seminar on photocoversion efficiency of quantum well solar cells for the optimum duping level of a

by ekerue chinedu j. this seminar is written by the above named person. Photoconversion efficiency of quantum-well solar cells for the optimum doping level of a base Abstract. Analytical expressions for the maximum obtainable photoconversion efficiency of quantum-well solar cells (QWSCs) under AM0 conditions are given. The modeling of the photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs under AM1.5 conditions using the SimWindows program is fulfilled. It is shown that the photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs with the A3B5 p-i-n structure is rather low because of a low photovoltage value. To improve this situation, the base region should be doped heavily enough. Light concentration makes it possible to realize high photoconversion efficiencies for A3B5 quantum-well p-i-n structures with a low background level of the base region doping. Their values are comparable to the photoconversion efficiencies for solar cells (SCs) with rather high base region doping levels. 1. Introduction The question of the availability of quantum-well solar cells (QWSCs) is highly attended last years. Many researches cover features of QWSCs, and there are the special sections on such questions at European and world solar energy conferences for last nine years. By efforts of scientists headed by Prof. K.W.J. Barnham at the Imperial College in London, the laboratory patterns of A3B5 QWSCs with high efficiency comparable with the record value in conventional SCs have been obtained [1–3]. However, up to now, all efforts have been concerned with the analysis and the fabrication of QWSCs with p-i-n structures and a low doping of the base region. There was no comparative analysis of the photoconversion efficiency for QWSCs and conventional SCs. In this work, we present the results of a theoretical analysis of the efficiency of photoconversion at the optimum doping of the base region. The present paper consists of three sections. Analytical expressions for the maximum obtainable photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs at AM0 conditions are obtained in the first section. The maximum obtainable photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs as a function of the quantum well bandgap for GaAs, AlGaAs, and Si as the barrier material is calculated using these expressions. The calculations have been carried out for both concentrated and non-concentrated illuminations. The modeling of the photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs at a non-concentrated illumination under AM1.5 conditions is fulfilled using the SimWindows program [4, 5] in the second section. GaAs is considered as the barrier material with InGaAs quantum wells. It is shown that the photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs can considerably exceed the conventional efficiency of SCs under two conditions: 1) the quantum well carrier lifetime exceeds the barrier carrier lifetime; 2) the doping level of the base region does not exceed 1017 cm−3. However, the maximum photoconversion efficiency is achieved in conventional SCs with doping levels higher than 1017 cm−3. In the third section, it is shown that concentrated illumination allows one to achieve the high photoconversion efficiency in quantum well p-i-n structures with the low base region doping. This efficiency is comparable with the efficiency of SCs with highly doped base region. Then we present a detailed description of the obtained results. CHAPTER TWO photoconversion is a photoactivatable fluorescent protein naturally originated from a stony coral, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi. It was named Kaede, meaning "maple leaf" in Japanese. With the irradiation of ultraviolet light (350–400 nm), Kaede undergoes irreversible photoconversion from green fluorescence to red fluorescence. It is a homotetrameric protein with the size of 116 kDa. The tetrameric structure was deduced as its primary structure is only 28 kDa. This tetramerization possibly makes Kaede have a low tendency to form aggregates when fused to other proteins. The property of photoconverted fluorescence Kaede protein was serendipitously discovered and first reported by Ando et al. in Proceedings of the United States National Academy of Sciences.[1] An aliquot of Kaede protein was discovered to emit red fluorescence after being left on the bench and exposed to sunlight. Subsequent verification revealed that Kaede, which is originally green fluorescent, after exposure to UV light is photoconverted, becoming red fluorescent. It was then named Kaede. Properties The property of photoconversion in Kaede is contributed by the tripeptide, His62-Tyr63-Gly64, that acts as a green chromophore that can be converted to red.[2] Once Kaede is synthesized, a chromophore, 4-(p-hydroxybenzylidene)-5-imidazolinone, derived from the tripeptide mediates green fluorescence in Kaede. When exposed to UV, Kaede protein undergoes un conventional cleavage between the amide nitrogen and the α carbon (Cα) at His62 via a formal β-elimination reaction. Followed by the formation of a double bond between His62-Cα and –Cβ, the π-conjugation is extended to the imidazole ring of His62. A new chromophore, 2-[(1E)-2-(5-imidazolyl)ethenyl]-4-(p-hydroxybenzylidene)-5-imidazolinone, is formed with the red-emitting property. The cleavage of the tripeptide was analysed by SDS-PAGE analysis. Unconverted green Kaede shows one band at 28 kDa, where two bands at 18 kDa and 10 kDa are observed for converted red Kaede, indicating that the cleavage is crucial for the photoconversion. A shifting of the absorption and emission spectrum in Kaede is caused by the cleavage of the tripeptide. Before the photoconversion, Kaede displays a major absorption wavelength maximum at 508 nm, accompanied with a slight shoulder at 475 nm. When it is excited at 480 nm, green fluorescence is emitted with a peak of 518 nm. When Kaede is irradiated with UV or violet light, the major absorption peak shifts to 572 nm. When excited at 540 nm, Kaede showed an emission maximum at 582 nm with a shoulder at 627 nm and the 518-nm peak. Red fluorescence is emitted after this photoconversion. The photoconversion in Kaede is irreversible. Exposure in dark or illumination at 570 nm cannot restore its original green fluorescence. A reduced fluorescence is observed in red, photoconverted Kaede when it is intensively exposed to 405 nm light, followed by partial recover after several minutes. Applications As all other fluorescent proteins, Kaede can be the regional optical markers for gene expression and protein labeling for the study of cell behaviors.[3] One of the most useful applications is the visualization of neurons. Delineation of an individual neuron is difficult due to the long and thin processes which entangle with other neurons. Even when cultured neurons are labeled with fluorescent proteins, they are still difficult to identify individually because of the dense package. In the past, such visualization could be done conventionally by filling neurons with Lucifer yellow or sulforhodamine, which is a laborious technique.[1] After the discovery of Kaede protein, it was found to be useful in delineating individual neurons. The neurons are transfected by Kaede protein cDNA, and are UV irradiated. The red, photoconverted Kaede protein has free diffusibility in the cell except for the nucleus, and spreads over the entire cell including dendrites and axon. This technique help disentangle the complex networks established in a dense culture. Besides, by labeling neurons with different colors by UV irradiating with different duration times, contact sites between the red and green neurons of interest are allowed to be visualized. The ability of visualization of individual cells is also a powerful tool to identify the precise morphology and migratory behaviors of individual cells within living cortical slices. By Kaede protein, a particular pair of daughter cells in neighboring Kaede-positive cells in the ventricular zone of mouse brain slices can be followed. The cell-cell borders of daughter cells are visualized and the position and distance between two or more cells can be described. As the change in the fluorescent colour is induced by UV light, marking of cells and subcellular structures is efficient even when only a partial photoconversion is induced. Advantages as an optical marker Due to the special property of photo-switchable fluorescence, Kaede protein possesses several advantages as an optical cell marker. After the photoconversion, the photoconverted Kaede protein emits bright and stable red fluorescence. This fluorescence can last for months without anaerobic conditions. As this red state of Kaede is bright and stable compared to the green state, and because the unconverted green Kaede emits very low intensity of red fluorescence, the red signals provides contrast.[1] Besides, before the photoconversion, Kaede emits bright green fluorescence which enables the visualization of the localization of the non-photoacivated protein. This is superior to other fluorescent proteins such as PA-GFP and KFP1, which only show low fluorescence before photoactivation. In addition, as both green and red fluorescence of Kaede are excited by blue light at 480 nm for observation, this light will not induce photoconversion. Therefore, illumination lights for observation and photoconversion can be separated completely. Limitations In spite of the usefulness in cell tracking and cell visualization of Kaede, there are some limitations. Although Kaede will shift to red upon the exposure of UV or violet light and display a 2,000-fold increase in red-to-green fluorescence ratio, using both the red and green fluorescence bands can cause problems in multilabel experiments. The tetramerization of Kaede may disturb the localization and trafficking of fusion proteins. This limits the usefulness of Kaede as a fusion protein tag. Ecological significance The photoconversion property of Kaede does not only contribute to the application on protein labeling and cell tracking, it is also responsible for the vast variation in the colour of stony corals, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi. Under sunlight, due to the photoconversion of Kaede, the tentacles and disks will turn red. As green fluorescent Kaede is synthesized continuously, these corals appear green again as more unconverted Kaede is created. By the different proportion of photoconverted and unconverted Kaede, great diversity of colour is found in corals. Increasing photoconversion efficiency of DSSC "Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has gained much research interest in recent years for its positive characteristics in contributing to renewable energy generator" said Dr. Gamolwan Tumcharern a researcher at NanoSens Lab at NANOTEC. "The ability to synthesize hybridized material of titanate nanoparticles and CNT using hydrothermal process has greatly increased the photoconversion efficiency of DSSC". Because DSSC could potentially be made of low-cost materials, and does not require elaborate apparatus to manufacture, this cell is technically attractive as a renewable energy generator. Likewise, manufacturing DSSC can be significantly less expensive than older solid-state cell designs. It can also be engineered into flexible sheets and is mechanically robust, requiring no protection from minor events like hail or tree strikes. For this reason, the ability to increase the efficiency of photoconversion is of most interest to the energy sector. A ‘quantum well’ is a potential well that confines particles to two dimensions that are otherwise free to move in three dimensions. Both electrons and holes can be confined in semiconductor quantum wells. The effect is to increase the gain and efficiency of the solid state device such as lasers in CD or DVD players, infrared imaging, and more recently, solar cells. Quantum dot solar cell Spin-cast quantum dot solar cell built by the Sargent Group at the University of Toronto. The metal disks on the front surface are the electrical connections to the layers below. A quantum dot solar cell is a solar cell design that uses quantum dots as the absorbing photovoltaic material. It attempts to replace bulk materials such as silicon, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) or CdTe. Quantum dots have bandgaps that are tunable across a wide range of energy levels by changing the dots' size. In bulk materials the bandgap is fixed by the choice of material(s). This property makes quantum dots attractive for multi-junction solar cells, where a variety of materials are used to improve efficiency by harvesting multiple portions of the solar spectrum. Solar cell concepts In a conventional solar cell, light is absorbed by a semiconductor, producing an electron-hole (e-h) pair; the pair may be bound and is referred to as an exciton. This pair is separated by an internal electric field (present in p-n junctions or Schottky diodes) and the resulting flow of electrons and holes creates electric current. The internal electric field is created by doping one part of semiconductor interface with atoms that act as electron donors (n-type doping) and another with electron acceptors (p-type doping) that results in a p-n junction. Generation of an e-h pair requires that the photons have energy exceeding the bandgap of the material. Effectively, photons with energies lower than the bandgap do not get absorbed, while those that are higher can quickly (within about 10−13 s) thermalize to the band edges, reducing output. The former limitation reduces current, while the thermalization reduces the voltage. As a result, semiconductor cells suffer a trade-off between voltage and current (which can be in part alleviated by using multiple junction implementations). The detailed balance calculation shows that this efficiency can not exceed 31% if one uses a single material for a solar cell. Numerical analysis shows that the 31% efficiency is achieved with a bandgap of 1.3-1.4 eV, corresponding to light in the near infrared spectrum. This band gap is close to that of silicon (1.1 eV), one of the many reasons that it dominates the market. However, silicon's efficiency is limited to about 29%. It is possible to improve on a single-junction cell by vertically stacking cells with different bandgaps – termed a "tandem" or "multi-junction" approach. The same analysis shows that a two layer cell should have one layer tuned to 1.64 eV and the other to 0.94 eV, providing a theoretical performance of 44%. A three-layer cell should be tuned to 1.83, 1.16 and 0.71 eV, with an efficiency of 48%. An "infinity-layer" cell would have a theoretical efficiency of 86%, with other thermodynamic loss mechanisms accounting for the rest. Traditional (crystalline) silicon preparation methods do not lend themselves to this approach due to lack of bandgap tunability. Thin-films of amorphous silicon, which due to a relaxed requirement in crystal momentum preservation can achieve direct bandgaps and intermixing of carbon, can tune the bandgap, but other issues have prevented these from matching the performance of traditional cells.