Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships Essay

Early childhood trauma and the impact it has on adult relationships (emotional and psychosocial) - Essay Example The stress of childhood trauma was found to have an impact on emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and psychological effects in both Childs early stages of life and also in their adult life. In adult life their found to cause potential and chronic, mental and psychotic problems, thus causing the individual their family, community and ultimately the joy and peace of life. (1) (Bruce D. Perry, 2002) Brain is a organ, that is designed to sense process, store, perceive and act according to information obtained from the world. To achieve this the brain has a hundreds of neurons and related systems that works as a process of modulating, regulating, compensating the control over the body. In the case of stress the homeo stasis is disturbed. It should be understood that stress means traumatic form of severe stress that the child would be unable to handle. Children when faced by moderate to predictable level of stress with the presence of caregiver is usually not much affected. So the dramatic rapid and unpredictable or threatening changes in the environment activate then stress response of central and phereparal nervous system. Thus the trauma throws the individual system out of equilibrium and intern the body rapidly tries to restore the balance, robbing the individual's normal state. The usual response of human brain when confronted with unbearable trauma is dissociation, hyper arousal (the state of hyper vigilance activating stress hormones more level) or a combination of both. Thus the survival strategy range from fighting, fleeing or give up or surrender reaction. The nature intensity and frequency or which depends on individual child. Following this the child enter the phase of posttraumatic period during which the mind and body slowly tends to come back. During this period the child moves from the brink of terror through fear, alarm, etc. The heartbeat, pressure and other physiciological adaptation normalize and hyper vigilance increases. Now the child goes through phase of fear and anxiety and the event gets played in the child's mind again and again trying to make sense of what has happened. This set of living and reliving experiences is called as intrusions - that process them for a long term as a memory that disturbs their adult life. (Bell, D., & Belic ki, K. (1998). (3) Effects of Trauma on childhood period: The experiences leave the child with at times unusual visual auditory or tactile sensations. Disturbed sleep and food patterns are also altered. The child post trauma experiences persisting emotional behavior, cognitive and physiological science and symptoms - The posttraumatic stress disorder characterized by impulsivity, distractibility, attention problems, emotion problems, sleep problems, social avoidance, dissociation, aggressiveness, failure in school and delayed development.

Jessica Swindle Essay Example for Free

Jessica Swindle Essay In this time and age, a lot of people are struggling for their lives. We can never deny the fact how tough it is to deal with the circumstances that come along our way and it is imperative for us to weigh our capabilities in order to make our best and live our lives to the best of our abilities. As Merwin epitomized his thoughts on his â€Å"Eskimo Poem†, he freely exemplify the perception of what it entails to live in this world and at the same time possess the grip to what is in store for you in the future. At the beginning of the poem, the tender emotion shoot in as one wonders what life could bring each and every single of his life. But along the way, to some extent there is bit scepticism as the challenges hinders the happiness of a person. â€Å"But I am leaving the shore in my skin boat, it came to me that I was in danger and now the small troubles look big† (Mervin), during the moments that we feel we are alone with our predicament and that we can no longer bear the confrontation of life we tend to look for another way wherein we can build our lives again. Indeed, as the poem utters â€Å"and the ache that comes from the things I have to do every day big† (Merwin), it only means one thing, and that is to find alternative measures to make our lives better. In this regard, it was thoroughly elucidated how trials expands and it is only our hope that can uplift our spirit. â€Å"But only one thing is great only one, this in the hut by the path to see the day coming out of its mother and the light filling the world† (Merwin), positively, at the end of the day there is always a light that will shed our fears and will shelter our minds and hearts. Like the poem, we should find contentment with our lives even if it will take to some place and to different level of maturity. Acceptance of dare could be a proliferating factor in order for us to be great in the paths that we are taking.

Marketing - The Pet Food Market Essay -- Business Management Studies

7. Carry out a SWOT analysis for this market with all inclusions referenced to the information source. STRENGTH: The increasing consciousness of people regarding the health of their pets leads to a focus on nutritious food which helps increasing the life span of their beloved animals. This benefits the pet food industry greatly as it leads to increased demand and allows manufacturers to set their prices for selected products at a high level. (PFMA) Increased competition has lead to greater effort for developing new products in order to meet customers demand. Therefore a lot of money has been put into Research and Development strategies, stimulating technical progress in this industry. (Mars, 2003) Scientific evidence about the increased life of pets eating healthy and high quality food is well known amongst the people. Supermarkets offering own-brand pet foods, thus contributing to competition. (Ciao, 2004) Owner of pets gain health benefits, encouraging people to hold a pet WEAKNESS: Large, established companies such as Masterfoods, Nestlà ¨ and P&G may impede competition and prevent smaller firms from entrance. Some companies are reluctant to improve packaging and introducing more environmental-friendly production processes for financial reasons. Limited advertisement on high street, where pet owners are likely to notice it and get known to the benefits of the product Limited product range, not enough variation satisfying the cus...

111111111111111111111111

MGN421 Strategic HRM: Assessment Item 2 Case Analysis (60%) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS| High Distinction| Distinction| Credit| Pass| Fail| KS (1. 1) Well-researched knowledge and critical understanding applied to issues at the forefront of a specialised discipline area| Demonstration of current knowledge of the chosen business strategy and the implications for strategic human resource management (SHRM)Weighting: 10/60| Full critical exploration of the chosen business strategy and the implications for SHRM is demonstrated through discipline knowledge that is well-researched, current and comprehensive. Some critical exploration of the chosen business strategy and the implications for SHRM is demonstrated through discipline knowledge that is well-researched, current and relevant. | Some critical exploration of the chosen business strategy and the implications for SHRM is demonstrated through well- researched discipline knowledge, though there are some gaps of recency and relevance. | An atte mpt at critical exploration of the chosen business strategy and the implications for SHRM is demonstrated through adequately-researched discipline knowledge, though there are gaps of recency and relevance. There is little/no critical exploration of the chosen business strategy and the implications for SHRM, and little/no current discipline knowledge demonstrated. | CTA (2. 1) Apply logical, critical and creative thinking and judgement to generate appropriate solutions to problems in the disciplinary context| Analysis and recommendations relating to the chosen strategy for the case organisationWeighting: 10/60| In depth analysis is conducted of the critical issues relating to the chosen strategy for the case organisation.The analysis demonstrates an exemplary understanding of the current business strategy and the SHRM issues relating the chosen strategy. All recommendations provided follow in a strictly logical way from the critical analysis and are highly appropriate. There is consi stently good judgement shown in the prioritisation and discussion of (best) options, range of alternatives etc| A solid analysis is conducted of the critical issues in the chosen strategy as it applies to the case.The analysis demonstrates a solid understanding of the current business strategy and the SHRM issues relating to the chosen strategy. The recommendations provided are mostly well linked to the critical analysis, and they are appropriate. Good judgement is shown in most discussion of (best) options, alternatives etc| A sound analysis is conducted of the chosen strategy as it applies to the case but this could have been further developed around the critical issues.The analysis demonstrates a sound understanding of the current business strategy and the SHRM issues relating to the chosen strategy but there are gaps or lack of detail. The recommendations show links to the analysis, more strongly in some areas than others. Most solutions and recommendations are appropriate. Ther e are some instances of good judgement in the discussion of (best) options, alternatives etc. | An attempt at analysis of the chosen strategy in the case but there are significant gaps or lack of detail on the critical issues.The analysis demonstrates a limited understanding of the current business strategy and the SHRM issues relating to the chosen strategy. The recommendations show some linkage to the critical analysis, though this could have been more strongly done. There is a degree of appropriateness in the recommendations put forward; but they are not necessarily totally appropriate. | Little attempt at analysis of the chosen strategy as applies to the case. Content is a description rather than a critique and analysis and may be general rather than applied to the case organisation.Little or no application to the specific organisation. There is no linkage of recommendation(s) to critical analysis; any recommendations made are not appropriate and there is little/no evidence of c ritical judgment shown in the discussion. | Analysis and recommendation relating to the role of the HR function in executing the chosen strategy in the case organisationWeighting: 10/60| In depth analysis is conducted of the role HR could play in the organisation.The discussion demonstrates an exemplary understanding of SHRM issues and the potential role for a HR function and/or professional backed up by high quality research and references. | A solid analysis is conducted of the role HR could play in the organisation. The discussion demonstrates a sound understanding of SHRM issues and the potential role for a HR function and/or professional backed up by quality research and references. | A sound analysis is conducted of the role HR could play in the organisation.The discussion demonstrates a reasonable understanding of SHRM issues and the potential role for a HR function and/or professional backed up by basic research and references. | A basic analysis is conducted of the role HR could play in the organisation but there are gaps and lack of detail. The discussion demonstrates a basic understanding of SHRM issues and the potential role for a HR function and/or professional but does not support this sufficiently with references. | The role HR could play in the organisation is discussed but there are significant gaps..The discussion demonstrates a lack of understanding of SHRM issues and the role for of a HR function and/or professional and there are limited or no references. | PC (3. 1) Ability to create and present professional documents and/or reports using high levels of analysis/synthesis/evaluation for a range of contexts and audiences| Structure and presentation of reportWeighting 6/60| The report is professionally presented with substantial attention to detail. It is well structured, coherent, with logical organisation.Contains outstanding use of grammar, syntax and spelling. | The report is professionally presented, well structured, coherent, with a lo gical organisation, and high standards of written expression and grammar. | The report in the main is professionally presented, clearly structured, coherent with clear standards of written expression. The report is substantially free of spelling and grammatical errors. | The report has some elements of professional presentation and has some structure and coherence.The written expression is at times unclear/ has some grammatical problems. | Report is poorly structured, poorly written, lacks coherence and fails to convince the audience. Spelling and grammar are poor. | Use of sources and referencing Weighting: 8/60| Well-judged and well-integrated selection of a quality range of sources to support content; all sources appropriately acknowledged; referencing consistently accurate| Good number and range of quality sources, mostly critically integrated; all sources appropriately acknowledged; high level of accuracy in referencing. Adequate number of sources with attempt to give a range a nd critically integrate; all sources acknowledged; only minor inaccuracies in referencing. | Adequate number of sources though range may be restricted, and sources not always well integrated; some instances where failure to acknowledge sources is evident; some inaccuracies in referencing| Sources used are insufficient, inappropriate, or uncritically used; lack of proper acknowledgement of sources; referencing inaccurate. Executive summaryWeighting: 6/60| The executive summary provides a high quality, clear, concise and professional summary of the report’s purpose, analysis and recommendations. | The executive summary provides a clear and concise summary of the report’s purpose, analysis and recommendations. | The executive summary provides a reasonable summary of the report’s purpose, analysis and recommendations. | The executive summary provides a summary of parts of the report however elements are missing or not well summarised. The executive summary does not adequately summarise the purpose, analysis and/or recommendations and would not be sufficiently informative for a management team. | SEU (5. 1) Apply knowledge of the ethical, social and cultural dimensions relevant to business situations, including appropriate standards or codes of practice, to provide courses of action| Analysis and recommendations show regard for ethical, social and cultural issues relevant to the case. Weighting: 10/60| The analysis and recommendations show a high regard for ethical, social and cultural issues that apply to the chosen case. The analysis and recommendations show a high regard for ethical, social and cultural issues that apply to the chosen case. | The analysis and recommendations show some regard for ethical, social and cultural issues that apply to the chosen case. | The analysis and recommendations show minimal regard for ethical, social and cultural issues that apply to the chosen case. | The analysis and recommendations show little or no rega rd for ethical, social and cultural issues that apply to the chosen case. |

Breathe right

The CNS Breathe Right strips case illustrated the steps involved when undergoing expansion towards the international marketplace. In the case of CNS, business expansion happens when the company has already assessed the suitability of the country’s business environment for both the company and the product to be marketed and sold.To achieve this objective, CNS has developed a three-stage decision-making model, a diagnostic tool that aids the management in determining the action standard (i.  e. , to expand or not expand) for the country under consideration for expansion. This case analysis of CNS and its product, Breathe Right strips, analyzes the effectiveness of the three-stage decision-making model that the company has developed for its expansion to the international business setting.The rationale behind the creation and development of the three-stage model is the need to objectively analyze a country’s suitability to market and sell CNS’s product, Breathe Rig ht strips.The product, an OTC medical product, is a nasal strip suitable for athletes wearing mouth guards, snorers, and people easily afflicted with allergies, sinusitis, and cold. It enjoyed popularity in the US because of its practical use and effective results. As the product gained popularity, CNS saw the opportunity to expand, with plans of selling the product beyond North America, and into Europe.The case of CNS’s entrance to the Italian business environment and OTC medical product industry yielded useful insights for the company, especially on its manner of assessing the suitability of the product for the country’s OTC market, and vice versa. In understanding the effectiveness of the three-stage decision-making model, it is important to identify first the strengths that CNS have before entering the international market. Primary among these strengths is the product itself.Breathe Right is a very practical and effective OTC medical product, bringing relief to ind ividuals who experience frequent bouts of nasal congestion. The development of an ingenious product such as Breathe Right already ensures CNS significant success in entering foreign markets that will have immediate need for this product. Moreover, CNS holds a special niche in the OTC market. As a nasal congestion reliever, it enjoys lesser competition in its category, compared to other OTC brands/products.In effect, the three-stage decision-making model is mainly a support to CNS’s strong product and brand. Its purpose, however, is invaluable for the company if the product will be released and sold in the foreign market. It is through the model that the company was able to â€Å"diagnose† the strengths and weakness of the foreign market it will potentially enter, and the model as a diagnostic tool would help CNS determine areas for improvement and reinforcement that would make the market receptive to the product and increase the demand for it.The three-stage model†™s purpose for CNS is invaluable because of the support it provides to the company, as it explores the viability of the product in markets other than the US. Testing for both economic factors and demographic characteristics of the market under study will enable CNS to enter the foreign market successfully, with greater receptiveness among consumers and hopefully, increased awareness, recall, and intention to buy Breathe Right.Analysis of the product’s suitability to foreign markets would show that Breathe Right is suitable to the global market, encompassing cultural differences, since nasal congestion is an almost universal health experience. However, as Breathe Right enters the global market, it is important that CNS increase awareness of the product and brand among consumers through mass media campaigns, demonstrating its use and purposes for the consumer.

