreign commercial banks were the best performer, while state-owned banks were the worst. Only two banks, i.e. Citibank NA and HSBC Bank, were scale efficient while the remaining banks were inefficient. In terms of performance and efficiency, state-owned and specialized banks were deemed wanting.

This study proposes recommendations to the policymakers that could lead to more effective tactics for improving the banking industry's performance and efficiency.

As far as the authors are concerned, this study presents empirical evidence on the performance and efficiency of different types of banks and explores comparisons among them, which has never been done to this extent in the country before.

Introducing social sustainability initiatives in the apparel industry is a complex and challenging process. This study aims to investigate the challenges facing Bangladesh apparel supplier organisations in implementing factory safety initiatives.

This study identifies challenges of implementing social sustainability initiatives of the apparel industry based on a literature review and case-study interviews with senior-level management of apparel supplier organisations.

The analysis shows significant challenges facing apparel supplier organisations in implementing social sustainability initiatives relate to resource and institutional issues. These challenges are resource management and strategy, cost and financial concerns, as well as cultural, regulation and monitoring issues.

The identified challenges may be useful for policymakers and managers of apparel buyer and supplier organisations to recognise critical issues involved in social initiative implementation and to help improve social sustainability practices of the apparel industry.

By addressing the identified issues, stakeholders in the apparel industry can work to ensure improved social sustainability practices in apparel manufacturing factories.

The study contributes to the research on social sustainability practices of the apparel industry by identifying and addressing challenges faced by apparel supplier organisations in implementing social sustainability initiatives in apparel manufacturing factories.

This chapter provides a comprehensive description of special education in Bangladesh. It begins with the early origins of special education and then proceeds with definitions of and prevalence of current disabilities in Bangladesh. This section is followed by governmental policies and legislation related to the right to education for all students with disabilities. Next, educational intervention methods are delineated along with a description of governmental special schools and teacher training and preparation of special educational professions. Early intervention practices and working with families is also discussed. The chapter ends with the progress that Bangladesh has made and the challenges that remain.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that granting general amnesty to thousands of black-money holders in Bangladesh has failed to make any positive impact on the development of its securities market. Rather, such a move or mercy by the successive governments over the years has basically increased corruption in the country.

The article relies on both primary and secondary materials. An archival analysis of the materials has been carried out in this research.

The major findings are that whitening black money is legally flawed, morally indefensible and economically unsound; the ultimate outcome of the whitening opportunity appears to be the protection of corruption, the prevention of which is imperative for the sustainable development of the national economy of Bangladesh; and no credible evidence has been found to support the underlying assumption that this immunity offered over the past four decades has benefited the economy.

Its originality is evident in the analysis of the materials in a cohesive way to prove a hypothesis that the immunity granted to the black-money holders has been a flawed initiative of the successive governments of Bangladesh to increase investment.

Stakeholders such as customers, governments and environmental organisations are more concerned than ever about the impact of supply chain practices on the environment, leading firms to introduce environmental requirements into their supply contracts. While the extant literature on supply chains acknowledges this trend, it fails to inform comprehensively on the concept of “stringent environmental requirement” and its consequences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this concept and explore how such requirements may translate into supplier environmental performance.

Qualitative methodology was adopted by the study and data were collected through conducting eight case studies in the Bangladesh ready-made garment (RMG) industry.

A number of factors were found to be influencing suppliers’ perception of stringency, such as uncertainty relating to the newness and deadline of buyers’ environmental requirements, the complexity of implementing the requirements, and the use of buyer-specific frameworks. The research also shows that suppliers’ efforts in building environmental capability play a vital role in dealing with stringent environmental requirements.

The case studies are limited to the Bangladesh RMG industry. Given that environmental regulations vary across different countries and industries, the data may not reflect all the possible variations in stringent environmental requirements.

The new insight proposed by this research can guide firms to further understand how supplier environmental performance and the sustainability of their supply chain can be achieved. The research provides broad insight into how suppliers can address stringent environmental requirements and improve their environmental performance.

This research establishes evidence for the relatively new phenomenon of “stringent environmental requirements”, and develops a theoretical framework to demonstrate the relationships among the critical determinants relevant to this phenomenon.

