Muhammad Shakil Ahmad

Working women work‐life conflict

Purpose – Working women being housewives have to face major problems. They have to trade off between work domain and family life domain, in perspective sector and area chosen. This study investigates the factors behind work‐life conflict experienced by women with responsibilities and type of work arrangement experiencedDesign/methodology/approach – The study is conducted by exploring the responses of 100 women working in 25 different banks (public as well as private banks) in non‐contrived environment using random sampling in Attock and Islamabad cities of Pakistan. Regression and correlation is used for statistical analysisFindings – The impact of womens earning potentials, household responsibilities, workplace environment and financial needs is analyzed on women work‐life conflict. Results from the study indicate that household responsibilities and workplace environment are strongly correlated to women work‐life conflict. Response rate is 75 percent and all the values for Cronbach Alpha are agreeable. ...

ECRM and customers: a case of Askari Commercial Bank, Pakistan

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to observe and analyze current banking practices in Pakistan, regarding the electronic customer relationship management system (ECRM). The aim is to explore the variables in relation to operational problems that may occur with banks that use ECRM and the customers perception of the usage of e‐banking.Design/methodology/approach – The research design is divided into two sections using both qualitative as well as quantitative methods to represent the results. The first section explores the variables related to the operational problems with e‐banking while the second section discusses the variables related to the customers perception of the usage of e‐banking systems. Descriptive statistics are used to define the demographic variables while correlation is used to describe the operational problems. Cross case analysis is used to present the customer perception of e‐banking practices. In total, 40 staff members and four customers are selected as samples for this study. ...

Effect of ground plane on the input impedance of Quadrifilar Helix Antenna

In this research work, the variation in the input impedance of Quadrifilar Helix Antenna (QHA) versus height of perfect conducting ground plane (PEC) is investigated. The results show that when the height of ground plane varies from 0.05λ to 1.0λ, maximum variations are observed in real part of input impedance below 0.3λ (44Ω to 50Ω in simulations and 41Ω to 52Ω in measurements). From 0.3λ to 1.0λ the change in the real part of input impedance of QHA is insignificant (varies between 48Ω to 50.6Ωin simulations and 48 Ω to 52Ω in measurements). On the other hand the imaginary part of input impedance changes between -10Ω to 0Ω in simulations and 7Ω to 0Ω in measurements and is insignificant above the height of 0.3λ (changes between -2.0 Ω to 0.2Ω in simulations and 3Ω to 0Ω in measurements). The comparatively stable input impedance of QHA with respect to height of ground plane was further compared with horizontal dipole and rectangular loop with different orientations. As height varies from 0.05λ to 1.0λ, variations in the input impedance (real and imaginary part) is maximum for horizontal dipole (HD) and horizontal and perpendicular loop (H&PL). For other two orientations, vertical loop (VL) and horizontal and parallel loop (H&∥L) the variations are small. However still the smallest deviations in the input impedance about its mean value are that of QHA which makes it very suitable in applications where the antenna had to be placed above a ground plane such as in satellite platform or aerial platforms.

Design and analysis of left-handed transmission lines based miniaturized power divider/combiner for microwave applications

An equal split (3dB) Wilkinson Power Divider (WPD) based on left-handed transmission lines at 2GHz is designed. By implementation of Left-Handed Transmission Lines (LHTLs) instead of conventional Right-Handed Transmission Lines (RHTLs) at input and output branches of Wilkinson power divider, compactness, broadening of operational frequency band and functionality enhancement has been achieved. The simulated results for various parameters like return loss, isolation and insertion loss have been presented. Over the proposed frequency of 2GHz, bandwidth of 2GHz, 1.35GHz and 600MHz at return loss of -10dB, -20dB and -30dB respectively are achieved. A comparative analysis of proposed and conventional design shows that a 52.58% reduction in size and 40.7% increase in bandwidth at -20dB return loss is achieved.

CCDF of EVM for digital modulation schemes over Fixed Satellite Service

In this reported research, Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function (CCDF) of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) is used to estimate the boundaries of likelihood of signal detection in M-ARY schemes in digital communication systems considering the noisy environment. For practical application, satellite communication system is used for implementing the proposed method. Neglecting the multipath fading and other disturbances present in the satellite channel, Adjacent Channel Power Interference (ACPI) and Cross Pole Interference (CPI) are the two undesirable interfering factors that affect the digital communication over Fixed Satellite Service (FSS). CCDF of EVM is successfully used to estimate the decision boundaries of various M-ARY schemes in FSS in the presence of ACPI and CPI. For comparison, this technique is also applied on Additive White Gaussian Noise channel (AWGN). Proposed technique explains the performance of digital communications in detail and is cost effective as compared to Bit Error Rate (BER).