Archetypes essays

Archetypes essays Archetypes in The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood The film The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood examines the lives of four southern women who have sustained a bond over many decades based on a mysterious childhood alliance, unmet dreams and dark secrets. When the relationship between one of these women and her daughter threatens to become permanently broken, her childhood friends come together, as always, to help them mend their relationship as well as heal the painful past that drove them apart. The alcoholic parent, is manifested in the character of Vivian Joan Vivi Abbott Walker, mother of the young playwright Sidda Walker, a daughter who is just beginning to make her mark in the New York theater circuit. At the start of the film, Vivi is portrayed as a woman who, troubled by the comments made by her daughter in an interview for Time magazine, resorts to extreme outbursts of anger and grudge holding. In flashbacks of her life as a young mother, Vivi turns to alcohol to soothe her own pain however the alcohol works to blur her role as mother and causes her to neglect and, on more than one occasion, abuse her children. In fact, the alcoholic as archetype is manifested not only in the character of Vivi, but also in the characters of the other ya ya sisters, Neci, Caro and Teensy, who regularly ensure that they have alcoholic drinks available throughout the film. The scapegoat as archetype can also be identified in this film. Through much of her young life, Sidda Walker has had to play scapegoat to her mothers eccentric and alcohol-charged behaviors. Vivi randomly takes out her pain on the young Sidda through verbal chastising and unusual mother-daughter role-playing, which often leaves her daughter confused about whether her mother is a tyrannical caretaker or peculiar playmate. Siddas role as her mothers scapegoat is demonstrated from the start when Vivi b...

Funny Quotations About Boys

Funny Quotations About Boys Boys grow into men, but at some level, boys remain boys. They never shed their fetishes- be it games, gizmos, or girls. Read these funny quotes about boys and you will find a striking parallel with the boys and men you know. Bart SimpsonInside every hardened criminal beats the heart of a ten-year-old boy. Joseph HellerWhen I grow up I want to be a little boy. James Matthew BarrieWhat is genius? It is the power to be a boy again at will. Napoleon BonaparteNo one knows how it is that with one glance a boy can break through into a girls heart. PlatoOf all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable. James ThurberBoys are beyond the range of anybodys sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years. Mark TwainThere comes a time in every rightly constructed boys life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. Bertrand RussellBoys and young men acquire readily the moral sentiments of their social milieu, whatever these sentiments may be. Eric BerneThe moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing. Mark TwainGeorge Washington, as a boy, was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth. He could not even lie. Robert FrostA mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes. Ralph Waldo EmersonGive a boy address and accomplishments and you give him the mastery of palaces and fortunes where he goes. Charles DickensA boys story is the best that is ever told. Mickey RooneyI was a thirteen-year-old boy for thirty years. Elvis PresleyWhen I was a boy, I always saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.

Definition and Examples of Embolalia in Speech

Definition and Examples of Embolalia in Speech The term embolalia refers to hesitation forms in  speech-meaningless filler words, phrases, or stammerings such as um, hmm, you know, like, okay, and uh. Also called  filler, spacers, and vocal filler. Embolalia comes from two Greek words meaning something thrown in. In The Painted Word (2013),  Phil Cousineau observes that embolalia is a near-perfect word to describe what we all do at some point in our liveswe throw words around without thinking about them. Examples and Observations Um, this is a fairly unique moment both in our, you know, in our country’s history, and, and in, in, you know, my own life, and um, you know, we are facing, you know, unbelievable challenges, our economy, you know, health care, people are losing their jobs here in New York obviously um, ah, you know. (Caroline Kennedy, in an interview conducted by Nicholas Confessore and David M. Halbfinger of The New York Times, Dec. 27, 2008)Mrs. Kennedy has managed variously to seem utterly opaque while lacking in the basic skills of plain speaking. There has been not a little mockery of her dependence in conversation on the verbal filler, you know. She was heard to utter it 138 times in a conversation with reporters from The New York Times. In a single TV interview she reportedly galloped past the 200 mark. Thats a lot of you knows. (David Usborne, Now Voters Turn Against Kennedys Stuttering Campaign. The Independent, Jan. 7, 2009)Uh, in a school. And my father, he was, uh, from the United States. Just like you, ya know? He was a Yankee. Uh, he used to take me a lot to the movies. I learn. I watch the guys like Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney. They, they teach me to talk. (Al Pacino as Tony Montana in the film Scarface Ive heard about it. I hope you goyou knowI hope you go back to the ranch and the farm is what Im about to say. (President George W. Bush, explaining that he hadnt yet seen the film Brokeback Mountain, Jan. 23, 2006) Throwing Words Around The nervous, I mean, stammering habit of, you know, inserting, I mean kinda throwing meaningless words into, you know, a sentence, when youre, ah, talking. Tossing in the word throw was no accident, as evident in its  root word, the Greek emballein, from em, in, and ballein, to throw in or at . . .. So embolalia turns out to be a sixty-four-dollar-word to describe the habit of throwing around words without thinking . . .. The habit is characterized by often uncontrollable utterances  (hmm, umm, errr), and is a cringeworthy nervous tic in languages everywhere. The cause may be a general deterioration of the spoken word, or a lack of respect for it, sheer nervousness, or a disdain for proper, poetic, or colorful use of the language. (Phil Cousineau,  The Painted Word: A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins. Viva, 2013)​ In Defense of Verbal Stumbles Modish public speaking coaches will tell you that its OK to say uh or um once in a while, but the prevailing wisdom is that you should avoid such disfluencies or discourse particles entirely. Its thought that they repel listeners and make speakers appear unprepared, unconfident, stupid, or anxious (or all of these together). . . .But uh and um dont deserve eradication; theres no good reason to uproot them. . . . Filled pauses appear in all of the worlds languages, and the anti-ummers have no way to explain, if theyre so ugly, what euh in French, or h and hm in German, or eto and ano in Japanese are doing in human language at all. . . .In the history of oratory and public speaking, the notion that good speaking requires umlessness is actually a fairly recent, and very American, invention. It didnt emerge as a cultural standard until the early 20th century, when the phonograph and radio suddenly held up to speakers ears all the quirks and warbles that, before then, had flitted by. (Michael Erard, â€Å"An Uh, Er, Um Essay: In Praise of Verbal Stumbles.† Slate, July 26, 2011) Further Reading Filler WordsDiscourse MarkerDysfluencyEditing TermsPlaceholderRepair

MGT501 - Management and Organizational Behavior Mod 2 Case Assignment Essay

MGT501 - Management and Organizational Behavior Mod 2 Case Assignment - Essay Example The military is an elite organism made up of those who are more able than many. However, it is also unusual in the fact that its income or funding is determined by the governments budget. This is a challenge. They can be the greatest in the world but unlike many organizations, they do not earn more for being great, they must fit that greatness inside the budget given. They deal with this by basing many of their functions on economic laws. Those laws are applied to almost everything they do (Fedorov., 2001). It is a little strange to think of the military as an economic machine but it certainly is. The military is a very close knit organism. They have a very organized way of managing to make each piece of the organism happen. Each one knows their job extremely well is very organized in his interaction with the other parts of the organism. Each cell does not think out of the box because they do not want them to think out of the box but follow the ritual exactly as it is written as it may save the life of one of the other cells later. . Like the military, the orchestra is a system made up of many subsystems and like the military those subsystems are very responsible for carrying out their individual and distinct duties. The orchestra functions very much the same as the military in its demand for each and every person to know their job really well for the good of the whole organization. If the viola cannot play the music they are supposed to play tonight, he can endanger the whole program. Just like the military organism they work in harmony. When the organization is a productive system which is the fact with both the military system and the orchestra, the open systems approach to analyzing their system is effective. In looking at a systems analysis which is shown above, the organizations environment and the relationship between it and the system are analyzed. The four major subsystems that are apparent are the economic system which we have discussed in the

ESSAY of POETRY ANALYSIS Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Of POETRY ANALYSIS - Essay Example Notice how the author subtly uses the word ‘try’ at the beginning of the title. The statement seems more like a gentle plea, a provocation on the part of the author toward victims and people affected by the tragedy (Zagajewski) – signifies how we ought to discover beauty amidst the myriad occurrences, so tragic and mutilating, not only of environments and systems, but also of the fabric of inner harmony. There is an innate optimism and forbearance in the theme of the title. Zagajewski talks about ‘praise’ and not mere tolerance. This implies that there is a need to transcend circumstances, and through transcendence peace is found, no matter how seemingly damaged or ‘mutilated’ the circumstances or environment might seem. There is an allusion to â€Å"June’s ‘long’ days† transporting one to a moment in the past, when there was leisure and a sense of lightheartedness. An almost sensual image is being painted, wherein ‘wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew’ (Zagajewski) all combine to create an experience of beauty and extravagant indulgence in life’s finer aspects. The tone is turns slightly morose, where there is a reference to â€Å"nettles that methodically overgrow† (Zagajewski) Nettles are flowering plants, but also have stinging hairs on their stems. While the nettle produces something as beautiful as a flower, it also has the hidden potential of killing and destruction. There is an implication here that, the world, no matter how ‘toxic’ is filled with pockets of ‘flowers’ and it is up to us to identify and focus on that which is beautiful in the world. The repetition of the title here has an undertone of an inst ruction. This verse indicates the dualities, the opposites, and the inseparable tragedy in luxury. â€Å"†¦.stylish yachts and ships† (Zagajewski) are images used to either explain themselves in all their opulence, or represent the people in fancy suits and offices in the WTC, just before the 9/11

Market strector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market strector - Essay Example very difficult due to the strong hold of the said organization this type of market existence, in which the firm has the strongest hold over the industry, is called monopoly. (McConnell, Brue, 2006). There are two types of monopolies. Natural Monopoly exists when an organization possesses a strategic control over assets or production, operations and/or distribution systems pertaining its particular product or industry. (Brakman, Heijdra, 2004). For example, an organization providing the government with the nuclear power plant energy would have a natural monopoly since it is performing a task which is highly strategic in nature. On the other hand, Coercive Monopoly refers to any other type of monopoly that has been acquired deliberately. It includes erecting barriers for potential competitors to enter into the business, acquiring patents, mergers & acquisitions with the competitors to engulf competition, etc. (Brakman, Heijdra, 2004). Firms often tend to achieve monopoly through erecting barriers for potential competitors to enter the market. These barriers may be of three types. The â€Å"economic barriers† include economies of scale (largely reducing costs through mass, full scale production), large capital requirements, technological superiority and absence of close substitute products. The â€Å"legal barriers† refer to intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc. which provide an organization with a strong edge over the competitors. Firms may also indulge in â€Å"deliberate action† including lobbying the government and concerned parties, collusion, etc. to acquire monopoly. (McConnell, Brue, 2006). The barriers like high liquidation costs that make it difficult for a firm to leave a business may also keep them from entering it enhancing the monopolistic effect of the already existing firm in the market. (McConnell, Brue, 2006). Firms may acquire patents in order to secure their monopolistic presence. They may come up with any

Abuse Neglect Or Nothing to Worry about Case Study

Abuse Neglect Or Nothing to Worry about - Case Study Example Broudy for assistance. She notes that Kim had shown her cuts on her body and confessed that she was fed up with her condition. While Kim had revealed that her father was involved in her condition, Mary suspected domestic molestation or ‘self-infliction’, concerns that she communicated to Ms. Broudy. Broudy determined to help but Kim was not willing to open up. As a result, Broudy reported the matter to the school principle and counselor but they took no action. Kim’s parents were equally unconcerned about her condition. Possible action for Ms. Broudy Ms. Broudy’s position identified her as a custodian to students while within the school’s premises. She also had a moral obligation as a member of the society to ensure others’ well being. A number of ethical issues therefore arise to determine possible courses of action for any person in Bourdy’s position. She was for example bound by ethical principles of â€Å"respect for the dignity of persons, responsible caring, and responsibility to society† (Pope and Vasquez, p. 93, 94). As a result, Bourdy was under ethical obligation to protect any of her students from any form of bodily degradation such as molestation or physical abuse. The duty of care and social responsibility also required her to protect students from possible ‘self-inflicted’ harm. ... My decision to talk to Kim and finally report the matter to the administration would be supported by â€Å"consequentialist theory† that values impacts of a decision or an action. This is because if successful, such actions would help Kim out of her problem. I would also consider reporting the matter to law enforcement agency if the school failed to help Kim (Strike and Soltis, p. 158- 160). Neglect or abuse Possibility of neglect Neglect defines failure to provide for and protect a child from harm. Based on the facts of the case, if the parents were not involved in abusing Kim, then they were responsible for negligence. This is because the parents had evidently failed to take actions to protect their child from her source of harm. The injuries having been on Kim’s wrist suggested that the parents were aware of what their child was going through but did not bother to seek a solution. Similarly, their response when called upon by the school’s administration also i ndicated lack of interest in protecting Kim from her problem. While her mother did not even comment on the matter, her father disregarded it. Kim’s parents were therefore negligent for failing to protect her from her deteriorating condition. They, contrary to Mary and Broudy’s actions, communicated lack of social responsibility, disregard to other people’s welfare and lack of the moral doctrine of utilitarianism. The parents were as a result neglecting indicators of Kim’s problems that remained unsolved (Pope and Vasquez, p. 93, 94). Difference between neglect and abuse While abuse involves direct infliction of harm to a person, neglect relates to failure to ensure a person’s safety from harm. Neglect is therefore an act of omission while abuse is an act of

