Defines the concept of strategic alliances as well as outlining the potential benefits and disadvantages of entering into such relationships. This will facilitate critical reviews of the nature and type of relationship that best satisfies their individual needs. Strategic alliances are a means of rationalizing business operations and improving the overall competitive position of a company and are important because of the sheer speed and dynamism of technological change which has opened up a wide range of new activity areas. Banking firms, however, experienced difficulty in defining the type of relationship that best suits their needs. To a significant extent this is due to the fact that a great deal of confusion exists regarding the term “strategic alliances”. In particular parties have difficulty in distinguishing strategic alliances from other forms of organizational relationships.

Abstract-In this paper, studies on broadband microwave absorption and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness are reported in flexible rubber composites with low filler content of nanosize conducting carbon over 8-18 GHz frequency range of electromagnetic spectrum. Rubber based composites are prepared by loading of 1-15 wt% nanosize conducting Carbon Black (CB) in silicone rubber matrix. Effect of percentage loading of nanosize CB on DC conductivity, dielectric & microwave absorption properties and electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness (SE) of silicone rubber composites is studied. The percolation threshold is achieved at low concentration (3 wt%) of CB in composites. The observed complex permittivity values revealed that composites with concentration of 5 wt% CB can provide more than 90% microwave absorption (Reflection Loss > −10 dB) over 8-18 GHz at composite thickness of 1.9-2.7 mm. Further, composites with concentration of 15 wt% of CB shows −40 dB SE over the broad frequency range 8-18 GHz at thickness 2.8 mm. The effect of composite thickness on microwave absorption properties and shielding effectiveness is also analyzed. Thus, the prepared rubber composites with suitable concentration of nanosize CB as filler may be used as microwave absorber in stealth applications as well as for EMI shielding of electronic equipments in various civilian and military areas.

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Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has gained importance as more and more companies now focus on core competencies. India has emerged as the hottest outsourcing destination to the world. The growth of BPO India in the recent past has been phenomenal, with a promising future to look ahead. When GE Capital, a US - owned MNC established their large call centre at Gurgaon in 1996, little did people realize that they have brought a gold mine or the Indian youth. The mediocre, educated, and unemployed urban youth, considered good for nothing by their parents, suddenly found a new vocation. About twenty to thirty years ago, nobody in India could imagine that its population, considered as bane, will soon become its biggest boon. With its vast English-speaking, computer-savvy human-resource base, it was soon emerging as the major offshoring destination. The change has arrived and with this, the emergence of BPO India. Hertzberg's theory of motivation states that money beyond a point is only a hygiene factor and no longer a motivator for the employees. This fact has been amply proved in the BPO sector; where good wages and better facilities are not able to arrest the high turnover rate. It is seen in Indian context that we value the emotional and social affiliations more than monetary gains. This paper highlights the need to build relationships with your workforce considering them as your strategic partners. It also recommends innovative methods and practices for building relationships forever; with a view to create well-motivated and dedicated workforce for this premier industry of India.

Introduction :Urethral stricture diseases have been treated with numerous approaches. Though open urethroplasty is considered a one-time solution [1], The direct visual internal urethrotomy (DVIU) is still considered an alternative approach in the stepladder of treatment [2,3]. Here we report our experience at a tertiary care hospital with DVIU in a homogeneous series of patients with bulbar urethral stricture who underwent strict follow-up and present a multivariable analysis of the results to identify signicant predictors of treatment failure. We wish to offer new insights into DVIU. Materials and method: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent internal urethrotomy. Patients who underwent DVIU for untreated bulbar urethral strictures with minimum follow-up of 12 months were included. Patients with traumatic stricture and stricture length >4 cm were excluded.The primary outcome was treatment failure. Multivariable Cox regression analyses by Stata v.12.0 were used to test the association between predictors:- Stricture etiology, stenosis length, preoperative maximum ow [pQmax]) and treatment failure. Results: 215 patients were included. Median follow-up was 35 months. At 5-yr follow-up the failure-free survival rate was 54.4%. On multivariable analysis pQmax was the only signicant predictor of treatment failure. Conclusions: DVIU success rate for untreated bulbar urethral strictures was signicantly associated with preoperative maximum ow rate. The patients with a pre- operative maximum ow lesser than 6 ml/s have a low probability of success and may be considered for alternative treatments such as open urethroplasty, especially when affected by long urethral strictures.