Name

Personal study plan

Assignment
Professional growth

2021
CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................3

2 TOPIC.............................................................................................................................3

3 OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS................................................................3

4 LIMITATION....................................................................................................................3

5 RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYZING METHODS..............................3

6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK......................................................................................3

7 REFERENCES...............................................................................................................3
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1 INTRODUCTION

Two different Bachelor's thesis papers which are preferably at Business

Management topic done at Xamk within five years based on the interests have
been chosen from https://www.theseus.fi as per the condition. From the two,
one of the thesis papers is chosen according to a qualitative method, and
another is according to both qualitative and quantitative methods. 

The name of the thesis chosen in both qualitative and quantitative methods
is 'Customer satisfaction in a small restaurant' and the name of the author
was Nina Naidenova, and the supervisor of that thesis was Eliisa Kotro. The
thesis was almost 43 pages, including four pages of appendix. 

The purpose of the thesis was to recognize customer satisfaction in the

Pannukakkutalo restaurant. The fundamental purposes of the study were to
assess customer satisfaction and figure out how to enhance services and
events. The study demonstrated the satisfaction of the customers with the
Buffet case. Much of the feedback was optimistic, with participants returning to
the restaurant more likely to return. The results helped to explain the key
factors why the guest remained unhappy.

Another thesis was in qualitative method, The name of the topic

was 'Attracting millennials to a restaurant: Case Vino' and the author's
name was Arkadiy Sergomanov, and the supervisor of that thesis
was Natalia Kushcheva. The thesis was almost 47 pages, including eight
pages of appendix. 

The thesis's primary aim is to bring new customers to the Vino restaurant for
lunch or dinner. During the evaluation, it was noticed that the existing
customer portfolio summary had become outdated and needed to be
replaced. According to the conclusion, despite the study's limitations, the
customer's persona (profile) is completed, and problems are discovered. In
addition, the persona would assist in creating a new persona in response to
evolving consumer demand and the introduction of a simple tool for gathering
information in a real-time environment. The persona and empathy map tool,
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on the other hand, is untrustworthy and can only be used to identify a

customer's problems.

The health status of garment workers is a fascinating subject for the study.
According to the specifications, no thesis papers related to garments or
garment workers can be found. Two papers were chosen using a combination
of qualitative and quantitative methods. These were selected because of
familiarity with their structure, trends, goals, strategies, and findings. These
will help for doing a thesis on the interested area.

2 TOPIC

1.1 Title

The health status of garment workers in Bangladesh

1.2 Background of the study

This study attempts to explore the health status of garment workers in

Bangladesh. The garment sector is Bangladesh's largest source of foreign
currency earnings. Bangladesh's garment industry now accounts for 81
percent of the country's overall export earnings, making it the world's second-
largest garment exporter[ CITATION Mah17 \l 1033 ]. The sector, which has
made significant contributions to the country's economy since its
independence in 1971, is now the country's single largest export earner
[ CITATION Wad14 \l 1033 ]. Currently, the nation accounts for nearly 7% of
the total, with a 34-billion-dollar export[ CITATION Akt20 \l 1033 ]. However, at
the current rate of growth, the goal is not achievable.

Bangladesh is currently the world's second-largest clothing exporter, behind

only China. While ongoing efforts have concentrated on employees' physical
protection, their overall health, welfare, and quality of life have been
overlooked. Bangladeshi garment workers work for 9-12 hours a day, mostly
seven days a week, in cramped and unhealthy conditions with insufficient rest
and nutrition[ CITATION Zoh07 \l 1033 ]. The majority of garment workers are
likely to have a variety of severe health problems. In developed countries,
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some of these non-fatal or non-traumatic health problems are common among

women of low socioeconomic status. Others can arise due to or be
aggravated by garment workers' hazardous working environment and
exposures. Bangladeshi factory owners, western producers, workers'
advocates, and politicians do not appear to be in a position to meet or fulfill
the health needs of this large, mostly female workforce[ CITATION Has19 \l
1033 ].

Bangladesh had approximately 4.62 thousand garment factories in 2019.