Advocacy letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Advocacy letter - Essay Example If there was only a small amount of trash, they picked it up and put it into a plastic bag. They then took this same plastic bag out of the restroom, and took an elevator to go to another floor. One student was eating a muffin in the elevator, and he then pushed a button that a janitor had touched with dirty gloves. Also janitors went to from one classroom to another to empty the trashcans in each room. They touched all of the classroom door knobs with dirty gloves. In the hospital, they did the same thing. They went from patient’s room to another to empty trash cans and hampers. If there was only a small quantity of trash or dirty linen, they transferred this into one bag to save trash bags. Janitors never changed their gloves both in school and in the hospital, and also they touched the dirty area first and then the clean area with the same gloves. Janitors usually have a low educational background. They need to be educated in the concept of germs and how germs are spread. They need to know what the clean areas and the dirty areas are, so that they can start working in the clean area first before touching the dirty ones. The best way to solve this problem is to provide a compulsory training program for all janitors which deals with issues like the way germs are passed on, and the dangerous implications of using the same gloves over and over again. I recommend that you consider implementing this suggestion immediately, for the sake of all our patients, visitors and

Abuse Neglect Or Nothing to Worry about Case Study

Abuse Neglect Or Nothing to Worry about - Case Study Example Broudy for assistance. She notes that Kim had shown her cuts on her body and confessed that she was fed up with her condition. While Kim had revealed that her father was involved in her condition, Mary suspected domestic molestation or ‘self-infliction’, concerns that she communicated to Ms. Broudy. Broudy determined to help but Kim was not willing to open up. As a result, Broudy reported the matter to the school principle and counselor but they took no action. Kim’s parents were equally unconcerned about her condition. Possible action for Ms. Broudy Ms. Broudy’s position identified her as a custodian to students while within the school’s premises. She also had a moral obligation as a member of the society to ensure others’ well being. A number of ethical issues therefore arise to determine possible courses of action for any person in Bourdy’s position. She was for example bound by ethical principles of â€Å"respect for the dignity of persons, responsible caring, and responsibility to society† (Pope and Vasquez, p. 93, 94). As a result, Bourdy was under ethical obligation to protect any of her students from any form of bodily degradation such as molestation or physical abuse. The duty of care and social responsibility also required her to protect students from possible ‘self-inflicted’ harm. ... My decision to talk to Kim and finally report the matter to the administration would be supported by â€Å"consequentialist theory† that values impacts of a decision or an action. This is because if successful, such actions would help Kim out of her problem. I would also consider reporting the matter to law enforcement agency if the school failed to help Kim (Strike and Soltis, p. 158- 160). Neglect or abuse Possibility of neglect Neglect defines failure to provide for and protect a child from harm. Based on the facts of the case, if the parents were not involved in abusing Kim, then they were responsible for negligence. This is because the parents had evidently failed to take actions to protect their child from her source of harm. The injuries having been on Kim’s wrist suggested that the parents were aware of what their child was going through but did not bother to seek a solution. Similarly, their response when called upon by the school’s administration also i ndicated lack of interest in protecting Kim from her problem. While her mother did not even comment on the matter, her father disregarded it. Kim’s parents were therefore negligent for failing to protect her from her deteriorating condition. They, contrary to Mary and Broudy’s actions, communicated lack of social responsibility, disregard to other people’s welfare and lack of the moral doctrine of utilitarianism. The parents were as a result neglecting indicators of Kim’s problems that remained unsolved (Pope and Vasquez, p. 93, 94). Difference between neglect and abuse While abuse involves direct infliction of harm to a person, neglect relates to failure to ensure a person’s safety from harm. Neglect is therefore an act of omission while abuse is an act of

Sosial anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Sosial anthropology - Essay Example Led by Wired, dot com boosters were claiming that the Net was creating the free market only found up to then in the neo classical economics text books. Inspired by post modernist gurus, new media activists were convinced that humanity would liberate itself from corporate control by escaping into cyber space (Barbrook, 2005) Jumping forward from the 1990s to the year 2008 the above quote seems true to both sides. On one hand we have seen a huge shift in the way that people consume with more and more people choosing to sell and buy over the world wide web, vast amounts of profits generated for companies like Google who enjoyed in the â€Å"1990s an estimated growth of 100% per year.† (Coffman, K. G; Odlyzko, A. M. 1998) The internet market has continued to grow substantially year on year as technologies change and more and more parts of the world come on line. On the other hand, an extraordinary phenomena is taking place throughout the world which is almost totally contradictory to the doctrine of the free market and capitalism, and that is the culture of exchange and gift economy that is developing and becoming more possible through the use of the internet and social software. A gift economy can be defined as a means in which goods and services are exchanged without there being an agreement of a reciprocal return to the giver. Most anthropological academics, however would agree, although there is no implicit need for a return gift there is often an expectation of reciprocity. Marcel Mauss in his classic work "The Gift1" argues that gifts are never free and that the act of giving creates a social bond that requires obligation to reciprocate on part of the recipient. This reciprocity however is not however solely between two people but between group, tribes and communities. Further studies challenge the idea that reciprocity is an inevitable outcome of exchange and focus on the classification of different types of reciprocity. For the purpose of

Why Purse a Master’s Degree Essay Example for Free

Why Purse a Master’s Degree Essay Due to the competitive marketing many are pursuing a higher education beyond their bachelor’s degree. My decision to purse a master’s degree has always been a personal goal, but with the change in the market I realized my bachelor’s degree would no longer be sufficient or marketable in a couple of years. Many would say that obtaining a master’s degree is only as valuable as how your current or future employer measures advanced education. There are many rewarding benefits of pursing a master’s whether for a personal goal, career change, or salary increase these are all convincing motives. This paper will explore the various motivations that resulted in my decision to purse a master’s degree. Initially a master’s degree will give me the added credentials needed to pursue a promotion or career change that I would not have been considered for with my current education level. The norm was that a company required you to have a bachelor’s degree to be considered as a candidate in the corporate world. This is no longer the case as employers are demanding candidates attain the life experience in conjunction with a master’s degree. Stronger economy and more company demands for management degrees have positively shifted the local and international market for candidates whom hold a MBA (Rebecca Kaplan (2008). â€Å"Demand for MBA on the Rise). This evidence confirms having a master’s degree significantly increases my marketability. Since only a small percentage of people in the United States have a master’s degree, holding one can put me ahead of the pack when competing for a job (â€Å"Jane Porter, (2006). â€Å"Forecast: MBA Hiring Up Again). Employers are leaning toward hiring more MBA candidates because they are looking for people with managerial and team experience (â€Å"Jane Porter, (2006). â€Å"Forecast: MBA Hiring Up Again). These facts indicates that companies value a higher education and are willing to provide more opportunities, greater compensation packages and greater chances for promotion. In 2007 Radford proclaimed an advanced degree will provide hopeful with a better professional network and insights into the working practitioners. Holding a master’s degree will also expand my knowledge in a specialized area and improve performance in many areas of my work and personal life. Following this path will allow me to utilize my bachelor’s degree foundation to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for my field of study. As a person high in conscientiousness, people may perceive me to contribute to a higher level of job performance. This personality trait is a strong focus behind my plans for a master’s degree. If I am going to be portrayed as person whom exerts greater levels of effort on the job, then I should have the knowledge and the degree to back my training and experience. Based on Jungian’s Personality Assessment, I am well suited for a management position. I am viewed as a person well organized who is open to learn new skills and updating current skills, which is a key area of interest for employers. A Master of Business Administration translates into salary increase, as with most fields. PayScale. com calculated the median salary by years of experience for a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master’s of Business Administration in the United States As noted in the below tables master’s degree holders makes an estimated 20k more in salary then a bachelor degree holder with the same years of experience. Median Salary by Years Experience Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) (United States) Median Salary by Years Experience Degree: Master of Business Administration (MBA) (United States) An earnings increase is only part of the benefits. A college education enriches your life in ways that cannot be measured by dollars. Education is power, Frederick Douglass. Personally, earning a master has always been a goal. I first considered earning my master’s degree recently after I received my bachelor’s, but felt I need to take a brain break and experience the corporate world. After gaining eight years of work experiences I felt it was time to give it a try. Learning of my employee’s tuition reimbursement policy for the master’s program I soon realized it was a win-win for me and the company. If the company is willing to invest in my education, I believe the company is quietly endorsing that a master’s degree is valued and expected for high-level professional. Consequently, the benefits I will receive from this degree will give me self-assurance to know that I have the collective resources of knowledge, effective decision-making and skill sets needed to be successful in my personal and professional life, (Gary Radford, (2005). Having a master’s will give me a sense of future employment security and will allow me to gain qualifications that I may have missed in my earlier education. The school of choice also heavily weighed on my decision. I debate for several months whether online or classroom format would be suitable for me. After speaking with the University of Phoenix enrollment counselor I was excited about the learning environment. I understood that taking courses online allowed the flexibility I needed to sustain a work-life balance. There was also the fact that I would be communicating with different individual who I could openly share experiences and gain valuable knowledge that can not always be taught from a book or a classroom setting. A master’s degree is a good investment the evidence is clear. Yes, it will take time, dedication, and money to complete my degree, but the return on my investment is all worth the effort. In addition, the increased sense of achievement, career opportunities, new circles of friends and networks along with the new ranges of skills I will gain are some of the major reasons that confirmed my decision. Whether personal or practical, a master’s degree can be both life affirming and career enhancing. As stated by Dr Bruce Lewis, an education beyond a bachelor’s will put you in a better position to help your family, your community and give you the kind of life you dream of having. The more education you pursue, the better career options you will have. Ask yourself the following questions: 1) Do I want more career marketability? 2) Do I want to earn a higher income? 3) Do I want to increase myself assurance and workplace confidence? 4) Do I want to enhance my current skilled set? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above of, then you too need to purse your master’s degree. Reference: Kaplan, Rebecca. (2008). Demand for MBA on the Rise. Receive May 7 from www. thedailypennsylvanian. com Lewis, Bruce. (2002). Received May 9, 2008, from http://teach. fhu. edu Porter, Jane. (2006). Forecast: MBA Hiring Up Again. Received May 8, 2008 from BusinessWeek. com O. P John, â€Å"The ‘Big Five’ Factor Taxonomy: Dimensions of Personality in the Natural Language and in Questionnaires,† in L. A. Pervin (ed. ). Handbook of Personality Theory and Research(New York: Guilford Press, 1990) pp. 66-110; and D. L. Formy-Duval, J. E Williams, D. J. Patterson, and E. E Fogle, â€Å"A ‘Big Five’ Scoring System for the Item Pool of the Adjective Check List,† Journal Of Personality Assessment, Vol. 65. 1995, pp. 59-76. Radford, Gary. (2007). Received May 7, 2007 from www. fdu. edu Median Salary by Years Experience Degree: Master of Business Administration (MBA) (United States) table. Retrieved May 7, 2008, from PayScale. com.