[5] Most tandem-cell structures are based on higher performance semiconductors, notably indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). Three-layer InGaAs/GaAs/InGaP cells (bandgaps 1.89/1.42/0.94 eV) hold the efficiency record of 42.3% for experimental examples. Quantum dots Quantum dots are semiconducting particles that have been reduced below the size of the Exciton Bohr radius and due to quantum mechanics considerations, the electron energies that can exist within them become finite, much alike energies in an atom. Quantum dots have been referred to as "artificial atoms". These energy levels are tuneable by changing their size, which in turn defines the bandgap. The dots can be grown over a range of sizes, allowing them to express a variety of bandgaps without changing the underlying material or construction techniques. In typical wet chemistry preparations, the tuning is accomplished by varying the synthesis duration or temperature. The ability to tune the bandgap makes quantum dots desirable for solar cells. Single junction implementations using lead sulfide (PbS) CQDs have bandgaps that can be tuned into the far infrared, frequencies that are typically difficult to achieve with traditional. Half of the solar energy reaching the Earth is in the infrared, most in the near infrared region. A quantum dot solar cell makes infrared energy as accessible as any other. Moreover, CQDs offer easy synthesis and preparation. While suspended in a colloidal liquid form they can be easily handled throughout production, with a fumehood as the most complex equipment needed. CQDs are typically synthesized in small batches, but can be mass-produced. The dots can be distributed on a substrate by spin coating, either by hand or in an automated process. Large-scale production could use spray-on or roll-printing systems, dramatically reducing module construction costs. Production Early examples used costly molecular beam epitaxy processes, but less expensive fabrication methods were later developed. These use wet chemistry (colloidal quantum dots – CQDs) and subsequent solution processing. Concentrated nanoparticle solutions are stabilized by long hydrocarbon ligands that keep the nanocrystals suspended in solution. To create a solid, these solutions are cast down and the long stabilizing ligands are replaced with short-chain crosslinkers. Chemically engineering the nanocrystal surface can better passivate the nanocrystals and reduce detrimental trap states that would curtail device performance by means of carrier recombination. This approach produces an efficiency of 7.0%. A more recent study uses different ligands for different functions by tuning their relative band alignment to improve the performance to 8.6%. The cells were solution-processed in air at room-temperature and exhibited air-stability for more than 150 days without encapsulation. In 2014 the use of iodide as a ligand that does not bond to oxygen was introduced. This maintains stable n- and p-type layers, boosting the absorption efficiency, which produced power conversion efficiency up to 8%. The idea of using quantum dots as a path to high efficiency was first noted by Burnham and Duggan in 1990. At the time, the science of quantum dots, or "wells" as they were known, was in its infancy and early examples were just becoming available. Using quantum dots as an alternative to molecular dyes was considered from the earliest days of DSSC research. The ability to tune the bandgap allowed the designer to select a wider variety of materials for other portions of the cell. Collaborating groups from the University of Toronto and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne developed a design based on a rear electrode directly in contact with a film of quantum dots, eliminating the electrolyte and forming a depleted heterojunction. These cells reached 7.0% efficiency, better than the best solid-state DSSC devices, but below those based on liquid electrolytes. Model and main results Energy d of QWSCs: dp, db, and dn are the thicknesses of the p+, base, and n+ regions, respectively. the blackbody spectrum at a temperature of 5800 K. One electron-hole pair generation by every photon in the interband absorption range was assumed. Light reflection and contact grid shadowing were neglected. We took the photocurrent collection coefficient to be 1. The recombination in the base region consisting of the bulk recombination in barriers, recombination in quantum wells, and “surface” recombination on the barrier − quantum well interfaces was taken into consideration. Recombination velocities are Vr and S, respectively. Quantum wells are assumed to be located outside the screening area. The concentration Δp of excess electron-hole pairs in the base region is determined as Δp = JSC / qVeff, (1) where Veff = Vr + S; JSC is the surface short-circuit current density, and q is the electron charge. The open circuit voltage VOC = (kT / q)[ln(Δp / p0) + ln(1 + Δp / n0)], (2) where k is the Boltzmann constant, T is the absolute temperature, and p0 and n0 are, respectively, the concentrations of majority and minority current carriers. The short-circuit current density JSC is a function of the barrier material bandgap Egb, quantum wells bandgap Egq, and the effective times of recombination τeff and quantum well carrier escape τesc : [ ( ) ( )] . ( ) eff esc eff τ + τ τ+ −= +SC gq SC gb SC SC gb J E J E J J E (3) We have calculated the limiting photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs under AM0 conditions by using relations (1)-(3). We set τeff = db /Veff , where db is the base region thickness, and take τesc =W 2πm / kT exp(Ea / kT) [6] (W is the quantum well width, m is the effective mass of a quantum well carrier, and Ea ≈ (Eb − Eg) / 2 is the activation energy). The band structure of a QWSC is demonstrated in corresponds to a low doping of the base region and the Δp < n0 condition. In this case, a strong electric field acts in the base region in the maximum power takeoff mode. In this case, there is no electric field in the base region in the maximum power takeoff mode. When Δp < n0, the open-circuit voltage VOC ≈ (kT / q)ln(Δpn0 / ni 2), where ni is the intrinsic carrier concentration of a barrier material, and ni logarithmically depends on the doping level of the base region. The greater is n0, the greater is VOC . In the case of a high excitation level when Δp > n0, the open-circuit voltage VOC ≈ (2kT / q)ln(Δp / ni), and it does not depend on the doping of the base region. The non-equilibrium carrier lifetime in direct band semiconductors is low enough, so the Δp << n0 criterion is satisfied under AM0 and AM1.5 conditions. High excitation levels in such semiconductors can be reached under concentrated illumination. Therefore, the QWSCs with direct band semiconductor p-i-n structures and with a low doped base region have low photovoltage and photoconversion efficiency relative to those in structures with a highly doped base region. There is another situation in Si SCs, where a high excitation level can be realized under AM0 or AM1.5 condition. Thereby, the photovoltage and the photoconversion efficiency of Si p-i-n structures are high enough and cannot be increased by a higher doping of the base region, the limiting photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs with p-i-n structure versus the quantum well material bandgap Egq for AM0 (Fig. 2a) and at the light concentration M = 400 (M is the degree of concentration of the illumination). The barrier material is GaAs. the photoconversion efficiency of SCs with p-i-n structure versus the quantum well material bandgap Egq for AM0, the barrier material being Al0.35Ga0.65As5. The curves are built for various Veff. The background doping level is 1015 cm−3. Efficiencies in these figures are compared with the limiting photoconversion efficiency of conventional SCs at a base region doping level of 1017 cm−3. 3 Limiting photoconversion efficiency of GaAs QWSCs versus the quantum well bandgap under AM0 conditions (2a) and at the light concentration М = 400 (2b). di = 0.5 μm, n0 =1015 cm−3, Veff = 3•104 cm/s (1), 105 (2), and 106 (3). However, in a more realistic case for Veff ≈ 105 cm/s, the photoconversion efficiency is 29 % at AM0 and 35 % under light concentration. These values do not differ strongly from the corresponding values for conventional SCs (26 − 27 % under AM0 conditions and 31 % under light concentration). With the further increase in Veff, the limiting photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs becomes less than the limiting photoconversion efficiency of conventional SCs. First of all, it covers GaAs-InGaAs and Si-GeSi structures with high percentages of In and Ge. We tried to take into account the fact that Veff increases, as Egq decreases. So, by taking Veff = V0[1 + a(ΔE / Ex)m], where ΔE = Eg − Egq, V0 = 10 cm/s, and a, Ex, and m are variable parameters, we had a maximum of the limiting photoconversion efficiency of Si QWSCs versus Egq, and this maximum was a little higher than the maximum for conventional SCs. Dependences in Fig. 4 are illustrative. Generally, there are many possible choices of Veff as a function of ΔE. The point is that these dependences illustrate the possibility of the decrease in the open circuit voltage stronger than the increase in the short circuit current with increase in ΔE. The results of numerical modeling of the photoconversion efficiency of GaAs-InGaAs QWSCs by using the SimWindows program are described in what follows. We should like to mention the unavoidable factors decreasing the photoconversion efficiency which were taken into account in the modeling. First of all, it is the bulk recombination that consists of the Shockley-Reed recombination, radiative recombination, and Auger recombination. We assumed the front and rear surface recombination velocities to be 103 cm/s, what is quite a low value for direct band A3B5 semiconductors. The thickness dp of the heavily doped p+-region was varied and assumed to be 1 μm, which corresponds to the photoconversion efficiency optimum taking into account the series resistance of the p+-region and the recombination. The thickness dn of the n+-region was also 1 μm. The doping level of the p+- and n+-regions was 7•1018 cm−3. Calculations were carried out for 50 InGaAs quantum wells of 9 nm in width separated by 6-nm-wide barriers symmetrically disposed relative to the base region center. The base region thickness db was also varied, and its mean value is assumed to be 1.15 μm. Losses of 12 % due to reflection and contact grid shadowing were assumed. In the modeling of QWSCs under concentrated sunlight, GaAs and InGaAs were used as materials for barriers and quantum wells, respectively. The computational parameters were identical to those in the case without light concentration. CHAPTER THREE 3. Conclusions 1. The photoconversion efficiency of A3B5 p-i-n QWSCs is quite low because of a low photovoltage. The base region should be doped strongly enough to increase this efficiency. However, the photoconversion efficiency of QWSCs at a high doping (> 3•1017 cm−3) of the base region is proved to be less than that of conventional SCs. 2. Light concentration enables one to get a considerable increase in the photoconversion efficiency of A3B5 p-i-n QWSCs, by making it comparable to that of SCs with the highly doped base region. 3. Most effective QWSCs have a constant-sign electric field localized in narrow areas near the boundaries of the base region. There is no strong electric field in the area of quantum wells, and this situation is shown in Fig. 1b. 4. The difference in the photoconversion efficiencies of QWSCs and conventional A3B5 SCs at the same doping of the base region is small and does not exceed 5 % for parameters used in this computation (see Fig. 5). References 1. J.P. Connolly, I.M. Ballard, K.W.J. Barnham, et al., Efficiency limits of quantum well solar cells // Proc. 19th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Paris, France, 2004), p. 355. 2. T.N.D. Tibbits, I.M. Ballard, K.W.J. Barnham, et al., Strain-balanced multi-quantum well solar cells tandem structures – first experimental results // Proc. 19th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Paris, France, 2004), p. 3715. 3. M.C. Lynch, I.M. Ballard, A. Bessière, M. Hoyes, D.C. Johnson, P.N. Stavrinou1, T.N.D. Tibbits, I. Tongue, K.W.J. Barnham, et al., Strain balanced quantum well solar cells for high concentration applications // Proc. 20th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Barcelona, Spain, 2005), p. 523. 4. D.W. Winston, Physical simulation of optoelectronic semiconductor devices // Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Colorado, 1996. 5. D.W. Winston //www-os.colorado.edu/SimWindows/ simwin.html. 6. M.A. Green, K. Emery, D.L. King, S. Igary, W. Warta // Progr. Photovolt.: Res. Appl. 10, p. 355 (2002). 7. A. Alemu, L. Williams, L. Bhusal, A. Freundlich, Limitations of multi-quantum well solar cells for concentrator application // Proc. 19th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Paris, France, 2004), p. 359. References • Tomura, M.; Yoshida, N.; Tanaka, J.; Karasawa, S.; Miwa, Y.; Miyawaki, A.; Kanagawa, O. (2008). "Monitoring cellular movement in vivo with photoconvertible fluorescence protein "Kaede" transgenic mice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (31): 10871. doi:10.1073/pnas.0802278105. edit • Dittrich, P. S.; Schäfer, S. P.; Schwille, P. (2005). "Characterization of the Photoconversion on Reaction of the Fluorescent Protein Kaede on the Single-Molecule Level". Biophysical Journal 89 (5): 3446–3455. doi:10.1529/biophysj.105.061713. PMC 1366840. PMID 16055537. edit 1. Ando, R. (2002). "An optical marker based on the UV-induced green-to-red photoconversion of a fluorescent protein". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 (20): 12651–12656. doi:10.1073/pnas.202320599. edit 2. Mizuno, H.; Mal, T. K.; Tong, K. I.; Ando, R.; Furuta, T.; Ikura, M.; Miyawaki, A. (2003). "Photo-induced peptide cleavage in the green-to-red conversion of a fluorescent protein". Molecular cell 12 (4): 1051–1058. PMID 14580354. edit 3. Lippincott-Schwartz, J.; Altan-Bonnet, N.; Patterson, G. H. (2003). "Photobleaching and photoactivation: Following protein dynamics in living cells". Nature cell biology. Suppl: S7–14. PMID 14562845. edit 4. Mutoh, T.; Miyata, T.; Kashiwagi, S.; Miyawaki, A.; Ogawa, M. (2006). "Dynamic behavior of individual cells in developing organotypic brain slices revealed by the photoconvertable protein Kaede". Experimental Neurology 200 (2): 430–437. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2006.03.022. PMID 16753144. edit

coutour

Contour is defined as 1. an outline representing or bounding the shape or form of something. 2. a way in which something varies, especially the pitch of music or the pattern of tones in an utterance. 3. (of a road or railway) follow the outline of (a topographical feature), especially along a contour line. Characteristics of Contours? Contours show distinct characteristic features of the terrain as follows: i) All points on a contour line are of the same elevation. ii) No two contour lines can meet or cross each other except in the rare case of an overhanging vertical cliff or wall iii) Closely spaced contour lines indicate steep slope iv) Widely spaced contour lines indicate gentle slope v) Equally spaced contour lines indicate uniform slope vi) Closed contour lines with higher elevation towards the centre indicate hills vii) Closed contour lines with reducing levels towards the centre indicate pond or other depression. viii) Contour lines of ridge show higher elevation within the loop of the contours. Contour lines cross ridge at right angles. ix) Contour lines of valley show reducing elevation within the loop of the contours. Contour lines cross valley at right angles. x) All contour lines must close either within the map boundary or outside. What is the Difference Between Contour Interval and Horizontal Equivalent There are three main differences between contour interval and horizontal equivalent as follows: S.No Contour Interval Horizontal Equivalent 1 It is based on vertical levels Represents horizontal distance 2 No measurement or scaling is required since the contour levels are indicated on the contour lines The distance must be measured on the map and converted to actual distance by multiplying with the scale of the map 3 In a given map the contour interval is a constant The horizontal equivalent varies with slope. Closer distance indicates steep slope and wider distance gentle slope

characterization of biosurfactant produced from some microorganism

seminar on characterization of biosurfactant produced from some organism written by chinedu. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Biosurfactants are surface active molecules having hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties as their constituents which allow them to interact at interfaces and reduce the surface tension. They are produce by diverse group of organism belong to bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes etc., mainly on surfaces of microorganisms or may also secreted extracellularly. They are categorized based on their chemical composition as fatty acids, glycolipids, glycolipopeptides, glycoproteins, lipopeptides, phospholipids, polymeric and particulate biosurfactants. The chemicaldiversity of biosurfactants makes them a potential source for green chemicals having applications in industrial, environmental (agricultural and bioremediation), and medical fields. Almost all surfactants being currently produced are derived from petroleum source. However, these synthetic surfactants are usually toxic and hardly degraded by microorganisms. These are potential source of pollution and damage to the environment. Therefore, in the recent years, much interest and attention have been directed towards biosurfactants over chemically synthesized surfactants due to their superiority to the chemical surfactants with respect to their biocompatibility, lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, higher stability, extreme stability in extreme temperature and pH. With the advent of time, this attribute is contributing its higher demand in the field of biotechnology. The agricultural waste such as whey (a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein) are well known for containing high levels of carbohydrates and of lipids -both of which are necessary for substrates for the production of biosurfactants and contains all necessary substances (lactose, protein, organic acids and vitamins) that require for growth of surfactant producing microorganism. This study focus on the screening, production, extraction and purification of biosurfactant from bacteria isolated from whey spilled soil and which is easily available in India. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Surfactants are usually organic compounds that are amphiphilic, meaning they contain both hydrophobic groups (their tails) and hydrophilic groups (their heads). The hydrophilic (polar) end part of the biosurfact ant is insoluble in water and may have a long chain of fatty acids, hydroxyl fatty acids or α-alkyl-β -hydroxy fatty acids. The hydrophilic (polar) end can be a carbohydrate, amino acid, cyclic peptide, phosphate, carboxylic acid or alcohol (Jaysree et al., 2011). Surfactant or surface active agents can be classified into two main groups; synthetic surfactant and bio-surfactant. Synthetic surfactant is produced by chemical reactions, while bio-surfactant is produced by biological processes, being excreted extracellularly by microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast (Jayrees et al., 2011). Chemically-synthesized surfactants have been used in the oil industry to aid clean up of oil spills, as well as to enhance oil recovery from oil reservoirs. These compounds are not biodegradable and can be toxic to environment (Tabatabaee et al., 2005). When compared to synthetic surfactant, bio-surfactant have several advantages including high bio-degradability, low toxicity, low irritancy, ecological acceptability, compatibility with human skin and ability to be produced from renewable and cheaper substrates (Banat et al.,2000) Therefore, it is reasonable to expect diverse properties and physiological functions of bio-surfactants such as increasing the surface area and bio-availability of hydrophobic water-insoluble substrates, metal binding, bacterial pathogenesis, quorum sensing, and bio-film formation (Priya & Usharani, 2009). Unlike synthetic surfactants, microbial-produced compounds are easily degraded and particularly suited for environmental applications such as bioremediation and dispersion of oil spills (Mohan et al., 2006). The aim of this study is to isolate and screen bacterial species from different hydrocarbon polluted sites for bio-surfactants production. 