lap lambert academic publishing jan 2012 (Mehr als 1.300 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -While connections between the femme fatale in film noir and 1930s hard-boiled fiction exist, noir critics have claimed that the femme fatale has historical specificity to postwar America. Andrew S. Wiecek summarizes criticism on the femme fatale in film noir and proceeds to underscore the significant contributions to made by the hard-boiled tradition to noir. He believes that these contributions point to a pre-war male anxiety about female independence that he traces to the economic instability of the Great Depression. From this pre-war anxiety came the femme fatale of hard-boiled fiction. Using the James M. Cain¿s 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' and 'Double Indemnity,' the author shows how the femme fatales in these novels are identical to their film noir counterparts. Furthermore, he discusses the difference between popular fiction and hard-boiled fiction, contrasting Cain¿s novels with Sinclair Lewis¿ Ann Vickers. In the end, he concludes that noir critics have not adequately taken into account the history of American working women and have privileged the historical weight of film over literature.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 76 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The year 2010 marked the first Somali generation of exiled families caught in protracted situations, without hope for resettlement, repatriation or local integration. To be a protracted refugee is considered to be the most desolate situation a refugee could face any where in the world.To reside in the world's largest refugee camp,for years on end is likened to a jail that is open on top,but closed on all sides. The quest of this research was to explore the subject of human rights dimension of protracted refugee situations.Its impact and possible alternatives to the problem. Munene demonstrates in her research,that rights remained unfulfilled in the camp,and if granted or claimed by the refugees,it is a result of negotiation among key parties to the problem. The author aims to provoke more discussion,in depth analysis and robust action for the benefit of refugees in the world. Another objective is to enrich academicians work in the refugee and human rights discipline, policy makers, humanitarian professionals working with refugees, Governments in Africa struggling with protracted refugees and organizations or individuals with an interest to resolve this dilemma for the better.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 104 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The BoP represents 4 billion individuals living on less than $2 a day. As growth in mature markets stagnate, business is now turning to fast-growing BoP markets as a source of untapped growth. Innovations now exist that can help meet the needs of the BoP while creating opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. However, BoP customers are often located in remote areas with poor infrastructure, face low levels of affordability and lack access to finance. As a result, finding ways to distribute to these customers in a low-cost, efficient, scalable and sustainable fashion is a major challenge. ¿The Bumpy Road to the BoP¿ seeks to address that challenge. Based on a review of BoP literature and an in-depth study of 5 BoP ventures in Ghana, this book identifies the key BoP distribution challenges and solutions and categorises these according to the 4As of BoP distribution ¿ Availability, Affordability, Awareness and Acceptability. The author proposes a BoP Distribution Framework, incorporating a set of principles and alternatives for addressing the challenge of distribution, in the hope of making the road to the BoP a little less bumpy.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 88 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Brand Awareness is an essence of brand equity. The expense deployed on building brand equity by giant companies of well-known brands is not an easy job. It¿s worth understanding the two-way communication between the brand and the consumer that how Brand Awareness(which is one of the important key to reach the ultimate level of the success of any brand) paves the way for Consumer/Brand Loyalty. In the era of dramatic environment and uncertainty, brand power is still going strong through extensive research on the marketing strategies and the brands(product/service) associated with it, to generate revenues and build long-term relationships with the consumers i.e. by establishing constant brand awareness, favorable associations, identity, personality, positive brand image, trust, preference and at last loyalty. This Book is based on in-depth research about Brand Awareness and how its underlying factors drive to attain Consumer/Brand Loyalty. It's interesting to find that Perception acts at times, as a mediator between Brand Awareness and Consumer/Brand Loyalty but it varies according to the product categories.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 76 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Over the last few years informal saving groups have been constantly increasing. Not only poor but people that are relatively well off have opted to participate in such groups. Why is this so This book answers the question and put forward the issues and possibilities if these informal saving groups have what it takes to replace a bank's saving account. This book studies rosca (rotating, saving and credit associations), an informal self help saving group mostly formed by poor around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, to save their money. This is an effective saving group that is very popular in developing countries. People gather daily, weekly or monthly to contribute some amount of money and then the accumulated money is given to one of the member. This process continues until all the members receive the accumulated sum. After that, the chain is broken. A good amount of work on rosca is done in the past, by many people around the world. This paper however, proposes a new hypothesis, one that has never been taken before, which is that roscas can replace a bank¿s saving account.