Sanskrit literature Essay Example For Students

Sanskrit literature Essay Many believe that any contextual statement can be made context independent by mentioning its conditions explicitly. For example, the statement, All Indians are Hindus is context dependent but when I restate it as The Agarwals living in Vasant Valley, Mumbai, India are Hindus, it looks like an absolute truth. But I am not satisfied with such a theory because it is just a play of words. Moreover, the objects in the sentence are not absolute. The meaning of the sentence may be absolute but this is insignificant in the broader perspective. Thus, my absolute truth primarily focuses on the objects and not the meaning of sentences. After extensive research on the existence of absolute truth, the only definition of absolute truth that has satisfied me is the one given in the Upanishads(6). They state that the absolute truth is atman or the self, which is hidden in every object of creation including man and is the microcosm, representing the macrocosm in each of us. The Katha Upanishad(7) states, Know the Self as Lord of Chariot, the body as chariot itself, the buddhi (brain) as charioteer, the mind as reins and senses as horses'. This statement of the Katha Upanishad tries to convey that self is the absolute truth. We fail to realize that the self is a silent partner in all our deeds and quests of knowledge. Its existence is not contextual. It has been rightly said in Isha Upanishad(8), The seeker prays to Brahman, The face of truth is hidden behind your golden lid. May you remove the lid so that I may see the Golden Truth! And when the request is granted and the splendour manifests Itself in him he, submerged in pure bliss, lets out these words, In truth I am Him. This is the ultimate truth. The self is Lord himself, eternal and context independent. I hope that I have been successful in showing that a contextual account of truth is not only convincing and logical but also leads to a development of a science of truth. It provides the missing half of the picture of truth that is not explicitly evident but is essential for a true truth! On the other hand, the existence of absolute truths in itself is a big question mark. As aforementioned, I could find convincing explanations on its existence only in the Hindu scriptures and have tried my best to do justice to what these scriptures have to convey. (Word count (excluding title, this statement and whatever follows): 1600) Source Citations and supplementary information 1- Author of How to Get a 2:1 in Media Communication and Cultural Studies. 2- In mathematical logic, the Peano axioms, also known as the Dedekind-Peano axioms or the Peano postulates, are a set of axioms for the natural numbers presented by the 19th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano. 3- Definition taken from Merrian-Webster. 4- Definition taken from Wikipedia. 5- Theory of Knowledge (2nd edition) by Nicholas Alchin. 6- The Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period (around the middle of the first millennium BCE), while the latest were composed in the medieval and early modern period. The Upanishads realize monist ideas, some of which were hinted at in the earlier texts, and they have exerted an important influence on the rest of Hindu Philosophy. 7- The Katha Upanishad is one of the mukhya primary Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. It is a relatively late text of the Black Yajurveda, and propounds a dualistic philosophy. .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .postImageUrl , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:hover , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:visited , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:active { border:0!important; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:active , .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623 .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub978319978beaef6121b30af40e0e623:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The character in "An Inspector Calls" EssayIt figures as number 3 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. It consists of two chapters, each of which has three Vallis or sections. It has some passages in common with the Gita. 8- The Isha Upanishad is significant amongst the Upanishads for its description of the nature of the supreme being (Ish). The Isha Upanishad is one of the shortest of the Upanishads, consisting of 17 or 18 verses in total. The Upanishad appears in the final chapter (adhyaya) of the Shukla Yajurveda, but is historically one of the latest of the principal (mukhya) Upanishads, dating approximately to Mauryan times.

A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature Essays - Literature, Poetry

A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature Essays - Literature, Poetry A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature A Comparison and Contrast of Nature Professor Liberman 4-02-99 In the Nineteenth century Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism were popular modes of expression by writers of that era. Such modes of expression were the use of nature in their writings. Two poets that really stand out among the rest are Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). Baudelaire was referred to by many as the first Modern Poet and the father of modern criticism. Verlaine like Baudelaire was a symbolist poet, he was also French and referred to as the Prince of Poets. Both these poets touch on nature in their poems. It was in Baudelaire's Song of Autumn I and Verlaine's Autumn Song that similarities and differences were most evident. Their views of autumn had melodramatic view of death and at the same time can contrast with one another. Throughout this paper I will discuss the parallelism and divergence between these two poems. In Baudelaire's first stanza of Song of Autumn I, he explains how the end of summer is near and the weather will become cold. He starts the reader off in the end of summer. Soon we shall plunge into the chilly fogs; Farewell, Swift light! Our summers are too short (line 1-2, pg. 1151). Baudelaire then begins to explain the chopping down of the trees to gather firewood. This idea of the rhythmic thump firewood being delivered is repeated throughout his poem. In Verlaine's Autumn Song, the first stanza is told in a very monotonous tone much like the first stanza of Song of autumn. Verlaine talks about long sobs and the feeling he has in heart, what he describing is the end of summer and begging of the gloomy season of autumn. This is exactly the same that Baudelaire describes in his first stanza. Verlaine difference in this stanza is that he starts the poem already in autumn whereas Bauderlaire starts his poem in the end of the summer. In the second stanza of Autumn Song, Verlaine discusses the feeling he has inside of him. Choking and pale when I mind the tale the hours keep(lines 6-9, pg. 1169). Verlaine then relates back to memories