2.1. Oil spreading technique Cultures of ten isolated strains (APCC S1a, 1b; APCCS 2a, 2b; APCCS 3a, 3b; APCCS 4a, 4b; APCCS 5a, 5b) are to centrifuged and added to the oil containing plates. The strain APCCS 1a, APCCS 1b, APCCS 3b and APCCS 5a the clear zone will be displaced, the oil around the colony will indicate biosurfactant production. 2.2. Hemolytic Activity The isolated will be streaked in the blood agar plates. The hemolytic activity is to be observed all the ten isolated strains, showing (alpha) hemolytic activity of strain APCCS 2a, APCCS 3b,APCCS 4a,and APCCS 5b, the (beta) hemolytic activity of strain APCCS 1a, APCCS 1b, APCCS 2b and APCCS 5a and the (gamma) hemolytic activity of strain APCCS 3a and APCC 4b. 2.3. Drop collapsing test The isolated culture supernatant is to be place on an oil coated solid surface, the drops spread or even collapse because the force or interfacial tension between the liquid drop and the hydrophobic surface is reduced indicate the presence of surfactant in the cell supernatants. 2.4. Characterization of biosurfactant producing organisms The screened biosurfactant producing organism is taken to the extraction surfactants. First the organism is to be identified by different biochemical tests. The results of its will be tabulated. Comparing the results with Bergey’sManual, identification of bacteria is to be performed. 2.5. Extraction of biosurfactants The culture to be inoculated in Mckeen broth with whey is to be centrifuged and the supernatant is to be taken mixing with Chloroform: methanol. White sediment is to be retained while after evaporation for overnight. 3.7. Characterization of biosurfactants The crude biosurfactant produced is characterized by using silica thin layer chromatography (TLC) plates. The sediment obtain is to be place in the TLC plate and the plates when sprayed with ninhydrin reagent and anthrone reagent it will show red spot (for APCCS 1b) and yellow spots (for APCCS 1a,APCCS 2b and APCCS 5a) in the plates respectively. This shows the production of lipopeptide (for APCCS 1b) and glycolipid (for APCCS 1a, APCCS 3b and APCCS 5a) biosurfactants in the organisms. 3.8. Emulsification measurement Emulsification activity is to be measure according to the method of Cooper and Goldenberg (1987). The emulsification activity of isolated strain is to be measure after 24 hours indicate the value varies from 45% to 60%. CHAPTER THREE Materials and methods 3.1. Sampling area For isolation biosurfactant producing bacteria soil samples are to be collected from whey spilled surfaces of five different cheese making farm of West Bengal, India (sample 1-5). The samples are to be collected in sterile container under aseptic condition and are to be taken to the laboratory for analysis. The pH of the samples during collection is to be 7.0 and temperature should be 300C. 3.1.1 Sampling: Soil samples (A-D) are to be collected from oil spilled surfaces of different automobile workshops in Owerri Imo-State, Nigeria. The samples are to be collected in sterile polythene bags and are to be taken to the laboratory for analysis. The pHs of the samples during collection are to be 7. 3.1.2 Isolation and enumeration of bacterial isolates from the sample 5g of the oil spilled soil samples are to be inoculated in 50ml of nutrient broth and incubated at 25 ̊C for72 hours. After incubation the medium is serially diluted from 10-1 to10-6 in sterile water. From the dilutions (10-1 to10-6) 1ml are to be transferred to sterile petri-dish and over that 20mls of nutrient agar are to be poure. The plates then inverted and incubated at 25 ̊C for 48 hours. Control and replica plates - maintained. 3.1.3 Bacteriological isolation techniques After incubation, the different discrete colonies formed on the plate that had between 30 and 300 colony forming unit (cfu) are to be streaked on nutrient agar slant and incubated at ambient temperature (37 ̊C) for 24 hours to obtain their pure cultures. These pure cultures, are to be sub-cultured on nutrient agar slant, incubated at 37 ̊C for 24 hours and stored at 4 ̊C for bio-surfactants production screening. 3.1.4 Oil spreading technique Each of the bacterial species is to be screened for bio-surfactants production using the oil spreading techniques (Anandaraj & Thivakaran, 2010; Priya & Usharani, 2009). The procedure is as follows: the bacterial isolates are to be streaked on nutrient agar slant and incubated for 24 hours at 37 ̊C. After 24 hours, two loops of culture were inoculated in 50ml of nutrient broth in a 50ml Erlenmeyer flask and incubated at 37 ̊C for 48 hours. After the inoculum development, 50ml of distilled water should be added to a large petri dish (25cm in diameter) followed by the addition of 20μl of crude oil to the surfaceof the distilled water and 20μl of the supernatant of the cultures isolated from the soil. 2.1.6 Blood haemolysis test The fresh single colonies from the isolated cultures are to be taken and streaked on blood agar plates. The plates are to be incubated for 48-72 hours at 37 ̊C. The bacterial colonies are to be then observe for the presence of clear zone around the colonies. These clear zones indicate the presence of bio-surfactants producing bacteria. 3.1.7 Charaterization of biosurfactants producing isolates The bio-surfactants producing bacteria are characterized by cultural and biochemical tests. They are gram staining, spore staining, motility test, oxidase test, indole test, catalase test, citrate test, coagulase test, methyl red and vogues proskauer test. 3.1.8 Analytical method Thin layer chromatography Preliminary characterization of biosurfactant is done by TCL method. A portion of the crude biosurfactant is separated on a silica gel plate using a developing solvent system with different colour developing reagents. Ninhydrin reagent (0.5g ninhydrin in 100ml anhydrous acetone) is to be use to detect lipopeptide biosurfactant as red spots and anthrone reagent (1g anthrone reagent in 5ml sulfuric acid mix with 95 ml ethanol) to detect glycolipid biosurfactant as yellow spots (Yin et al., 2008). 3.2. Enrichment, Isolation and enumeration of bacterial isolates 5.0g of the whey spilled soil samples should be dissolve in 100 ml of phosphate buffer saline (PBS). After precipitation of solid debris 5ml liquid suspension are inoculated in 50ml of nutrient broth and incubated at 25°C with agitation speed of 200 rpm for 48 hours. After incubation the medium is serially diluted from 10-1 to 10 in sterile water. From the dilutions (10-1 to 10-6) 1ml was transferred to sterile petri-dish containing 20mls of Reasoner ́s 2A agar (R2A) contained (g/L): Proteose peptone, 0.5; Casamino acids, 0.5; Yeast extract, 0.5; Dextrose, 0.5; Soluble starch, 0.5; Dipotassium phosphate, 0.3; Magnesium sulfate 7H2O, 0.05; Sodium pyruvate, 0.3; Agar, 15; Final pH 7.2 ± 0.2 @ 25 °C, by spread plate techniques. The plates is then inverted and incubated at 25°C for 48 hours. Control and replicaplates is maintained. After incubation 30-300 colonies containing plates should be selected and morphologically different colonies are to be streak on LB agar media and obtained pure culture by incubating at 370C for 24 hours. The pure isolates should be stored in R2A agar slants for further identification. These cultures are stored in R2A agar slants and kept under refrigerated condition (40C) for further experimentation. 3.3. Screening of biosurfactant producing organisms The isolated colonies are tested for their biosurfactant production by different methods; CTAB Agar Plate; Oil Spreading Technique; Blood Hemolysis Test and Drop collapsing test. 3.3.1. CTAB Agar Plate The CTAB agar plate method is a semi-quantitative assay for the detection of extra cellular glycolipids or other anionic surfactants. It is develop by Siegmund and Wagner. Blue agar plates containing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) (0.2 mg ml -1) and methylene blue (5 mg ml-1) are to be use to detect extracellular glycolipid production. Biosurfactants are to be observing by the formation of dark blue halos around the colonies. 3.3.2. Oil spreading technique Isolate bacterial strains should be incubate into 100 Ml of culture medium. The Mckeen medium (20 gL-1 glucose, 5.0 gL-1 glutamic acid, 1.0 gL-1K2 HPO4, 1.02 gL-1MgSO4, 0.5 gL-1KCl) supplemented with 1 mL of trace elements solution (0.5gL-1 MnSO4,.7H2O, 0.16 gL-1CuSO4,.5H2O and 0.015 gL-1 FeSO4,.7H2O) adjusting to pH 7.0 is use as cultural medium. The cultures should be incubated on rotary shaker (150 rpm) for 3 days at 25 °C. The culture suspension is screen for biosurfactant production by the oil spreading techniques. The procedure is as follows: 30ml of distilled water is taken in the petri dish (25cm in diameter). 20μl of crude oil is added to the center of the plates containing distilled water. Now add 20μl of the supernatant of the culture suspension to the center. The biosurfactant producing organism can displace the oil and spread in the water. The diameter and area of clear halo visualized under visible light should be measured and calculated after 1 minute. 3.3.3. Hemolytic activity test Hemolytic activity appears to be a good screening criterion for surfactant-producing strains because biosurfactant producing capacity is found to be associated with hemolytic activity. The fresh single colonies from the isolated cultures is taken and streaked on blood agar plates. The plates should be incubate for 48-72 hours at 37°C. Hemolytic activity is detected as the occurrence of a define clear zone around a colony (Carrillo et al., a 1996). These clear zones indicate the presence of bio-surfactants producing bacteria. 3.3.4. Drop collapsing test Jain et al developed the drop collapse assay. This assay relies on the destabilization of liquid droplets by surfactants. Therefore, drops of culture supernatant are placed on an oil coated, solid surface. If the liquid does not contain surfactants, the polar water molecules are repelled from the hydrophobic surface and the drops remain stable. If the liquid contains surfactants, the drops spread or even collapse because the force or interfacial tension between the liquid drop and the hydrophobic surface is reduced. The stability of drops is dependent on surfactant concentration and correlates with surface and interfacial tension. The assay was done in following way: 2μl of mineral oil is added to each well of a 96-well micro-titer plate lid. The lid is equilibrated for 1 hour at room temperature, and then 5 μl of the cultural supernatant is added to the surface of oil. The shape of the drop on the oil surface should be inspected after 1 min. Biosurfactant-producing cultures giving flat drops are to be scored as positive '+'. Those cultures that gave rounded drops is to be scored as negative '-indicative of the lack of biosurfactant production (Youssef et al., 2004). 3.4. Identification of bacteria The isolated biosurfactant producing bacteria is to be characterized by microbiological and biochemical tests such as Gram staining, carbohydrate fermentation test, H2 Sproduction test, indole production test, methylred test, Voges-Proskauer test, citrate utilization test, urease test, catalase test, oxidase test, litmus milk reaction, starch hydrolysistest, gelatin hydrolysis test, lipid hydrolysis test. Results from the biochemical analysis are to be used to find the closest match with known bacterial genus and to assign the bacterial signature according to Bergey’s manual. 3.5. Extraction of biosurfactants Each culture has to be inoculated in 50 ml of Mckeenbrothwith 1 ml of whey. The culture is to be incubated at 250C for 3 days with shakingcondition. After incubation the bacterialcells is to be removed by centrifugation at 8000rpm, 40C for 10 minutes. The supernatant is to be taken and the pH of the supernatant is to be adjusted to 2, using 1MH2SO4. Now add equal volume of chloroform: methanol (2:1). This mixture is to be shaken well for mixing and left overnight for evaporation. White colored sediment is to be obtained as a result i.e., the “Biosurfactants”. 3.6. Recharacterization of biosurfactants Preliminary characterization of the biosurfactant is to be done by Thin Layer chromatography (TLC) method. A spot of crude biosurfactant is to be placed on the silica plate(Merck & Co., Mumbai, India) and the biosurfactant is to be separated on the plate using chloroform: methanol: water (:10:0.5). The plate is to be developed with different color developing reagents. Ninhydrin reagent (0.5g ninhydrin in 100ml anhydrous acetone) are to be used to detect lipopeptide biosurfactant as red spots and anthrone reagent (1g anthrone reagent in 5ml sulfuric acid is to be to mix with 95 ml ethanol) to detect glycolipid biosurfactant as yellow spots (Yin et al., 2008). 3.7. Emulsification index (E24) The emulsifying capacity is to be evaluated by an emulsification index (E24). The E24 of culture samples determined by adding 2 ml of kerosene and 2 ml of the cell-free broth in test tube, vortexing at high speed for 2 min and allowed to stand for 24h. The E index is given as percentage of the height of emulsified layer (cm) divided by the total height of the liquid column (cm).The percentage of emulsification index calculated by using the following equation (Cooper and Goldenberg, 1987). CHAPTER FOUR 4.0. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Uses of biosurfactants are increasingly in almost every sectors of the modern industry as an alternative to chemical surfactants. With increasing public awareness in the environment, biosurfactant would most likely replace the usage of chemical surfactants in the near future. As biosurfactants are derived from natural sources, each of these types is an attractive alternative to synthetic compounds. Biosurfactants are surfactants that are produced extracelluarly or as part of the cell membrane by bacteria, yeast and fungi. The main commercial use of biosurfactant is in oil industry, foods, cosmetics, pharmacology and environmental technology because of their ability to stabilize emulsions. The features that make them commercially promising alternatives to chemically synthesized surfactants are their lower toxicity, higher biodegradability and greater environmental compatibility. Production and characterization of biosurfactants produced by these bacterial isolates is recommended REFERENCES Desai JD, Banat IM (1997) Microbial production of surfactants and their commercial potential. MicrobiolMolBiol Rev 61: 47-64. InkaSiegmund, Fritz Wagner (1991)New method for detecting rhamnolipids excreted by Pseudomonas species during growth on mineral agar.Biotechnology Techniques Jul/Aug 1991, Volume 5, Issue 4, pp 265-268. B Anandaraj, P Thivakaran (2010) Isolation and production of biosurfactant producing organism from oil spilled soil. jBiosci Tech, Vol 1 (3),2010,120‐126 T Priya, G Usharani (2009) Comparative study for biosurfactant production by using Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Botany Research International 2 (4): 284-287, 2009 P. G. Carrillo, C. Mardaraz, S. I. Pitta-Alvarez, A. M. Giulietti (1996) Isolation and selection of biosurfactant-producing bacteria. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, January 1996, Volume 12, Issue 1,pp 82-84 Youssef NH, Duncan KE, Nagle DP, Savage KN, Knapp RM & McInerney MJ (2004) Comparison of methods to detect biosurfactant production by diverse microorganisms. J Microbiol Meth 56:339–347. Paraszkiewicz K, KanwalA & Dlugonski J (1992) Emulsifier production by steroid transforming filamentous fungus Curvularialunata, growth and product characterization.J Biotechnol 92:287–294. Morikawa M, Daido H, Takao T, Murata S, Shimonishi Y & Imanaka T (1993) A new lipopeptide biosurfactant produced by Arthrobactersp. strain MIS 38.J Bacteriol 175:6459–6466. Desai JD & Banat IM (1997) Microbial production of surfactants and their commercial potential. MicrobiolMolBiol R 61:47–64. Cooper DG, Goldenberg BG (1987). Surface active agents from two Bacillus species. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 53: 224-229. Yin, H., Qiang, Y., Jia, J., Ye, H., Peng, H., Qin,N., Zhang, N., & He, B. (2008). Characteristics of biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa S6 isolated from oil –containing wastewater. Process Biochemistry, 44,302-308. OkoreChioma et.al (2013) Isolation and Characterization of Biosurfactants Producing Bacteria from Oil Polluted Soil. Journal of Natural Sciences Research Vol.3, No.5, (119-122) Banat I. M. (1995), Biosurfactants production and possible uses in microbial enhanced oil recovery and oil pollution remediation: a review. Bioresource Technol. 51. 1–12. Gautam, K. K. and Tyagi, V. K. (2005), Microbial surfactants: A review. J. Oleo. Sci., ,55, 155–166. Rodrigues, L. (2006). Biosurfactants potential applications in medicine. J. Antimicrobial. Chemotherapy, 57, 607-618.