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 60 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Being a successful leader requires building strong relationships with subordinates and colleagues, and trust is always a central figure of a functioning relationship. Trust is the glue that keeps relationships together through challenging times and it is the lubricant that gets rid of unnecessary transactional costs and the need for subordinates to protect themselves and their positions. Trust between superior and subordinate enables both parties to perform at their highest level and even overachieve on their tasks and goals. It is essential for organizations at transformative state to maintain the trust relationship between superiors and subordinates. This qualitative study explains how the interactions between superior and subordinate affect the trust relationship and how this can be utilized in business environments. This book gives an insight to the question: How to make subordinates trust you Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book attempts to demonstrate the socio-economic impact of the afforestation project on the displaced local people and the adverse implication on the afforested resource in Ethiopia. The book clearly show impoverishment disaster encountered the local community resulted from both the dislocation process and the management approach employed by the project. The study also signifies the negative impact of the protectionist approach on the afforested resource.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 108 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The attainment and sustenance of quality edge by business organizations depend solely on the practices of TQM. Whereas some business practices create quality gaps, it is the primary aim of every business, be it service or manufacturing, to strive and grow. The research describes clearly and precisely the state of quality practices in a business school library. Areas of concern in the evaluation include: the people aspects, facilities, information technology application aspects and the governing body of the library. Some quality gaps were identified in the study and the researcher offered suggestions for correcting the deficiencies. The researcher recommends best practices for the UGBS Library through benchmarking superior business libraries. The evaluation will help students, researchers and practitioners interested in TQM to add value to their knowledge.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 120 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Present study was conducted in District Gujrat to investigate the impact of the microcredit scheme of Punjab Rural Support Program (PRSP) on women¿s empowerment. Researches throughout the developing world have highlighted the impact of microcredit programs on women¿s empowerment. This research was divided into three main sections. First section deals with the status of women at housed level before taking microcredit while second and third sections deal with the impact of microcredit in raising women¿s awareness and women¿s empowerment after taking microcredit. In the second section information was analyzed that whether microcredit increased the awareness among women regarding their status, legal rights and importance of say at household level. In the last section a situational analysis of the women after taking microcredit is presented. The data analysis has shown that there is a positive impact of microcredit program introduced by PRSP in the rural Gujrat on women¿s empowerment.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 64 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The problematic of this study is the lack of consistency with supply theory of the trend of price and the supply of some selected crops in Jigawa state as observed by the researcher. This study using the Nerlovian model has estimated the responses of millet, sorghum, sesame and groundnut crops¿ areas to changes in their prices and other relevant variables in Jigawa state, Nigeria. The time period covered in the analysis is from 1994 ¿ 2007. The coefficients of the area response models were estimated for the individual crops and at the aggregate level using ordinary least squares multiple regression method. Quantitative estimates show that the short run and long run changes in own-price, lagged hectarages and lagged production were not significant in explaining the response of millet, sorghum, sesame, and groundnut farmers during the period under reviewBooks on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 64 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Community participation is vital for the success of any rural development project. Under the conservancy wildlife management strategy, commercial farmers come together to manage wildlife jointly to generate income through wildlife tourism. The economic benefits generated must be shared with the impoverished surrounding communities. The rural districts can purchase wildlife and place them in the conservancy and they will be managed just as the concervancy`s own animals are managed. The districts will get profit from the animals they own. Wildlife management industry, if put to good use, has a greater potential to meaningfully increase the prosperity of the people of the neigbouring communal areas than any other land use option.The communities surrounding the conservancies must participate meaningfully in the management of wildlife to make the project a success. Once the local communites feel sidelined in the utilization of wildlife resources it will lead to conflict. Such conflict could possibly be resolved through joint management of the resource. The research is vital for Government Departments, NGOs and institutions that are into wildlife management.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The study focused on the amount of personalized print produced by printing companies in Europe, the challenges these printers are facing when producing personalized jobs, and how the market for personalized printing in Europe differs from that in the US. Personalization is a marketing tactic in which various media channels are used to send a personalized message to a consumer or client based on their interests. Personalized print¿one media channel that can be used in the marketing mix¿is divided among different applications such as mail merge, transactional print, versioning, moderate personalized print and highly personalized print. An online survey was distributed to printing companies across Europe via the International Confederation of Printing and Allied Industries (Intergraf). A total of 37 printing companies participated in this study.