Malaysian Tourists Visiting To Thailand Tourism Essay

Malaysian Tourists Visiting To Thailand Tourism Essay Tourism has been considered as an activity of global importance. It brings benefits to a country in term of social and economic. Recently, tourism appears to be an increasingly important industry in many border areas such as Danok in Southern Thailand. Cross border tourism is often proposed by governments as an incentive for economic growth. Therefore, many tourist destinations exist across boundaries. For example, there are a lot of attractive restaurants and entertainment provided in Danok, Southern Thailand. Border-crossing points that join adjacent countries commonly become hives of international economic activity (Kenneth, R. Lord, Sanjay Putrevu and H. G. Parsa, 2004). According to Andriesse (2008), he states that in year 1994, the Malaysian South-North highway reached the Thailand border, after which Thai authorities upgraded the road to Hat Yai. Bukit Kayu Hitam (north of Changlun) and Danok (south of Sadao) have become thriving business centers. According to Praman Tepsongkr oh (2007), the nature of political boundaries and the relationships between neighboring countries usually create the types of tourist attractions that exist in border regions. Consumers living within a manageable drive of the border cross to the neighboring country for such diverse activities as shopping, entertainment, sightseeing, work-related travel, or merely the prospect of a different or less-traveled route between two points. Besides that, a new travel trend and patterns involving local border communities and other travelers and tourists using border passes emerged. These trends accelerated with economic and trade growth in border areas. For example, cross border tourism is popular among Malaysian tourists due to easy of crossing to the border of Thailand. Moreover, the application of a border pass is cheap and easy but the border pass just available for Malaysians who born in Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak only. For those who want to apply for border pass, they just need to submit two passport size photos, one photocopy of identification card and RM 10. Then, they can get the border pass immediately. As tourists are permitted to cross the border easy, the growth of tourism on both sides is greatly promoted, and touristic areas eventually abut the boundary on both sides. With growing cross border tourism, consumers can be segmented based on demographics characteristics that reflecting a particular emphasis on certain activities or shopping motivations driven from specific needs. Figure 1: The Thai-Malaysian borderlands. Problem statement Profiling of Malaysian tourists visiting to border areas is not widely study among research. According to Mark P. Hampton (2009), cross-border tourism between neighboring states is relatively unexplored in the literature as cited by Timothy and Tosun in 2003. Besides that, according to Praman Tepsongkroh (2007), literature on tourism in the border areas between Thailand and Malaysia is scarce. Moreover, much attention of the academics has been paid on the historical aspects (Koch, 1977; Numnonda, 1967), whereas other works focused on the political conflicts in Southern Thailand (Dulyakasem, 1981; Haemindra, 1976, 1977; Surin Pitsuwan, 1982). Therefore, little is known about the determinant of Malaysian tourists behavior that visiting to the borderland of Thailand. The general impression is more Malaysian tourists flock to Thailand. According to government sources on tourists who crossed the border in 2001, the number of Thai tourists visiting Malaysia was 660,888 while the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Thailand was 1,239,698 (Tepsongkroh, Praman, 2007, pp.8). This showed that the ratio of almost two Malaysians crossed the border to Thailand than every one Thai tourist visiting to Malaysia. Thus, it is important to find out the reasons of why Malaysian tourists like travel to the border of Thailand. It is significant to understand the tourism patterns of Malaysian tourists. However, little systematic empirical research has been conducted to contribute to an understanding of the demographic characteristics, motivations and behavior of Malaysian tourists cross to Thailand border. Therefore, there exists a gap in the empirical knowledge available about the decision making factors that influence Malaysian tourists cross the border to Thailand and there is a need to fill this gap of empirical knowledge. Research objectives To profile Malaysian tourists visiting to Thailand by their demographic and travel patterns. To understand the motivations of Malaysian tourists visiting to Thailand. To evaluate the level of satisfaction of tourists regarding the services and facilities provided at tourist destinations at the border sites between Thailand and Malaysia. Research questions What are the socio-demographic characteristics and travel patterns of Malaysian tourists? What are the motivational factors that influence Malaysian tourists visit to Thailand? What kind of facilities and services that satisfied Malaysian tourists to revisit Thailand? Research hypothesis H0: There is a relationship between Malaysian tourists socio-demographic characteristics and their travel patterns. H1: There is no relationship between Malaysian tourists socio-demographic characteristics and their travel patterns. H0: There is a relationship between motivational factors and Malaysian tourists visit to Thailand. H1: There is no relationship between motivational factors and Malaysian tourists visit to Thailand. H0: There is a relationship between Malaysian tourists satisfaction and their decision to revisit Thailand. H1: There is no relationship between Malaysian tourists satisfaction and their decision to revisit Thailand. Dependent Variable Decision making To decide whether to travel or not Independent Variable Socio-demographic characteristics Motivation Satisfaction Conceptual framework Figure 1: Variables used in this study Definition of key terms Cross border tourism Cross border tourism can be modeled from the neo-classical economics theoretical demand framework based on an individual/consumer visiting neighboring countries with the purpose of directly consuming goods and services which are cheaper in that country and/or are unavailable in the country of origin (Witt Witt, 1992). Socio-demographic Socio-demographic are the characteristics of a human population. Socio-demographic variables such as age, income, nationality and education have been considered as relatively usable, since they are easy to measure (Lawson, 1994) and they are identified as appropriate determinants of tourist behavior (Kastenholz, 2002; Baloglu Brinberg, 1997; Gitelson Kerstetter, 1990). Profiling In this study, profiling can be defined as the act of collecting useful information about the demographic characteristics of Malaysian tourists in order to give a description of their travel pattern (Oxord, 7th edition). In addition, profile of visitors is providing a better understanding to forecast of travel behavior (Suleiman, J. S and Mohamed, B., 2011). Motivation Motivation can be described as the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. This driving force is produced as a result of an unfulfilled need (Schiffman Kanuk, 2000). The concept behind the motivation theory is that people are driven by internal motivates (called push factors) and attracted to destination attributes (called pull factors) when making their travel decisions (Dann, 1977). Satisfaction Satisfaction can be defined as a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment (Oliver, 1997) or as an overall evaluation of a purchase (Fornell, 1992). Besides that, Engel et al. (1995) stated that satisfaction was an outcome experience that at least met or exceeded expectations. Decision making Leads to the final choice of a travel destination which is influenced by a number of psychological (internal) and non-psychological (external) variables (Dellaert, Etterma Lindh, 1998). Delimitation Small sample size due to lack of manpower Although the population is large, this study only represents a small group of Malaysian tourists who visit to Thailand through immigration border checkpoint particularly in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah only. Data collection cannot cover all the respondents due to lack of manpower to distribute questionnaires and collect data. Cooperation from respondents seems to be difficult In order to obtain accuracy data that cover many respondents different in terms of demographic, the survey should be conducted on weekend because most of the Malaysian tourists will visit to Thailand during weekend. However, the congestion problem always occurs at the immigration border checkpoint in Bukit Kayu Hitam especially during weekend. Therefore, the cooperation from respondents seems to be difficult. The respondents are not willing to answer the questionnaire because they want to rush back home after waiting a long queue at the immigration border checkpoint. Besides that, some of the respondents are not willing to response because they are not well-versed in using English. Limited fund and time-consuming The questionnaire survey in this study involves a high cost and long time. The research need to go more than once times in order to cover as many different respondents and to collect accuracy data. However, the transportation fee for the route from UUM to Bukit Kayu Hitam is quite expensive and there is limited fund provided for conducting this survey. Significance of this study This study is expected to contribute to an understanding of travel pattern of Malaysian tourists who travel to borderland of Thailand by examining their demographic characteristic, motivation and satisfaction. The results of the study help tourism marketers in Thailand better understand Malaysian tourists travel pattern. Besides that, the results of this study are expected to present important marketing implications for Thailand in efforts to segment and target Malaysian travelers. For the policy maker of Thailand, they can improve their facilities and build appropriate facilities in border area in order to attract more Malaysian tourists and satisfy their needs. On the other hand, this study also can help tourism marketers in Malaysia to better understand the attraction and facilities available in Thailand that attract Malaysian tourists. Therefore, the marketers can develop new tourist attraction or better facilities in Malaysia in order to attract the Thai people come to visit Mal aysia and decrease the flow of Malaysians to Thailand. In addition, this study also contributes the knowledge on cross border study. Chapter II Literature Review This chapter reviews the literature in the context of this study. Related literature in this chapter is focused on cross border tourism in tourism studies, socio demographic characteristics, tourists motivation and tourists satisfaction. Firstly, this chapter reviews the literature on cross border tourism. Secondly, this chapter discusses previous research on socio-demographic characteristic and analyzing the relationship between socio-demographic characteristic and tourists travel pattern. Thirdly, this chapter will review the literature on tourists motivation and the relationship between tourists motivation and choice of destination. Finally, this chapter reviews the literature on tourists satisfaction and identifies the relationship among tourists satisfaction and attributes of destinations. Cross border tourism According to Mark P. Hampton (2009), there is no agreed definition of cross- border tourism, but here, and following Timothy and Butler (1995), it is proposed that a day trip (whether leisure, business, VFR or grocery shopping) is a form of tourism if it crosses an international border. On the other hand, Praman Tepsongkroh (2007), cited from Witt Witt (1992) stated that cross-border tourism can be modeled from the neo-classical economics theoretical demand framework based on individual tourist/consumer visiting neighboring countries with the purpose of directly consuming goods and services which are cheaper in that country and/or are unavailable in the country of origin. Border-crossing points that join adjacent countries commonly become hives of international economic activity (Kenneth, R. Lord, Sanjay Putrevu and H. G. Parsa, 2004). Consumers living within a manageable drive of the border cross to the neighboring country for such diverse activities as shopping, entertainment, sig htseeing, work-related travel, or merely the prospect of a different or less- traveled route between two points. In addition, it is suggested that any working definition of cross border tourism also requires an element of geographical proximity such as seen between the US and Canada, or Singapore and Malaysia or Malaysia and Thailand (Hampton, M.P., 2009). In other words, cross border tourism requires a common border. Besides that, the ease of cross border linkages is significant. As tourists are permitted to cross the border easily, the growth of tourism on both sides is greatly promoted, and touristic areas eventually abut the boundary on both sides (Ahmad Puad, M. S. Badaruddin, M. Kong-Yew, W, 2005). Mark P. Hampton (2009) reported that Frances success in attracting 76 million international arrivals in 2005 due to the ease of border crossing with neighboring EU countries. Moreover, Timothy (1995) said that the level of attractiveness of border areas for tourists depends on a number of factors including the natural, social, cultural environment near the border and the degree of freedom or difficulty in crossing it. According to Praman Tepsongkroh (2007), cross border tourism provides interesting perspectives across disciplines. Matinez (1994) looked at the cross-border interaction in terms of pattern of human movement between adjacent countries. His assessment of the interaction fell into four part typology. Firstly, alienated borderlands are the ones where day-to-day communication and interaction are almost entirely absent. Secondly, coexistent borderlands are those where the frontier is slightly open to minimal levels of interaction. Thirdly, interdependent borderlands are characterized by willingness between adjacent countries to establish cross-frontier networks and partnerships. Finally, integrated borderlands are found where all significant political and economic barriers have been abolished, resulting in free flow of goods and people (Matinez, 1994). Therefore, from Matinezs (1994) perspective, it can be said that boundaries are usually viewed as barriers to interaction, both perceptuall y and in reality. In many cases, they may be regarded as lines of contact and cooperation between similar or dissimilar cultural, economic, and social systems. Timothy (2001) defined some of the connections between boundaries and tourism, which are three-fold typology of spatial relationships between borders and tourists, as shown in the following situations: (a) The boundary line is distant from tourist areas (b) A tourist zone exists adjacent to the boundary on only one side (c) Tourist zones that extend across, or meet at, borders According to Timothy (2001), in the first case, the frontier functions as a barrier or simple line of transit. Thus, the influence of the border depends largely on its degree of permeability. This is a common phenomenon for borders of many countries having a good relationship with the adjacent states. In the second case, in addition to being attracted to the tourist-oriented side, some people will be attracted to visit the other side as well, which presents opportunities for tourism development to spill over into the non-tourist side of the border. In the third instance, there may be communication and cooperation between the two sides so that the entire nature of cultural attraction system operates as one entity, or conversely, the border may act as a significant barrier altogether (Timothy, 2001). Cross border tourism is influenced by governmental policy and socio-economic factors such as trade treaties, sales tax rebates, inflation, exchange rates, shopping preferences and many other factors (Tepsongkroh, P., 2007). Border-related policies, differences in administrative structures on opposite sides, and the physical barrier creates by borders can affect many aspects of tourism, including travel motivations and decision making, infrastructure development, marketing and promotion and place image (Timothy, 2001). According to Praman Tepsongkroh (2007), such obstacles can hinder the flow of tourists and can help to shape the physical and socio-economic development of tourism in the destination regions elsewhere, as well as at the Thai and Malaysian border. Socio-demographic characteristics According to Thirathanaphak, C. Akethammasiri, K. and Chainimit, P. (2009), socioeconomic, demographic and behavioral indicators are commonly used in tourism research to profile tourists by age, gender, income, marital status, occupations, education or ethnic background. These indicators are easy to identify and use in marketing decisions (Yavuz, 1994). Moreover, according to Handler, I (2009), he said that Pearce, (2005); Kotler, (2006), Middleton Clarke, (2007); Dickman, (1999) stated that one of the most common ways to divide tourists is by demographic factors, i.e. age, gender, education, occupation, expenditure or their geographic location. Furthermore, according to Suleiman, J.S Mohamed, B. (2011), generally socio-demographic variables such as age, income, nationality and education have been considered as relatively usable, since they are easy to measure (Lawson, 1994) and they are identified as appropriate determinants of tourist behavior (Kastenholz, 2002; Baloglu Brinberg , 1997; Gitelson Kerstetter, 1990). In addition, according to Beerli, A. Martin, D. (2003), the individuals personal characteristics, such as gender, age, occupation, education and social class, are internal inputs that influence the perceptions of places. When Walmsley and Jenkins (1993) studied the perceived image of different tourist resorts in Australia, they found that the image of some places differed depending on visitors gender and age. Besides that, Baloglu and McCleary (1999) found that an individuals age and level of education influenced the perceived image of various tourist destinations. According to Aswin Sangpikul, (2008), the literature review indicates that there may be a combination of socio-demographic variables that influence tourists behaviors. However, the results of previous studies imply that different sample groups may have different socio-demographic factors influencing their travel-related behaviors (Sangpikul, A., 2008). Furthermore, according to Jang, S.C. Yu, L. Pearson, T.E. (2003), the socio-demographic profiles and trip-related characteristics of the visitors enable tourism marketers to understand who they are and how they behave on travel. Relationship between socio-demographics characteristics and tourist travel pattern Socio-demographic variables are the primary factors that influence peoples travel-related behavior (Zimmer et al., Jang et al., Jang and Wu, 2006). These variables may include age, gender, education, income, economic status and health status. Zimmer et al. (1995) revealed that age, income and education emerged as the main variables that explain participation versus non-participation in travel activities. Their study indicated that income and education influenced travelers when choosing nearby or farther-away destinations, with travelers who were better educated and who had more disposable income being more likely to travel farther from home. These results were echoed by Sirisukul (1998), who found that Thai people with a higher education and higher incomes were more likely to be motivated to participate in leisure activities than those who were less educated and earned less income. Silberberg (1995) identified the cultural/heritage tourist as one who: earned more money and spent more money while on vacation; was more highly educated than the general public; was more likely to be female than male and tended to be in older age categories. Furthermore, Kerstetter, Confer and Graefe (2001) found that tourists with an interest in visiting heritage or cultural sites tend to stay longer, spend more per trip, are more highly educated and have a higher average annual income than the general tourists. In addition, Brining (1995) found that women adopted safer approaches than men when it came to making risky consumer decisions. Barsky Labagh (1997) also reported a lower risk propensity amongst women than men. Besides that, Anderson (1993) stated that tourists ages are closely associated with the meaning tourists attached to crafts and to the purpose crafts served for the owners. According to Littrell (1990) showed that young tourists often valued crafts that reminded them of exciting shopping encounters and active tourism experiences, while older tourists preferred craft items that would bring them aesthetic pleasure through their contemplation at home. Furthermore, a study of tourist night markets in Taiwan carried out by Hsieh and Chang (2004) found that female visitors tend to come with friends or families rather than alone or single visitors spending more time and money compared to married ones. Tourists motivation According to French, et al. (2000), a focus on motivation provides a complex view of various factors to stimulate the travel demands for tourism and embraces both inner needs and wants. These needs and wants reflect perceptions, cultural conditioning and learning. Copper, Shepherd and Westlak (1996) presented Murphys model looking at psychological factors which influence demands (motivations, perceptions and expectations), and how these demanded criteria are linked by intermediaries in the market place (travel agencies and tour operators) with the supply of tourist facilities. Many different categories of motivations have an important influence on travel decision-making; they are as follows (Tepsongkroh, P., 2007): Motivation as a purpose and reason for travel: vacations (holidays, visiting friends and relatives), business (French, et al., 2000) Motivation as individuals needs and wants: Maslows physiological needs, security needs, social needs and self-esteem needs (Hall, 1998). Maslows Physiological Needs Figure 2: Maslows physiological needs Motivation as satisfaction through tourist activities (French, et al., 2000). Physical motivators are related to rest, sports, recreation and those directly connected with a persons health such as spas and baths. These motivators all have one feature in common, the reduction of tension through activities related to physical factors. Cultural motivators are identified by the desires of the traveler to learn about other countries and their art, music, dances, traditions and religions. Interpersonal motivators include a desire to meet new people, visit friends or relatives. Status and prestige motivators are related to the desire for recognition, attention, power and appreciation, as well as the desire to enhance sexual attractiveness. Motivations as pull and push factor; cultural experience, pleasure-seeking/fantasy, and relaxation (Kozak, 2002). Motivation as the integrity of the original factors such as relaxation, social and intellectual aspects (Ryan, 1998). Motivation as important to tourist information: feelings of pleasure, excitement, relaxation (push factors), and tourist attractions like sunshine, friendly people, and culture (pull factors) (Goossens, 2000). According to Kau Lim (2005), understanding tourists vacation motives, i.e. why people travel, is an issue that has been researched extensively. By determining the motivations that influence peoples travel habits and destination selection would enable one to predict their future travel patterns, thereby aid in developing more appropriate marketing strategies to attract them (McGuiggan et al., 1995). Besides that, according to Sangpikul, A (2007), a common and useful theory used to examine tourist motivations is the theory of push and pull motivation as stated by Dann, (1977); Crompton, (1979); Yuan and Mcdonald, (1990); Klenosky, (2002). Moreover, Skourtis, G. Andreou, D. Koniordos, M. Assiouras, I. (2009) cited from Dann (1997), the push factors for a vacation are socio-psychological motives explaining the desire for travel, while the pull factors are motives aroused by the destination explaining the destination choice. According to Kau, A. K. Lim, P. S. (2005), vacation motives can be classified broadly into two main categories, push and pull factors as cited by Crompton, (1979); Dann, (1981). Push factors can be described as internally generated drives, causing the tourist to search for signs in objects, situations and events that contain the promise of reducing prevalent drives (Gnoth, 1997). Pull factors, on the other hand, are those that emerge as a result of the attractiveness of a destination as it is perceived by those with propensity to travel and include both tangible resources, such as beaches, recreation facilities and cultural attractions and travelers perceptions and expectation and marketing image (Uysal and Jurowski, 1994). Push factors have been regarded as useful in explaining the desire for travel, while pull motivations have been used to explain the choice of travel, destination (Crompton, 1979). According to Sangikul, A. (2008), he said that push factors have been thought useful for explaining the desire to go on a vacation, while pull factors help explain the choice of destination as reported by Crompton, (1979). Therefore, Sangikul, A. (2008) said that understanding what motivate peoples travel behavior and destination selection is crucial to predicting their travel decisions and future travel patterns as cited by Cha et al., (1995); Jang and Cai, (2002); Klenosky, (2002); Jang Wu, (2006). Additionally, knowledge about tourist motivation enables tourism marketers to better satisfy travelers needs and provide better products and services corresponding to their needs (Crompton, 1979; Jang and Cai, 2002; Jang and Wu, 2006; Sangikul, 2008). Relationship between tourists motivation and choice of destinations Pizam, Neuman and Reichel (1979) reveal relationships amongst certain motivations and choices related to the trip or destination. According to Prebensen (2006), motivation and the choice of holiday type or activities have been shown to be significantly related. Besides that, Moscardo, Morrison, Pearce, Lang and OLeary (1995) stated that activities are seen as the critical link between tourist motivations and destination choice. Moreover, according to Lien (2010), activities affect tourists choice of destination through travel motivations. Specifically, activities create a motivation of travelling to a destination and the motivation turns into purchase behavior known as choice of the destination. John and Susan (1999) proposed that there are six motives, i.e. physical, emotional, personal, personal development, status and cultural motives. According to lien (2010), he said that the impact between motivation and activities can be explained in a different way. Specifically, with physical motivation, individuals prefer to travel destinations where have activities which can satisfy their needs of relaxation or suntans. Besides that, as for emotional motivation, people may participate in activities that can satisfy their needs for enjoyment of romance, fantasy and spiritual fulfillment. Prebensen (2007) mentioned in the study that in the process of consuming or producing (Holt, 1995) a journey, tourists also experience novel situations, which might result in different choice patterns. Thus, motivations may lead to purchasing behavior, which is destination choosing behavior (Lien, 2010). Individuals who have different motivations may choose the same destinations and they participate similar or different types of activities to satisfy their needs. Tourists Satisfaction Traditional literature within consumer behavior pinpoints that customer satisfaction is the result or the final step of a psychological process from need recognition to evaluation of experienced products (Peter and Olson, 1996). Besides that, according to Oliver (1997), satisfaction is defined as a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment. In addition, satisfaction also can be defined as an overall evaluation of a purchase (Fornell, 1992). Moreover, according to Raktida Siri (2009), Engel et al. (1995) stated that satisfaction was an outcome experience that at least met or exceeded expectations. According to Hui, J. (2002); Kozak Rimmington, (2000), tourist satisfaction is important to successful destination marketing because it influences the choice of the destination, the consumption of products and services and the decision to return. Therefore, understanding tourist satisfaction is of utmost important for the tourism industry, especially because of its effect on their future economy (Petrick, 2003). Satisfied tourists tend to communicate their positive experience to others (word of mouth) and they tend to buy product repeatedly (Barsky, 1992; Beeho and Prentice, 1997; Hallowell, 1996; Kozak and Rimmington, 2000; Pizam, 1994; Ross, 1993). Raktida Siri (2009), cited from Meng et al. (2006) concluded that there were nine theories on customer satisfaction: expectancy disconfirmation, assimilation or cognitive dissonance, contrast, assimilation contrast, equity, attribution, comparison level, generalized negatively and value perception. Furthermore, among these nine theories, expectation disconfirmation model was accepted the most. Oliver (1980), cited from Kandampully (200) introduced an Expectancy Disconfirmation Model, which was a process of comparison between an expectation and an experience. Satisfaction would occur if the experience met expectation. According to Hui, J. (2002), he said that Chon and Olsen (1991) discovered a goodness of fit correlation between tourists expectations about their destination and tourists satisfaction. Then, after tourist has bought the travel service products, if the evaluation of their experience of the travel product is better than their expectations, they will be satisfied with their travel experience. Besides that, according to Prebensen (2004), by including tourist travel motives and choices of activities at the destination as well as perception of products into the concept of satisfaction, a better understanding of why people become satisfied in addition to how satisfied they are is possible to identify, which further includes a better understanding concerning why people intent to recommend and re-buy the trip. Relationship between tourists satisfaction and destination attributes Huh (2002) stated that there is a need to investigate the relationship between destination attributes and tourists satisfaction from the tourists perspective in order to gain an in-depth understanding of tourists attributes and behavior after they visit a tourist destination. According to Fornell (