gender equality

Gender inequality Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences.[1] Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; gender binary systems may reflect the inequalities that manifest in numerous dimensions of daily life. Gender inequality stems from distinctions, whether empirically grounded or socially constructed. (On differences between the sexes, see Sex and psychology.) Natural sex differences Main article: Sex differences in humans There are natural differences between the sexes based on biological and anatomic factors, most notably differing reproductive roles. Biological differences include chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences.[1] There is a natural difference also in the relative physical strengths (on average) of the sexes.[2][3] In the workplace Income disparities linked to job stratification Wage discrimination exists when workers are equally qualified and perform the same work but one group of workers is paid more than another. Historically, wage discrimination has favored men over similarly qualified women.[4] Income disparity between genders stems from processes that determine the quality of jobs and earnings associated with jobs.[clarification needed] Earnings associated with jobs will cause income inequality to take form in the placement of individuals into particular jobs through individual qualifications or stereotypical norms.[citation needed] Placement of men or women into particular job categories can be supported through the human capital theories of qualifications of individuals or abilities associated with biological differences in men and women.[citation needed] Conversely, the placement of men or women into separate job categories is argued to be caused by social status groups who desire to keep their position through the placement of those in lower statuses to lower paying positions.[5] Human capital theories refer to the education, knowledge, training, experience, or skill of a person which makes them potentially valuable to an employer. This has historically been understood as a cause of the gendered wage gap but is no longer a predominant cause as women and men in certain occupations tend to have similar education levels or other credentials. Even when such characteristics of jobs and workers are controlled for, the presence of women within a certain occupation leads to lower wages. This earnings discrimination is considered to be a part of pollution theory. This theory suggests that jobs which are predominated by women offer lower wages than do jobs simply because of the presence of women within the occupation. As women enter an occupation, this reduces the amount of prestige associated with the job and men subsequently leave these occupations. The entering of women into specific occupations suggests that less competent workers have begun to be hired or that the occupation is becoming deskilled. Men are reluctant to enter female-dominated occupations because of this and similarly resist the entrance of women into male-dominated occupations.[6][page needed] The gendered income disparity can also be attributed in part to occupational segregation, where groups of people are distributed across occupations according to ascribed characteristics; in this case, gender.[citation needed] Occupational gender segregation can be understood[who?] to contain two components or dimensions; horizontal segregation and vertical segregation. With horizontal segregation, occupational sex segregation occurs as men and women are thought to possess different physical, emotional, and mental capabilities. These different capabilities make the genders vary in the types of jobs they are suited for. This can be specifically viewed with the gendered division between manual and non-manual labor.[citation needed] With vertical segregation, occupational sex segregation occurs as occupations are stratified according to the power, authority, income, and prestige associated with the occupation and women are excluded from holding such jobs.[6] As women entered the workforce in larger numbers since the 1960s, occupations have become segregated based on the amount femininity or masculinity presupposed to be associated with each occupation.[citation needed] Census data suggests that while some occupations have become more gender integrated (mail carriers, bartenders, bus drivers, and real estate agents), occupations including teachers, nurses, secretaries, and librarians have become female-dominated while occupations including architects, electrical engineers, and airplane pilots remain predominately male in composition.[7] Based on the census data, women occupy the service sector jobs at higher rates than men. Women’s overrepresentation in service sector jobs, as opposed to jobs that require managerial work acts as a reinforcement of women and men into traditional gender roles that causes gender inequality.[8] Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by sex, race, and ethnicity, U.S., 2009.[9] Once factors such as experience, education, occupation, and other job-relevant characteristics have been taken into account, 41% of the male-female wage gap remains unexplained. As such, considerations of occupational segregation and human capital theories are together not enough to understand the continued existence of a gendered income disparity.[6] The glass ceiling effect is also considered a possible contributor to the gender wage gap or income disparity. This effect suggests that gender provides significant disadvantages towards the top of job hierarchies which become worse as a person’s career goes on. The term glass ceiling implies that invisible or artificial barriers exist which prevent women from advancing within their jobs or receiving promotions. These barriers exist in spite of the achievements or qualifications of the women and still exist when other characteristics that are job-relevant such as experience, education, and abilities are controlled for. The inequality effects of the glass ceiling are more prevalent within higher-powered or higher income occupations, with fewer women holding these types of occupations. The glass ceiling effect also indicates the limited chances of women for income raises and promotion or advancement to more prestigious positions or jobs. As women are prevented by these artificial barriers, from either receiving job promotions or income raises, the effects of the inequality of the glass ceiling increase over the course of a woman’s career.[10] Statistical discrimination is also cited as a cause for income disparities and gendered inequality in the workplace. Statistical discrimination indicates the likelihood of employers to deny women access to certain occupational tracks because women are more likely than men to leave their job or the labor force when they become married or pregnant. Women are instead given positions that dead-end or jobs that have very little mobility.[4] In Third World countries such as the Dominican Republic, female entrepreneurs are statistically more prone to failure in business. In the event of a business failure women often return to their domestic lifestyle despite the absence of income. On the other hand, men tend to search for other employment as the household is not a priority.[11] The gender earnings ratio suggests that there has been an increase in women’s earnings comparative to men. Men’s plateau in earnings began after the 1970s, allowing for the increase in women’s wages to close the ratio between incomes. Despite the smaller ratio between men and women’s wages, disparity still exists. Census data suggests that women’s earnings are 71 percent of men’s earnings in 1999.[7] The gendered wage gap varies in its width among different races. Whites comparatively have the greatest wage gap between the genders. With whites, women earn 78% of the wages that white men do. With African Americans, women earn 90% of the wages that African American men do. With people of Hispanic origin, women earn 88% of the wages that men of Hispanic origin do. There are some exceptions where women earn more than men: According to a survey on gender pay inequality by the International Trade Union Confederation, female workers in the Gulf state of Bahrain earn 40 per cent more than male workers.[12] Professional education and careers The gender gap also appeared to narrow considerably beginning in the mid-1960s. Where some 5% of first-year students in professional programs were female in 1965, by 1985 this number had jumped to 40% in law and medicine, and over 30% in dentistry and business school.[13] Before the highly effective birth control pill was available, women planning professional careers, which required a long-term, expensive commitment, had to "pay the penalty of abstinence or cope with considerable uncertainty regarding pregnancy."[14] This control over their reproductive decisions allowed women to more easily make long-term decisions about their education and professional opportunities. Women are highly underrepresented on boards of directors and in senior positions in the private sector.[15] Additionally, with reliable birth control, young men and women had more reason to delay marriage. This meant that the marriage market available to any one women who "delay[ed] marriage to pursue a career...would not be as depleted. Thus the Pill could have influenced women's careers, college majors, professional degrees, and the age at marriage."[16] Specifically in China, birth control has become a necessity of the job for women that migrate from rural to urban China. With little job options left, they become sex workers and having some form of birth control helps to ensure their safety. However, the government of China does not regulate prostitution in China, making it more difficult for women to gain access to birth control or to demand that the men use condoms. This doesn't allow for the women to be fully protected, since their health and safety is in jeopardy when they disobey.[17] A recent study in the USA demonstrated that when leaders at scientific research institutes were presented with otherwise identical job applications (a randomized double-blind designed with n=127) with either female or male names, faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. These participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the male applicant. The tendency to be biased towards the male application was expressed by both male and female faculty staff.[18] Customer preference studies A 2009 study conducted by David R. Hekman and colleagues found that customers who viewed videos featuring a black male, a white female, or a white male actor playing the role of an employee helping a customer were 19 percent more satisfied with the white male employee's performance.[19][20][21][22][23] This discrepancy with race can be found as early as 1947, when Kenneth Clark conducted a study in which black children were asked to choose between white and black dolls. White male dolls were the ones children preferred to play with.[24][25] Gender discrimination in the medical field Although the disparities between men and women are decreasing in the medical field, gender inequalities still exist as social problems. Recently qualified female doctors in the U.S. make almost $17,000 less than their male counterparts. The pay discrepancy could not be explained by specialty choice, practice setting, work hours, or other characteristics.[26] At home Gender roles in parenting and marriage Sigmund Freud suggested that biology determines gender identity through identification with either the mother or father.[citation needed] While some people agree with Freud,[who?] others[who?] argue that the development of the gendered self is not completely determined by biology, but rather the interactions that one has with the primary caregiver(s). According to the non-Freudian view,[clarification needed] gender roles develop through internalization and identification during childhood. From birth, parents interact differently with children depending on their sex, and through this interaction parents can instill different values or traits in their children on the basis of what is normative for their sex.[citation needed] This internalization of gender norms can be seen through the example of which types of toys parents typically give to their children (“feminine” toys such as dolls often reinforce interaction, nurturing, and closeness, “masculine” toys such as cars or fake guns often reinforce independence, competitiveness, and aggression).[1] On the other hand it has been shown that rhesus macaque children exhibit preferences for stereotypically male and female toys.[27] Education also plays an integral role in the creation of gender norms.[28] In Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, Meg Meeker emphasizes the importance of opposite-gender parental roles. She claims "fathers, more than anyone else, set the course for a daughter's life."[29] Gender roles permeate throughout life and help to structure parenting and marriage, especially in relation to work in and outside the home. Gender inequality in relationships Gender equality in relationships has been improving over the years but for the majority of relationships, the power lies with the male.[30] Even how men and women present themselves is divided along gender lines. A study done by Szymanowicz and Furnham, looked at the cultural stereotypes of intelligence in men and women, showing the gender inequality in self-presentation.[31] This study showed that females thought if they revealed their intelligence to a potential partner, then it would diminish their chance with him. Men however would much more readily discuss their own intelligence with a potential partner. Also, women are aware of people’s negative reactions to IQ, so they limit its disclosure to only trusted friends. Females would disclose IQ more often than men with the expectation that a true friend would respond in a positive way. Intelligence continues to be viewed as a more masculine trait, than feminine trait. The article suggested that men might think women with a high IQ would lack traits that were desirable in a mate such as warmth, nurturance, sensitivity, or kindness. Another discovery was that females thought that friends should be told about one’s IQ more so than males. However, males expressed doubts about the test’s reliability and the importance of IQ in real life more so than women. The inequality is highlighted when a couple starts to decide who is in charge of the family issue and who is primarily responsible for bringing back paycheck. For example, in Londa Schiebinger’s book, “Has Feminism Changed Science?”, she claims that “Married men with families on average earn more money, live longer, and progress faster in their careers,” while “for a working woman, a family is a liability, extra baggage threatening to drag down her career.”[32] Furthermore, statistics had shown that “only 17 percent of the women who are full professors of engineering have children, while 82 percent of the men do.”[33] Women in a relationship are continuously playing the role of assistant which is “for the most part invisible.”[citation needed] Attempts in equalizing household work Despite the increase in women in the labor force since the mid-1900s, traditional gender roles are still prevalent in American society. Women may be expected to put their educational and career goals on hold in order to raise children, while their husbands work. However, women who choose to work as well as fulfill a perceived gender role of cleaning the house and taking care of the children. Despite the fact that different households may divide chores more evenly, there is evidence that supports that women have retained the primary caregiver role within familial life despite contributions economically. This evidence suggest that women who work outside the home often put an extra 18 hours a week doing household or childcare related chores as opposed to men who average 12 minutes a day in childcare activities.[34] One study by van Hooff showed that modern couples, do not necessarily purposefully divide things like household chores along gender lines, but instead may rationalize it and make excuses.[30] One excuse used is that women are more competent at household chores and have more motivation to do them. Another is that some say the demands of the males’ jobs is higher. Numerous false rationalizations exist. Gender inequalities in relation to technology One survey showed that men rate their technological skills in activities such as basic computer functions and online participatory communication higher than women. However, it should be noted that this study was a self-reporting study, where men evaluate themselves on their own perceived capabilities. It thus is not data based on actual ability, but merely perceived ability, as participants' ability was not assessed. Additionally, this study is inevitably subject to the significant bias associated with self-reported data.[35] Structural marginalization Gender inequalities often stem from social structures that have institutionalized conceptions of gender differences.[citation needed] Marginalization occurs on an individual level when someone feels as if they are on the fringes or margins of their respective society. This is a social process and displays how current policies in place can affect people. For example, media advertisements display young girls with easy bake ovens (promoting being a housewife) as well as with dolls that they can feed and change the diaper of (promoting being a mother). The politics of NGOs Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) have the ability to create change. Certain NGO's, such as the Kiva (organization) promote female entrepreneurs. Currently, Kiva distributes loans to approximately 400 more women than men. However, even when women work at NGO's in order to create a voice and a space for women's empowerment, there are still gender discrepancies amongst the women. For example, in Uttar Pradesh in India, there is a NGO where women work. Marginalized because of their caste and religion, this organization has the opportunity to provide a voice to the voiceless and expose the issues that are happening. However, women from a higher caste still have issues eating the food of women from a lower caste.[36] This tension shows that there are still fundamental gender inequality issues that working at an NGO may not readily solve. Gender stereotypes Main article: Gender stereotypes See also: Category:Feminism and the arts Cultural stereotypes are engrained in both men and women and these stereotypes are a possible explanation for gender inequality and the resulting gendered wage disparity. Women have traditionally been viewed as being caring and nurturing and are designated to occupations which require such skills.[clarification needed][citation needed] While these skills are culturally valued,[clarification needed] they were typically associated with domesticity, so occupations requiring these same skills are not economically valued.[citation needed] Men have traditionally been viewed as the breadwinner or the worker, so jobs held by men have been historically economically valued and occupations predominated by men continue to be economically valued and pay higher wages.[6][page needed] Biological fertilisation stereotypes Bonnie Spanier coined the term hereditary inequality.[37] Her opinion is that some scientific publications depict human fertilization such that sperms seem to actively compete for the "passive" egg, even though in reality the process is more complicated (e.g. the egg has specific active membrane proteins that select sperm etc.) Sexism and discrimination Gender inequality can further be understood through the mechanisms of sexism. Discrimination takes place in this manner as men and women are subject to prejudicial treatment on the basis of gender alone. Sexism occurs when men and women are framed within two dimensions of social cognition. Discrimination also plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job economy. Due to taste or preference for other men because they share similar characteristics, men in these positions of power are more likely to hire or promote other men, thus discriminating against women.[6] In television and film The New York Film Academy took a closer look at the women in Hollywood and gathered statistics from the top 500 films from 2007 to 2012; for their history and achievements, or lack of. With only a 5:1 ratio of men working in films than women, the 30.8% of women having speaking characters, who may or may not have been a part of the 28.8% of women who were written to wear provocative clothing compared to the 7% of men who did, or the 26.2% of women who wore little to no clothing opposed to the 9.4% of men who did the same.[38] Hollywood actresses get paid less than actors. Topping the Forbes' highest paid actors list, of 2013, is Robert Downey Jr. with $75 million yet Angelina Jolie tops the highest paid actresses list with only $33 million,[39] tying with Denzel Washington ($33 million) and Liam Neeson ($32 million) who were the last two of the top ten highest paid actors list.[40] During the 2013 Academy Awards, 140 men were nominated for an award but only 35 women were nominated, however, no woman was nominated for directing, cinematography, film editing, writing (original screenplay), or original score that year. But ever since the Academy Awards first opened in 1929, only 7 women producers have won the Best Picture category (all women who have been co-producers with men), only 8 women have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and Lina Wertmuller (1976), Jane Campion (1994), Sofia Coppola (2004), and Kathryn Bigelow (2012) were the only 4 women to be nominated for Best Directing, with Bigelow being the first woman to win for her film The Hurt Locker. 