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 68 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Labor force in Bangladesh has been growing tremendously due to high population growth rate. To reduce poverty and to attain sustainable economic growth, it is imperative for Bangladesh to develop industries so that a growing labor force can be absorbed into non-farm industrial activities, since agriculture sector in Bangladesh has already been over populated and suffering from the problems of disguised and seasonal unemployment. However, there is no consensus on how to develop industries in rural areas of developing countries. In this study, using primary data collected from an informal hosiery industry cluster in a lagging behind northern district in Bangladesh, I have explained how local tradition combining with rural infrastructure and human capital of the rural entrepreneurs contribute to the development of a vibrant informal hosiery industry that creates job opportunity for more than 10,000 rural poor in a lagging behind northern district in Bangladesh.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 72 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In this globalisation era, small towns around South Africa (as well as in many developing countries) are experiencing declining economies hence regeneration strategies are essential. Small towns are significant economies in institutional efforts (particularly by government) to close economic gaps. The focus of this paper is on regeneration strategies for small town economies in South Africa using the case study of Mooi River in the Mooi-Mpofana municipality. Hence the main research question is what scope is there for effective local action to improve economic circumstances in small towns outside major urban core areas Based on the case study to achieve the desired growth prospects for the local municipality there are three areas of intervention that needs significant attention: 1) promoting public-private partnerships in the localities, 2) extensively engaging in enterprise development services; 3) investigating development strategies to enhance the capabilities of localities. Government policies and programmes must prioritize these key aspect in pursuit of better livelihood strategies particularly for the many poor people in the country.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Agricultural cooperatives are established used and controlled by their members their basic objective is serving their members needs and expectation. primary societies integrate vertcally to form a cooperative union. the common problems that primary societies have necessitate the establishement of of a cooperative union A cooperative organization is essentially a business organization. It cannot afford to act in a business manner. Otherwise, its end would be as quick as its start. It should, therefore, either improve the standards of service available to its members or affect the price level so that the purchasing power of its members is increased.In short, the effect of cooperative or joint effort should be such that it is felt or is visible to members as well as non-members. But this cannot be possible unless cooperative society reach to size which allows its economic effects of cooperation to act in full swing small-scale cooperatives generally suffer from lack of viability and competitiveness.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The monographs is a research study that was conducted to analyze the financing options for Engro Corporation Limited and scrutinize the possible problems that the company could face if it continued the use of debt. The objectives were to assess the impact of debt on company¿s profitability, risk capacity and the managerial repercussions it could have. Research findings of the research are helpful in deciding the course of action for Engro Corporation in terms of their financing decisions by discussing whether leveraging capital structure any further is viable.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 72 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This study is based on census and survey data. Estimate of some indicators of population ageing on the basis of census data and it is observed that the size of the elderly people is growing day by day and their annual growth rate exceeds the overall growth rate, the dependency of aged persons on the population of working age group is also increasing day by day. It is also observed that the significant (positive) effect of marital status and respondent¿s monthly income and also significant (negative) effect of work status and economic condition on living arrangement. The study also reveals that the significant (positive) effect of abuse of the elderly and significant (negative) effect of respondent¿s sex and work status on the health status of the elderly population followed by respondent¿s age, educational status, marital status, family¿s monthly income and present physical condition have significant (positive) effect on the abuse of the elderly population.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 104 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The demand for high data rate reliable communications poses great challenges to the next generation wireless systems in highly dynamic mobile environments. In this Book, we focus on the blind receiver design for SISO transmission over block fading and time-variant channels. We investigate the joint Maximum-Likelihood (ML) channel estimation and data detection for SISO wireless systems with general constellations and propose a low complexity blind algorithm for finding the exact joint ML solution. The method uses some a priori information about the communication problem to improve the channel estimation accuracy and bit error rate. The Book considers two SISO systems; circular (OFDM) and linear convolution systems. In the circular convolution system, we show how an OFDM symbol, transmitted over block fading channel, can be blindly detected using the output symbols only. In the linear convolution system, we perform a blind equalization for a data packet transmitted over block fading channel using the received symbols only. Finally, the Book considers a more realistic problem in which we design a blind receiver for linear convolution SISO transmission over time-variant channels.