of the summer and this makes him cry. My memory strays down other days and I weep,(lines 10-12, pg. 1169). He also even makes references to idea of daylight savings time, the hours keep,(line 9, pg.1169). In that line he is saying that along with the gloomy aura of autumn there is now an extra hour. In Song of Autumn I, Baudelaire's second stanza follows the theme of Verlaine. Here Baudelaire like Verlaine explains his personal feeling of autumn. All of winter will gather in my soul: Hate, anger, horror, chills, the hard forced work;(lines 4-5, pg. 1151). Baudelaire however has a more cynical approach to his feeling; he describes in several adjectives the extent of his pain. Baudelaire's next two lines really personify his feelings, And. Like the sun in his hell by the North Pole, My heart will be only a red and frozen block,(lines 6-8, pg. 1151). What he is exemplifying in these lines is the strong hate that burns inside of him. Baudelaire seems to loathe everything that deals with autumn. As these poems progress there is an evident contrast in the tones of the poets writings. Verlaine has maintained a very slow and monotonous tone throughout, whereas Bauderlaire has been very boisterous about his feelings. Similar to a fire that has gasoline thrown on his fire his raging bigger and bigger with each stanza. In Song of Autumn I, stanza three, there really is no correlation between this stanza and the third stanza in Autumn Song. There is however a major contrast with this stanza and the whole poem by Verlaine. Baudelaire has kept a pattern of mentioning the idea of the chopping of firewood. He has kept it to an ever-other stanza pattern. Verlaine has no correlation between autumn and firewood. Baudelaire looks at autumn in a way that squirrel might. A squirrel spends autumn preparing for long haul of winter so the squirrel his constantly working through autumn. Baudelaire explains All of winter will gather in my soul, the hard forced work,(lines4-5, pg.

Study Guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Poem “Kubla Khan”

Study Guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Poem â€Å"Kubla Khan† Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that he wrote â€Å"Kubla Khan† in the fall of 1797, but it was not published until he read it to George Gordon, Lord Byron in 1816, when Byron insisted that it go into print immediately. It is a powerful, legendary and mysterious poem, composed during an opium dream, admittedly a fragment. In the prefatory note published with the poem, Coleridge claimed he wrote several hundred lines during his reverie, but was not able to finish writing out the poem when he woke because his frenzied writing was interrupted: The following fragment is here published at the request of a poet of great and deserved celebrity [Lord Byron], and, as far as the Author’s own opinions are concerned, rather as a psychological curiosity, than on the ground of any supposed poetic merits.In the summer of the year 1797, the Author, then in ill health, had retired to a lonely farm-house between Porlock and Linton, on the Exmoor confines of Somerset and Devonshire. In consequence of a slight indisposition, an anodyne had been prescribed, from the effects of which he fell asleep in his chair at the moment that he was reading the following sentence, or words of the same substance, in Purchas’s Pilgrimage : â€Å"Here the Khan Kubla commanded a palace to be built, and a stately garden thereunto. And thus ten miles of fertile ground were inclosed with a wall.† The Author continued for about three hours in a profound sleep, at least of the external senses, during which time he has the most vivid confiden ce, that he could not have composed less than from two to three hundred lines; if that indeed can be called composition in which all the images rose up before him as things, with a parallel production of the correspondent expressions, without any sensation or consciousness of effort. On awakening he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole, and taking his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved. At this moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on business from Porlock, and detained by him above an hour, and on his return to his room, found, to his no small surprise and mortification, that though he still retained some vague and dim recollection of the general purport of the vision, yet, with the exception of some eight or ten scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away like the images on the surface of a stream into which a stone has been cast, but, alas! without the after restoration of t he latter!Then all the charmIs brokenall that phantom-world so fairVanishes, and a thousand circlets spread,And each mis-shape the other. Stay awile,Poor youth! who scarcely dar’st lift up thine eyesThe stream will soon renew its smoothness, soonThe visions will return! And lo, he stays,And soon the fragments dim of lovely formsCome trembling back, unite, and now once moreThe pool becomes a mirror.Yet from the still surviving recollections in his mind, the Author has frequently purposed to finish for himself what had been originally, as it were, given to him: but the to-morrow is yet to come. â€Å"Kubla Khan† is famously incomplete, and thus cannot be said to be a strictly formal poem- yet its use of rhythm and the echoes of end-rhymes is masterful, and these poetic devices have a great deal to do with its powerful hold on the reader’s imagination. Its meter is a chanting series of iambs, sometimes tetrameter (four feet in a line, da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM) and sometimes pentameter (five feet, da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM). Line-ending rhymes are everywhere, not in a simple pattern, but interlocking in a way that builds to the poem’s climax (and makes it great fun to read out loud). The rhyme scheme may be summarized as follows: A B A A B C C D B D BE F E E F G G H H I I J J K A A K L LM N M N O OP Q R R Q B S B S T O T T T O U U O (Each line in this scheme represents one stanza. Please note that I have not followed the usual custom of beginning each new stanza with â€Å"A† for the rhyme-sound, because I want to make visible how Coleridge circled around to use earlier rhymes in some of the later stanzas for instance, the â€Å"A†s in the second stanza, and the â€Å"B†s in the fourth stanza.) â€Å"Kubla Khan† is a poem clearly meant to be spoken. So many early readers and critics found it literally incomprehensible that it became a commonly accepted idea that this poem is â€Å"composed of sound rather than sense.