Despite an improvement from the previous year, this declined from 2013,
when Bangladesh had approximately 5.88 thousand garment
factories[ CITATION Sta19 \l 1033 ]. This sector also provides most formal
employment in the country, particularly low-skilled, entry-level jobs for young
people and men with or without a high school diploma. According to current
figures, the industry directly hires 4.4 million people and from that 60% of
whom are women, contributes more than 11 percent to the country's GDP,
and indirectly finances up to 40 million Bangladeshis which is about 25
percent of the population[ CITATION Naz \l 1033 ].

The garment market, on the other hand, plays a vital role in providing job
opportunities for rural illiterate women who would otherwise be forced to work
as maidservants. As a result, the garment sector has provided rural people
with a new avenue to participate in Bangladesh's economic activities.

The workers in this industry live hand to mouth and struggle to meet their
basic needs with their earnings. They cannot afford to maintain essential
health services, medical services, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, and
access to other amenities is a distant dream. They're still among the lowest-
paid workers on the world[ CITATION Abs01 \l 1033 ]. As a consequence,
they were forced to deal with a variety of physical difficulties. Consequently,
the working conditions in garment factories are not conducive to good health.
Furthermore, garment workers are dissatisfied with their potential prospects
due to lower pay, which affects their mental and social well-being. According
to sources [ CITATION WHO48 \l 1033 ], "Health is a state of complete
physical, mental, and social well-being that goes beyond the absence of
illness or infirmity." On the other hand, Bangladeshi garment workers are still
unable to maintain any of the WHO-recommended health conditions.
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Bangladeshi garment workers had to work from morning to night in a cramped

atmosphere with no adequate air circulation. As a result, they are infected with
disease-causing viruses and bacteria, which cause various illnesses in their
bodies. The majority of garment factory owners are considered very reluctant
found that work patterns in the garment factory severely affected workers'
health, as they were restrained in a closed environment. They found that the
unique nature of garment workers' work causes a variety of health problems,
including headaches, malnutrition, musculoskeletal discomfort, eye strain,
decreased appetite, chest pain, fainting, diarrhea, hepatitis (jaundice), food
poisoning, asthma, fungal infection, helminthiasis, and dermatitis. In these
conditions, we should identify ergonomic risk factors in the workplace as an
essential first step toward eliminating risks and improving worker safety.

There are several reasons for supporting this topic, in my opinion. One of the
key reasons is because I want a clear picture of the health status or condition
of garment workers and the diseases that workers in this industry face, as well
as what is going on in the garment industry since there are so many people
involved in the garment industry, such as textile, spinning, farmers, dyes and
chemicals, scrub of textile goods, accessories and vendors, suppliers, and
employees.

3 OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.3 Objectives

The study's primary goal is to investigate the health status of Bangladeshi

garment workers. In addition, the research will secure several other goals,
such as:
1. identifying the major diseases faced by workers who typically encounter in
the textile sector of Bangladesh;
2. identifying the connection between disease of the garment workers and the
overall health status of the garment workers in Bangladesh's garment industry;
and finally,
3. To make some guidelines for resolving the health issues of garment
workers.
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1.4 Research Question

1. What is the scenario of the health status of garments workers in

Bangladesh?

2. Do the garments workers get the necessary healthcare facilities from the
garments factories in Bangladesh?

3. Which diseases can affect garment workers in the short term and long term
for long working hours?

4 LIMITATION

There are some limitations to this research. The greatest obstacle in this
situation would be investigating and gathering information. Moreover, the
reason for this is confidential information. The administration will not support
any material relevant to the report in order to protect their organizational
policy.

As the data will be dependent on primary data, the sample size will be
insufficient for the proposed scenario. Furthermore, because of the time
constraint, the outcomes were also constrained. When collecting data, we will
also find many people who are unwilling to answer questionnaires because
they may assume that they will be in trouble with their administration in the
future.

In the end, another limitation of employees for this study is a knowledge

constraint, as workers' comprehension label is not high enough to perfectly
address the questionnaire. Some of the respondents remain silent due to the
language barrier. They may face difficulty comprehending research terms.