77% males make up the Academy Awards' voters.[41] Variations by country or culture The Gender gap index world map for 2013.[42] Main article: Global Gender Gap Report Gender inequality is a result of the persistent discrimination of one group of people based upon gender and it manifests itself differently according to race, culture, politics, country, and economic situation. It is furthermore considered a causal factor of violence against women. While gender discrimination happens to both men and women in individual situations, discrimination against women is an entrenched, global pandemic. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rape and violence against women and girls is used as a tool of war.[43] In Afghanistan, girls have had acid thrown in their faces for attending school.[44] Considerable focus has been given to the issue of gender inequality at the international level by organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank, particularly in developing countries. The causes and effects of gender inequality vary by country, as do solutions for combating it. Asia See also: Sex-selective abortion One example of the continued existence of gender inequality in Asia is the “missing girls” phenomenon.[45] India Main article: Gender inequality in India India ranking remains low in gender equality measures by the World Economic Forum, although the rank has been improving in recent years.[46][47] When broken down into components that contribute the rank, India performs well on political empowerment, but is scored near the bottom with China on sex selective abortion. India also scores poorly on overall female to male literacy and health rankings. India with a 2013 ranking of 101 out of 136 countries had an overall score of 0.6551, while Iceland, the nation that topped the list, had an overall score of 0.8731 (no gender gap would yield a score of 1.0).[48] Gender inequalities impact India's sex ratio, women's health over their lifetimes, their educational attainment, and economic conditions. It is a multifaceted issue that concerns men and women alike. The labor force participation rate of women was 80.7% in 2013.[49] Nancy Lockwood of Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest human resources association with members in 140 countries, in a 2009 report wrote that female labor participation is lower than men, but has been rapidly increasing since the 1990s. Out of India's 397 million workers in 2001, 124 million were women, states Lockwood.[50] India is on target to meet its Millennium Development Goal of gender parity in education before 2016.[51] UNICEF's measure of attendance rate and Gender Equality in Education Index (GEEI) capture the quality of education.[52] Despite some gains, India needs to triple its rate of improvement to reach GEEI score of 95% by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals. A 1998 report states that rural India girls continue to be less educated than the boys.[53] United States Main article: Gender inequality in the United States The World Economic Forum measures gender equity through a series of economic, educational, and political benchmarks. It has ranked the United States as 19th (up from 31st in 2009) in terms of achieving gender equity.[54] The US Department of Labor has indicated that in 2009, “the median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers was…80 percent of men’s”;[55] The Department of Justice found that in 2009, “the percentage of female victims (26%) of intimate partner violence was about 5 times that of male victims (5%)”.[56] “The United States ranks 41st in a ranking of 184 countries on maternal deaths during pregnancy and childbirth, below all other industrialized nations and a number of developing countries”[57] and women only represent 20% of members of Congress.[54] Impact and counteractions Gender inequality and discrimination is argued to cause and perpetuate poverty and vulnerability in society as a whole.[58] Household and intra-household knowledge and resources are key influences in individuals' abilities to take advantage of external livelihood opportunities or respond appropriately to threats.[58] High education levels and social integration significantly improve the productivity of all members of the household and improve equity throughout society. Gender Equity Indices seek to provide the tools to demonstrate this feature of poverty.[58] Despite acknowledgement by institutions such as the World Bank that gender inequality is bad for economic growth, there are many difficulties in creating a comprehensive response.[59] It is argued that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fail to acknowledge gender inequality as a cross-cutting issue. Gender is mentioned in MDG3 and MDG5: MDG3 measures gender parity in education, the share of women in wage employment and the proportion women in national legislatures.[58] MDG5 focuses on maternal mortality and on universal access to reproductive health.[58] However, even these targets are significantly off-track.[59] Addressing gender inequality through social protection programmes designed to increase equity would be an effective way of reducing gender inequality.[59] Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute argue for the need to develop the following in social protection in order to reduce gender inequality and increase growth:[58] • Community childcare to give women greater opportunities to seek employment; • Support parents with the care costs (e.g. South African child/disability grants); • Education stipends for girls (e.g. Bangladesh’s Girls Education Stipend scheme); • Awareness-raising regarding gender-based violence, and other preventive measures, such as financial support for women and children escaping abusive environments (e.g. NGO pilot initiatives in Ghana); • Inclusion of programme participants (women and men) in designing and evaluating social protection programmes; • Gender-awareness and analysis training for programme staff; • Collect and distribute information on coordinated care and service facilities (e.g. access to micro-credit and microentrepreneurial training for women); and • Developing monitoring and evaluation systems that include sex-disaggregated data. However, politics plays a central role in the interests, institutions and ideas that are needed to reshape social welfare and gender inequality in politics and society limits governments' ability to act on economic incentives.[59] It is interesting to note that NGO's tend to protect women against gender inequality and Structural violence. During war, the opposing side targets women, raping and even killing them. This could be because women are associated with children and killing them prohibits there being a next generation of the enemy.[60] Another opportunity to tackle gender inequality is presented by modern Information and communication technologies. In a carefully controlled study,[61] it has been shown that women embrace digital technology more than men, disproving the stereotype of "technophobic women". Given that digital information and communication technologies have the potential to provide access to employment, education, income, health services, participation, protection, and safety, among others (ICT4D), the natural affinity of women with these new communication tools provide women with a tangible bootstrapping opportunity to tackle social discrimination. In other words, if women are provided with modern information and communication technologies, these digital tools present to them an opportunity to fight longstanding inequalities in the workplace and at home.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT The study carried out an empirical investigation into the quantitative effect of credit risk on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria over the period of 11 years (2000-2010). Five commercial banking firms were selected on a cross sectional basis for eleven years. The traditional profit theory was employed to formulate profit, measured by Return on Asset (ROA), as a function of the ratio of Non-performing loan to loan & Advances (NPL/LA), ratio of Total loan & Advances to Total deposit (LA/TD) and the ratio of loan loss provision to classified loans (LLP/CL) as measures of credit risk. Panel model analysis was used to estimate the determinants of the profit function. The results showed that the effect of credit risk on bank performance measured by the Return on Assets of banks is cross-sectional invariant. That is the effect is similar across banks in Nigeria, though the degree to which individual banks are affected is not captured by the method of analysis employed in the study. Banks collect deposits and lends to customers but when customers fail to meet their obligations problems such as non-performing loans arise. This study evaluates the impact of credit risk on the profitability of Nigerian banks. The findings revealed that credit risk management has a significant impact on the profitability of Nigeria banks.

risk management as a strategy for profit maximization

TABLE OF CONTENT Preliminary page Title page Approval page Dedication Acknowledgement Abstract Table of content CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction-------------------------------- --1 1.1 Background of the study------------------- --4 1.2 Statement of the problem--------------------5 1.3 Objective of the study------------------------5 1.4 Research Question---------------------------6 1.5 Statement of hypothesis---------------------7 1.6 Significance of the study----------------------7 1.7 Scope of the study----------------------------8 1.8 Limitation of the study------------------------9 1.9 Definition of terms----------------------------10 CHAPTER TWO 2.0 Literature review------------------------------11 2.1 Introduction-----------------------------------11 CHAPTER THREE 3.0 Research design and methodology------------ 29 3.1 Introduction----------------------------------- 29 3.2 Research design------------------------------- 30 3.3 Source/methodology of data collection-------- 31 3.4 Population and sample size-------------------- 31 3.5 Sample technique ------------------------------32 3.6 Validity and reliability of measuring instrument33 3.7 Method of data analysis------------------------33 CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 Presentation and analysis of datA 4.1 Introduction------------------------------------ 34 4.2 Presentation of data----------------------------34 4.3 Analysis of data-------------------------------- 34 4.4 Test of hypothesis ----------------------------- 41 4.5 Interpretation of result-------------------------41 CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 Summary, conclusion and Recommendation---42 5.1 Introduction------------------------------------ 42 5.2 Summary of findings------------------------- --42 5.3 Conclusion--------------------------------------46 5.4 Recommendations------------------------------47 References------------------------------------------48 Appendix--------------------------------------------49 CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction Banks are germane to economic development through the financial services they provide. Their intermediation role can be said to be a catalyst for economic growth. The efficient and effective performance of the banking industry over time is an index of financial stability in any nation. The extent to which a bank extends credit to the public for productive activities accelerates the pace of a nation’s economic growth and its long-term sustainability. The credit function of banks enhances the ability of investors to exploit desired profitable ventures. Credit creation is the main income generating activity of banks (Kargi, 2011). However, it exposes the banks to credit risk. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2001) defined credit risk as the possibility of losing the outstanding loan partially or totally, due to credit events (default risk). Credit risk is an internal determinant of bank performance. The higher the exposure of a bank to credit risk, the higher the tendency of the banks to experience financial crisis and vice-versa. Among other risks faced by banks, credit risk plays an important role on banks’ profitability since a large chunk of banks’ revenue accrues from loans from which interest is derived. However, interest rate risk is directly linked to credit risk implying that high or increment in interest rate increases the chances of loan default. Risk and interest rate risk are intrinsically related to each other and not separable (Drehman, Sorensen, and Stringa, 2008).Increasing amount of non-performing loans in the credit portfolio is inimical to banks in achieving their objectives. Non-performing loan is the percentage of loan values that are not serviced for three months and above (Ahmad and Ariff, 2007). Due to the increasing spate of non-performing loans, the Basel II Accord emphasized on credit risk management practices. Compliance with the Accord means a sound approach to tackling credit risk has been taken and this ultimately improves bank performance. Through the effective management of credit risk exposure, banks not only support the viability and profitability of their own business, they also contribute to systemic stability and to an efficient allocation of capital in the economy (Psillaki, Tsolas, and Margaritis, 2010). The Nigerian banking industry has been strained by the deteriorating quality of its credit assets as a result of the significant dip in equity market indices, global oil prices and sudden depreciation of the naira against global currencies (BGL Banking Report, 2010).The poor quality of the banks’ loan assets hindered banks to extend more credit to the domestic economy, thereby adversely affecting economic performance. This prompted the Federal Government of Nigeria through the instrumentality of an Act of the National Assembly to establish the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in July, 2010 to provide a lasting solution to the recurring problems of non-performing loans that bedeviled Nigerian banks. According to Ahmad and Ariff (2007), most banks in economies such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Mexico experienced high non-performing loans and significant increase in credit risk during financial and banking crises, which resulted in the closing down of several banks in Indonesia and Thailand. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The banking industry has achieved great prominence in the Nigerian economic environment and it influence play predominant role in granting credit facilities. The probability of incurring losses resulting from non-payment of loans or other forms of credit by debtors known as credit risks are mostly encountered in the financial sector particularly by institutions such as banks. The biggest credit risk facing banking and financial intermediaries is the risk of customers or counter party default. During the 1990s, as the number of players in banking sector increased substantially in the Nigerian economy and banks witnessed rising non-performing credit portfolios. This significantly contributed to financial distress in the banking sector. Also identified was the existence of predatory debtor in the banking system whose modus operandi involve the abandonment of their debt obligations in some banks only to contract new debts in other banks. Credit creation is the main income generating activity for the banks. But this activity involves huge risks to both the lender and the borrower. The risk of a trading partner not fulfilling his or her obligation as per the contract on due date or anytime thereafter can greatly jeopardize the smooth functioning of bank’s business. On the other hand, a bank with high credit risk has high bankruptcy risk that puts the depositors in jeopardy. In a bid to survive and maintain adequate profit level in this highly competitive environment, banks have tended to take excessive risks. But then the increasing tendency for greater risk taking has resulted in insolvency and failure of a large number of the banks. The major cause of serious banking problems continues to be directly related to low credit standards for borrowers and counterparties, poor portfolio management, and lack of attention to changes in economic or other circumstances that can lead to deterioration in the credit standing of bank’s counter parties. And it is clear that banks use high leverage to generate an acceptable level of profit. Credit risk management comes to maximize a bank’s risk adjusted rate of return by maintaining credit risk exposure within acceptable limit in order to provide a framework of the understanding the impact of credit risk management on banks profitability. The excessively high level of non-performing loans in the banks can also be attributed to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non- adherence to credit risk management practices. The question is what is the impact of credit risk management on the profitability of Nigerian banks? How does Loan and advances affect banks profitability? What is the relationship between non-performing loans and profitability in Nigerian banks? The study considers the extent of relationship that exists between the core variables constituting Nigerian Bank default risk and the profitability. It therefore seek to examine the impact of credit risk on the profitability of Nigerian banking system and identifies the relationships between the non-performing loans and banks profitability and evaluate the effect of loan and advance on banks profitability on Nigerian banks. To achieve the study’s objectives it is postulated that there is no significant relationship between non-performing loan and banks profitability while loan and advances does not have a significant influence on banks profitability. The second section of the paper provides an overview of related literature and the third section presents an exposition of the methodology used in the study. The fourth section provides the results and its discussion. The last section provides a conclusion and recommendations. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The use of risk management as a strategy to maximizing profit in banking industries has created high rate of opportunity in the society which could result to serious increase for the company or organization. 1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The objective of the study are to determine: 1. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of credit risk on the performance of Nigerian banks over a period of years. 2. How credit risk affects banks’ profitability. 3. How risk management strategy increase profit in banking. 4. To know risk management benefits. 5. How to tackle the effect of credit risk in order to enhance the quality of banks’ assets. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION 1. What is risk? 2. What is risk management? 3. What is management? 4. What is banking/ bank? 5. Who is a banker? 6. How does risk influence in banking industry profit? 7. How does risk management strategy help maximize or increase bank profit? 1.5 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis one H0! The bank does not have a well risk management structure H1! The bank has a well risk management structure Hypothesis two H0! The staff does not have the skills and knowledge on risk management H1! The staff has the skills and knowledge on risk management 1.6 SIGNICANCE OF THE STUDY When the study is concluded, the entire public will find this study useful by knowing the impact or the effect of risk management in banking industry and its operation. Future researchers who may need secondary data for other research work in related topics will find this research work useful. This is because a perusal through the finding and recommendation will reveal that risk management has a huge impact/effect in the banking system. This research work will also be of immense help to bank staff and their managers. That may be interested to know how lack of effective use of risk management can lead to bank distress liquidation folding etc. 1.7 SCOPE OF STUDY This research work tends or aimed at examine the effective of risk management strategy as it maximize profit. This study tries to covey the way\ways or the important role risk management plays in bank. Therefore the researcher thought it is wise to write on risk management as a strategy for maximizing profit in every aspect of bank focusing on all access bank Nig. PLC as a case study. 1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY Some problems were encountered during this research\ project work such as: 1. TIME CONTRAINT; The researcher has no sufficient time to frequent the area of study due to compiled academic works facing him. he also has limited time in fixing the facts collected during the research work. 2. INFORMATION CONSTRAINTS The research encountered high compliance from the case study (access bank Nig PLC) due to secrecy of some information. 3. FINANCIAL CONSTRAINT The researcher has problem financing this work. This was due to the fact that during this work, there was drastic increase in the cost of living, transport, printing and binding of project. However, I thank God for making me (researcher) to finish the work and present it fairly. 4. Another problem the researcher has was getting the recent three –five financial statements (annual report) of the company to aid this work. 1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS A. Bank: Bank is a financial establishment that invest money deposited by customers , pays it out when required, make loans at interest and exchange currency. B. Banking: the business conducted or service offered by a bank. C. Risk is defined as the probability of an event and its consequences. Risk management is the practice of using processes, methods and tools for managing these risks. D. E. Record Keeping: Systematic procedure by which the records of an organization are created, captured, maintained, and disposed of. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter deals with the review of books, article and hand bills, and financial statement written by the organization (access bank). It will enable the researcher to know what they have written, what is left to be written in order to improve the work. A total of twenty commercial banks operate presently in Nigeria, out of which cluster sample of five was drawn. The banks in no particular order include First Bank Plc., United Bank for Africa Plc., Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., Zenith Bank Plc., and Access Bank Plc. The basis for the selection rests on the fact that these banks have been rated as the topmost five Nigerian banks by Fitch rating and Bankers’ magazine as at January 2012 and they account for over fifty percent of deposit liabilities in the Nigerian banking sector. 2.1 INTRODUCTION A bank exists not only to accept deposits but also to grant credit facilities, therefore inevitably exposed to credit risk. Credit risk is by far the most significant risk faced by banks and the success of their business depends on accurate measurement and efficient management of this risk to a greater extent than any other risks (Gieseche, 2004). According to Chen and Pan (2012), credit risk is the degree of value fluctuations in debt instruments and derivatives due to changes in the underlying credit quality of borrowers and counterparties. Coyle (2000) defines credit risk as losses from the refusal or inability of credit customers to pay what is owed in full and on time. Credit risk is the exposure faced by banks when a borrower (customer) defaults in honouring debt obligations on due date or at maturity. This risk interchangeably called ‘counterparty risk’ is capable of putting the bank in distress if not adequately managed. Credit risk management maximizes bank’s risk adjusted rate of return by maintaining credit risk exposure within acceptable limit in order to provide framework for understanding the impact of credit risk management on banks’ profitability (Kargi, 2011). Demirguc-Kunt and Huzinga (1999) opined that credit risk management is in two-fold which includes, the realization that after losses have occurred, the losses becomes unbearable and the developments in the field of financing commercial paper, securitization, and other non-bank competition which pushed banks to find viable loan borrowers. The main source of credit risk include, limited institutional capacity, inappropriate credit policies, volatile interest rates, poor management, inappropriate laws, low capital and liquidity levels, direct lending, massive licensing of banks, poor loan underwriting, laxity in credit assessment, poor lending practices, government interference and inadequate supervision by the central bank (Kithinji, 2010).An increase in bank credit risk gradually leads to liquidity and solvency problems. Credit risk may increase if the bank lends to borrowers it does not have adequate knowledge about.\ 2.2 CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES The credit risk management strategies are measures employed by banks to avoid or minimize the adverse effect of credit risk. A sound credit risk management framework is crucial for banks so as to enhance profitability guarantee survival. According to Lindergren (1987), the key principles in credit risk management process are sequenced as follows; establishment of a clear structure, allocation of responsibility, processes have to be prioritized and disciplined, responsibilities should be clearly communicated and accountability assigned. The strategies for hedging credit risk include but not limited to these; i. Credit Derivatives: This provides banks with an approach which does not require them to adjust their loan portfolio. Credit derivatives provide banks with a new source of fee income and offer banks the opportunity to reduce their regulatory capital (Shao and Yeager, 2007). The commonest type of credit derivative is credit default swap whereby a seller agrees to shift the credit risk of a loan to the protection buyer. Frank Partnoy and David Skeel in Financial Times of 17 July, 2006 said that “credit derivatives encourage banks to lend more than they would, at lower rates, to riskier borrowers”. Recent innovations in credit derivatives markets have improved lenders’ abilities to transfer credit risk to other institutions while maintaining relationship with borrowers (Marsh, 2008). ii. Credit Securitization: It is the transfer of credit risk to a factor or insurance firm and this relieves the bank from monitoring the borrower and fear of the hazardous effect of classified assets. This approach insures the lending activity of banks. The growing popularity of credit risk securitization can be put down to the fact that banks typically use the instrument of securitization to diversify concentrated credit risk exposures and to explore an alternative source of funding by realizing regulatory arbitrage and liquidity improvements when selling securitization transactions (Michalak and Uhde,2009). A cash collateralized loan obligation is a form of securitization in which assets (bank loans) are removed from a bank’s balance sheet and packaged (tranched) into marketable securities that are sold on to investors via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) (Marsh,2008). iii. Compliance to Basel Accord: The Basel Accord are international principles and regulations guiding the operations of banks to ensure soundness and stability. The Accord was introduced in 1988 in Switzerland. Compliance with the Accord means being able to identify, generate, track and report on risk-related data in an integrated manner, with full auditability and transparency and creates the opportunity to improve the risk management processes of banks. The New Basel Capital Accord places explicitly the onus on banks to adopt sound internal credit risk management practices to assess their capital adequacy requirements (Chen and Pan,2012). iv. Adoption of a sound internal lending policy: The lending policy guides banks in disbursing loans to customers. Strict adherence to the lending policy is by far the cheapest and easiest method of credit risk management. The lending policy should be in line with the overall bank strategy and the factors considered in designing a lending policy should include; the existing credit policy, industry norms, general economic conditions of the country and the prevailing economic climate (Kithinji,2010). v. Credit Bureau: This is an institution which compiles information and sells this information to banks as regards the lending profile of a borrower. The bureau awards credit score called statistical odd to the borrower which makes it easy for banks to make instantaneous lending decision. Example of a credit bureau is the Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 2.3 MANAGEMENT OF RISKS IN BANKING The bank would avoid credit risk by choosing assets with very low default risk but low return, but the bank profits from taking risk. Credit risk rises if a bank has many medium to low quality loans on its books, but the return will be higher. So banks will opt for a portfolio of assets with varying degrees of risk, always taking into account that a higher default risk is accompanied by higher expected return. Since much of the default risk arises from moral hazard and information problems, banks must monitor their borrowers to increase their return from the loan portfolio. Good credit risk management has always been a key component to the success of the bank, even as banks move into other areas. However, as will become apparent in Chapter 6,the cause of the majority of bank failures can be traced back to weak loan books. For example, Franklin National Bank announced large losses on foreign exchange dealings but it also had many unsound loans. Likewise many of the ‘‘thrift’’ and commercial bank failures in the USA during the 1980s were partly caused by a mismatch in terms between assets and liabilities, and problem loans. In Japan, it was the failure of mortgage banks in 1995 that signaled major problems with the balance sheets of virtually all banks. Liquidity or funding risk. These terms are really synonyms – the risk of insufficient liquidity for normal operating requirements, that is, the ability of the bank to meet its liabilities when they fall due. A shortage of liquid assets is often the source of the problems, because the bank is unable to raise funds in the retail or wholesale markets. Funding risk usually refers to a bank’s in ability to fund its day-to-day operations. As was discussed in Chapter 1, liquidity is an important service offered by a bank, and one of the services that distinguishes banks from other financial firms. Customers place their deposits with a bank, confident they can withdraw the deposit when they wish, even if it is a term deposit and they want to withdraw their funds before the term is up. 2.3 Approaches to the Management of Financial Risks Though risk management was always central to the profitability of banks, its focus has changed over time. In the 1960s, the emphasis was on the efficient employment of funds for liabilities management. In the 1970s, with the onset of inflation in many western countries and volatile interest rates, the focus shifted to the management of interest rate risk and liquidity risk, with a bank’s credit risk usually managed by a separate department or division. Asset–liability management (ALM) is the proactive management of both sides of the balance sheet, with a special emphasis on the management of interest rate and liquidity risks. In the 1980s, risk management expanded to include the bank’s off-balance sheet operations, and the risks inherent therein. In the new century, managers are answerable notonly to shareholders but to national and international regulators. The emphasis is on the use of models to produce reliable risk measures to direct capital to the activities that offer the best risk/return combination. Scenario and stress tests are employed to complement the models. In this section, the traditional ALM function is reviewed but it also explores how new instruments have changed the risk management organizational structure within banks, to accommodate all the risks a modern bank incurs. In particular, it should be emphasized that while traditional risk management focused on a bank’s banking book (that is, on-balance sheet assets and liabilities), modern risk management has been extended to include the trading book, which consists mainly of off-balance sheet financial instruments. The financial instruments of a bank’s trading book are taken on either with a view to profiting from arbitrage, speculation or for the purposes of hedging. Financial instruments may also be used to execute a trade with a customer. The bank and trading books can be affected differently for a given change, say, in interest rates. A rise in interest rates may cause a reduction in the market value of off-balance sheet items, but a gain (in terms of economic value) on the banking book. Also, while the market value gain/loss on the trading book normally has an immediate effect on profits and capital, the effect on the banking book is likely to be realized over time. Interest Rate Risk and Asset–Liability , the ALM group within a bank has been concerned with control of interstate risk on the balance sheet. For some banks it may be equally or even more important to manage interest rate risk arising from off-balance sheet business, but it is instructive to look at the traditional methods and progress to the relatively new procedures. To provide an example of the complexities of interest rate risk management, consider a highly implied case where a bank, newly licensed by the relevant regulatory authority, commences operations as follows. The loan has a maturity of six months, when all interest and principal is payable (a’ bullet’’ loan). It will be priced at the current market rate of interest, 7%, plus a spread of 3%. So the annual loan rate is 10% on 1 January 2000. The loan is assumed to be rolled over every six months at whatever the new market rate is, with an unchanged risk premium of 3%.3. A customer wishes to purchase the deposit product, a certificate of deposit (CD) on1 January. The market rate is 7%, and because of highly competitive market conditions it is this rate which is paid on the CD. The bank has to decide what the maturity of the CD is going to be and once the maturity is set, the bank is committed to rolling over the CD at the same maturity. 2.4 Types of Risk Management Risk Management deals with the identification, assessment and various strategies that help mitigate the adverse effects of risk on the organization. Management uses risk management as a strategic tool to mitigate the loss of property and increase the success chance of the organization. There are various kinds of risk and the risk management deals with their timely identification, assessment and proper handling. The types of risk management differ on the basis of the nature of operations of a particular organization and other factors like its overall goals and performance. All these risk management processes play a significant role behind the growth of an organization in the long run. Commercial enterprises apply various forms of risk management procedures to handle different risks because they face a variety of risks while carrying out their business operations. Effective handling of risk ensures the successful growth of an organization. Various types of risk management can be categorized as follows: Enterprise Risk Management It is a strategic framework that checks the potential risks that have adverse impacts over the enterprise. These risks could be in terms of risk related to resources , product and services or the market environment in which the enterprise operates. Enterprises develop risk management capabilities to deal with these risks and a proper action plan. Enterprises must note down all the possible risks that may occur and prepare a set of action plans depending on the nature of risk. Operational Risk Management Operational risks are present in every enterprises.These risks arise due to the execution of the business functions of the enterprises. Enterprises need to assess these risks and prepare action plans to meet the impact of risk. At the primary level, operational risk management deals with technical failures and human errors like: • Mistakes in execution • System failures • Policy violations • Legal infringements • Rule breaches • Indirect and direct additional risk taking. Financial Risk Management The process of financial risk management can be defined as minimizing exposure of a firm to market risk and credit risk using various financial instruments. Financial risk managers also deal with other risks related to foreign exchange, liquidity, inflation, non-payment of clients and increased rate of interest. These risks affect the financial position of the enterprise. Market Risk Management Enterprises need to understand the risks present in the market , inherent to the industry or arising out of competition. Enterprise need to properly assess it and develop their capabilities . It Deals with different types of market risks, such as interest rate risk, equity risk, commodity risk, and currency risk. Credit Risk Management Managing credit risk is one of the fundamental work of the financial institution. Credit portfolio management is largely becoming essential for the enterprise to keep track of risk.It Deals with the risk related to the probability of nonpayment from the debtors. Quantitative Risk Management In quantitative risk management, an effort is carried out to numerically ascertain the possibilities of the different adverse financial circumstances to handle the degree of loss that might occur from those circumstances. Commodity Risk Management It Handles different types of commodity risks, such as price risk, political risk, quantity risk and cost risk. Bank Risk Management It Deals with the handling of different types of risks faced by the banks, for example, market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, legal risk, operational risk and reputational risk. Non-profit Risk Management This is a process where risk management companies offer risk management services on a non-profit seeking basis. Currency Risk Managemen Deals with changes in currency prices. Project Risk Management Deals with particular risks associated with the undertaking of a project. Integrated Risk Management Integrated risk management refers to integrating risk data into the strategic decision making of a company and taking decisions, which take into account the set risk tolerance degrees of a department. In other words, it is the supervision of market, credit, and liquidity risk at the same time or on a simultaneous basis. Technology Risk Management It is the process of managing the risks associated with implementation of new technology. Software Risk Management Deals with different types of risks associated with implementation of new softwares. IT Risk Management: It is a part of enterprise risk management as most modern enterprises largely depend on the information technologies and there is certain inherent risks associated with the technologies. Most modern enterprises need to face it and prepare plans to deal with these risks 2.5 Risk Management Enterprise Risk • Credit Risk • Market Risk • Operational Risk • Regulatory Compliance • RMA Multimedia Enterprise Risk Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a framework to reduce earnings volatility through a robust risk governance structure and strong risk culture, supported by sound risk management capabilities. It is the organization’s enterprise risk competence—the ability to understand, control, and articulate the nature and level of risks taken in pursuit of business strategies—coupled with accountability for risks taken and activities engaged in, which contributes to increased confidence shown by stakeholders. Credit Risk In the past, managing the credit portfolio was considered good risk management. But in today's broader, more complex environment, best-practice institutions understand that they need to measure and manage risk across the entire enterprise. We recognize that managing credit risk is essential to enterprise-wide risk management, so we offer products and services to institutions and individuals involved in retail, commercial, and corporate credit risk. RMA is the premier provider of commercial credit education and information. Market Risk RMA serves market risk practitioners at both the larger-institution and smaller-institution levels. For larger institutions—where market risk management and its related technologies are well known and mature—RMA provides peer sharing and professional development opportunities through round tables in North America and Europe. RMA also undertakes surveys, benchmarking studies, and best practice papers. Operational Risk Operational risks exist in every financial organization, regardless of its size, in any number of forms including hurricanes, blackouts, computer hacking, and organized fraud. Managing those risks—however big or small—is critical to an organization’s success. Regulatory Affairs The Regulatory Bulletin, RMA's "member only" resource, which is divided into five parts to assist risk managers in keeping up to date with the increasingly complex regulatory environment facing member institutions in the United States. 2.6. Seven steps to effective risk management * Many enterprises lack consistency when it comes to applying risk management When your organization talks about risk management, what does it mean? According to Gartner, many enterprises are inconsistent in the use and application of the term. So it's no surprise that risk management often ends up siloed into separate functional areas such as business continuity, security, management and privacy. Gartner’s recent report, "A Risk Hierarchy for Enterprise and IT Risk Managers," emphasizes the need for a holistic view of risk. "An enterprise that wishes to better understand and manage the risks to which it is exposed should begin with enterprise-specific risk definitions and an organizational risk hierarchy to which all risk-related specialists can align," says Paul Proctor, vice president and distinguished analyst at the IT research firm. "Although no single definition will work for all enterprises, it is important to start from a common, overarching framework to eliminate overlap, avoid gaps in coverage and ensure good governance." In order to make risk management more effective in your IT organization, Gartner offers 7 steps: 1. Implement a framework for risk assessment and mapping. 2. Outline the responsibilities of risk managers with their respective domains. 3. Identify and define the risks to which the business is exposed and how to map incidents. 4. Determine the threat level and focus on the risk that have the greatest potential to affect enterprise performance. 5. Establish levels of controls for processes commensurate with the perceived threat. 6. Record and retain risk incident and near-miss information. 7. Conduct periodic risk assessments to determine changes in your company’s risk profile and assess performance. 