† Its sound is beautiful- as will be evident to anyone who reads it aloud. The poem is certainly not devoid of meaning, however. It begins as a dream stimulated by Coleridge’s reading of Samuel Purchas’ 17th century travel book, Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered, from the Creation unto the Present (London, 1617). The first stanza describes the summer palace built by Kublai Khan, the grandson of the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty of Chinese emperors in the 13th century, at Xanadu (or Shangdu): In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree Xanadu, north of Beijing in inner Mongolia, was visited by Marco Polo in 1275 and after his account of his travels to the court of Kubla Khan, the word â€Å"Xanadu† became synonymous with foreign opulence and splendor. Compounding the mythical quality of the place Coleridge is describing, the poem’s next lines name Xanadu as the place Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to man This is likely a reference to the description of the River Alpheus in Description of Greece by the 2nd century geographer Pausanias (Thomas Taylor’s 1794 translation was in Coleridge’s library). According to Pausanias, the river rises up to the surface, then descends into the earth again and comes up elsewhere in fountains- clearly the source of the images in the second stanza of the poem: And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,A mighty fountain momently was forced:Amid whose swift half-intermitted burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:And ’mid these dancing rocks at once and everIt flung up momently the sacred river. But where the lines of the first stanza are measured and tranquil (in both sound and sense), this second stanza is agitated and extreme, like the movement of the rocks and the sacred river, marked with the urgency of exclamation points both at the beginning of the stanza and at its end: And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices prophesying war! The fantastical description becomes even more so in the third stanza: It was a miracle of rare device,A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! And then the fourth stanza makes a sudden turn, introducing the narrator’s â€Å"I† and turning from the description of the palace at Xanadu to something else the narrator has seen: A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw:It was an Abyssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she played,Singing of Mount Abora. Some critics have suggested that Mount Abora is Coleridge’s name for Mount Amara, the mountain described by John Milton in Paradise Lost at the source of the Nile in Ethiopia (Abyssinia) an African paradise of nature here set next to Kubla Khan’s created paradise at Xanadu. To this point â€Å"Kubla Khan† is all magnificent description and allusion, but as soon the poet actually manifests himself in the poem in the word â€Å"I† in the last stanza, he quickly turns from describing the objects in his vision to describing his own poetic endeavor: Could I revive within meHer symphony and song,To such a deep delight ’twould win me,That with music loud and long,I would build that dome in air,That sunny dome! those caves of ice! This must be the place where Coleridge’s writing was interrupted; when he returned to write these lines, the poem turned out to be about itself, about the impossibility of embodying his fantastical vision. The poem becomes the pleasure-dome, the poet is identified with Kubla Khan- both are creators of Xanadu, and Coleridge is apeaking of both poet and khan in the poem’s last lines: And all should cry, Beware! Beware!His flashing eyes, his floating hair!Weave a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise. The PoemNotes on ContextNotes on FormNotes on ContentCommentary and Quotations â€Å"...what he calls a vision, Kubla Khanwhich said vision he repeats so enchantingly that it irradiates and brings heaven and Elysian bowers into my parlour.†from an 1816 letter to William Wordsworth, in The Letters of Charles Lamb (Macmillan, 1888) Samuel Taylor Coleridge writing this poem â€Å"The first dream added a palace to reality; the second, which occurred five centuries later, a poem (or the beginning of a poem) suggested by the palace. The similarity of the dreams hints of a plan.... In 1691 Father Gerbillon of the Society of Jesus confirmed that ruins were all that was left of the palace of Kubla Khan; we know that scarcely fifty lines of the poem were salvaged. These facts give rise to the conjecture that this series of dreams and labors has not yet ended. The first dreamer was given the vision of the palace, and he built it; the second, who did not know of the other’s dream, was given the poem about the palace. If the plan does not fail, some reader of ‘Kubla Khan’ will dream, on a night centuries removed from us, of marble or of music. This man will not know that two others also dreamed. Perhaps the series of dreams has no end, or perhaps the last one who dreams will have the key....†from â€Å"The Dream of Coleridge† in Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952 by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Ruth Simms (University of Texas Press, 1964, reprint forthcoming November 2007)

Best buy case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best buy case - Essay Example t the current statistics of the disabled persons employed worldwide, particularly in the United States, in order to inform its employees why it is crucial to include people with disabilities in the workforce. Likewise, as Harvey (n.d.) points out in the case study, the workshop program may stress the fact described in the case study that performance ratings of workers with disabilities were found to be nearly identical to those of workers without disabilities. Such a program can assist the company to convince its employees that people with disabilities would not put additional burden on them. In addition, it is better for the organization to make necessary arrangements for its employees to visit other worksite environments that successfully practice the inclusion of people with disabilities. This strategy would motivate Best Buy employees to create an effective worksite environment characterized with the great involvement of disabled persons. Finally, it is advisable for the company to offer additional financial incentives for its employees for encouraging them to enthusiastically deal with the inclusion of people with disabilities. 2. While evaluating the Best Buy’s performance against three focus areas for INCLUDE, it seems that the company’s operations address almost all focus areas effectively. The INCLUDE group effectually utilizes the disability training, resources and innovations. To illustrate, at the request of INCLUDE members, the Best Buy management team is creating a training program concerning Autism Spectrum disorders. In terms of resource utilization, another INCLUDE chapter created an end cap with an iPad demonstrating several apps that can really help customers with disabilities. In order to improve the firm’s performance in this area, Best Buy must keep itself up to date about recent innovations that are able to fill the gaps in the workforce and marketplace. Similarly, the organization takes great efforts to provide products and services

You Decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You Decide - Essay Example 1. Development Stage- As potential business investments, Johnson Angel Investments LLC, will not consider businesses in the early development stages or with untested products or concepts. The company is looking for new, innovative market proven products, concepts or processes that present a unique market opportunity and show potential for extraordinary growth (Tipinvestor, 2008). 2. Geographic Location- As a venture capital company the firm is looking to invest in our local American economy. The company feels that true sustainable economic growth for our economy can only be brought about by reinvesting in redeveloping the productive capacity of our country. Therefore the firm will only consider locally grown and developed business as potential investment opportunities. One of the goals of the firm is to strive to not only provide our investments with the financial and intellectual capital needed to achieve success, but to be able to provide assistance on rebuilding our economy as a whole. 3. Revenues & ROI- Potential business investments must be already established with current annual sales revenues over $100,000. As an investment company the firm favors businesses with high operating margins which help provide a higher level of operating safety. Higher operating margins helps a developing business deal with the higher risks and added difficulties of achieving sales goals in a weak economy and properly growing and developing in a new market. The company requires a ROI of 10% or higher from any business partners to be considered as potential investments. 4. Business and Management- The company is not partial to any specific industry or sector. As a whole we our philosophy is to look for companies that provide unique market offerings that do things faster, more efficiently and cheaper (Sopriscapital, 2002). Possessing the unique competitive

Necrotizing Fasciitis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Necrotizing Fasciitis - Essay Example He was working at the Hotel Dieu located in Lyon, and described a condition that has similar symptoms to the current descriptions of NF (Misiakos, et al, 1). During the 19th and 20th centuries, cases of NF were rare. It was mainly restricted to military hospitals, although civilian outbreaks were also recorded. However, during the mid 1980s and early 1990s, there was an increase in NF cases worldwide, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of 1999, 600 cases of this disease were reported in the United States. Currently, the number of cases of this disease is 0.4 cases for every 100000 people every year. The incidence rate in children is put at 0.08 cases for every 100000 children every year. In the United States, it is estimated that between 9000 and 11500 cases of NF occur annually with close to 2000 deaths very year. in general, the prevalence of NF is put at 0.4 cases for every 100000 people (Misiakos, et al, 2). Statistics show that the disease mostly affects men compared to women, standing at a ratio of 3:1 (Misiakos, et al, 2). Research has demonstrated that the high prevalence rates in men are as a result of the higher cases of Fournier’s gangrene in men. The mortality rate remains high, standing at between 20 and 40 per cent. It is difficult to give the exact recent case of the disease. However, in America, the recent reported case occurred in February 2014. This was reported in the article by Jackie Farwell (2014) appearing in the Bangor Daily News. The victim was an 18-year old Benjamin LaMontagne from Maine. In general, it is difficult for the CDC and other health organizations to keep track of the occurrences of this disease. As noted in the article b y Farwell (2014), the CDC recognizes that there are many cases of NF that go unreported or undetected, and this makes it difficult to give

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry This chapter of dissertation consists of literature review, which is collected from several journals, articles and books. I have divided it into two parts. First part defines the concept of service quality, its importance and then will exemplify how different researchers have measured service quality by dividing it into different dimensions. This part further reviews role of call centers, how call centers are managed and what role call center employees play in delivering quality services. Second part of literature review considers theories from literature such as, Total quality management (TQM), six sigma, investor in People (IIP) and Continuous Performance Improvement, in order to measure quality management system of call centers. 1.2 Service Quality: According to Berry et al.(1988 cited in Amy and Amrik, 2003) service quality has become a significant differentiator and the most powerful competitive weapon which many leading service organizations possess. Further cronin and taylor, (1992 cited in Agens K,Y law, 2003) state that by improving service quality, service providing firm can differentiate itself from its rival firms and thus occupy strong positioning in the relevant market.. Lee et al. (2003) said, now days leading service firms consider service quality as the most sustainable basis for: Differentiation ( Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996); Leveraging customer satisfaction and value (parasuraman, 1997); Driving market share and profitability (Buzzel and Gale, 1987); and Developing strategy (gronroos, 2000). Service quality can be defined as the perceived judgment, which customer develop by comparing their expectation about services with the services they actually perceived to receive ( Gronroos, 1984 cited in Amy and Amrik , 2003). Bolton and Drew (1991a) and Parasuraman at el.(1988a) argued that although evaluation of service quality will help customers to form an attitude towards service provider, customer satisfaction is not obvious and satisfaction level is based on how well the delivered service meet customers expectation.