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 112 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Buying Behaviour is the decision process and acts of people involved in buying and using products. The perception of the most consumers is that the relatively high price is a sign of good quality. A popular belief is: ¿you get for what you pay for¿. Therefore consumers tend to believe that high price is an indicator of better quality. Although many studies conducted on price ¿ quality relationship have supported this belief, it is necessary to find the relationship to be product specific with quality among the consumers. The book Buyer Behaviour towards Price and Quality written by me has given clarity to the concept. This study aims to analyse the buyer behaviour in the context of price & quality on Durable product, Semi-durable product & Non durable product. This study may help the manufactures to modify their product quality according to consumer¿s expectations and also increase the sales. It has reviewed all relevant literature relating to the topic. Besides it has developed a strong theoretical base for the concept. The rest part of the book is based on research study conducted in Pondicherry.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The last 20 years of changes in Central and Eastern Europe had had positive effect on the investment attractiveness of the region and the way it is perceived by the potential foreign investors. Poland as the biggest country from CEE accounts for 28% of FDI in the region (as for 2008). In 2009 it was the only one European state with positive economic growth. Impressive, isn't it Nevertheless the crisis affected us as well. The question today is: Can we still attract potential investors Do we have any advantages over other countries And also: can we learn from our mistakes ¿ all in all we lost some of the battles for few major investments in the region. In order to answer those questions one has to approach the problem of investment attractiveness from theoretical point of view: What are the driving forces for investment What are the reasons for choosing a specific investment location Apart from answering these questions, this book provides for a wide range of market, institutional, international and financial determinants of foreign investment. Moreover it presents the analysis of given determinants in Poland in comparison with other Central and Eastern European countries.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 104 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book presents two concepts ¿ place marketing and event marketing. Theoretical knowledge within these concepts is not widely spread, they are usually examined separately but not together. A lot of companies use event marketing in order to promote their products or services. But what about cities Can they use events in order to attract more tourists, residents, investors and industries Can the event be one of the tools for communicating a city image As an example, this work examines the Finnish city of Mikkeli. Year by year Finnish cities become more and more popular among Russian tourists, investors, universities and employees. Mikkeli is among these cities. But it needs to increase its awareness among Russians and find new ways of attracting them. An event can be one of these ways. The purpose of this work is to get a better understanding of place marketing; how events are used as a promotional tool of place marketing; and, based on the developed theoretical framework, to evaluate the value of place marketing practices to position the city more favorably compared to its rivals, to probe the interests of the potential customers and find the ways of how to attract them.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 88 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The concepts of corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are rapidly gaining ground in today¿s competitive market place. As a result of this, many companies are trying to incorporate these concepts in their business models or in their logic of value creation to various stakeholders. In this study, the authors regard strategy and business models as different constructs and argue that institutional pressures from NGOs and other governing bodies and associations as postulated by the Total Responsibility Management school of thought (encouraging the adoption of a good sense of CSR and CG) can be viewed as one of the inspirations behind the contingencies that affect a firm¿s (one which advocates this CSR business philosophy) intended strategy.Thus, making a firm¿s reactive CSR and CG compliance practices these contingencies.The authors use a case study approach of IKEA that greatly seems to advocate this concept of CSR and CG.The authors conclude this study with an argument that though reactive CG and CSR practices are good, a company that claims to incorporate the CSR philosophy in its business model or vision must also be proactive in its application.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 76 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Gendered dress is visible in clothing product lines such as gents and ladies wear. This indicates that the rate at which the product lines are sold is largely determined by the specific gender. Thus, this interpretive enquiry involved a case study that examined the attitudes of middle¿aged women of Southerton towards a gendered dress code. The focus was on middle-aged women since they are the main purveyors of culture and constitute a large segment of dress consumers. Ten women and their families were purposefully sampled from a population of three hundred households. Interviews, observations and artefacts were the data collecting tools. The qualitative data were presented in both descriptive and narrative forms. Findings were intended to benefit the designers, manufacturers and marketers of dress. The findings indicated that most women held conservative views towards a gendered dress code and its transmission was not easy for most women especially those with teenagers. Religion was found to be pivotal in influencing dress choices. The study recommends that the clothing industry engage in a periodic research activity, which seeks to establish consumer attitudes.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 84 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Banks the world over set some operating procedures and processes that should be used by employees in executing their duties.The main purpose of these procedures is to help the organizations to deliver service to their customers efficiently with little or no disruptions and minimum exposure.In Zimbabwe during the period 2004 to 2007 it appeared as though these procedures were thrown out through the window by most organizations as evidenced by poor service delivery systems and rampant disruptions.The study identified the major causes of this delinquency as lack of induction for new recruits,lack of professional qualifications,under-staffing,procedures that are not customer focused and slow reaction by banks to adopt new changes in statutes.It is the author's belief that if all organizations could address these issues service delivery would be greatly enhanced.If service delivery is a delight,then it translates to more business, holding other factors constant.