The Doctor’s Wife and So Long a Letter Essay -- Literature

Men have been shown to be the prime cause of competition between the women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† by Sawako Ariyoshi and â€Å"So Long a Letter† by Mariama Bà ¢. This is strongly evident in â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† from the time Umpei returns home, after completing his education. A major change is also noticed in Otsugi’s behavior towards Kae. The intense tension caused by the competition between the women characters is also shown in â€Å"So Long a Letter† when the two men, Modou Fall and Mawdo Bà ¢, marry their second wives. In this essay I will be discussing how men are shown to be the prime cause of competition between the women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† and â€Å"So Long a Letter† and why the writers use this element. This competition helps in developing the plots of the two novels. For example, throughout the letter that Ramatoulaye writes to Aissatou, the plot of â€Å"So Long a Letter† revolves around the second marriages of Modou Fall and Mawdo Bà ¢. This creates a sense of competition between Ramatoulaye and Aissatou, their first wives respectively. The competition between Ramatoulaye and Binetou to acquire the attention of their husband, Modou Fall and between Aissatou and la Petite Nabou for Mawdo Bà ¢ is what keeps the readers’ interest in the novel. This competition becomes all the more evident when Ramatoulaye describes the formalities involved in carrying out the death ceremony for her husband, Modou Fall. When all the formalities have ended, Binetou, Ramatoulaye’s ‘co-Wife’, finally leaves. This gives Ramatoulaye a sense of relief. This occurs when she says, â€Å"Tonight Binetou, my co-Wife, will return to her SICAP villa. At last! Phew!†(Bà ¢, p. 8) Her expressions and feelings about Binetou are expressed... ...ice has known thirty years of silence, thirty years of harassment.†(Bà ¢, p. 57) This clearly gives a picture of the mental state of Ramatoulaye after Modou’s second marriage. Again, this is the result of the competition that Modou created between Ramatoulaye and Binetou. From this, we are able to conclude that men have been shown to be the primary cause of competition between women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† and â€Å"So Long a Letter†. This competition has been used by the writers to enhance the plot development, by creating conflict and to show the mental state of women. Thus the novels make reading interesting for the readers. Bibliography †¢ Ariyoshi, Sawako. The Doctor’s Wife. Trans. Wakako Hironaka and Ann Siller Kostant. Tokyo: Kodansha Int. 2003. †¢ Bà ¢, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Trans. Modupà © Bodà ©-Thomas. London: Heinemann, 1989. Print.

Part Five Chapter V

V Krystal was walking along Foley Road in the early morning sunlight, eating a banana. It was an unfamiliar taste and texture, and she could not make up her mind whether she liked it or not. Terri and Krystal never bought fruit. Nikki's mother had just turfed her unceremoniously out of the house. ‘We got things to do, Krystal,' she had said. ‘We're going to Nikki's gran's for dinner.' As an afterthought, she had handed Krystal the banana to eat for breakfast. Krystal had left without protest. There was barely enough room for Nikki's family around the kitchen table. The Fields were not improved by sunshine, which merely showed up the dirt and the damage, the cracks in the concrete walls, the boarded windows and the litter. The Square in Pagford looked freshly painted whenever the sun shone. Twice a year, the primary school children had walked through the middle of town, crocodile fashion, on their way to church for Christmas and Easter services. (Nobody had ever wanted to hold Krystal's hand. Fats had told them all that she had fleas. She wondered whether he remembered.) There had been hanging baskets full of flowers; splashes of purple, pink and green, and every time Krystal had passed one of the planted troughs outside the Black Canon, she had pulled off a petal. Each one had been cool and slippery in her fingers, swiftly becoming slimy and brown as she clutched it, and she usually wiped it off on the underside of a warm wooden pew in St Michael's. She let herself into her house and saw at once, through the open door to her left, that Terri had not gone to bed. She was sitting in her armchair with her eyes closed and her mouth open. Krystal closed the door with a snap, but Terri did not stir. Krystal was at Terri's side in four strides, shaking her thin arm. Terri's head fell forwards onto her shrunken chest. She snored. Krystal let go of her. The vision of a dead man in the bathroom swam back into her subconscious. ‘Silly bitch,' she said. Then it occurred to her that Robbie was not there. She pounded up the stairs, shouting for him. †M'ere,' she heard him say, from behind her own closed bedroom door. When she shouldered it open, she saw Robbie standing there, naked. Behind him, scratching his bare chest, lying on her own mattress, was Obbo. ‘All righ', Krys?' he said, grinning. She seized Robbie and pulled him into his own room. Her hands trembled so badly that it took her ages to dress him. ‘Did ‘e do somethin' to yer?' she whispered to Robbie. †M'ungry,' said Robbie. When he was dressed, she picked him up and ran downstairs. She could hear Obbo moving around in her bedroom. ‘Why's ‘e ‘ere?' she shouted at Terri, who was drowsily awake in her chair. ‘Why's ‘e with Robbie?' Robbie fought to get out of her arms; he hated shouting. ‘An' wha' the fuck's that?' screamed Krystal, spotting, for the first time, two black holdalls lying beside Terri's armchair. ‘S'nuthin',' said Terri vaguely. But Krystal had already forced one of the zips open. ‘S'nuthin'!' shouted Terri. Big, brick-like blocks of hashish wrapped neatly in sheets of polythene: Krystal, who could barely read, who could not have identified half the vegetables in a supermarket, who could not have named the Prime Minister, knew that the contents of the bag, if discovered on the premises, meant prison for her mother. Then she saw the tin, with the coachman and horses on the lid, half-protruding from the chair on which Terri was sitting. ‘Yeh've used,' said Krystal breathlessly, as disaster rained invisibly around her and everything collapsed. ‘Yeh've fuckin' – ‘ She heard Obbo on the stairs and she snatched up Robbie again. He wailed and struggled in her arms, frightened by her anger, but Krystal's grip was unbreakable. ‘Fuckin' lerrim go,' called Terri fruitlessly. Krystal had opened the front door and was running as fast as she could, encumbered by Robbie who was resisting and moaning, back along the road.