2.6.0 The risk management process Businesses face many risks, therefore risk management should be a central part of any business' strategic management. Risk management helps you to identify and address the risks facing your business and in doing so increase the likelihood of successfully achieving your businesses objectives. A risk management process involves: • methodically identifying the risks surrounding your business activities • assessing the likelihood of an event occurring • understanding how to respond to these events • putting systems in place to deal with the consequences • monitoring the effectiveness of your risk management approaches and controls As a result, the process of risk management: • improves decision-making, planning and prioritisation • helps you allocate capital and resources more efficiently • allows you to anticipate what may go wrong, minimising the amount of firefighting you have to do or, in a worst-case scenario, preventing a disaster or serious financial loss • significantly improves the probability that you will deliver your business plan on time and to budget Risk management becomes even more important if your business decides to try something new, for example launch a new product or enter new markets. Competitors following you into these markets, or breakthroughs in technology which make your product redundant, are two risks you may want to consider in cases such as these. 2.6.1 The types of risk your business faces The main categories of risk to consider are: • strategic, for example a competitor coming on to the market • compliance, for example the introduction of new health and safety legislation • financial, for example non-payment by a customer or increased interest charges on a business loan • operational, for example the breakdown or theft of key equipment These categories are not rigid and some parts of your business may fall into more than one category. The risks attached to data protection, for example, could be considered when reviewing your operations or your business' compliance. Other risks include: • environmental risks, including natural disasters • employee risk management, such as maintaining sufficient staff numbers and cover, employee safety and up-to-date skills • political and economic instability in any foreign markets you export goods to • health and safety risks 2.6.2 Strategic and compliance risks Strategic risks are those risks associated with operating in a particular industry. They include risks arising from: • merger and acquisition activity • changes among customers or in demand • industry changes • research and development For example you might consider the strategic risks of the possibility of a US company buying one of your Canadian competitors. This may give the US company a distribution arm in Canada. You may want to consider: • whether there are any US companies which have the cash/share price to do this • whether there are any Canadian competitors who could be a takeover target, perhaps because of financial difficulties • whether the US company would lower prices or invest more in research and development Where there's a strong possibility of this happening, you should prepare some sort of response. Compliance risk Compliance risks are those associated with the need to comply with laws and regulations. They also apply to the need to act in a manner which investors and customers expect, for example, by ensuring proper corporate governance. You may need to consider whether employment or health and safety legislation could add to your overheads or force changes in your established ways of working. You may also want to consider legislative risks to your business. You should ask yourself whether the products or services you offer could be made less marketable by legislation or taxation – as has happened with tobacco and asbestos products. For example, concerns about the increase in obesity may prompt tougher food labelling regulations, which may push up costs or reduce the appeal of certain types of food. 2.6.3 Financial and operational risks Financial risks are associated with the financial structure of your business, the transactions your business makes and the financial systems you already have in place. Identifying financial risk involves examining your daily financial operations, especially cash flow. If your business is too dependent on a single customer and they are unable to pay you, this could have serious implications for your business' viability. You might examine: • the way you extend credit to new customers • who owes you money • the steps you can take to recover it • insurance that can cover large or doubtful debts Financial risk should take into account external factors such as interest rates and foreign exchange rates. Rate changes will affect your debt repayments and the competitiveness of your goods and services compared with those produced abroad. Operational risks Operational risks are associated with your business' operational and administrative procedures. These include: • recruitment • supply chain • accounting controls • IT systems • regulations • board composition You should examine these operations in turn, prioritise the risks and make provisions for such a risk happening. For example, if you are heavily reliant on one supplier for a key component you should consider what could happen if that supplier went out of business and source other suppliers to help you minimise the risk. IT risk and data protection are increasingly important to business. If hackers break into your IT systems, they could steal valuable data and even money from your bank account which at best would be embarrassing and at worst could put you out of business. A secure IT system employing encryption will safeguard commercial and customer information. 2.6.4 How to evaluate risks Risk evaluation allows you to determine the significance of risks to the business and decide to accept the specific risk or take action to prevent or minimise it. To evaluate risks, it is worthwhile ranking these risks once you have identified them. This can be done by considering the consequence and probability of each risk. Many businesses find that assessing consequence and probability as high, medium or low is adequate for their needs. These can then be compared to your business plan - to determine which risks may affect your objectives - and evaluated in the light of legal requirements, costs and investor concerns. In some cases, the cost of mitigating a potential risk may be so high that doing nothing makes more business sense. There are some tools you can use to help evaluate risks. You can plot on a risk map the significance and likelihood of the risk occurring. Each risk is rated on a scale of one to ten. If a risk is rated ten this means it is of major importance to the company. One is the least significant. The map allows you to visualise risks in relation to each other, gauge their extent and plan what type of controls should be implemented to mitigate the risks. Prioritising risks, however you do this, allows you to direct time and money toward the most important risks. You can put systems and controls in place to deal with the consequences of an event. This could involve defining a decision process and escalation procedures that your company would follow if an event occurred. 2.7 Use preventative measures for business continuity Risk management involves putting processes, methods and tools in place to deal with the consequences of events you have identified as significant threats for your business. This could be something as simple as setting aside financial reserves to ease cash flow problems if they arise or ensuring effective computer backup and IT support procedures for dealing with a systems failure. Programs which deal with threats identified during risk assessment are often referred to as business continuity plans. These set out what you should do if a certain event happens, for example, if a fire destroys your office. You can't avoid all risk, but business continuity plans can minimise the disruption to your business. Risk assessments will change as your business grows or as a result of internal or external changes. This means that the processes you have put in place to manage your business risks should be regularly reviewed. Such reviews will identify improvements to the processes and equally they can indicate when a process is no longer necessary. 2.7.0 How to manage risks There are four ways of dealing with, or managing, each risk that you have identified. You can: • accept it • transfer it • reduce it • eliminate it For example, you may decide to accept a risk because the cost of eliminating it completely is too high. You might decide to transfer the risk, which is typically done with insurance. Or you may be able to reduce the risk by introducing new safety measures or eliminate it completely by changing the way you produce your product. When you have evaluated and agreed on the actions and procedures to reduce the risk, these measures need to be put in place. Risk management is not a one-off exercise. Continuous monitoring and reviewing are crucial for the success of your risk management approach. Such monitoring ensures that risks have been correctly identified and assessed and appropriate controls put in place. It is also a way to learn from experience and make improvements to your risk management approach. All of this can be formalised in a risk management policy, setting out your business' approach to and appetite for risk and its approach to risk management. Risk management will be even more effective if you clearly assign responsibility for it to chosen employees. It is also a good idea to get commitment to risk management at the board level. Good risk management can improve the quality and returns of your business. Choose the right insurance to protect against losses Insurance will not reduce your business' risks but you can use it as a financial tool to protect against losses associated with some risks. This means that in the event of a loss you will have some financial compensation. This can be crucial for your business' survival in the event of, say, a fire which destroys a factory. Some costs are uninsurable, such as the damage to a company's reputation. On the other hand, in some areas insurance is mandatory. Insurance companies increasingly want evidence that risk is being managed. Before they will provide cover, they want evidence of the effective operation of processes in place to minimise the likelihood of a claim. You can ask your insurance adviser for advice on appropriate processes. Insurance products You can use a business interruption policy, for example, to insure against loss of profit and higher overheads resulting from, say, damaged machinery. You may also want to consider: • products liability insurance • key man insurance • group life assurance Liability insurance - public and products liability insurance - is designed to pay any compensation and legal costs that arise from negligence or breach of duty. Key man insurance is designed to cover you for the financial costs of losing key personnel. Group life assurance is provided by employers as part of a benefits package and pays out a lump sum to an employee's family should the employee die. Original document, Managing risk, © Crown copyright 2009 Source: Business Link UK (now GOV.UK/Business) Adapted for Québec by Info entrepreneurs Our information is provided free of charge and is intended to be helpful to a large range of UK-based (gov.uk/business) and Québec-based (infoentrepreneurs.org) businesses. Because of its general nature the information cannot be taken as comprehensive and should never be used as a substitute for legal or professional advice. We cannot guarantee that the information applies to the individual circumstances of your business. Despite our best efforts it is possible that some information may be out of date. As a result: • The websites operators cannot take any responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions. • You should always follow the links to more detailed information from the relevant government department or agency. • Any reliance you place on our information or linked to on other websites will be at your own risk. You should consider seeking the advice of independent advisors, and should always check your decisions against your normal business methods and best practice in your field of business. • The websites operators, their agents and employees, are not liable for any losses or damages arising from your use of our websites, other than in respect of death or personal injury caused by their negligence or in respect of fraud 2.7.1 Sharpening strategic risk management Strategic risks can be defined as the uncertainties and untapped opportunities embedded in your strategic intent and how well they are executed. As such, they are key matters for the board and impinge on the whole business, rather than just an isolated unit. Strategic risk management is your organisation’s response to these uncertainties and opportunities. It involves a clear understanding of corporate strategy, the risks in adopting it and the risks in executing it. These risks may be triggered from inside or outside your organisation. Once they are understood, you can develop effective, integrated, strategic risk mitigation. Far from holding back the business, strategic risk management is about augmenting strategic management and getting the full value from your strategy. In a typical instance, a conventional approach to setting and executing strategy might look at sales growth and service delivery. Rarely does it monitor the risks of a shortfall in demand. As Figure 1 outlines, effective strategic risk management is built around a clear understanding of how much risk your business is prepared to take to deliver its objectives, and a timely and reliable evaluation of how much risk it is actually taking. The problem is that risk management can often be run separately from frontline strategic assessments, decision making and monitoring against plans. Boards can thus improve their focus on risk by integrating risk management into their routine strategic evaluation, debate and challenge. Figure 2 sets out the main types of risk a business is likely to face. Financial risks are typically well controlled and are part of the routine focus of board risk discussions, with strong impetus coming from the increased regulatory, accounting and financial audit focus. As financial information is a key element of stakeholder communications, performance measurement and strategic delivery, board risk discussions will devote considerable time to these risks. Operational risks are typically managed from within the business and often focus on health and safety issues where industry regulations and standards require. These internally driven risks may affect your organisation’s ability to deliver on its strategic objectives. Hazard risks often stem from major exogenous factors, which affect the environment in which the organisation operates. A focus on the use of insurance and appropriate contingency planning will help address some of these. However, there is often a danger that as many of these risks cannot be controlled, boards and senior management will not reflect these in their strategic thinking. Confining strategic management to controllable factors will leave your business at risk of failing to address these factors. Strategic risks are typically external or affect the most senior management decisions. As such, they are often missed from many risk registers. Your board has a responsibility to make sure all these types of risks are included in their key strategic discussions. So how are risk management frameworks evolving in the face of these gaps in how risk is managed and the need for greater integration with strategic management? Our conversations with boards highlight three major concerns. First, many executives are worried that the risk frameworks and processes that are currently in place in their organisations are no longer giving them the level of protection they need. Second, boards are seeing rapid increases both in the speed with which risk events take place and the contagion with which they spread across different categories of risk. They are especially concerned about the escalating impact of ‘catastrophic’ risks, which can threaten an organisation’s very existence and even undermine entire industries. The third shift is that boards feel they are spending too much time and money on running their current risk management processes, rather than moving quickly and flexibly to identify and tackle new risks. As a result, some are not convinced that their return on spending on ERM is fully justified by the level of protection they gain from it. PwC recently conducted a qualitative research study into how various multinational organisations have responded to these challenges. The study revealed four key findings: 2.7.2 5 Keys to Manage Credit Risk Effectively Managing commercial credit risk is important to any small business growing its financial strength. Here are a few basic principles that any business owner can use as a foundation for its credit risk management strategy. There's actually a single common theme for all five of the principles I'll discuss below: Act, don't react. If you want to manage risk, then you need to learn how to anticipate risk. Fortunately, with the right risk management tools and a bit of discipline, any small business can achieve this goal. Here are five specific suggestions, including action your small business can take right away. 1. Don't just focus on new customers. It's human nature: We like to think that long-term business relationships are stable, solid, and built on a foundation of trust. The truth, however, is that up to 80 percent of bad debt involves business relationships that are a year or more old. Takeaway: Don't treat credit risk management as a one-time process. Evaluate credit risk for your customers, vendors, and suppliers regularly, and watch for trends in business credit profiles that signal impending trouble. 2. Trust your technology tools. A manual credit-review process might feel more thorough - you can pull in data from multiple reporting sources, mull it over, and make a "big picture" credit decision. Today, however, with so many data sources to choose from, it's more likely that you'll miss or misunderstand critical information. Takeaway: Work with a business information provider that offers a comprehensive, integrated set of risk management tools. You'll save money and time - and manage credit risk far more effectively. 3. Trust your colleagues, too! Some of a credit professional's best allies aren't in the credit department - they're in sales, support, customer service, and even the executive suite. A sales call, for example, might reveal that a customer is downsizing its office, or a business owner might hear through the grapevine that a normally reliable partner is having problems with slow payments. Takeaway: The more eyes and ears you recruit, the more likely you are to get the information you need to evaluate credit risk in a timely manner. 4. Take business fraud seriously. Most small businesses are eager to build relationships with new customers, suppliers, vendors, and business partners. In the process, however, they're more likely to overlook signs that a business relationship is TOO promising. 5. Takeaway: Apply consistent risk management practices to all of your business relationships. When you see a red flag - a murky business history, unusual references, or too-good-to-be-true terms - put on the brakes until you can get the answers you need to evaluate credit risk. 6. Your job is to manage risk - not eliminate it. There's only one way to completely eliminate risk from your business, and that's to close the doors and go home. That's because the more you do to eliminate business risk exposure, the more expensive and time-consuming the process will become. At some point, the costs of eliminating ALL risk exceed the benefits of trying to do so. Takeaway: Put the right tools, technologies, and processes into place to manage your risk in the most cost-effective manner. Once you achieve this, you can be confident that you're striking the right balance between risk and reward. The Advent of Strategic Risk Management Enterprise risk management (“ERM”) and risk management in general can encompass a wide range of risks that face any organization. Some risks may reflect exposures that, although harmful, will not threaten the overall health of an organization or its ability to ultimately meet its business objectives. For example, a temporary data center outage can result in a short-term problem or customer dissatisfaction, but once recovered, the organization can quickly be back on track. Other more significant risk events can be catastrophic, resulting in losses that can not only impair an organization’s ability to meet its objectives, but may also threaten the organization’s survival. The recent credit crisis is an example of this type of risk. These more significant risk exposures have given rise to a focus on “strategic risks” and “strategic risk management.” “Strategic risks” are those risks that are most consequential to the organization’s ability to execute its strategies and achieve its business objectives. These are the risk exposures that can ultimately affect shareholder value or the viability of the organization. “Strategic risk management” then can be defined as “the process of identifying, assessing and managing the risk in the organization’s business strategy—including taking swift action when risk is actually realized.” Strategic risk management is focused on those most consequential and significant risks to shareholder value, an area that merits the time and attention of executive management and the board of directors. Standard & Poor’s included the following attributes for strategic risk management in its 2008 announcement that it would apply enterprise risk analysis to corporate ratings: Management’s view of the most consequential risks the firm faces, their likelihood, and potential effect; The frequency and nature of updating the identification of these top risks; The influence of risk sensitivity on liability management and financial decisions, and The role of risk management in strategic decision making. [2] Clearly the potential impact of strategic risks is significant enough to deserve the attention of the board and its directors. 