Risk factors for population relocation as a result of severe catastrophes are increasing on a global scale. The frequency of catastrophic weather events is rising, infrastructure is getting older, the population is expanding, and urbanization is increasing. This study explores the influencing factors of livelihood, vulnerability, and livelihood resilience of climate-induced displaced people in developing countries, particularly in South Asia. A mixed-method approach comprising a systematic review and a narrative review has been applied in this study. A systematic review guided by PRISMA has been used to identify the relevant documents and the extracted information has been described through a narrative review approach. This study reveals that climate-induced displaced people are generally vulnerable to maintaining their livelihood, but there are a few exceptional cases where displaced people could diversify their livelihood strategies. The major influencing factors of their livelihoods are riverbank erosion, loss of assets and properties, food insecurity, seasonal hunger, low access to finance, and low job opportunity. This study argues that climate-displaced people have a long struggle to enhance their livelihood resilience, but it is a challenging task for them, particularly at the household level. The major influencing indicators under adaptive, absorptive, and transformative capacities of livelihood resilience are income and food access, agricultural and non-agricultural assets, sensitivity, climate variability and hazards, basic services, social safety nets, and institutional participation. Appropriate governance in the structural and non-structural transformation of livelihood capitals can enhance the livelihood resilience of climate-induced displaced households. In the case of Bangladesh, the coastal and Riverine Island communities are the key victims of climate-induced hazards, so they migrated frequently to reduce their vulnerability and enhance livelihood resilience. The study recommends ensuring transparency and accountability, proper coordination among stakeholders for promoting the resettlement, disaster-resilient housing and infrastructure, and Khas land (government-owned land) to the displaced people can enhance their livelihood resilience.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritise social responsible mechanisms in apparel supply chains to extend social responsibility from large retailers in developed countries to producers in developing nations.

A framework that consists of supplier qualification and supplier relational mechanisms as two socially responsible mechanisms, with five factors and 18 dimensions is proposed. To prioritise the dimensions, analytic hierarchy process is employed by using a case study methodology of a major Australian retailer sourcing from Bangladesh manufacturers.

Results indicate that at the mechanism level, both retailer and manufacturers perceive qualification of manufacturer as by far the most critical element compared to the relational mechanism. However, substantial differences exist at the factor level; namely, that the social factor is critical for the retailer, whereas the economic factor is critical for the manufacturer. Within the relational mechanism, evaluation helps retailers to enforce social responsibility, while manufacturers believe collaboration helps.

The major limitation of this study is the generalisation of the findings. The results obtained by focusing on a particular context in the Australian retail sector importing from Bangladesh, may not be applicable to other nations.

By highlighting the difference of opinion, this study assists managers in developing guidelines to better understand the socially responsible mechanisms in the retailer-manufacturer dyadic relationship and to propose strategies to address the differences.

This study advances the literature on inter-organisational relationship to retailer-manufacturer dyad for the implementation of social responsibility by including supplier qualification along with supplier relational mechanism.

Outlines the massive loan default problems faced by the Bangladesh banking industry and discusses the importance of consistent and adequate public policy in reducing them. Critically reviews the government’s industrial, fiscal, monetary and tariff policies since independence in 1971, referring to relevant research; and relates them to the loan repayment performance of industrial borrowers. Castigates its excessive bureaucratic controls, lack of co‐ordination or consistency and over‐supply of credit; and its failure to recognize entrepreneurs’ general lack of experience. Puts at least part of the blame for industrial loan defaults down to “flawed” policies.

This paper seeks to analyse the current poverty situation and poverty alleviation efforts of the NGOs in Bangladesh with emphasis on the impacts of two NGO programmes in two villages of Barisal district.

This research has employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research has primarily used first‐hand empirical data. In order to substantiate primary data, relevant secondary information has also been used. Data were collected through household survey by applying both open‐ and closed‐ended questionnaires. With a view to analysing data, inferential as well as descriptive statistics have been applied.

The findings revealed that the economic condition of the poor in the study areas has not improved much when judged against some selected indicators, namely, income, food and non‐food expenditure, productive and non‐productive asset, food security, and employment creation. The Foster Greer Thorbecke index shows that the majority of the NGO beneficiaries remained below the poverty line in terms of income and the overwhelming majority of them remained below the underemployment line (less than 260 days of work in a year). The regression analysis shows that the income of the households is determined by landholding size, family labour, days suffered from morbidities and employment opportunity. The qualitative data on the perception of beneficiaries on the causes of poverty endorse this finding.

Controversies over the issue of widespread poverty in Bangladesh have been revolving among the government, NGOs and the donor agencies as well. NGOs have been claiming the entire success of the economic wellbeing made to the rural poor. However, this study has directly challenged their claims by casting an empirical lens on the impact of their interventions. This study has detected the paucities of the NGO interventions and gaps between their objectives and their achievement.