Dissertation: Fast Food Restaurants

ABSTRACT Organizational behaviour in fast food industry is an important area to analyze as fast food sector is growing rapidly. It has direct positive relation with organizational productivity. Around the globe, the penetration of fast food sector is enormous. A field study was conducted in order to evaluate the employees’ perception of various dynamics of organizational behaviour.The context selected was the fast food restaurants of Pakistan. A sample of 100 fast food restaurants’ employee was selected and data was collected using pre-printed structured questionnaires. The main data collection technique employed was factor loading using principle component analysis. It was performed on various constructs which were used to understand the organizational behaviour.The findings of this dissertation exerts organizational decision markers to focus on acceptance of change by managers and employees, being more responsive to customers’ suggestions, employees awareness a bout organizational mission, non-monetary appreciation by the colleagues and seniors, task prioritization, intra-team dynamics, workload adjustment, resource sufficiency, organizational justice in the form of fairness, imparting training to the employees, job relevant training to employees, provision of congenial work environment to employee, security at work place, coordination with employees, ensuring transparency while promoting people and elimination of biasness among employees. The accomplishment of these would have important bearings on overall organizational behaviour and will ultimately improve the productivity of the organization. Like many researches, this research also has some limitations. Future research should take in to account these short comings. Table of Contents ABSTRACT1 You can read also Classifications of RestaurantsCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF DISSERTATION: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF DISSERTATION5 1-1: A Brief Account of the Area of Interest:5 1-2: Choice Rationale of the Thesis Research:6 1-3: Aim of the Dissertation Research:7 1-4: Fast Food Industry of Pakistan – the Context:7 1-5: Research Questions of Dissertation:8 1-6: Research Objectives of Dissertation:9 1-7: Nature of Research Output and Final Outcome of Dissertation:10 1-8: Structure of the Thesis:11 1-9: Chapter Summary:12 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF ACADEMIC AND SCHOLARLY LITERATURE13 2-1: Organizational Behaviour– An Imperative issue for Businesses:13 2-2-1: Culture:15 2-2-2: Change:16 2-2-3: Customer Orientation:17 2-2-4: Rewards and Recognition:18 2-2-5: Leadership/Supervision:19 -2-6: Fair Treatment of Employees:19 2-2-7: Job Characteristics:20 2-2-8: Training:20 2-2-9: Work Environment:21 2-3: Summary:22 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DISSERTATION23 3-1: Theoretical Und erpinnings – Rationale:23 3-2: Research Aims and Objectives:24 6. 1. 13-2-1: Background Discussion:24 6. 1. 23-2-2: Research Aims:25 6. 1. 33-2-3: Research Objectives:26 3-4: Summary:32 CHAPTER 4: DESIGN, METHODOLOGY AND METHOD(S) OF DISSERTATION RESEARCH33 4. 1: Nature of Research Endeavours:33 4. 2: Type of Research:34 4. 3: Reference to Sampling Frame:35 4. 4: Population Attributes and Sampling Design:35 4. 5: Decision on Sample Size:36 4. : Characteristics of Data Collection Instrument:36 4. 7 Pre-Testing the Data Collection Instrument:37 4. 8: Field Survey and Data Collection – Primary and Secondary Research:37 4. 9: Data Analysis and Report Writing:38 4-10: Summary of the Chapter:39 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND ASSOCIATED DISCUSSION40 5. 1: The Pakistani Fast Food Sector – Context of Dissertation:40 5-2: Reliability Analysis:42 5 – 3: Review of Dissertation’s Aim and Associated Objectives:43 5 – 4: Demographic Profile of the Employees:44 5 – 5: Primary Data Analysis:46 5 – 6: Research Objective 1: To explore the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 9 5 – 7: Research Objective 2: To explore the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 52 5 – 8: Research Objective 3: To explore the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan56 5 – 9: Research Objective 4: To explore the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 61 5 – 10: Research Objective 5: To explore the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 64 5 – 11: Research Objective 6: To explore the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7 5 – 12: Research Objective 7: To explore the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employ ees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan72 5 – 13: Research Objective 8: To explore the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan75 Table 5 – 37 gives the rotated component matrix of training. It shows that two factor were extracted when factor loading was applied. The first was â€Å"number of trainings given to employees in last six months† (0. 959) and â€Å"number of trainings† given in last one month’ (0. 956). The factor could be termed as â€Å"recent training offered to employees†. The second factor extracted was loaded on two variables i. e. , â€Å"employees training on assessed needs† (0. 63) and â€Å"employees are trained to meet changes in job† (0. 873). The factor extracted could be named as â€Å"job relevant training†. 78 5 – 14: Research Objective 9: To explore the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7 8 5 – 13: Summary:82 6-1: Conclusion of the Dissertation:84 6-2: Recommendations:85 6-2-1: Recommendation 1: Change Dynamics:86 6-2-2: Recommendation 2: Customer Orientation:87 6-2-3: Recommendation 3: Leadership Dynamics:87 6-2-4: Recommendation 4: Rewards and Recognition:87 6-2-5: Recommendation 5: Job Characteristics:88 6-2-6: Recommendation 6: Fair Treatment with Employees:88 6-2-7: Recommendation 7: Training:89 -2-8: Recommendation 8: Work Environment:89 6-2-9: Recommendation 9: Culture:90 6-3: Limitations of Research:90 6-3: Future Research Opportunities:91 REFERENCES92 APPENDIX101 QUESTIONNAIRE102 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF DISSERTATION: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF DISSERTATION This is the first chapter of the dissertation. It will contribute a brief overview of the dissertation topic. It will also contribute the aims and objectives of the dissertation research. Further to this, this chapter will underscore the final outcome of the dissertation along with dissertation struc ture. In addition to this, the chapter will also contribute the structure of the dissertation.The chapter will end with the summary of the chapter. 1-1: A Brief Account of the Area of Interest: The world is at the verge of transition (Adler and Gundersen, 2008). This exerts enormous pressures on managers to sharpen their skills with reference to dynamic issues. Priem et al. (1995) suggested that environmental dynamism dictates the decision making process and firm performance. Thompson (1967) highlighted that organizations are open systems situated within an independent external environment. Garg et al. (2003) suggested that these environmental concerns are also closely related to the selection of senior managers in the organisation. Businesses are growing day by day. Increase in he size changes the ownership pattern and separated the ownership form the management of organization. There are different managers who work on the behalf of their owners and managers have other people who w ork for their managers. These managers assume responsibility of manipulating resources as well as day-to-day running of the enterprise so as to ensure the accomplishment of short-range and long-range plans. An organization is a group of people arranged in different teams and department in a particular manner. These people generally belong to the society where the organization is located. This collection of people generally holds for an extended period of time and work together towards accomplishment of organization’s long-term mission.According to Cartwright (1965), an organization can be regarded as a collection of related people arranged on the bases of their interdependence on each other yet with an emphasis on the whole. The behaviour of people within organization is controlled and can be forecasted quite often. The contribution of people or parts of the system would lead to the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. Organizational behaviour involves study of activities of people and their behaviour that influences organizational performance. The core areas of OB include motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process, job and work design and work stress (Bigelow et al. , 1999).Research in the domain of organizational behaviour corroborates an association between behaviour of an organization and its productivity level. The work of Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. The study of organizational behaviour draws attention to lot of areas which might be advantageous or cumbersome for the organization. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. The insights arising out of OB enables managers to harness the workers’ efficiency. This is generally accomplished through empowering employees.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 1-2: Choice Rationale of the Thesis Research: Organizational behaviour in fast food industry is an important area to analyze as fast food sector is growing rapidly. Fast food items can be cooked rapidly and thus can be obtained in no time. Around the globe, the penetration of fast food sector is enormous. It gives convenience for busy lifestyle yet it is high in calories, sugar and fat (Glanz et al. , 1998). Many people don’t have their eating schedule in terms of breakfast, lunch and dinner.It is generally defined as immediate consumption food available at premises or in specific eating areas (Data Monitor, 2005). Bender and Bender (2000) highlighted that fast food items do not have large variety of goods and generally adopts a unique production processes. Hamburgers, pizzas chicken and sandwi ches are specialized fast food products. Fast food industry is regarded as a basis for obesity. Many US fast food producing firms faced court trial because of public concerns on obesity (Adams, 2005). Importance of nutritional values of fast food was also analyzed by researchers (Nayga Jr, 1997, O Dougherty et al. , 2006). Further to this, Brown et al (2000) also emphasized the importance of understanding nutritional requirements and fast food for youngsters.The above discussion asserts the importance of understanding or studying the fast food organization. This dissertation will use the context of fast food industry and will analyze dynamics of organizational behaviour in the said context. 1-3: Aim of the Dissertation Research: This research focuses on analysis of the â€Å"perception of employees about various dynamics of organizational behaviour in fast food industry of Pakistan†. The fast food industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan. It incorporates mushroom growth of bot h international and national fast food chains in various parts of the country. This phenomenal growth gained prominence in 1993 and since then it has been unmatched. The various imensions of organizational behaviour envisaged for this dissertation research include organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment. 1-4: Fast Food Industry of Pakistan – the Context: In contrast to past, where the hotels and restaurants were serving traditional and local food, the trend is now shifting towards Western meals especially fast food. The fast and busy life of residents of Pakistan is leading to more and more people dining out. Now-a-days, one can find fast food and fast food restaurants in all parts of the country. People can find fast-food literally every where. Hospitals are serving fast-food. One can stop at a nearby shopping centre.Gas Stations added separ ate sections which serve fast food. University, college and school cafeterias are offering fast food. One may find huge crowds of people in fast food restaurants on weekends. The Pakistan’s fast food market comprises of global giants like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Hardees, etc. In addition to these, Hilal Fried Chicken (HFC), Al-Najam Fried Chicken (AFC), Fried Chicks, Italian Pizza and many other small firms are also gaining popularity. People from all walks of life and from all ages are visiting these restaurants. Despite its nutritional value, the fast food is also becoming a status symbol.According to Health and Integrated Survey (2009), the average spending of a household on food and related is around 44 percent of the total spending. Moreover, the population of Pakistan has exceeded 170 million. This large size of population spending huge sum of money on their food and related item makes fast food sector really a lucrative area for investment. Pingali (2007) also reported that in Asian people are increasingly using western food and this trend is also influencing the food management system in this country. One of the trends out of this westernization of food in Asia is the outburst of fast-food restaurants in Asian countries. 1-5: Research Questions of Dissertation:The achievement of above stated research aim requires answering number of research questions. These research questions are given hereunder: 1) What is the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 2) What is the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 3) What is the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 4) What is the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 5) What is the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 6) What is the em ployees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? ) What is the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 8) What is the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 9) What is the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? For each of the above mentioned research question, research objectives are developed which are give in the next section. 1-6: Research Objectives of Dissertation: In order to achieve research aim and answering research questions, various research objectives were developed. These are based on selection of nine constructs that have been identified from the literature. It is envisaged that the disseration would encompass following research objectives: ) To analyze the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 2) To analyze the employees’ percep tion of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 3) To analyze the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan 4) To analyze the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 5) To analyze the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 6) To analyze the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7) To analyze the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan ) To analyze the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan 9) To analyze the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 1-7: Nature of Research Output and Final Outcome of Dissertation: The accomplishment of this dissertation will facilitate organizational decision makers, particularly the sen ior management, in developing an understanding of various factors which are perceived to be important dimensions of organizational behaviour. This understanding could serve as a basis for various insights about evaluating their (senior management) current endeavours and subsequent decision making.By working on various dimensions of organizational behaviour, an organization can improve employees’ comfort level with the organization which has direct link organizational performance and profitability. The final outcome of the dissertation is a reduced list of factors which will be regarded as more important by the employees. The dissertation research involves identification of a number of factors from literature which are perceived to be the determinants of organization behaviour. These variables are reduced to few factors by using factor analysis. 1-8: Structure of the Thesis: This dissertation comprises of six chapters. At the outset of each chapter, the introduction of the cha pter is given.Similarly, each chapter ends with conclusion of the chapter. This section reveals a brief snapshot of each chapter. Chapter 1- Introduction of Dissertation: Aims and Objectives of Dissertation: This was the first chapter of the dissertation. This chapter emphasized the importance of studying organizational behaviour and importance of fast food industry. It also put forth the research aims and objectives. This chapter ended while elaborating the final outcome of the dissertation research and overall structure of the dissertation. Chapter 2 – Review of Academic and Scholarly Literature: This chapter will contribute the literature on importance of studying organizational behaviour.It will elaborate all the constructs (organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment) and related variables. It would also contribute an overview of global fast food industry with a particular emphasis on why it should be studied. This chapter will extract variables that will serve as the basis of development of theoretical framework. Chapter 3 – Theoretical Framework: This chapter will be linked with previous chapter (Review of Academic and Scholarly Literature) and will present the theoretical framework developed for this dissertation. It would dictate the methodology and associated areas of research.Chapter 4 – Methodology: This chapter will contribute the details of various research techniques which will be used for accomplishment of the dissertation research. Various sections that will be presented in this chapter will include population selection and sampling design, questionnaire development, pre-testing and piloting, overview of statistical techniques and other connected issues. Chapter 5 – Findings and Discussion: This chapter will present findings based on the dissertation research. These findings will be lin ked with the dissertation research objectives. Chapter 6 – Conclusion, Limitations and Future Research Areas: This will be the last chapter of the dissertation and would contribute conclusion, limitations and future research areas. 1-9: Chapter Summary:This chapter highlighted the overall aim of the dissertation and associated research objectives. It exerted the importance of understanding of organizational behaviour and identified various constructs which will be studied during the course of research. This chapter also contributed a snapshot of final outcome of the dissertation research and overall structure of the dissertation. The next chapter will contribute literature review on organizational behaviour and associated constructs. CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF ACADEMIC AND SCHOLARLY LITERATURE The last chapter gave the introduction of the dissertation. This chapter presents review of literature on various constructs which are subject of discussion of this dissertation.These include culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, leadership/supervision, fair treatment of employees, job characteristics, training and work environment. The chapter starts with the importance of understanding and studying organizational behaviour and ends with the conclusion. 