2.8 The Strategic Risk Assessment Process There are seven basic steps for conducting a strategic risk assessment: 1 Achieve a deep understanding of the strategy of the organization The initial step in the assessment process is to gain a deep understanding of the key business strategies and objectives of the organization. Some organizations have welldeveloped strategic plans and objectives, while others may be much more informal in their articulation and documentation of strategy. In either case, the assessment must develop an overview of the organization’s key strategies and business objectives. This step is critical, because without these key data to focus around, an assessment could result in a long laundry list of potential risks with no way to really prioritize them. This step also establishes a foundation for integrating risk management with the business strategy. In conducting this step, a strategy framework could be useful to provide structure to the activity.a 2 Gather views and data on strategic risks The next step is to gather information and views on the organization’s strategic risks. This can be accomplished through interviews of key executives and directors, surveys, and the analysis of information (e.g., financial reports and investor presentations). This data gathering should also include both internal and external auditors and other personnel who would have views on risks, such as compliance or safety personnel. Information gathered in Step 1 may be helpful to frame discussions or surveys and relate them back to core strategies. This is also an opportunity to ask what these key individuals view as potential emerging risks that should also be considered. 3 Prepare a preliminary strategic risk profile Combine and analyze the data gathered in the first two steps to develop an initial profile of the organization’s strategic risks. The level of detail and type of presentation should be tailored to the culture of the organization. For some organizations, simple lists are adequate, while others may want more detail as part of the profile. At a minimum, the profile should clearly communicate a concise list of the top risks and their potential severity or ranking. Colorcoded reports or “heat-maps” may be useful to ensure clarity of communication of this critical information. 4 Validate and finalize the strategic risk profile The initial strategic risk profile must be validated, refined, and finalized. Depending on how the data gathering was accomplished, this step could involve validation with all or a portion of the key executives and directors. It is critical, however, to gain sufficient validation to prevent major disagreements on the final risk profile. 5 Develop a strategic risk management action plan This step should be undertaken in tandem with Step 4. While significant effort can go into an initial risk assessment and strategic risk profile, the real product of this effort should be an action plan to enhance risk monitoring or management actions related to the strategic risks identified. The ultimate value of this process is helping and enhancing the organization’s ability to manage and monitor its top risks. 6 Communicate the strategic risk profile and strategic risk management action plan Building or enhancing the organization’s risk culture is a communications effort with two primary focuses. The first focus is the communication of the organization’s top risks and the strategic risk management action plan to help build an understanding of the risks and how they are being managed. This helps focus personnel on what those key risks are and potentially how significant they might be. A second focus is the communication of management’s expectations regarding risk to help reinforce the message that the understanding and management of risk is a core competency and expected role of people across the organization. The risk culture is an integral part of the overall corporate culture. The assessment of the corporate culture and risk culture is an initial step in building and nurturing a high performance, high integrity corporate culture. 7 Implement the strategic risk management action plan As noted above, the real value resulting from the risk assessment process comes from the implementation of an action plan for managing and monitoring risk. These steps define a basic, high-level process and allow for a significant amount of tailoring and customization to reflect the maturity and capabilities of the organization. As shown by Figure 1, strategic risk assessment is an ongoing process, not just a one-time event. Reflecting the dynamic nature of risk, these seven steps constitute a circular or closed-loop process that should be ongoing and continual within the organization. 2.8.0 Integrating Strategic Risk Management in Strategy Setting and Performance Measurement Processes The second step for an organization is to integrate strategic risk management into its existing strategy setting and performance measurement processes. As discussed above, there is a clear link between the organization’s strategies and its related strategic risks. Just as strategic risk management is an ongoing process, so is the need to establish an ongoing linkage with the organization’s core processes to set and measure its strategies and performance. This would include integrating risk management into strategic planning and performance measurement systems. Again, the maturity and culture of the organization should dictate how this performed. For some organizations, this may be accomplished through relatively simple processes, such as adding a page or section to their annual business planning process for the business to discuss the risks it sees in achieving its business plan and how it will monitor those risks. For organizations with more developed performance measurement processes, the Kaplan- Norton Strategy Execution Model described in The Execution Premium may be useful. [9] This model describes six stages for strategy execution and provides a useful framework for visualizing where strategic risk management can be embedded into these processes. Stage 1: Develop the strategy This stage includes developing the mission, values, and vision; strategic analysis; and strategy formulation. At this stage, a strategic risk assessment could be included using the Return Driven Strategy framework to articulate and clarify the strategy and the Strategic Risk Management framework to identify the organization’s strategic risks. Stage 2: Translate the strategy This stage includes developing strategy maps, strategic themes, objectives, measures, targets, initiatives, and the strategic plan in the form of strategy maps, balanced scorecards, and strategic expenditures. Here, the strategic risk management framework would be used to develop risk-based objectives and performance measures for balanced scorecards and strategy maps, and for analyzing risks related to strategic expenditures. [10] At this stage, boards may also want to consider developing a risk scorecard that includes key metrics. Stage 3: Align the organization This stage includes aligning business units, support units, employees, and boards of directors. The Strategic Risk Management Alignment Guide and Strategic Framework for GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) would be useful for aligning risk and control units toward more effective and efficient risk management and governance, and for linking this alignment with the strategy of the organization. [11] Stage 4: Plan operations This stage includes developing the operating plan, key process improvements, sales planning, resource capacity planning, and budgeting. In this stage, the strategic risk management action plan can be reflected in the operating plan and dashboards, including risk dashboards. One organization we worked with developed a “resources follow risk” philosophy to make certain that resources were appropriately and efficiently allocated. This philosophy focused on ensuring that resources used in risk management are justified economically based on the relative amount of risk and cost-benefit analysis. Stage 5: Monitor and learn This stage includes strategy and operational reviews. “Strategic risk reviews” would be part of the ongoing strategic risk assessment, which reinforces the necessary continual, closed-loop approach for effective strategy risk assessment and strategy execution. Stage 6: Test and adapt This stage includes profitability analysis and emerging strategies. Emerging risks can be considered part of the ongoing strategic risk assessment in this stage. The strategic risk assessment can complement and leverage the strategy execution processes in an organization toward improving risk management and governance. For more information about integrating risk management in the strategy execution model and a discussion of risk scorecards, see “Risk Management and Strategy Execution Systems.” [12] 2.8.1 Final Thoughts: Moving Forward with Strategic Risk Management Management teams and boards must challenge themselves and their organizations to move up the strategic risk management learning curve. Developing strategic risk management processes and capabilities can provide a strong foundation for improving risk management and governance. Boards may want to consider engaging independent advisors to advise and educate themselves on these matters. For organizations that are early in this process, the seven keys to success for improving ERM as described in a 2011 COSO Thought Leadership Paper may be useful, and are applicable in strategic risk management: • 1. Support from the top is a necessity • 2. Build ERM using incremental steps • 3. Focus initially on a small number of top risks • 4. Leverage existing resources • 5. Build on existing risk management activities • 6. Embed ERM into the business fabric of the organization • 7. Provide ongoing ERM updates and continuing education for directors and senior management [13] However the board decides to proceed, their leadership, direction, and overall oversight will be critical to the success of a strategic risk management process. CHAPTER THREE 3.0 RESAERCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY This chapter focused on the procedures adopted by the researcher in carrying out the study. It includes; research design, source/methodology of data collection, population and sample size, sample techniques, validity and reliability of measuring instruments and method of data analysis. 3.1 INTRODUCTION The study examines the risk management as a strategy to maximize profit and its operation. The research is centralized on Access bank PLC. Access Bank Plc., commonly known as Access Bank, is a commercial bank in Nigeria. The bank is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator.[3] The bank's headquarters is located in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. Access Bank has in excess of 300 bank branches in Nigeria's major commercial centers. Access Bank is a large financial services provider, with an asset base in excess of US$12.6 billion (NGN:2.02 trillion), as of February 2012. The shareholders' equity in the bank is valued at approximately US$2.33 billion (NGN:373.5 billion). Starting in 2007, Access Bank began an International expansion drive. As of February 2012, it has subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, United Kingdom, and Zambia. • Democratic Republic of the Congo - Banque Privée du Congo. • The Gambia - Access Bank Gambia • Ghana - Access Bank Ghana • Rwanda - Access Bank Rwanda. • Sierra Leone - Access Bank Sierra Leone • United Kingdom - Access Bank has a head office and one branch. • Zambia - Access Bank Zambia The bank received its license from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1989, and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998. • 2002: Access Bank was taken over by a core of new management lead by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe. • 2005: Access Bank acquired Marina Bank and Capital Bank (the former Commercial Bank (Crédit Lyonnais Nigeria)) by merger. • 2007: Access Bank established a subsidiary in Banjul, The Gambia. This bank now has a head office and four branches, and the bank has pledged to open another four branches. • 2008: Access Bank acquired 88% of the shares of Omnifinance Bank, which was established in 1996. It also acquired 90% of Banque Privée du Congo, which South African investors had established in 2002. Access Bank acquired 75% of the shares of Bancor SA, in Rwanda. Bancor had been established in 1995 and reorganized in 2001. In September Access Bank opened a subsidiary in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and then in October, the bank opened subsidiaries in Lusaka, Zambia and in London, United Kingdom. • 2009: Finbank (Burundi) joined the Access Bank network • 2011: Access Bank in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria to acquire Intercontinental Bank Plc. • Further to the approval of the shareholders of both banks, court sanction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria and approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities & Exchange Commission, Access Bank Plc (“Access”) and Intercontinental Bank Plc (“Intercontinental Bank”) announce the completion of the recapitalization of Intercontinental Bank and the acquisition of 75% majority interest in Intercontinental Bank by Access Bank Plc. Effective today, Intercontinental Bank (including all its assets, liabilities and undertakings) becomes a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc. • The combined effect of the restoration of Net Asset Value (NAV) to zero by AMCON and N50billion capital injection by Access Bank Plc is that Intercontinental Bank now operates as a well capitalized bank, with shareholders funds of N50billion and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 24%, well above the 10% regulatory threshold. • January 2012: Access Bank announced the conclusion of its acquisition of the former Intercontinental Bank, creating an expanded Access Bank, one of the largest four commercial banks in Nigeria with over 5.7 million customers, 309 branches and over 1,600 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Access Bank Plc. is the flagship company of the financial conglomerate known as Access Bank Group. The member companies of the group include the following businesses: [10] The stock of the Group trades on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), under the symbol: ACCESS.[11] • Access Bank Plc. - Nigeria • Omnifinance Bank - Côte d'Ivoire • Banque Privée du Congo - Democratic Republic of the Congo[6] • Access Bank Rwanda - Rwanda • Access Bank Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone • Access Bank Gambia - The Gambia • Access Bank United Kingdom - United Kingdom • Access Bank Zambia - Zambia • Finbank Burundi - Burundi • Access Bank Ghana - Ghana • United Securities Limited - Nigeria • Access Homes & Mortgages Limited - Nigeria • Access Investment & Securities - Nigeria Access Bank Plc has many branches intending to open more within this year (2015). The researcher Access Bank Plc to draw a sample for the investigation into the risk management as a strategy to maximize profit and its application. 3.2 RESEACH DESIGN A description survey types is used in this research work because it is descriptive in nature and attempt to describe, interpret, and explain the risk management as a strategy to maximize profit and its application in Access bank Plc. 3.3 SOURCE /METHODOLOGY OF DATA COLLECTION The questionnaires were distributed by hand and collected immediately from the respondents 3.4 POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE The population of this study was made up of all staff selected in the four (4) braches in Imo State. Sample size of 70 staff was used during this research. S/N Branches Population 1 Bank road 40 2 wethdral branch 20 3 Orji branch 30 4 Naze branch Total 19 109 3.5 SAMPLE TECHNIQUES A sample of four (4) branches of Access bank Plc was used, Bank road branch, wethdral branch, Orji branch, and Naze branch with total population of 109 staff. Branches from Access bank plc are represented in this number. S/n Name of branch Population Sample 1 Bank road 40 25 2 Wethdral 20 14 3 Orji 30 21 4 Naze 19 10 Total Total 109 70 3.6 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF MEASURING INSTRUMENT. The information was vetted by the research supervisor and one other lecturer in measurement and evaluation for content validity and reliability. 3.7 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS The method of data analysis that was used will be presented in tabular form and analyzised in percentage using F÷N×100÷1 F= means frequency /or number of response N= is the total number of response. CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 4.1 INTRODUCTION In chapter three, we explained the method of by which the data collected would be analyzed to produce the results on this statement, we collected the required data and with the use of sample percentage as were analyzed based on their subject to the research question. 4.2 DATA ANALYSIS The data collected was carried out with instrument which is the questionnaire. The analysis on the questionnaire was one part in line with the research question they intend to answer. The questionnaire contains 10 items for clear understanding of the result the data are presented in table. Research Question One: What is risk management: Risk management focuses on identifying what could go wrong, evaluating which risks should be dealt with and implementing strategies to deal with those risks. Businesses that have identified the risks will be better prepared and have a more cost-effective way of dealing with them. Research Question Two: Is risk management a strategy to maximize profit? Table 4.1 Analyzing the response to test the hypothesis Option No. of response Percentage Agreed 90 83% Disagreed 10 9% Both 5 5% No answer 4 3% Total 109 100% From the above analysis, 83% agreed that risk management is a strategy for profit maximization, 9% disagreed, 5% said both, while 3% said no answer. RESEARCH QUESTION 3 TABLE 4.2 Is risk a negative influence on the banking system? Option No of response Response in % Agreed 60 55% Disagreed 40 37% Both 9 8% No answer - - Total 109 100% From the above response 55% agreed that risk is a negative influence, which 37% disagreed and 8% said computer is both. RESEARCH QUESTION 4 Does risk management add value to the modern banking system? Table 4.3 Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 60 55% Disagreed 30 28% Both 10 9% No answer 9 8% Total 109 100% Table 4.3 shows that 55% agreed, that risk management adds value to the modern banking, while 28% disagreed, 9% said both while 8% said no idea. QUESTION 5 Is management strategy of great advantage or less advantage? Table 4.4 Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 90 83% Disagreed 5 4% Both 2 2% No ideal 12 11% Total 109 100% QUESTION 6 Can risk management be use to grow business opportunity? Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 85 78% Disagreed 10 9% Both 5 5% No ideal 9 8% Total 109 100% Table 4.5 shows that 75% agreed that risk management can be use to grow business opportunity, while 9% disagreed, 5% said both while 8% said no idea. QUESTION 7 Manual banking (ledger cards) is it more fraudulent than the use of computer? Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 30 28% Disagreed 70 64% Both 9 8% No idea - - Total 109 100% From the above table 4.6 28% of the staff said that manual banking is less fraudulent than the computer age banking, when 64% said it is more safe to make us of the manual banking than computer age which 8% said both. QUESTION 8 Does management strategy provide more security to customer details. Table 4.7 Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 70 64% Disagreed 39 36% Both - - No idea - - Total 109 100% Table 4.7 shows that 64% agreed while 36% disagreed with the motion. QUESTION 9 Can the use risk management in banks lead to unemployment in banks? Table 4.8 Option No of respondent Percentage Agreed 60 55% Disagreed 40 37% Both 9 8% No idea - - Total 109 100% 4.4 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS In the section the hypothesis earlier formulated in chapter one will be tested. Each test enables the research to make inf about the unknown population. HYPOTHESIS ONE H0: Improper checkmating of the risk managers H1: Proper checkmating of the risk managers HYPOTHESIS TWO H0: Poor managerial decision H1: Adequate and good managerial decision HYPOTHESIS THREE H0: Staff lacks interpersonal management skill H1: Good interpersonal management skill. CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The following conclusions are made from the panel data regression analysis of the effect of credit risk on bank performance measured by return on equity. The effect of credit risk on bank performance measured by the Return on Assets of banks is cross-sectional invariant. That is, nature and managerial pattern of individual firms do not determine the impact. This is revealed by the restricted F – test under the fixed effect analysis. 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