For the development of a country, it is realized that the nation has not been able to reap full benefits of industrialization without the capability and capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country. To increase the growth and development of the country, the importance of SMEs in the region can not be ignored. SMEs development is the process of gradually becoming a major driving force of the global economy. With the help of SMEs introduction, Pakistan’s economy continues to post an impressive growth rate for the last few years. From this recent growth, SMEs has been declared an engine of the economic growth of the country. Sustainable economic development plays a pivotal role in bringing about prosperity and reducing poverty. Small and Medium Enterprises are often found at the heart of local and regional economies. Enterprises create jobs, wealth and feel good factor for local communities, encouraging further investment. Greater relevance must be given to the role that small and medium enterprises can play in generating wealth and eradicating poverty. Communities are responsible themselves for identifying the need for SMEs growth and skill development training. The culture of enterprise development exists with the objectives set against a number of performance indicators namely, enhanced business and technical skills, good govern improved access to product markets, reliable taxation structure and finally access to credit facilities to support business initiatives and support by local government is a symbol of their commitment to local development and empowerment. Pakistan being a developing country needs attention in most of the potential areas, where efforts have been made from the last few decades. SMEs are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. It’s represent 90 1 per cent of all enterprises in the country, providing millions of jobs and is essential source for entrepreneurial spirit and innovation. SMEs profile in the Province is neither accessible nor readable for the investor, because number of problems is attached inherently to this region. In the light of these problems, the local 1 Pakistan Country Assistance Strategy, World Bank Report, Annex. II, page 3. 1investors and side by side the foreign investor’s are hesitating to come here for investment purpose. Secondly, disparity on the part of the Government, has also neglected this region. But this region has a fertile approach for SMEs establishments. NWFP possesses a potential structure for promoting SMEs sector, so as to bring at par with other provinces of the country. For this purpose proper strategic planning is needed. The research conducted in this field highlights number of problems and the status of SMEs in the region. This study has examines the present structure of SMEs and its problems through primary and secondary data collected. Further, the study gives the possible direction for evaluating the prospects of SMEs in the region. These problems are pushed with a sustainable recommendation for future development. SMEs are the most sensitive of all to changes in the business environment. They are the first to suffer if weighed down with excessive number of bureaucracy. They are first to flourish from initiatives to cut down red tapeism and reward success system. SMEs must be considered as a main driver of innovation, employment, poverty reduction and social integration. This research study having a theoretical background for determining different hypotheses, in the name of i.e. failure of SMEs is the result of lack of managerial knowledge, marketing effectiveness leads to the success of SMEs, Ineffective HRD is the basic cause of SMEs failure, non-availability of legal framework is a problem for SMEs, in-sufficient financial support is another setback for SMEs and finally, lack of communication with the venders. These hypotheses were tested in the light of information collected by a written questionnaire distributed among different business units in the region. Then these responses were analyzed by using different statistical tools like frequency distribution, Chi-Square, Cross Correlation and ANOVA techniques, to obtain the desired results for the support of the problems faced by the SMEs sector in the region. The results obtained from the different analysis regarding the various problems in the realm of SMEs are in the command of an ordinary entrepreneurs in the region, while some of the problems not come in the direct command of the entrepreneur that need facilitation from the government. The problems faced by SMEs are conformed by the results obtained from data regarding them are the following: 2· Depending on the old and cultural style management in SMEs region is the basic root cause of backwardness. · Lack of marketing techniques and its adjustment with the current change in the market is another flaw on the part of SMEs, where they can not afford these commercial expenditures. · HR application in SMEs are not of acquired standard nor sufficient to meet the requirement of the sector. · Legality and growth of SMEs rotate around the Government legal structure enforceability in the region. · Funds are the life blood of SMEs, if it is properly managed. Lack of funding and access to the source of funding is the basic issues for SMEs development. Measures should also be adopted to strengthen the relationship among the SMEs and Government to promote top class SMEs support system. Emphasis must be placed on education and training for the entrepreneurship. Tax system must be made conducive for SMEs expansion and job creation. Measures should be adopted to improve the technological capacity of SMEs. These reforms should be included in the program launched for promoting technology dissemination towards SMEs as well as the capacity to identify, select and adapt technologies to improve their capabilities to enter in the domestic as well as in the International markets freely.