2-1: Organizational Behaviour– An Imperative issue for Businesses: Adler and Gundersen (2008) suggested that present era is observing a high level of transition from one type of general and business practices to others. Kaplan and Norton (2001) suggested that in such hostile and dynamic environment, organizations attempt to perform better strategies as compared to their rivals. The key to perform better than rivals is to formulate better strategies as compared to the competitors firms.The organizations, in an attempt to compete in the industrial age, attempt to formulate and apply knowledge based strategies yet it has lot of challenges. In contrast to the previous century, where the envi ronmental change is incremental, the current era is characterized by a rapid change in organization’s environment. Saint-Onge (1999) commented on organizations’ abilities and suggested that in the wake of such speedy change, the key to shine out of the crowd is to be better informed as compared to your counter-parts. Further to this, Kennerley and Neely (2003) supported this idea and suggested that the dynamism of environment requires organizations to continuously change the course of action so as to match with the situation.Katz and Kahn (1978), long ago, referred to organizations as open systems. They further exerted that being an open system the organizations interact with the external environment and takes influence from the happenings in the external environment. Earlier, Thompson (1967) contributed similar idea. The work of Garg et al. (2003) suggested that these environmental concerns are in issue of primitive importance for the organization decision makers spec ially top management. Consequently, the changes in the external environment are closely monitored and their possible influence on the organization is also gauged. In the present times, the size of businesses is increasing.This brings additional challenges for the organizations as it also results in change in ownership and management pattern of the organization. Increasingly, the ownership and management of the organization is getting distinct. Organizations, being governed by the managers, instead of owners exerted that managers and employees are important stakeholders of the enterprise. They are the one who make important decision making about the enterprise’s resources. Moreover, they are the one who directs the working of the organization in certain directions so as to enable its ultimate purpose, the mission. Mintzberg (1980) regarded that organizations are coordinated units where people tend to synchronize their work with each other so as to make necessary mutual adjustm ent.Further to this, the work of Cartwright (1965) also highlighted the features of organizations as a collection of related people who are put together in such a way that they have certain level of dependence on each other. All of these people, if taken together, results in the full organization. The behaviour of the people in the form of their contribution towards attainment of organization goal is important. Such behaviour is often controlled and forecasted by the organizational decision makers. The working of people, their behaviour and the influence of behaviour on the organizational performance constitute organizational behaviour (OB). The study of organizational behaviour encompasses variety of areas that has to be studied.These include work stress, motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design (Bigelow et al. , 1999). A number of management studies revealed strong positive association between OB and organizational product ivity. Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. OB highlights both problems and new advantageous vistas for enterprises. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. OB has been quite influential in increasing the level of employees’ performance.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 2-2:Construct Definitions: The general understanding of the constructs and their various dimensions studied are given under each construct definition. 2-2-1: Culture: It refers to a widespread understanding of organizational value system by the people who form organization (Becker, 1982). As a concept, it has roots in social anthropology and has been extensively used to understand the behaviour of primitive societies (Kotter, 1992). It is concerned about the shared traditions and customs of an organization and organizational members’ feeling about these. Organizations should hire those persons that match with the organizational culture.If hiring is not aligned with organizational culture, it would lead to decrease in motivation and commitment of the hired (Reilly et al. , 1991). Misfit employees have more turnover than individuals who perceive a good fit (Sheridan, 1992). It has been widely used as â€Å"corporate† or â€Å"organizational culture†. The work of Denison (1984) and Furnham (1993) suggested that organizational culture can be used to achieved economic success. For this organization need to have a work force commitment towards various dimensions of organization culture including core values, beliefs and assumptions. This idea was furthered by Hofstede (1980). Moreover, Deal (1982) suggest ed that strong organizational culture is an important determinant of organizational performance.For the dissertation, the construct culture is broken down into various variables including â€Å"inter-group work coordination†, â€Å"intra-Group work coordination†, â€Å"biasness†, â€Å"people orientation†, and â€Å"innovation and risk-taking† (O'Reilly Iii et al. , 1991, Chatman and Jehn, 1994). Tjosvold et al. (1992) suggested that creating a culture in which people at same management level coordinates with each other is a difficult task however, it is critical for the organization. This issue becomes more important if the environment is turbulent. Beer et al. (1994) also highlighted that in the wake of changing external environment, the success of a change management program depends on the extent of coordination between various functional departments as well between various management levels.Similarly, Lemons and Jones (2001) and Meyer and Smith (2000) suggested that if any organization ensures transparency in its systems specially promotion, it would increase the commitment of employees with the organization. They suggested that despite the fact that every year companies spend lot of money in ensuring fair treatment with its employees; the biasness in promotion is still an imperative issue. Kaplan and Ferris (2001) suggested that if employees find problem in organization’s promotion system, it would evoke perceived organizational injustice. Koys (1991)suggested that organizations must maintain transparency in promotion as it is a legal requirement. 2-2-2: Change: Dynamic environment requires organizations to continuously update them as per the needs of the environment.Hall (1987) suggests that typically organizations do not prefer to change themselves and if they are posed to change, they show massive resistance. Organization’s survival depends on its ability to manage change. Similarly, an organization†™s success or failure depends on the things its employees do or fail to do. There are a number of changes that takes place in an organizational setting. This include change taking place in terms of social value system, educational change, political, technological, environmental, market, business, economical and religious, etc. For the purpose of the dissertation research, various dimensions of change that has been incorporated for study include â€Å"acceptance of change by individual†, â€Å"acceptance of change by senior management† and â€Å"rewarding of change†.Paterson and Cary (2002) highlighted that change management programs result in anxiety among employees. Iverson (1996) suggested that if an organization facilitates its employees during the times when a change is brought in, it would result in positive influence on organization. Kavanagh and Ashkanasy (2006) suggested that if senior management provides leadership in change management, it would facil itate change implementation and acceptance by employees. 2-2-3: Customer Orientation: Consumers/customers are at the heart of organizations. Traditional concept of customer’s satisfaction and customers being the profit centre is transforming into customer delight. Nowadays, the uyers are equipped with more information and are better aware in comparison to the past. They have variety of methods through which buyers can check organizational assertions and thus can make an informed decision (Urban, 2003). Customers always try to maximize their value commonly regarded as customers’ perceived value. It can be obtained by comparing a customers’ thinking about the benefits that he derives from a product and all associated costs that he incurred for obtaining that product. It also includes cost of foregoing related options. Those organizations which provide better value to its customers as compared to its rivals enjoy high level of customer loyalty.This idea was substan tiated by Hennig-Thurau (2004) who suggested that if an organization improves the customer orientation of its service employees, it would result in increased customer satisfaction. This would result in enhancement of customers’ commitment and organization would be better able to retain these customers. Brady and Cronin (2001) highlighted that if the employees maintain customer orientation, it would influence the perception of the customers towards quality of the products and services produced by the organization. So, that makes a strong point that organizations should focus on creation and provision of relatively better value to its customers (Learning, 1998).Shapiro (1988) suggested that customer orientation contends that customer related information should be transmitted at all levels across the organization. It should then be used in the strategic management and for tactical decision. Similarly, Kohli (1990) exerted that customer orientation deals with the extent to which information about the buyers is gathered and incorporated in decision making. similarly, Ruekert (1992) furthered this idea. The significance of customer orientation can be witnessed from its high recognition in management literature. Similarly, the work of Narver and Slater (1990) and Jaworski and Kohli (1993) substantiated that customer orientation brings economic benefits to an organization. employees’ empowerment to provide high value services†, customer feedback system† and â€Å"customer focused processes† were used to evaluate â€Å"customer orientation† construct for this dissertation research. 2-2-4: Rewards and Recognition: Despite the fact that in day to day life both recognition received from the management and the rewards given to an employee are used interchangeably yet both are not the same (Hansen et al. , 2002). The area has attracted a lot of discussion and had been topic of lot of research papers (Cooley and Lawrence, 2006, McDermo tt and O'Dell, 2001, Bessant and Francis, 1999, Johnson, 1996). However, it is regretful that despite a lot of attention in academic and scholarly literature, the traces of concept in business world are scarce.The evidence of use of rewards and recognition in developing employees’ motivation development is still not very evident. As a result of this, such organizational initiatives did not prove very fruitful. The work of Lewis (1998) and Parasuraman (1987) suggested that an organization can improve the quality of its service offering by linking the same with rewards that it offers to its employees. The same was also corroborated by Kotler (1999). Similar evidence arise from the work of Bowen (1999) who suggested that if employees were given rewards then they would have enhanced focus in managing the customers complaints. It’s a common phenomenon that one will feel dissatisfied if he/she is not rewarded or recognized for his/her good work.Monetary rewards are regarded as one of the top rated motivators (Locke et al. , 1980). Money is the mean which provides employees an opportunity of satisfying numerous desire. In addition to this, money can also act as a barometer through which an employee evaluate his worth in comparison with other employees who serve with them (Doyle, 1992). Moreover, money is not important to all employees. According to Maslow (1943), human beings have variety of needs categorized into various groups. He further exerted that high achievers are intrinsically motivated. For the purpose of this dissertation, the provision of â€Å"Monetary† and â€Å"Non-Monetary Rewards† were used.Where monetary rewards essentially takes the form of money, Govindarajulu and Daily (2004) suggested that non-monetary rewards takes various forms including appreciation, paid-vacation, preferred parking space, time-off from normal working in the office, etc. 2-2-5: Leadership/Supervision: Yukl (1994) highlighted that the concept of lea dership gained a lot of prominence through-out the century. Despite the fact that there a variety of leadership definitions are in place (Bass, 1990) yet the underlying meaning behind all of them is that it is meant to influence to influence organizational members towards attainment of goals and objectives of the enterprise.The leaders and founders of the organizations are also influential in setting the overall value systems and in shaping the culture of the enterprise (Schneider, 1987, Schein, 1990). Managers use formal strategic management process to identify and select appropriate goals and actions for the organization (Chandler, 1962). Determining the organization’s mission and goals is the first step of the planning process. Once the mission and goals are agreed upon and formally stated in the corporate plan, they guide the next steps by defining which strategies are appropriate and which are inappropriate (Pearce, 1992). The organization’s mission, objectives, s trategies and tactics must be communicated to everyone.Therefore, it is the responsibility of the supervisors that they should ensure that all efforts had been made in communicating targets, matters of importance and urgency, technical specifications, words of advice and motivation along with performance related feedback. Friendly and accommodating supervisors yield more satisfied and motivated employees. 2-2-6: Fair Treatment of Employees: People exert power and try to influence each other when they work in group. They try to find ways to influence others, earn rewards and advance careers (Culbert and McDonough, 1980). They exhibit or attempt to exhibit political behaviours to persuade the distributions of privileges and punishments (Mintzberg, 1984). Organizations protect the rights of all employees. It leads to respectful working relationships among employees, inculcates sense of ownership and provides a fair dispute resolution system.If a person is not treated fairly, he will fe el betrayed. It would possibly result in employee’s de-motivation and will adversely affect his/her performance. â€Å"Perception about fairness of disciplinary actions†, â€Å"proper allocation of training opportunities†, â€Å"fair dispute resolution† and â€Å"mutual trust† was included in this construct. Collier and Esteban (2007) suggested that if an organization treats its employee fairly, it would increase employee commitment with the organization and is an indicator that organization is fulfilling its corporate social responsibility. Engelbrecht et al. (2008) highlighted that in the present days the organizations have deputed a very diverse workforce.This diversity has lead to significant amount of conflicts in the organization. This demands that managers must treat all the employees fairly irrespective of their gender, age, ethnic background, etc. 2-2-7: Job Characteristics: Employees adopt attitudes and behaviours towards their jobs on th e basis of social information processing (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978). People have the ability to adjust their attitudes and behaviour on the basis of their perception about the changing nature of job. Moreover, employees develop psychological contracts about their jobs that set out what management expects from the employees, and vice versa (Robinsons et al. , 1994).These physiological contracts, being an important determinant of employees’ behaviour should be clearly communicated to employees (Schein, 1980). â€Å"Skill variety†, â€Å"task identity†, â€Å"task significance†, â€Å"autonomy† and â€Å"feedback† proposed by Hackman and Oldham (1976) were used to observe job characteristics for the purpose of this dissertation. According to Morris and Venkatesh (2010), the job characteristics are strongly associated with job satisfaction and organization performance so organization must focus on job design and characteristics. Similarly, Woo d (2008) suggested job characteristics are often ignored while looking at job satisfaction.He suggested that organization must not ignore it as it is strongly associated with job satisfaction. 2-2-8: Training: Organizations are inefficient because they are managed by inefficient persons. Inefficient employees yield lower productivity and hence lower efficiency. It results in lower profitability and hence lower investment in Human Resources. This results into a vicious circle of inefficiency (Fani, 2005). Similarly, the work of Bettencourt (1996), Lewis (1998) and Yavas (1998) out forth that organization must focus on training its lower level employees not only to improve their technical capacity but also in improving the interpersonal skills of the employees.These skills would held them in coping with changing requirements of the buyers of products and services, handled different and complex personalities and adjusting themselves according to the situation so as to enable them deliv er enhanced value to the buyers. Boshoff (2000) exerted the training of employees and highlighted that if the employees are not equipped with relevant technical and behavioural skills, they would be unable to deliver competitive service and it would result in high level of customers’ grievance. This was further corroborated by Bitner (1990) who reported that around 43 percent of the complaints from dissatisfied customers were the outcome of the incapable people handlings customers’ affairs.Even, competent and skilled employees don’t remain competent and skilled forever. Due to increasing competition, technological changes and quest for improved production process, job roles changes and so does the required skills. Organizations all over the world spend billions each year on employees’ training. The money is generally used to educate employees, provide them with opportunities to learn new things so that they can do their job better and enhance their future career. Individualization of training programs increases their effectiveness (Kolb, 1976). â€Å"Training Need Analysis†, and â€Å"Previously taken training† were used to measure this construct.According to Dysvik and Kuvaas (2008), if an organization gives an employee training opportunities, the employee would not learn new things but would also become loyal and committed to the organizations. Both of these things will positively influence the organizations’ performance. Similarly, Schmidt (2007) suggested that if the employees of an organization are satisfied are with the workplace learning and formal training provided to them, it would positively influence their job satisfaction. 