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 116 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Though the process of leads is all about positively identifying the target before you pull the trigger. It is equally important to identify as many targets as possible because no matter how great the pitch for the sales is, 'success in sales is always probabilistic' because it involves many aspects like need of service/product, psychological state of the customer, price, time etc. Hence it becomes crucial to use the available time productively by following a method which is not only statistical but also logical. This dissertation has been evolved based on real time experience of leads generation for multiple trade shows. The procedure for leads generation has been derived out of multiple iteration and continuous brainstorming for making it better each time. From a holistic view the fuzzy method of target identification can be invariably used in multiple scenarios apart from sales.For example selection of candidates in a recruitment process or selection of vendors where choice is critical to pick from multiple or infinite choices with no absolute statistical method.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The right of revolution in the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke is a curious topic. This paper discusses the differences and similarities between the two philosophers¿ discussions of this topic. It is argued that Hobbes and Locke differ most drastically on the notion of who the sovereign is. While Hobbes prefers to establish the sovereign as a demigod, Locke understands the sovereign as a mortal, and thus fallible, man. It is because of this distinction that Hobbes and Locke disagree on the notion of the right of revolution. Furthermore, the American Founding Fathers, including James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, inherited Locke¿s perspective on this matter when arguing for the independence of the colonies. Finally, it is the conclusion of this paper that this notion of the right of revolution continues today, when observing the numerous political revolutions around the world.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This thesis examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth. By reviewing previous theories and empirical studies about financial development and economic growth and financial development process in China, I assumed that there is a positive relationship between financial development and economic growth in China case. Then I use time series annual data from 1978 to 2009 to set up a short-term model and long-term model. By running causality test and regression, I find that in the short term, if financial sectors in China develop well and provide more monetary services for economic activities, it will promote Chinese economic growth. At the same time, if Chinese economy develops very well, financial sectors will get benefit from the good economic environment. But if banks provide too much loan, the economic growth rate will slow down. In the long term, there is not really obvious positive effect between economic growth and financial development in China case as expected. But efficient bank loans are helpful for promoting economic growth.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 56 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book tries to reflect intelligently on the nature of participation of humans, and their relations in the field of forest. It deals with the earlier social structures of the forest and explores answers to the question how dependents of the forest and the working of the forest department as an institutional modern mechanism and their interconnections deals with forest and managing the people. The study gives emphasis on the aspects of participation in forest management and the involvement of all agencies within. It also tries to problamatise the question of being a researcher and a participant in the whole process of Participatory Forest Management. This study through an interdisciplinary approach, has toiled to bring out field level realities from the day to day lives of the forest dependents.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 120 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In the era of global competition, role of managers who are sent abroad for temporary assignment has become increasingly important especially for multinationals companies (MNCs). The primary role of an expatriate manager can be conceived as that of a catalyst who secures continuity of MNCs.The main objective for this study is to identify the determinants of expatriates¿ job satisfaction in multinational corporations (MNCs). This study examines the relationship between individual-level factor, cross-cultural adjustment and family influences with expatriates¿ job satisfaction in host country.The findings revealed that cross-cultural adjustment in host country is the important criteria for expatriates¿ job satisfaction.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 68 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book draws on the field work on awareness and attitude of pregnant mothers towards use of voluntary cancelling and testing (VCT) services. The field work of this publication employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods to evaluate attitude of pregnant mothers towards use of voluntary cancelling and testing (VCT) service. The finding of the study revealed that respondents were knowledgeable of the existing counseling and testing services. Some respondents reported to have attended VCT because of a strange illness, other had lost their siblings, and some said just to know their HIV status, and other said they are pregnant. The factors that make people do not to volunteer were as follows: ¿I don¿t have time to have a test¿, ¿this is my First time to visit VCT center, ¿I am afraid of the result¿, and ¿there is no cure¿. The overriding issue is how VCT programme implementers need to improve communication campaigns to address awareness and knowledge of VCT for pregnant women and especially for couples by providing increasing knowledge the benefits of VCT.Books on Demand GmbH, Überseering 33, 22297 Hamburg 72 pp. Englisch.