(cited in Agnes K.Y, 2002). Service quality is dependent on two variables perceived services: service customer actually receives form organization and expected services: which comes from the customers previous experience or overall perception of the service( Gronroose, 1984cited in amy amirk, 2003) When expected service is higher than perceived service, service is said to be of low quality and when service expected is less than perceived service, overall service quality is considered to be high. Quality is s subjective concept and it is difficult for the customer to evaluate service quality than product quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Author further suggests that there are three main features of services: intangibility, Heterogeneity and Inseparability, which construct service quality an elusive and abstract concept. There are five main determinants that customer consider to evaluate service quality such as reliability, responsiveness, empathy, tangible and assurance. Customers perception and evaluation of quality can be different due to different needs and wants, it could be satisfactory for one customer while other may experience it in different way (Venetis and Ghauri, 2004) 1.2.1 Importance of service quality: In todays highly competitive business world- where customers needs and wants are highly influenced by global competition and where customer has large number of firms to satisfy their needs, organizations are forced to change their focus from profit maximization to maximize profit through customer satisfaction( nithin seth and S G deshmukh, 2004). Author further state that subject of service quality is of great importance; because it has strong impact on business performance, lower costs, profitability, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In other words service quality is the main driver of firms marketing and financial performance. An extensive research from services marketing, services management and organizational psychology has proved that an improved service quality can help organization in attracting, satisfying and retaining customers( Heskett et al., 1997; Schneider et al., 1998 cited in Alison M Dean, 2002). Firms that fail to provide quality services not only loose their customers to its competitors but it also resulted as declining of profit and finally firms withdraw from competition. In service marketing, terms service quality and customer satisfaction are used interchangeably. Rust and Oliver, (1994) said service quality is the one dimension on which customer satisfaction is based. In fact service quality is considered as antecedent to satisfaction (Agens K.y ). According to Iacobucci et al., (1995) Service quality is concerned with the firms service delivery, while satisfaction is the post consumption experience which reflects customers overall experience and perception with firms service (cited in Eugene sivadas,2000). Zeithaml at el. (1996, cited in Eugene sivadas, 2000) suggest that customers relationship with the firm is strengthened, when that customer has favourable attitude towards a firms service quality and relationship is weakened when customers attitude represent his dissatisfaction with firms services quality. He further argued that positive attitude towards firms service quality will lead customer to develop favourable behavioural intentions such as preferring company over its competitors, making repurchases and recommending firms service and product to others. According to Agens K.Y(), loyalty comes from customers repurchase behaviour. It is satisfaction with the services that construct brand loyalty and encourages customer for repeat purchases. Zeithaml,(1996, cited in Amy wong) suggests that loyalty is the main determinant that service organization are using to measure their long term success and by maintaining superior service quality, firms are retaining and expanding their loyal customer base. Johnston, (1995 cited in amy wong) further argued that firms service quality has strong impact on customer loyalty, therefore in order to measure, control, and improve service quality from customer perspective, management should identify what factors of service quality influence customer loyalty. Customers loyalty is important for firms profitability, as loyal customers are ready to pay premium price (Gronroose, 2000). Similar to satisfaction, loyalty is also comes from high service quality. Customer satisfaction is often viewed as mediator that link service quality with service loyalty (Agens.K.Y). 1.2.2 Measures and dimensions of service quality: Today, whether it is developed country or developing country their economic conditions are largely influenced by globalisation and liberalization. Due to rapid change in needs and wants, firms are forced to develop constant standards for measuring the quality of services offering. Measuring service quality on regular basis will help firm to evaluate and analyse the needs and requirements of customers. These measures will also facilitate firm to provide services quality that encounters customer expectations, by improving both aspect of service quality: WHAT (technical quality) service should be delivered and HOW (functional quality) service should be delivered. In order to measure service quality numerous researchers have suggested different models. GI, DU Kang, (2006) said, many of scholars agreed that service quality is based on multiple dimensions (Gronroos, 1982, 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1985), but there is no consensus on the exact nature and content of these dimensions (Brady and cronin, 2001). Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982) has given three dimensions of service quality. Physical quality- tangible aspect of services, Corporate quality- companys image by its current and potential customers and Interactive quality- two way interaction between customer and service provider. By ignoring physical features of product in the consumption of services, Gronoose (1982, cited in GI-DU Kang, 2006) decomposed service quality into two dimensions: Technical quality- what service is provided. Function quality- how service is provided. Technical (outcome) quality is concerned with what customer actually receives from service. Functional (process) quality is concerned with how the outcome of the process is delivered to the customer such as speed of service and behaviour of customer service staff. Gronoose model of service quality also recognises that customers perceived quality is largely influenced by the firms image customer already have in his mind. Gronroose further suggest that when customers evaluate expected services with the services experienced they bring their prior experiences and overall perception of service firm. Parasuraman et al., (1985), also considered service quality into two dimensions: outcome and process quality and state that evaluation of service quality can not be made solely on outcomes of services, it should also evaluate service delivery process( GI-DU Kang, 2006/). He further argued that these two dimensions (process and outcome quality) are Interco related therefore it is necessary to consider that when evaluation occurs. In case of process quality: evaluation of service occurs while it is being delivered; however in outcome quality, evaluation takes place after the delivery of service. Swart and brown (1989), by considering established work on the dimensions of service quality identified by gronroose(1982), lenthin(1982) and parasuramn(1985), suggested two dimensions of service quality: WHAT ( evaluation of service after its performance) and HOW( service evaluation during performance). Rust and Oliver, (1994) proposed three-component model of service quality, which evaluates customers perception of service quality by considering three dimensions: Customer-employee interaction (functional or process quality); The service environment; and The outcome (technical quality) Although there is no generalized model of measuring service