الملخص:
يقدم البحث رؤية نقدية بمنظار المقاربة الجمالية لأهم علامات التواصل الأيقوني –الصورة الفوتوغرافية، وبما تقدم من العرض عن مفهوم الصورة والكلمة بوصفهما وسط نسيجي مركب من العلامة الكلمية والصورية المتداخلة؛ لطبيعتهما السيميائية، وتداولها خطاباً يثري السرد ويغني الأحداث بتوجهه الدلالي، وبما تحمله الصورة من كفاءة وقوة بإيقاع النظام التواصلي، وما يكمن فيها من عناصر إفهاميه تمكّن من ادراك البعد المقصدي، وما لها من تأثير على القارئ وتوجيه لما فيه فائدة اجتماعية وإنسانية ونفسية، لذا فقد تمركزت محاور البحث على وصف الرسالة البصرية القائمة على اهم المحاور الكلاسيكة التي ابتدعها جاكبسون: المرسل (مبتدع النص)، المرسل اليه (المتلقي)، الرسالة (الصورة/ الكلمة)، والتركيز على اهم المرتكزات الثلاث (الصورة/ الكلمة) بوصفهما اشتغالا في المقاربة السيميولوجية، ضمن مجال البلاغة الرمزية ومدى تفوقهما في استحضار المعنى وقوفا عند الصورة الفوتوغرافية بالاعتماد على اهم أيقوناتها عبر بنية النص الصغرى والتي تجعلها اكثر استنطاقا بمهارة الفواعل الدرامية للصورة الفوتوغرافية عند تفكيك عناصرها واعادة تركيبها ضمن تكوينها الاوحد من اجل تقديم فعلا حركياً يضفي على الحكائية التوسع في السرد وتفاعلها مع بنية النص الكبرى، لذا يصبح القارئ امام شبكة متداخلة من مظاهر الحكي، فتشكل رؤية وبعداً فنياً يريد الكاتب إيصالها إليه بعدما اصبحت ظاهرة في نصه الروائي، لتختتم دراسة البحث حول اهم النتائج التي توصل إليها الباحث.
Polymer silica hybrids are attracting a lot of attention owing to their ability to be used in a number of applications as they combine the properties of the organic phase (flexibility, processability, ductility) and those of the inorganic phase(thermal stability, rigidity). In recent years, polymer-silica hybrids with various tailored properties have attracted a lot of attention and have found applications in a variety of fields including catalysis, adsorption, pervepaoration, sensors, and enzyme encapsulation. The scope and utility of these polymer silica hybrids are further broadened by transforming them to nanosized materials i.e. nanoparticles and nanofibers. The work reported in this thesis covers various investigations carried out by modulating sol-gel process of silica and later on incorporating controlled sol-gel processing with electrospinning to generate particles and fibers with sizes in nanometers. It includes assimilation of two polymers Poly Acrylonitile (PAN) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) into the silica gel matrix to produce hybrid xerogels and/or nanofibers. Due to the variation in the techniques and nature of materials involved in the synthesis, this research work is divided into three parts. In the first part, we report on the synthesis of PVA-silica hybrid xerogels through acid catalyzed sol-gel processing of silica precursor Tetraethoxy Silane (TEOS) in a mixed solvent consisting of water and ethanol. We systematically investigate the effect of varying ratio of PVA and silica precursor on the surface structure, thermal properties, crystallinity and solubility of the resultant xerogels. All the xerogel samples are found to display mesoporous surface morphology and the pore size is found to increase with the increase in polymer content of the xerogel. Unlike highly water soluble nature of PVA, all the hybrid xerogels are found to display extremely reduced solubility in water. This anomalous behaviour of PVA hybrids can be attributed to stronger than expected interactions between PVA and silica. XRD and DSC analysis of the xerogels point towards the loss of crystallinity of the PVA in the hybrids. FTIR examination of the xerogels also provides evidence for a covalent bond between PVA and silica which results in crosslinking of PVA in the hybrids. Catalytic properties of the as- synthesized and calcined xerogels are analyzed by studying the sorption of a fluorescent active dye Rhodamine 6G on the xerogels. Entrapment of R6G in the xerogels structure is also studied by incorporating the dye in the hybrid xerogels during synthesis. The structure of the final hybrid is verified through SEM, FTIR and XRD studies while its optical properties are investigated through UV-visible spectroscopy. Of the various approaches used to synthesize polymer silica hybrid nanofibers, the one-step electrospinning process has received a lot of attention due to its simplicity, cost effectiveness and speed. Electrospinning is a decades-old technique which draws very fine fibers from a viscous liquid (usually a polymer or polymer solution) under the force of an electrostatic field. In the second part of research, Using electrospinning and sol-gel methodologies, we report a method to prepare silica-PVA nanofibers with reduced water solubility. Silica-PVA hybrid fibers are obtained by electrospinning a mixture of the silica precursor solution and aqueous PVA. We systematically investigate how the amount of TEOS, the silica-PVA ratio, the aging time of the precursor solution and the solution rheology influence morphology of the fibers. Just like the hybrid xerogels, PVA-silica nanofiber hybrids were water insoluble when soaked overnight in water. We believe that mixing of the silica precursor and PVA in solution in the presence of acid catalyst initiates the participation of the PVA polymer in the silica precursor crosslinking so that its –OH group becomes unavailable for H-bonding with water. Third part of the research involves application of a controlled sol-gel synthesis incorporated with electrospinning to produce polyacrylonitrile-silica (PAN-silica) nanofibers. Hybrid fibers are obtained with varying amounts of PAN, silica, acid catalyst and silica precursor aging time. Solution viscosity, conductivity and surface tension are found to relate strongly to the electrospinnability of PAN-silica solutions. Later, thermal stabilization of the hybrids at 280oC followed by carbonization at 800oC transformed fibers to carbon-silica hybrid nanofibers with diameter ranging from 400 to 700 nm. FTIR analysis of the fibers confirmed presence of carbon and silica content. Graphitic character of the carbon-silica fibers was confirmed through raman studies and fibers are found to contain almost even distribution of crystalline (graphitic) and amorphous (non-graphitic) characters.