The primary goal of this research is to determine the physical state of

Bangladeshi garment workers, what diseases they contract due to their long
working hours, how many individuals are affected by various ailments, what
proportion of patients are women, and how many are affected, males. Another
priority is to identify their sickness and advise the organization's senior leaders
on how to help them in this situation.
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The research strategy did not include determining the source of garment
workers' ailment, the state of their medical bills, or the explanation for the
growth in their sickness. The research will solely look at the health status of
garment workers and the ailments that they are suffering from, and a proposal
will be made so that high officials are aware of the problem.

2 RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYZING METHODS

2.1 Research Method

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used. The area
which is abundant with garment factories will be selected for conducting
research purposes. The survey will take place at Gazipur, Dhaka. There are
around 2072 garment factories in this area, and I will try to cove about 10% of
garment factories in this area, which encompasses around 200 factories. Both
the Qualitative & Quantitative research methods will be used to gather
information from the garment workers.

2.2 Data Collection

To undertake this research, I will collect both the primary & secondary data.

2.2.1 Primary Data:

I will try tocollect primary data from various factories on specific scheduled
both the interview & questionnaire method for research project.

2.2.2 Secondary Data

The secondary data will collect from a source that has already been published
bearing on health status of garments workers in Bangladesh.

The following are some ways I will try to collect information related to my
selected topic.
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1. Books
2. Records
3. Biographies
4. Newspapers
5. Published censuses or other statistical data
6. Data archives
7. Internet articles
8. Research articles by other researchers (journals)
9. Databases, etc

2.3 Plan for Data Analysis

Data will be measured through content analysis and assigned scores. The
Multiple OLS (Ordinary Least Square) method will be applied for analyzing the
relationships among the variables. This delineation is not, however final,
further tables and analyses may be considered if needed. EViews and STATA
are the robust statistical program that allows users to analyze, manage, and
visualize data graphically. It is primarily used to study data trends by
academics in the domains of economics, business, and different area of
science. These softwares will be used for data analysis. 

Now the question is that why I chose this method to collect information. From
my perspective, for the research purpose, I have selected both the qualitative
and quantitative methods as I think that both methods will need to accomplish
my investigation. Another thing is that to collect primary data, I have decided
on two methods (interview & questionnaire) out of six methods as I have found
that to collect data, this two will need less time than the others.

3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Several models have been developed to understand why people participate in

or do not engage in different health-promoting and medically valuable
practices. These models have been used to study a wide range of preventive
and lifestyle behaviors (e.g., vaccinations, safe sex practices, smoking,
exercise, and seat belt use), screening or early detection activities (e.g.,
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breast self-examination, cholesterol, and blood pressure testing, genetic

screening), sick role behaviors (e.g., clinic use, physician visits), and
adherence to medical and other (e.g., hypertension, diabetes). During the last
30 years, these models have dominated the health behavior literature.

While there appears to be a strong link between these models and workplace
self-protective behavior, little consideration has been given to how they could
apply to actions that workers are expected to take to protect themselves from
job-related hazards.

3.1 Value Expectancy Models

According to value-expectancy models, people estimate the seriousness of

threats, weigh the costs and benefits of different actions, and then select the
line of treatment that maximizes the expected result, according to value-
expectancy models [ CITATION Cle87 \l 1033 ].

The Model of Health Belief [ CITATION Bec74 \l 1033 ], Reasoned Action

Theory [ CITATION Ajz80 \l 1033 ], are two notable examples of value-
expectancy models discussed here. While the two models vary in several
ways, they all place a strong emphasis on the individual's threat-related views
or expectation [ CITATION Rog83 \l 1033 ].

According to [ CITATION Wei93 \l 1033 ] argument, the value-expectancy

models have four characteristics in common, and these are related to this
study.

3.1.1 Health Belief Model (HBM)

The HBM has provided the most health-related study by any organization.
That is also the only one created solely to illustrate how people behave when
it comes to their well-being.

The HBM model is made up of four main components:

(a) vulnerability to the health issue or disease under consideration,

(b) the problem's or condition has perceived seriousness;
(c) the potential advantages of performing a specific action, and
(d) the perceived difficulties of taking the initiative.
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The earlier research on the model seems to point to a multiplicative model:

susceptibility x severity x (benefits - barriers).