2-2-9: Work Environment: Nature of Job, physical environment and work space and characteristics of job can influence an employee’s work behaviour. Evidence indicates that even relatively modest variations in temperature, noise, lighting, or air quality can exert appreciable effects on employee performance and attitudes (Bell et al. , 1990).For instance, an increase in temperature can adversely affect both physical (Bell et al. , 1982) and mental performance of a person (Fine and Kobrick, 1978). Similarly, unpredictable noise interferes with an employee’s ability to concentrate and pay attention (Baron, 1994). Loud and unpredictable noises also tend to increase excitation and led to reduced job satisfaction (Bell et al. , 1990). Furthermore, right intensity of light is related with task difficulty and required accuracy (Wineman, 1982). â€Å"Workplace Cleanliness†, â€Å"Temperature†, â€Å"Ergonomics†, â€Å"Lighting† and â€Å"Ventilation†, and â€Å"workplace safety† were used in the dissertation for this construct.Biswas and Varma (2007) suggested that the firms should provide safe and healthy working environment to its employees. It would give employees a comfort factor in the organization and they b ecome more productive employees. Peek-Asa et al. (2007) suggested that organization should ensure that it has a comprehensive workplace security program 2-3: Summary: This chapter put forth the review of academic and scholarly literature on the dissertation area. It suggests that organizations are in a constant state of flux. External environment triggers organizational change. Such change in the organizations exerts their continuous study so as to observe the related phenomena. OB involves studying influence of people and their behaviour on organizations.The research in the domain of organizational behaviour encompasses research into variety of associated areas. These include work stress, motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design. A number of management studies revealed that there is a strong relationship between organizational behaviour and organizational performance. This chapter offers review of literature of various cons tructs. These constructs includes culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, leadership, fair treatment, job characteristics, training and work environment. The next chapter will give the theoretical framework of the dissertation. CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DISSERTATIONThis chapter will contribute the theoretical framework for this dissertation research. It would use the literature contributed in the preceding chapter and will put forward the proposed model. 3-1: Theoretical Underpinnings – Rationale: Thompson (1967) and Katz and Kahn (1978) suggested that organizations are open systems. They further exerted that being an open system the organizations interact with the external environment and takes influence from the happenings in the external environment. Garg et al. (2003) argued that these environmental concerns are in issue of primitive importance for the organization decision makers specially top management. Presently, the size of busin esses is increasing.This brings additional challenges for the organizations as it may result in change in ownership and management pattern of the organization. Increasingly, the ownership and management of the organization is getting distinct. Organizations, being governed by the managers, instead of owners exerted that managers and employees are important stakeholders of the enterprise. They are the one who make important decision making about the enterprise’s resources. Moreover, they are the one who directs the working of the organization in certain directions so as to enable its ultimate purpose, the mission. Mintzberg (1980) regarded that organizations are coordinated units where people tend to synchronize their work with each other so as to make necessary mutual adjustment.Similarly, the work of Cartwright (1965) also highlighted the features of organizations as a collection of related people who are put together in such a way that they have certain level of dependence on each other. All of these people, if taken together, results in the full organization. The behavior of the people in the form of their contribution towards attainment of organization goal is important. Such behavior is often controlled and forecasted by the organizational decision makers. The working of people, their behavior and the influence of behavior on the organizational performance constitute organizational behavior (OB). The study of organizational behavior encompasses variety of areas that has to be studied.These include work stress, motivation, leader behavior, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design (Bigelow et al. , 1999). A number of management studies revealed strong positive association between OB and organizational productivity. Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. OB highlights both problems and new advantageous vistas for enterprises. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. OB has been quite influential in increasing the level of employees’ performance.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 3-2: Research Aims and Objectives: 1 3-2-1: Background Discussion: The fast food industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan. It incorporates mushroom growth of both international and national fast food chains in various parts of the country. This phenomenal growth gained prominence in 1993 and since then it has been unmatched. According to Economic Review (1998), fast food restaurants are penetrating in Pakistan. This upsurge of fast food restaurants is the results of rapidly changing culture of Pakistan and ever high level of globalization which brought wes tern value system to Pakistan.The life style of Pakistani people is becoming busier and busier. This left with very less time for cooking at home. At lunch times, people are using instant or fast foods. Similarly, Pakistanis have now easier access to western food. A large number of national and international fast food chains are opening a number of outlets all over the Pakistan. Initially, these fast food outlets were restricted to large and/or major cities of Pakistan, including federal and provincial capitals yet presently there operations have also been extended to other cities. 2 3-2-2: Research Aims: This section deals with the presentation of dissertation aims and objectives.The main purpose of this research, as envisaged in chapter one of this dissertation, was the analysis of â€Å"the perception of employees about various dynamics of organizational behavior in Fast food industry of Pakistan†. The various dimensions of organizational behavior envisaged for this disser tation research include organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment. For each of these dimensions, research objectives were developed. The achievement of these research objectives would ensure the fulfillment of overall research aim. The research model is presented here under: [pic] Figure 3-1: The Dissertation Model Figure 3-1 gives the theoretical framework for dissertation research.It shows that culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, supervision and leadership, fair treatment, job characteristics, training and work design are the factors that influence organization behavior. 3 3-2-3: Research Objectives: The overall aim of the dissertation is broken down into various research objectives. The research objectives of this dissertation are linked to nine constructs. The selection of these nine constructs is the result of the revi ew of academic and scholarly literature which was given in the second chapter of this dissertation. This section highlights research objectives along with the various variables which would be used to capture the perception of employees about various organizational dynamics.The research objectives along with extracted variables in diagrammatic form are given here under: Research Objective 1: To explore the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-2: Variables of Culture Construct Figure 3-2 gives the operational definition of the Culture construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 2: To explore the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-3: Variables of Change Construct Figure 3-3 gives the operational definition of the Change construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research O bjective 3: To explore the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-4: Variables of Customer Orientation Construct Figure 3-4 gives the operational definition of the Customer Orientation construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 4: To explore the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-5: Variables of Supervision & Leadership Construct Figure 3-5 gives the operational definition of the Supervision and Leadership construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research Objective 5: To explore the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-6: Variables of Rewards and Recognition Construct Figure 3-6 gives the operational definition of the Rewards and Recognition construct. These variables would be the s ubject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 6: To explore the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan [pic] Figure 3-7: Variables of Fair Treatment Construct Figure 3-7 gives the operational definition of the Fair Treatment construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research Objective 7: To explore the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-8: Variables of Job Characteristics Construct Figure 3-8 gives the operational definition of the Job Characteristics construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 8: To explore the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-9: Variables of Training Construct Figure 3-9 gives the operational definition of the Training construct. These variables would be the subj ect of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 9: To explore the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic]Figure 3-10: Variables of Work Environment Construct Figure 3-10 gives the operational definition of the Work environment construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. 3-4: Summary: This chapter gave the theoretical framework of the dissertation. This chapter linked the research aims and objectives with each other and also contributed the Dissertation model. Moreover, this chapter further linked each construct with the variables which have been deployed in order to operationalize each construct. The next chapter will give methodology of dissertation. CHAPTER 4: DESIGN, METHODOLOGY AND METHOD(S) OF DISSERTATION RESEARCHIn continuation to the previous chapter, which contributed the theoretical framework of the research, the current chapter will deal with the conduct of dissertation research. Major areas covered in the this chapter will be the selection of type of research, selection of population and sample size and sampling procedure, development of data collection instrument and actual conduct of research. 4. 1: Nature of Research Endeavours: In this section, the type of research will be highlighted. As it was suggested in the dissertation proposal, this research not only involves secondary research but also primary research. For secondary research, a detailed literature review was conducted using University’s library resources along with world-wide-web.Specifically, Google scholar and Emerald Insight ® were quite influential in identifying existing literature in the area of organizational behavior and related constructs. It enabled the dissertation candidate to be aware of the relevant domain of body of knowledge. Similarly, the primary research was conducted so as to capture the perceptions of employees about organizational behavior of fast food r estaurants. There are number of methods that can be engaged for the conduct of primary research including personal observation, interviewing, field survey, street ethonography, etc. The main method employed for the conduct of primary research was field survey.Primary research is advocated as compared to secondary research because primary research has more relevance to the issue as compared to secondary research. Further to this, the information generated can also be tailored in primary research and also provides direct and hands-on access to the issue. However, it generally entails more time and resources. It also requires specialized skills in designing the actual survey and subsequent analysis of the data. 4. 2: Type of Research: This section would describe the type of research engaged for this dissertation. For this, the typology suggested by Cooper and Schindler (2006) was engaged. They put forth a classification scheme for categorization of variety of research.This classificati on scheme include variables including data collection strategy, influence of the researchers in varying the research situation, respondents’ viewpoint about the research, points of time on which data was sorted from the respondents, prior crystallization of the research issue. On the basis of above mentioned criteria, the present dissertation is regarded as a descriptive research. This is advocated because of greater extent of crystallization of issue in hand. In primary research, a questionnaire was given to the fast food employee in order to tap their responses. This made this research as a communication sort. Moreover, the questionnaire was administered in the fast food restaurants and no deviation was made in the actual daily routine of the fast food employees.Consequently, the research design is ex post facto. Further to this, it is an inferential research as the insights originating from the survey will be generalized on fast food employees’ population. Moreover, it is a cross sectional research as the data was collected once. A field survey is a method of data collection in which the research goes into the actual place where the respondents, or items from which data is to be collected, are present. Cooper and Schindler (2006) advocated the use of survey for data collection. There are number of reasons for this. For instance, the field surveys are less risky as compared to laboratory experiments and stimulation.It is because the data is collected from actual field setting and is relatively reliable. In addition to this, in field surveys the surveyors reach respondents in their actual routines and own settings. In this situation, the respondents do not find any deviation and the response are highly valid. Further to this, in field surveys the surveyor has less control on the data collection whereas in simulation and laboratory experiments this is more. 4. 3: Reference to Sampling Frame: This section would cover issues related to sampling. Ex traction of sample refers to selection of a subset from the survey population. (Dr. Hani, 2010). Heckman (1979) and Emory (1980) advocated selection of such a subset on a number basis.For example, in lot of instances it is virtually impossible or very difficult to access all the members of population. Moreover, it would also be cumbersome to reach all members, attract lot of financial resources and time. On the contrary, selecting a sample would save lot of time and money. Studying a sample would be less cumbersome as compared to studying entire population. However, Heckman (1979) suggested that such sample should have the same attributes as that of population. 4. 4: Population Attributes and Sampling Design: This section would contribute the details about the population attributes. The population of this research encompasses all those people who are working in fast food chain.Fast food restaurants are those food manufacturers and sellers who serve food in last then 20 minutes. No r eference has been made to the age, gender or to some other demographic characteristics. The questionnaire employed in this research also collected demographic characteristics of the employees. It would be used for generating secondary insights so as to share the context in which research was carried out. The targeted population was employees of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. A convenience based, snow ball sampling technique was used to approach the sample. Goodman (1961), Frank and Snijders (1994) and Kaplan et al. (1987) advocated the use of snow ball sampling.This refers to a situation in which the desired characteristics of the population are scarce. In addition to getting information from sampling unit about themselves, they are requested to share information about other sampling units so that they can be accessed. Data was collected from three cities of Punjab which are Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. The data collection instrument also collected the designation of the resp ondents yet during the initial stages of the survey; respondents show that they were not very comfortable with revealing their identity. This is because of the particular nature of the research topic. It was decided not to emphasize on this question. So, the designation related data was taken out of the analysis.However, on a broad spectrum, the employees interviewed for this dissertation include people who were engaged in cooking food, in-house serving staff, delivery-men and counter staff. Majority of these respondents belong to the restaurants in the posh localities. This is because of the fact that these restaurants exist in the form of a cluster in selected cities. 4. 5: Decision on Sample Size: This section will share insights about sample selection. A sample of 100 fast-food retailers was taken for this research. In taking this decision, cost and time considerations were kept in mind. Both of these issues and geographical distance, constrain the selection of a larger sample s ize.However, the factor loading technique (the main data analysis technique) is not confined to any specific sample size. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy is a test that would be engaged to check the appropriateness of sample. Garson (2010) shared insights on deciding about the sample size for factor analysis. The sample size of this dissertation is consistent with his suggestions. 4. 6: Characteristics of Data Collection Instrument: A customized questionnaire was developed for this research. The questionnaire has two parts. First part captures responses of the fast food employees about their perception about organizational behavior.To facilitate the respondents, the questions were grouped on the basis of constructs. Part two of this questionnaire collects information about the demographic profile of the respondents. The questionnaire actually started with salutation and reveals the core aim of the research. It also introduced the dissertation candidate and his acad emic affiliation. The cover page of the questionnaire also shares the method of responding questionnaire by giving an illustration. The dissertation specifically revealed that the collected information would only be used for academic purpose and results will be disclosed in group. The respondents were thanked in anticipation for their support in accomplishing this research. 4. Pre-Testing the Data Collection Instrument: Before the actual start of the field survey, it was important to ensure that data collection instrument should bear certain characteristics. These include brevity, clarity and focus on the issue. Before the actual launch of survey, 3 questionnaires were given to actual respondents and were evaluated for desired characteristics. Certain insights related to use of words, questions sequence and length of questionnaire was adjusted. The questionnaire was improved and launched. The addition of survey filling instruction was an attempt to improve the conduct of the survey. 4. 8: Field Survey and Data Collection – Primary and Secondary Research:At the start of this research, it was envisaged that completion of this dissertation will require both secondary and primary research. Journals, magazine, online databases and library resources were quite influential. So far primary data was concerned; a soft copy of questionnaire was send to the managers of fast food restaurants. The managers of fast food chain were requested to support in accomplishment of dissertation by cooperating in collecting data. The managers were requested to arrange prints of them and share those with employees. The employees filled those questionnaires and retuned them to managers. The managers, on request of dissertation candidate, deputed an employee and get those entered in SPSS and emailed those back to dissertation candidate.As the questionnaires were to be returned to the organizational representative instead of dissertat