FAMILY RUN SMEs IN NEPAL AND THEIR APPROACH TO MARKETING

This exploratory research aims to study the role of marketing and its relevance in small and medium sized family businesses in Nepal by comparing it to the combined review of authors and academicians in the field of SME/ entrepreneurial marketing. Although marketing is a key factor in the survival and development of business ventures, SMEs in Nepal cannot do conventional marketing because of the limitations of resources which are inherent to Nepalese SMEs and also because business owner/ managers in Nepal behave and think differently from conventional marketing decision-making practices that take place in large enterprises. In this context the discussion focuses on the characteristics of the Nepalese SMEs and how they have an impact upon the marketing characteristic within their firm. The key findings with respect to marketing competency in Nepalese SMEs and to what extent formal marketing planning is practiced in these enterprises are analyzed. An examination of eight key marketing approaches indicates that SME/ entrepreneurial marketing differ from traditional marketing theory. Family run SMEs in Nepal tends to be customer-oriented driven by the needs and wants of their customer. They target markets through bottom-up approach where they rely on customer recommendations. Even though they unconsciously follow the marketing mix, they prefer interactive marketing methods. The prefer gathering information through networking. These approaches play to their strengths and represent marketing that is more appropriate in their contexts

Cosmological backreaction in the presence of radiation and a cosmological constant

V. A. A. S. and T. C. both acknowledge support from the STFC

Post-Newtonian cosmological modelling

V. A. A. S. and T. C. both acknowledge support from the STF

The magnetic part of the Weyl tensor, and the expansion of discrete universes

42 pages, 27 figures42 pages, 27 figures42 pages, 27 figures42 pages, 27 figures42 pages, 27 figures42 pages, 27 figuresTC is supported by the STFC and DG by an AARMS postdoctoral fellowship

CILIATE PROTOZOA POLYPLASTRON MULTIVESICULATUM FROM THE RUMEN OF INDIAN GOAT CAPRA HIRCUS (L.)

An investigation has been made to observe the morphology of rumen ciliate protozoa. A total 458 rumen fluid samples of the Indian goat Capra hircus were collected for one year. The study reveals that occurrence of Polyplastron multivesiculatum (Dogiel 1925). The body dimensions and variations of characters recorded from the specimens taken (n=20) at random from different slides and compared with earlier findings and critical comments were made on their specific identity. The presence of P.multivesiculatum in the rumen of goat is the new record in Maharashtra (India)

Occurrence of Holotrichous Ciliated Protozoa Inhabiting the Rumen of Domestic Goat Capra Hircus (L.) Families Isotrichidae (Trichostomatida) and Buetschliidae (Prostomatida)

Rumen fluid samples of domestic goats (Capra hircus L.) were collected from slaughter houses of Kannad (Aurangabad M.S.) for the study of holotrichous ciliate protozoa.  As a result of the survey of 169 rumen fluid samples the 3 species of ciliates (Isotricha intestinalis, I. prostoma and Dasytricha ruminantum) from two genera, Family Isotrichidae and one species from the genus Buetschlia (Buetschlia parva) Family Buetschliidae were studied.  All these recognized ciliates were morphologically described and compared with their original descriptions and previous reports. The similarities and differences were discussed. The paper reveals that Isotricha intestinalis and Buetschlia parva are the first report in India from the rumen of goat.  

Effectiveness of friction dampers on seismic response of structure considering soil-structure interaction

U ovom se radu analizira utjecaj međudjelovanja konstrukcije i tla (SSI) na sustav s jednim stupnjem slobode, s tarnim prigušivačem i bez njega. Konstrukcija s različitim vrijednostima mase, krutosti i uvjeta tla pripremljena je i analizirana za deset različitih potresa. Na temelju nelinearnog proračuna s vremenskim zapisom, analiziran je odziv konstrukcije s jednim stupnjem slobode pri raznim vrijednostima kliznog opterećenja tarnog prigušivača. Utvrđeno je da parametri tla utječu na ponašanje tarnog prigušivača. Osim toga, uočeno je da se vrijednosti optimalnog kliznog opterećenja i krutosti ukruta mijenjaju ovisno o vrsti tla.The effect of soil structure interaction (SSI) on a single degree of freedom system with and without friction damper is analysed in the paper. The structure with different mass, stiffness and soil conditions was prepared and analysed for ten different earthquake records. Using the non-linear time history analysis, the structural response of a single degree of freedom structure with varying slip load of friction damper was studied. It was observed that the performance of friction dampers is influenced by soil parameters. Also, it was established that an optimum slip load and stiffness of brace changes with respect to the type of soil

Ethernet Enabled Digital Home Automation System

This paper presents very intelligible and economical method to provide Ethernet connectivity to microcontroller based controlled embedded systems. This system uses TCP/IP stack as a very essential element of the system software and also uses ATmega328p as a host microcontroller to store the main application source code, web pages. An Ethernet controller chip, ENC 28J60 is used to handle the Ethernet communications which is interfaced with the host microcontroller using SPI pins. There are many I/O pins available at the microcontroller which is used to interface with relays for controlling operations remotely. Nowadays, most of the internet connections use Ethernet as media for data transfer. Most of the time we need to control different home appliances using microcontrollers. If we enable Ethernet interface to such systems then we can communicate with them remotely over the internet with wired by means of wired or wirelessly