quality, GAP model of (parasuraman et al., 1985) has received adequate support from the researchers of various field ( nitin seth and desh much, 2006). In 1988 this model was then proposed as SERVQUAL. Parasuraman et al. (1988) state that: The 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. He further suggests that SERVQUAL is valid and reliable tool that service provider can use to understand the customers expectations and perceptions about service quality and thus improve services. The SERVQUAL is multiple item scale that consists of 22 statements which measures customer expectations and perceptions along five dimensions: Tangible, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Reliability. SERVQUAL instrument is the original formulation of parasuraman et al., (1985,1988,1994) which measured service quality by undertaking extensive investigation in four service areas: Bank, credit card company, long distance telephone company and a firm offering appliance repair and maintenance services. From exploratory investigation of 1985, parasuraman et al., conclude that there are ten main determinates which customer consider when evaluating service quality: Reliability: Responsiveness Competence Access Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Understanding the customer Tangible In later study of 1988, Parasuraman et al., found that some of determinates are correlated, therefore he refined the list of dimensions and presented five high order dimensions which subsume previous ten( Amy wong). Parsuraman et al., (1988) defined these dimensions as follows: Reliability: ability to deliver or perform the promised services dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt services. Assurance: it is concerned with the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy: caring and paying individualized attentions/services to each customer. Tangible: physical features of service as appearance of equipments, facilities, personnel and communication material. SERVAQUAL is conceptual model, which is based on the view that customers perception of service quality is the result of gap between expectations and perceptions ( parasuarman et al., 1985,1988 cited in Patrick). Parasuraman et al., (1985) developed Gap model of service quality to identify where gap exist and to what extent: GAP 1: Gap between customers expectations and managements perceptions about those expectations. GAP 2: Gap between customers expected standards and specifications of service and managements perceptions of customers expected service standards.( specification gap) GAP 3: Gap between service quality standards and actual service delivered to customer. (Service performance/delivery gap) GAP 4: Gap between actual service delivered and service quality organization promised to deliver. (Communication gap) GAP 5: Gap between customers expected and perceived services.( perception gap) Parasuramne et al.,( cited in dr Arash) state that gaps in service quality can help firm to identify the areas where performance is lacking. Author further state, a negative service gap would facilitate firms to prioritise the performance improvement of those service features where expectations are high. If any of service gaps is turning positive, indicating that expectations are exceeding the perceptions, firm can review service feature, which they are oversupplying and can, redeploys resources into those features, which are performing below the expectations. Gap five (Perception gap) given in the above model is main driver behind SERVQUAL methodology. Although SERVQUAL model has been widely used in service industry, it has received criticisms from many authors on both theoretical and operational grounds. Francis buttle,(1996) has criticised SERVQUAL on the following basis: SERVQUAL focuses only on the service delivery process and neglects outcome quality; no adequate evidence that consumer consider expectations and perceptions gaps when assess service quality and finally five dimensions of SERVQUAL are not universally accepted. Besides huge criticism, Parasuraman et al., (1991,1994) argued that SERVQUAL is the most valid tool for measuring service quality than any other method because it uses expectation/perception gaps and with little modification, SERVQUAL can be use across business services. 1.2 Role Of Call Centre. Intensive global competition and increased emphasis on customer satisfaction has enhanced the role of call centres in service industry. Today call centre is the main source that links the organization with its customers. Call centre, by serving high volume of customers at low cost and within less time span, has become the integral part of firms marketing and customer service strategies (olukemi O sawyer,2009). David Holman (2002) state that rapid growth of call centres in service industry is attributable to its capability of reducing the cost of existing functions; provide new means of generating revenues and improving customer service quality. According to Taylor and Bain (1999) call centre: is a dedicated operation in which computer utilising employees receive inbound, or make outbound, telephone calls, with those calls processed and controlled either by an Automatic call distribution(ACD) or predictive calling system. Taylor and Bain (1999 cited in Alison M. Dean, 2002) has further described call centre in three essential parts: first the call centre is dedicated operation where employees are focused entirely on customer service function, second those employees are using phones and computers simultaneously and third the calls are processed and controlled by an automatic distribution system. Environment of call centre is very complex in nature, as it requires smooth blend of technology, human talent and process in order to work efficiently. Like other business, work in call centre also involves interaction with the customers, yet it is unique in its features. Houlihan (2001) contend that Call centres by using modern technologies facilitate management to determine the speed and volume of work. Hutchinson et al., (2000) further suggests that this system will also help firm to improve employees performance by monitoring their work on regular basis. In Call centre employees are acting as representative of the firms services. Olukemi O. Sawyerr,(2009) state that it is a positive interaction between customers and call centre employees that helps firm to determine customers perception of firms services. Today call centres serve both business as well consumer clients and are accountable to perform various business functions such as taking order, handling client inquiries, resolving complaints, dispatching, telemarketing, pre-sale and post-sale services (Alan miciak, 2001). Besides rapid growth, call centre are embraced with the challenges of retaining and attracting employees. Lack of trained staff, high workload and high level of stress are main attributes of call centre environment, which foster high turn over (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Recruitment of staff of the wrong personality type is also the endemic reason of high turn over in call centre industry (Barnes 2001, p. 3) Taylor and Bain, (1998) has resembled the working environment of call centre with the assembly line production. Call centre environment rarely encouraged team working among employees as performance of employees is measured on the basis of individual interaction with the customers (olukemi O sawyer ( 2009) . Varca (2001) further argued that, in call centre employees have less control over a job, as information delivered by employees to customers is previously scripted and interaction take place between them is not face to face 1.3 Call centre management: Complex nature of call centre environment poses great challenge for managers to control the operations of call centre. In call centre managers responsibility is two fold. In one hand they are responsible to take capital-intensive decisions and introduce latest technology to cope up with the technological development; on the other hand they are responsible for handling call centre employees who work on shift pattern (George Robinson, 2006). Call centre operations are equipped with advanced technological features such as ACD, ANI (automatic number identification) and DNIS (number identification service). ACD (Automatic call distribution) controls inbound calls traffic; place these calls in queue and then transferred them to call centre agents according to priorities. Moreover ANI and DNIS technology provide comprehensive database of customers and call handling statistics (Paul R. Prabhaker,) By using above technologies, managers can track: number of calls answered per agent, average speed to answer call, number of calls abandoned and time taken to abandon, occupancy rate of agent, number of calls answered within standard time frame, calls waiting longest in queue, agents sitting idle, agents on calls and agents on breaks or completing post call wrap up work (George Robinson, 2006). This information enables manager to set targets for call centre agents and achieve desired results. In call centre management, technology plays crucial role as it not only helps to determine the speed of work but at the same time it provides the means to measure quality of work and worker performance (Callaghan and Thompson, 2001). According to Bain et al., (2002), call centre management requires both hard and soft measures; hard measures includes number of calls answered, while soft measures consist of relationship between call centre employees and customers. Audrey Gilmore (2001) has described tangible and intangible dimensions of service quality offered by call centres employees. Tangible aspects are easy to measure and consist of number of calls answered, length of calls, average calls time and standardized response, while intangible dimensions are difficult to measure and include courtesy or empathy customer experiences from call centre service. Author further states that call centre management often consider tangible dimensions of service delivery to judge the employees performance that result employee frustration and stress. Retaining and attracting call centre employee having high performance calibre is the significant challenge in call centre management. It has been proved by research studies that selection criteria developed for hiring call centre staff is at the minimal attention of management. When hiring call centre staff, it is imperative for management to consider personality traits of the employees in order to make sure that they will be high performer and can deliver quality services in stressful environment (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Author has presented FFM (five factor model) that illustrate the relationship between five dimensions of personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, and, openness to new experience) and performance of call centre employees. Performance could be service performance, turn over intension or absenteeism. It is often viewed that management of call centre is measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is important to measure (Call Centre Management, 2000, p. 5). Alan Miciak, (2001) state that firms are more interested in measuring customer satisfaction with the product and service offered by business rather than customer satisfaction with call centre performance. Author further argued that to assess call centre performance, manger often utilizes measures as: average talk time; abandon rates; calls per hour and occupancy rate that are based on telephone technology and may not be true indicators of performance measurement. Australian Council of Trade Unions (2002, p.30) claims that measurements used by call centre to evaluate performance are highly focused on productivity rather than quality. Research work of various author presented above has placed emphasis on soft than hard measures; tangible than intangible dimensions; quantitative than qualitative measures for evaluating call centre performance. These measures can only monitor and control efficiency of call centre in handling high number of calls, while measuring quality of service delivered by call centre agents is far away from these measures. 1.4 Role of call centre employees: What the business thinks it produces is not of first importance; what the customer thinks he is buying and considers value is decisive; it determines what a business is (Drucker, 1989). Customer satisfaction which usually comes at the cost of high service quality, is essential for organization success as it provides firm, profitable means to differentiate it self from others. Service quality is an important factor that, if delivered efficiently by firms front line employees, can be main driver of firms sustainability (Carlzon, 1987). In call centre, employees play very essential role in delivering high customer quality and thus facilitate management to establish large customer relationship base (Frenkel et al., 1998). Call centre employees are also recognized as front line employees, customer contact representative (CCR) or customer sales representative (CSR) as they are directly engaged in the process of service delivery and maintain high level of interaction with the customers. Service organizations are now developing high number of measures, for reducing employee turn over as well as improving employee satisfaction. Robinson and Morley (2006) state that high turn over bring significant cost impact for both firms and shareholders. This cost includes direct cost of recruiting, inducting and training new staff and indirect cost that comes in form of reduced customer service. Employee satisfaction is crucial for evaluating service quality from customer perceptions. Satisfied employees are highly motivated, perform job with efficiency, delivering high level of quality services (Prabha Ramseook-Munhurrun, 2009). Edvardsson et al., (1997) further suggest that employee satisfaction can reduce employee turn over, improve productivity and enhance commitment and creativity. Call centres are now being criticized for their inadequate staff management practices. Research on service environment has concluded that some times call centre environment itself restricts the ability of employees to deliver high quality customer services. In call centre employees are called emotional labour and are forced to achieve productivity goal while delivering quality customer services (Alison M. Dean, 2009). Audrey Gilmore (2001), state that call centre employees are under a continuous pressure of answering high number of calls as their performance is measured by how quickly they respond to customers inquiry rather than quality of the call. MacDonald, (1998a, 1998b) further argue that excessive emphasis on quantitative rather than qualitative measures for judging employees performance is the main cause of employee unproductive behaviour. 1.6 Quality Management System: Reevs and Bednar (1994) have defined the term quality as an excellence, value, conformity to specification, meeting customer expectation etc. Excellence in service industry involves providing customers a desired satisfied service by knowing the demands of the customers at first instance. Value involves gaining higher profit margins by maintaining quality as priority, which attracts customers to become the part of the system. Conformity to specification and meeting customer expectations involves developing such a system, which guarantee error-free operations and delivering the desired and satisfied operation output. A product is always valuable and acceptable if the quality standards set by customers are lined up with the product and this can be done by quality management system. Establishment of the quality management system in an organisation provides a priority control over the organisations activities with continues improvement in its performance. Quality management system are mainly implemented for enhancement of the organisations work force and its abilities in providing the product and services according to the customers expectations as well as optimising the resources in terms of value for money (VFM). According to (Dean and Bowen, 1994; Prajogo and McDermott, 2005; Sousa and Voss, 2002à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.infrastracture) quality management system provides key assurance in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization listed in its policy and strategy. Quality management system provides reliability, diligence and satisfaction in terms of process, procedures, equipment, etc and interacts with all other activities starting from customers perceptions to customers expectation for satisfying their requirement. The term quality control and quality assurance are often mixed up in line discussion of quality management system but these two terms are exceptionally different in meaning. The word quality control is more over related to product and services which identifies the satisfactory of end result, where as quality assurance is process-oriented which identifies whether the process that was carried out is applicable to meet desired objective. 1.6.1 Quality control: Quality control is a commitment to quality; usually stressed more in organization to ensure that examination of quality is applicable to specified standards and can the current system follows the planned actions. Quality control not only includes material and process but also all those elements, which begins from raw material/service introduction to finished goods. 1.6.2 Quality Assurance: According to (James R. and William M. 1996) Quality assurance is the assurance of total efforts involved in planning, organizing, directing and controlling quality in production system with the objective of providing the consumer with product of appropriate quality. Quality assurance is a systematic approach to pursuit the quality (Collins, 1994) and it approaches through quality assurances of product/services that determines whether the expected demands of the customers are satisfied according to their expectation. Usually organizations follows innovations and value added techniques to their plans and strategies in order to implement such system, which must outfit to the customers satisfaction. According to (Moreno-Lonzo and Peris, 1998) purpose of quality assurance is the conformance of the product, service and process with given requirement and standards. 1.6.3 Costs of Quality According to (Norman .G and Greg .F 1999) all those costs, which are lined up for managing quality, customer satisfaction, market share, profit enhancement can be identified as quality costs. Quality cost can be source to the identification of the opportunities and creating funding priorities for quality improvement through Pareto analysis. Further more (Dale H. Basterfield 1994) stated that Pareto analysis focuses on the quality problematic areas and once the quality issues are being resolved then it measures the effectiveness of the actions taken against quality issues. Following are the components to the cost of quality. Design Costs Appraisal Costs Internal Failure Costs External Failure Costs 1.6.3.1 Design Costs: Design costs are those costs, which are specially designed to prevent the error, which leads to poor quality. Maintaining quality system and providing customers a desired service involves dealing with high prevention cost, which includes dealing with quality planning cost, maintaining process control cost, developing human skills by training cost etc. 1.6.3.2 Appraisal Costs: All those costs which are attached in assuring the quality of products or services, are known as appraisal costs. Purchasing appraisal cost, operation appraisal cost, miscellaneous costs are the examples of the appraisal costs. 1.6.3.3 Internal Failure cost: Before to deliver the product or service to the customer, the product is passed through various operation where quality is inspected many times, so at anytime if the quality is not proved to be satisfactory then the unfinished product or service is being used as scrapped item or in some case the product is again sent through the earlier process until product claims to be in desired quality. All those costs that are involved maintaining the product quality internally are headed under the internal failure cost this may includes product or service design failure costs, purchasing failure costs, operation failure costs etc. 1.6.3.4 External Failure Costs: External Failure costs are often considered as high cost of quality management. When the product or services are ready to be delivered to the customers there are often some uncertainties attached that might includes customer found defects or product was unsatisfactory to the customer expectations, so all those cost which are incurred to correct the product or services can be headed as external failure cost. The real life example includes Toyotas Lexus safety recall 2010. 1.7 Total Quality Management: Total qual