The likelihood that a person would adjust their health habits to avoid
consequences is proportional to the intensity of the repercussions they
anticipate will occur. The intensity of an illness can have a significant influence
on one's overall health. However, according to several research papers, the
perceived risk level is the least effective predictor of whether or not people
would participate in preventive health practices. The research will be based on
the health status of garment workers in Bangladesh. So the theoretical model
will be fitted with the research paper.

3.1.2 Theory of reasoned action (TRA)

According to the TRA, perceived behavioral control is the immediate predictor

of intention, and all influences that affect a specific behavior are mediated by
intention. Two factors decide intent:

(a) attitude toward the action, which consists of assumptions about and
evaluations of the effects of executing the behavior;

(b) Subjective norms, which are normative assumptions on what essential

people think, as well as the individual's motivation to follow those wishes.

According to the model, intention can be predicted by a linear combination of

attitude and moral beliefs multiplied by the desire to follow the beliefs.Multiple
regression methods calculate the weights assigned to the significant
components, and the model is represented as a multiple regression equation.
Exercise, weight loss, child protection seats, smoking, condom use, and
alcohol and opioid use are only a few of the wellness habits to which the TRA
has been successfully implemented.The most apparent distinction between
the TRA and the HBM, aside from their emphasis on behavioral purpose, is
that the TRA uses subjective standards as a significant determinant of health-
related actions.

Aside from minimal examination of the HBM and TRA constructs concerning
personal protective equipment, there will be minimal effort to apply the value-
expectancy models to worker safety and health. However, when seen as a
whole, these models highlight several aspects that should be considered
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when considering workplace self-protective conduct. On the other hand, some

researchers argue that workers' welfare is deteriorating as a result of long
hours at work, and they include a list of illnesses that can harm workers and
recommendations for mitigating risk and illness. As a result, these ideas would
be critical in determining garment workers' health status and working
conditions. As a result, value-expectancy models are more applicable to the
current research.

4 REFERENCES

Absar, S. (2001). Problems surrounding wages: The ready made garment

sector in Bangladesh. Labour , 2-17.

Ajzen, I.;& Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting

behavior. Prentice .

Akter, M. (2020). Review and Outlook, 2020 Bangladesh Garments and

Textile Industry.

Alamgir, H. (03. April 2019). Health issues of RMG workers need attention.
Noudettu osoitteesta www.thedailystar.net:
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/human-rights/news/health-issues-rmg-
workers-need-attention-1724074

Becker, M. H. (1974). The health belief model and personal health behavior.
Slack Press .

Cleary, P. D. (1987). Why people take precautions against health risks.

Cambridge University Press , 119-149.

Fathi, N. (2020). Safety First: Bangladesh Garment Industry Rebounds.

Noudettu osoitteesta www.ifc.org:
https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporat
e_site/news+and+events/news/insights/bangladesh-garment-
industry#:~:text=The%20Bangladeshi%20government%20also
%20wanted,percent%20to%20the%20country's%20GDP
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Mahmud, M. S.;& Rajath, V. D. (2017). Safety issues of female workers of

garment industry in Gazipur District, Bangladesh. Journal of Applied and
Advanced Research , 265-269.

Rogers, R. W. (1983). Cognitive and psychological processes in fear appeals

and attitude change: A revised theory of protection motivation. Guilford Press ,
153-176.

Statista. (2019). Number of garment factories in Bangladesh from 2010 to

2019. Noudettu osoitteesta www.statista.com:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/987697/bangladesh-number-garment-
factories/

Wadud, Z.;Huda, F.;& Ahmed, N. U. (2014). Assessment of fire risk in the

readymade garment.

Weinstein, N. D. (1993). Testing four competing~theories of health-protective

behavior. Health Psychology , 324-333.

WHO. (07. April 1948). WHO Constitution. Noudettu osoitteesta www.who.int:

https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution

Zohir, S.;& Majumder, P. (2007). Garment workers in Bangladesh: Economic,

social and health condition. Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies .