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

“Nettles” by Vernon Scannell Essay

Nettles” by poet Vernon Scannell is a reflective poem based on the poet trying to protect his son from hurting himself in a nettle bed. I found this poem very emotional and touching and this is mainly why I chose to write about it. The poet reflects on his own experience to prove his point of view, and he achieves this, and I indent to analyse what point he is trying to convey in this poem. The poem is set in the poetÂ’s own garden, with the nettles hidden out of sight behind the shed. The young child (the poetÂ’s son) falls into the nettle bed, which causes him to cry as it hurt him. This poem is extremely effective as it means a lot more than just a boy falling into nettles. The message that the poet has expressed in this poem is that parents canÂ’t always protect there children no mater how hard they try. Also, it is very emotional, about the fatherÂ’s feelings for his son, which makes the poem very dramatical and more effective. The use of imagery in the poem effectively helps the poet get his message across. The poet uses different techniques to make the poem more interesting and seem more realistic. This helps us imagine the scene clearly and creates an atmosphere. “That regiment of spite behind the shed. It was no place for rest”The strong word “spite” emphasises how much malicious the nettles are, that they have a strong desire to hurt someone, in this case the young boy. Saying a “regiment of spite” links to battle, and the fact these nettles want to cause harm and pain, they are linked to war, as though they are soldiers. They are behind the shed, and this gives us thoughts on how sly they are. They lurk out of sight, and wait to attack. This tells us how merciless they are, rule and harmful. “No place for rest” is a very effective phrase to use here, as it is a nettle bed. “Bed” is associated with sleeping, resting and comfort, and to say nettle “bed” seems curious to the poet, as nettles are associated with nothing but pain discomfort and suffering. The poet clearly feels this is no place for sleeping or resting. “Went outside and slashed in fury with it, till not a nettle in that fierce  parade stood upright anymore.”The use of personification effectively illustrates the poetÂ’s message. We can clearly tell the poet is furious with the nettles, for hurting his child, as the words “slashed in fury” tell us this. “Fury” is a very strong word, and emphasizes how angry he feels. “Slashed” also suggest how fast he acts, and used with the words fury creates a sense of hatred towards the nettles, and we can imagine why. The nettles hear are described as a vicious army, the father seeks revenge on them, and clearly gains it as it is followed with “stood upright anymore”. This is like an army being defeated, lying dead on the ground, no longer standing tall. “But in two weeks the busy sun and rain had called up tall recruits behind the shed.”The poet has used metaphors in the poem to illustrate his message. Yet again, the nettles are referred to as though they are an army, and they have been called up to fight in a war. The fact they are described as “tall” makes them seem stronger, bolder and intimidating, the poet is trying to create an image of these nettles leering over the child. Also, they are concealed behind the shed, making them seem sly and cunning, ready to sneak out and hurt the boy when he least expects it. Therefore, the nettles have a much better advantage than him, so he will be much likely to be hurt again. Word choice is an important feature in this poem, as it helps us understand the poetÂ’s message. The poet cleverly uses words so we understand his message. This is very effective. Here is an example of word choice. “White blisters beaded on his tender skin”The poet has used efficient adjectives to describe the boyÂ’s skin. “White blisters” gives thoughts of pain. It makes us think of pain and suffering, which is good as that, is what the young boy feels. It is also tells us how young and vulnerable the child is, because “tender” suggests this. It also suggests how innocent and young he is, that he needs to be protected from the vicious nettles. Also, “blisters beaded”, tells us that the boy may be scared for life. This is a terrible experience for the boy and his father, and blisters could scar him, a reminder of this event. After the poet destroys the nettle bed he decides to set fire to them:“A funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead”This is very dramatic as it is a huge fire to burn dead people, or nettles in this case. He wants to burn the dead, because they harmed his son. This phrase is very effective is make us think of death and funerals, which is usually depressing, and nettles are depressing and harmful. Fallen dead is saying the nettles have finally been defeated, and are fell down. They are described as though they are humans, or solders dying. The poetÂ’s message is that you canÂ’t always protect your children. He has used an experience he and his son with the nettles to show this, because its tells us that he tried to protect his son, but in the last line of the poem, he said “my son would often fell sharp wounds again” which tells us his son is going to get harmed, no mater how hard he trys to protect him. In conclusion, nettle’s is a fantastic poem, which tells us about the poetÂ’s feelings, and him trying to protect his son. I have enjoyed this poem, because it is very effective and interesting.

Causes & Symptoms of Stress

For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. Stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. But when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price. The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester's worth of your toughest subject. But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. The body does not distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be on most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off. Long term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression. However, anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful. This includes positive events such as getting married, buying a house, going to college, or receiving a promotion. What causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that's stressful to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it. You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction when ou can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation. You can’t completely eliminate stress from your life, but you can control how much it affects you. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity. They also increase your ability to stay calm and collected under pressure.

Attendance and Participation Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Attendance and Participation Reflection - Essay Example This paper will look at my reflection on the attendance of cloud computing classes. I began attending the classes with an aim of advancing my understanding of computing and internetworking of computers in order to advance my understanding of the interconnectivity of the computers in a network. I had not imagined of using the interconnection aspect to ease the work at my father’s business. However, when I realized the need to improve the mode of operation of the business through cloud computing, I became more and more interested in the course and devoted much of my time in learning what actually this new aspect in the field of computing really mean and how I could apply this knowledge to improve and expand the business. The course made me realize that I can actually use only one computer as my main server and connect several other computers (commonly referred to as the daughter computers) to it in order to share information from a single pool. These other daughter computers (sister stations) can then be linked to one another and the same software be used at t he same time by several other users (multiple user aspect) (Jansen and Grace, 2011). Upon the realization of how easy computers can make life so cheap and efficient, I tried so much to invest much of my time in learning the basics of interconnectivity so that I could do this back at the business site. The topic on â€Å"Reliable and Secure it services† which was taught in the middle of the course actually evoked more my curiosity concerning how banks operate in sharing their services in different regions without actually doing it through the internet as I thought before. The topic was examining how reliable and secure such a network can be as compared to the other types of networking such as the global networking processes enabled by the companies such as Google and Microsoft. I then realized I can help my father expand his business in various regions and monitor the operations and remittance of the

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Specialty Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Specialty Courts - Essay Example Specialty courts have different goals depending on the category of specialty courts they are. There are therapeutic courts and nontherapeutic courts. The aim of therapeutic courts is the improvement of personal health in various areas such as treatment of mental health and substance problems. The courts also seek to try to increase court efficiency. As for nontherapeutic courts, their main objective is to increase court efficiency. Judges and court staff with special training would make this objective achievable, as they would decrease the time required to solve cases. Efficiency would, in turn, minimize uncertainty, disruptions and even stress associated with cases dragging on for long. The main aim of unified family courts is to have the management of all issues that pertain to a single family in one place. Such issues include divorce, equitable division of property, child custody and juvenile delinquency. The emphasis of these courts is on rehabilitation and safeguarding the inter ests of children. On the other hand, DTCs aim at treating people under criminal charges and who have problems with drugs and alcohol. They aim at reducing the rates of rearrest for offenses related to substance abuse.The authors planned to evaluate the specialty courts in two steps. First, they would assess how the presence of unified family courts and drug treatment courts in a North Carolina influenced the time children stayed under foster care and the placement they got when leaving foster care.

Petrobras and cost of capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Petrobras and cost of capital - Essay Example Petrobras was operating in a higher risk environment due to Brazil’s economic turbulence. The cost of debt for any given company is the cost of raising extra revenue by issuing the debt. Likewise, the cost of equity refers to that extra revenue associated with issue of the equity shares. The cost of capital therefore is derived from the average value of issuing the two in the proportion capital they present and this is what is referred to as the WACC (weighted average cost of capital) as to be discussed later in this paper. For a company like Petrobras, the financing costs can be derived by use of the WACC. The major players in the multinational oil industry as indicated in exhibit 1 of the case have almost a similar cost of capital ranging from 7.6% of BP to 9.0% of ocean energy indicating an average difference of 1.4%. Petrobras’ cost of capital is further up at 15% reflecting a massive difference of 6%. This is largely attributed to the company’s distinct domestic involvement in terms of its operations. The company is largely owned by the government and hence it was solely producing for a Brazilian market in the quest to eliminate its over dependence on international oil imports. This is despite the economic turbulence of the country’s economy that has been characterized by fluctuations in interest rates, inflation rates, local currency depreciation among other economic downfall, which is further reflected into the company’s CA.... erations made investors assign it the country risks assigned to similar firms operating in the country and as a consequence, the cost of capital was significantly raised. There are sentiments by analysts that the company’s CA ought to have been excluded from the â€Å"burden† of the respective additional costs incurred from Brazil's sovereign spread during the derivation of kd (cost of debt) and derived capital or equity (Antweiler 2005). This will ensure that the risk bored or characterized by the company’s operations are optimally constituted hence bringing its cost of capital at par with similar companies. This is the main reason why the company embarked on expansion in the South American markets like Argentina, as mentioned in the case. Petrobras's WACC Analysis To begin, there are two ways that companies may use to evaluate their cost of capital: the first one is by use of expected equity cash flow and the required rate of return whereas the second approach focuses on the use of free cash flow and the weighted average cost of capital. The WACC calculation for Petrobras uses comparable companies to produce a single discount rate. This is despite of the fact that an industry average WACC is the most appropriate for Petrobras on a long-term basis. Suppose there exists any short-term differences between the industry WACC and Petrobras's WACC, then it goes that Petrobras will be more likely to go back to the industry WACC on a long-term basis. The company’s WACC calculation uses Petrobras's highest risk free rate, because no investment can have a cost of capital that is better than risk free. This situation may occur if the beta is negative and Petrobras uses a significant proportion of equity capital. While the company had decided to implement an

Advanced Criminalities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advanced Criminalities - Assignment Example The amount (percentage) of ethanol in beer varies depending on brands. The amount (percentage) of ethanol in the beer that the accused can be assumed to be a particular value so that everybody reads the same script given the difference in the percentages of ethanol in beer. iv) The test results showed that the accused was not able to perform some physical activities like standing on one leg as well as walking. It is very wrong to say that the only thing, which can impair one from walking or standing on one leg, is alcohol. There are numerous factors that can make one unable to walk. Health status of a person a significant factor that can deter someone from walking or standing on one leg. The assumption, therefore, is that the accused was of good health. No. One cannot have such high percentage of alcohol in the blood with just four beer. The person must have consumed copious amounts of beer. The percentage of ethanol in the beer was 3.5%. This value is very low and, therefore, four beers cannot result in recording 0.17% blood alcohol level. The person may have consumed four beers as he claims but might have also consumed other additional drinks, which may be responsible for the o.17% blood alcohol level. The range of maximum blood alcohol level at which one is allowed to operate a vehicle on a public road is in most states is 0.5- 0.8 for males and 0.25-0.7 for females. The blood alcohol concentration mostly depends on the gender, the period over which the alcohol was taken, the amount of food present in the stomach, the weight as well as the metabolism rate. However, it is always important to note that in as much as the BAC level of a person can be estimated, the number of drinks, height and weight alone cannot help in determining the BAC. (Zernig, Salaria, Kurz, 2000. Pg. 420) Eight 4-ounce glasses of wine with approximately 12% alcohol content would be required to make the BAC level to be 0.17%.  Ã‚  

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 44

Reflection - Essay Example Indeed, as an international student from UAE, my school allocated me a class that comprised of students from other countries. Although most students came from U.K and U.S there were a significant number of students from other countries like Nigeria, Japan, and Mexico. Most uniquely, I was the only student from UAE and this posed a great challenge to my social and academic life. It was clear from the onset that most of the students came from different cultural, religious, economic, and social backgrounds. I was surprised how the differences among the new students will allow us to succeed in our academic pursuit. However, upon settling down in class, one of the administrators explained the organizational culture of the school and the need to adopt diversity in our class. The administrator defined the school’s policy and advocated for the cultural diversity and respect to the code of ethics. Indeed, he stated that English is the official language of communication and studying at the school and that all students should respect the cultural and religious backgrounds of all students. With this, the administrator guaranteed good cohesion and unity of purpose in our studies and relevant extra curriculum activities. The administrator stated that the school’s policy respects all religions and disregards any discrimination based on social and economic status. He also stated that all students have a right to interact with any students and noted that our studies will include group discussions, which will include students from different backgrounds. He therefore encouraged us to share our cultural values for purposes of adopting the cultural values that will boost our academic pursuit. This experience taught me the need to adopt cultural diversity in my studies. It also taught me that I cannot exist in isolation and that it requires the

Switzerland Country Analysis pt 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Switzerland Country Analysis pt 4 - Assignment Example Swaziland is situated adjacent to major cities and is being considered as a centre for international trade and business due to its strategic location (Oberson & Hull, 2011). Despite being a land lock country, the country has a competitive edge over other countries in the surrounding. According to a Global Competitive Report, 2012 Switzerland is among the most competitive countries in international trade. The country is made up of a strong federal political systems, infrastructure and judiciary system that makes more competitive that its counter parts. Additionally, the country consists of cities like Geneva and Zurich where, the headquarters for various international banks and financial institutions are situated (Global Competitive Report, 2012). In above connection, Switzerland participates in international trade in various ways. For instance, Switzerland contains approximate 2/3 of its international investments in Europe and the rest in the united state, Germany, Italy and France (Federal Department of Environment Transport, Energy & Communication, 2012). Switzerland has been undergoing via a tremendous economic growth. However, Switzerland international business has been affected by political and economic activities (Ghauri, 2003). However, various firms in Switzerland come together to form collaborations such as; strategic alliances in order to overcome this challenges. Strategic alliances help towards ensuring effective participation in the international business (Ghauri, 2003). Additionally, strategic partnership and alliances ensures efficient flow of imports and exports (Ghauri, 2003).Additionally, Switzerland has well established international labor organization that is based in ‘Geneva.... The country has well defined strategies that help towards value creation as well as poverty reduction (Ghauri, 2003). The federal government of Switzerland has well established Information Communication technology that enhances efficiency in communication process (Federal Department of Environment Transport, Energy & Communication, 2012). Additionally, Switzerland has formulated poverty reduction strategy. Those strategies aim at ensuring alleviation of poverty through harmonization of development activities across the country (Federal Department of Environment Transport, Energy & Communication, 2012). Initially, Switzerland was a centralized state made up of small independent states united by treaties (Kalin, 2000). The country was made up of twenty six cantons as well as communes who had an approximate figure of three hundreds before they decided to become decentralized under one federal government (Kalin, 2000). The country become decentralized in 1884 with an aim of establishing a common market that could allow free flow of goods and services between different state.Additionally, the old system of government was unable to solve disputes and relied heavily on Cantons (Kalin, 2000). Therefore, there was a great need to formulate a decentralized federal system of government that could help local governments at grass root levels in solving their problems (Kalin, 2000). Majority of the firms in Switzerland have functional and divisional structures as well as matrix organizational structures (Hoag & Cooper, 2006). Functional structures tend to allot task based on expertise that each department can perform better. On the contrary, divisional structures

Is There Such a Thing as Ethical Hacking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Is There Such a Thing as Ethical Hacking - Essay Example This sudden increase in popularity made authorities restrict its usage; this made programmers use different ways to get into different systems by stealing passkeys, by looking for vulnerabilities in the protected systems and exploiting them to access programs that they want to use and to alter the restrictions levied by the authority (COFFIN, 2003). Initially these intrusions were con ducted for small purposes such as for fun and to steal computer time, but as restrictions increased, the degree of harm done by these break-ins became adverse. For example: due to these break-ins, computer system owners had to get their computers repaired in certain instances and they even experienced major losses. The destructions conducted by intruders, were soon caught by the eyes of media and media reported these destructions while referring computer criminals as hackers and presenting them as people who intrude computer systems to gain enjoyment, benefits and revenge. During the early days of hacki ng, the term hacker was referred to as a person who has great skills, so different terminologies were invented to differentiate between hackers who use this skill to conduct destructive activities and those who don’t commit too much damage. Discussion As internet became a portion of the human world, concerns for security for computer systems have increased for organizations and government. Increase in concern for security has been of top most issue because these business and governments want to conduct business activities such as managing, marketing and financing through the use of computer technology and they have a fear of being hacked. While on the other end customers have a fear that their personal information and information that can cause huge damage can be caused due to vulnerabilities in security system. One way to solve this issue figured out by authorities was to make independent hackers break into these systems and analyze the degree of vulnerability and security r isk faced by these systems. In such cases, hacking is considered as auditing firm’s records to find out what the problem is and people who conduct this kind of hacking are recognized as ethical hackers and the task they perform is referred to as ethical hackers. They are referred to as â€Å"ethical† hackers because they are conducting this task with the consent of the organizations, they are conducting these tasks for the right reasons which are to find vulnerabilities in the system and provide solutions and protective measures to make the systems safe. This system of Ethical hacking is being used for years, for example: this method was once utilized by the air force of United States of America to identify any possible weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the system regarded as Multics (Ethical 2001). The end result of this exercise determined that Multics was one of the best systems and was better than other systems; still it had certain degree of weaknesses and vulnera bilities. These vulnerabilities were identified in the hardware, software and processes of the system, and these vulnerabilities could be exploited very easily. The efforts made by the ethical hackers helped identify the sources and the secrets that could have been easily obtained by unethical

Victoria Climbies Death and Trial Essay Example for Free

Victoria Climbies Death and Trial Essay Victoria Climbies life was short and tragic. Her murder prompted the largest review of child protection arrangements in the UK. Find out more about the story. The Climbie trial Carl Manning and Marie Therese Kouao are charged with the murder of Victoria Climbie. During police interviews both claim that Victoria was possessed. November 2000: The trial opens with the prosecution making it clear that the blame lay not only with Kouao and Manning in the dock but child protection authorities who had been blindingly incompetent. Manning denies murder but pleads guilty to child cruelty and manslaughter. Kouao denies all charges. 12 January 2001: Almost a year after Victoria Climbies death, Manning and Kouao are found guilty of her murder. Sentencing both of them to life imprisonment, Judge Richard Hawkins says: What Anna endured was truly unimaginable. She died at both your hands, a lonely drawn out death. A police diagram of injuries on Victorias body Regular contact Reporting to a workshop into the inquiry in London into Victorias death Mr Davies was due to say: Crisis management is the day-to-day reality of staff working in social services and they are being stretched beyond the limit.†There is no doubt in my mind that these factors played a key part in the case of Victoria Climbie and I fear that unless urgent action is taken, it is only a matter of time before another child is murdered. Victoria was killed despite regular contact with four local authorities, two police child protection teams, two hospitals and social workers. A Unison survey on typical working conditions in social services teams backs Mr Owens assertions. Six out of 10 social workers said that even if all of the many vacant posts in the profession were filled there would still not be enough staff. An overwhelming majority of 96% said case loads were too heavy, while 88% said new staff were thrown in at the deep end. More than nine out of ten reported acute levels of stress and staff burn-out, while a similar number said they had to take work home. The survey was sent to the 120 Unison local authority branches with members in social services children and  families teams, and 53 replies were received. Kouao systematically abused Victoria It is only a matter of time before there is a repeat of the Victoria Climbie murder, public service union Unison has warned. It said a chronic shortage of skilled staff and funding has left social workers stretched beyond the limit†. The unions national officer for social workers, Owen Davies, is expected to call on the government and local authorities to face up to their responsibilities†. Eight-year-old Victoria died in February 2000 with 128 injuries on her body inflicted by her great-aunt Marie Therese Kouao and Kouaos boyfriend, Carl Manning.

Japanization and Japanese Working Practices

Japanization and Japanese Working Practices Introduction Japan, a land of incredible diversity; modern yet steeped in custom; home of the friendliest of welcomes. Japanese celebrate the time of year with hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties under the blossom trees. Japanization is the process in which Japanese culture dominates, assimilates or influences other cultures. It’s also called nippanization. Japanese style management and HRM has been selectively adapted and applied around the world. Japan has a homogenous culture and foreign immigrants are very small percentage of its population. Japanization is not accepted completely around the globe. Here we are going to examine why the spread of Japanese management is constrained by local culture and working practices with the help of a case study material. Japanization Japanese are collectivistic, where as Britain and United States people are individualistic. In-group in Britain includes only a nuclear family i.e., spouse, children and sometimes spouse’s widowed or infirm parent. In India it is a joint family includes grand parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, other relatives and close friends. But in Japan we can find an additional member in the in-group: the company for which a person works. In Hofstede’s study Japan scored 46 on individualism. On the other hand USA and UK scored 91 and 89 respectively. Japanese are very hard working. Also they have strong sense of duty and indebtedness. (Tayeb, 2005) The trade unions in Japan are company based. The companies like Toyota, Nissan and Hitachi has their own unions. In UK it is craft based. I.e. fire fighters, mine workers and teachers and so on has their unions. Indebtedness: In 2003, canon prepared to buy Mizuho shares, but later it fell into financial troubles i.e. to pay a debt to Fuji bank. Fuji bank made canon out of trouble when it fell into problems 30 years ago. Ringi method: It is a special characteristic of Japanese enterprises in decision making. In this process the written proposal will be circulated first to those who are going to be affected and then to the senior management. It is very time consuming process. So it is used for only important decision making. (Misumi, 1984). Quality circles: It is a small group activity in which blue collar and white collar workers from different departments of a company assembled voluntarily. These volunteers are trained in problem identification and problem solving techniques. It is perfectly tuned with the Japanese collectivism. Life-time employment (Nenko): Japanese HRM practices are sustained by their certain management practices such as life time employment. This obviously creates stable work environment and no fear of Unemployment. It means that employees are hired after their education and remain with the same company till their retirement. Nenko is operated by large firms. Japanese Management Kaizen philosophy: Kaizen is defined as continuous improvement that involves each and every employee from executives to labourers with managers in between them. Kaizen is a driving force and a vital tool to Japanese success. This philosophy has been implemented round the globe followed by the Japanese successful lead. It is used as a method to increase production values and improve employee morale and safety. Kaizen is taken from words ‘kai’, which means continuous and ‘zen’, which means improvement. Kaizen concept is the primary difference between how change is viewed by Japanese and in the west. Western companies reject kaizen just because of without knowing about it. American companies run by years without any change. On the other hand Japanese companies are in a state of continuous change and improvement. After World War 2, most of the Japanese companies brought new challenges everyday and moulded those challenges into progress. Displaying goals, recognition and suggestions helps to improve communication and boost morale. This is an endless process. If we do not maintain the standards it results in the â€Å"two steps forward and one step backward† effect. Only for this reason maintenance and improvement go collectively by Japanese managers. By improving standardised activities and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate waste. â€Å"People are behind our success. Machines don’t have new ideas, solve problems and grasp opportunities. Only people who are involved and thinking can make a difference. Almost every auto plant in UK and USA has the same machinery but how people are utilized and involver varies widely from one company to another. The work force gives any company its true competitive edge†. (Toyota motors-general manager) Generally Japanese managers have an easier time implementing employee suggestions than managers in the USA. Japanese managers show their willingness to  go along continuous change which contributes to following change. Making the job easier. Making the job more productive. Removing drudgery from the job. Improving product quality. Removing nuisance from the job. Saving time and cost. Making the job safer. Japanese manufacturing techniques: Japanese style of manufacturing has three interlinked parts involved in it. Flexibility Quality Minimum waste In the 1980’s, imported cars accounts for 27% of us sales. Same changes had occurred in other industries in UK and USA also. The manufacturers like motorcycles, camera, television and video equipment have disappeared by the higher quality Japanese products. Poke-a-yolk: It is purely a Japanese term which means mistake or fool proofing. Poke-a-yolk is the basis of zero quality control method used for eliminating and avoiding mistakes. Basically this technique is used in manufacturing units, hospitals, aircraft maintenance and human resources. Lean production: Lean production system is one which produces cars more cheaply with higher quality than its rivals. In 1998, ford and GM took 50% more hours to make a car than Toyota. In 2006, Toyota builds an average car within 29 hours. On the other hand GM workers took 33 hours. It’s a big improvement. Mr Cowger said, 90% of the 178 gm plants almost in 33 countries adopted the lean production system. Toyota implemented the ‘just-in-time’ manufacturing system in which suppliers sends parts daily or many times a day. Toyota develops a new model in 18 months compared to three years it takes GM. This is not Japanese companies vs. American companies; it is smart Japanese companies vs. smart American companies. The key reason why Toyota is over taking GM as the dominant car industry is its production system i.e. lean production system. In Toyota, workers grouped into teams and they are allocated to individual goals to correct mistakes. (s.steve, BBC news) Historical perspective: The origin of benchmarking There is no doubt that the art of benchmarking is originated in Japan. Simply it is defined as loaning of employees to other organisations. Benchmarking means being humble enough to acknowledge that others may be smarter, and being clever enough to learn how to become just as smart – or even smarter. The essence of benchmarking is it enables us to learn our own processes and also from others. USA, UK and other companies are benchmarking Toyota production system (TPS). It is mainly focuses on the implementation of the waste reduction tools. This system is known as ‘the Toyota way’. (Forrest breyfogle, 2008). The reasons for the failure of Japanese firms overseas: Inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities Difficulties with new environment Personal or emotional problems Lack of technical competence Inability of spouse to adjust Japanese style management is more suitable to blue collar than white collar workers Poor communication Status difference between managers and staff Improper presentation of objectives No promotion for non-Japanese Local managers not involved in key decisions Toyota acts on overwork culture: Japanese corporate culture has been criticised in UK for being workaholic. Previously it allowed workers to work two hours overtime a month for voluntary activities such as ‘qc’, stands for quality circles. This decision came into action after a court order at the death of a 30 year old Toyota worker collapsed at the plant and died due to overwork. Public criticism has been growing on overworking culture. Toyota is best known for using ideas of employees to improve production methods and minimize costs. (BBC news, 2008) Psychological safety: Psychological safety was the root cause for the failure of Toyota concept in other countries. It is especially crucial where knowledge constantly changes, workers need to be collaborating and workers make decisions without intervention of the management. (p.gupta, 2008). Hofstede’s research: Hofstede’s framework is widely used by researchers and practitioners in the field of intercultural management. According to hofstede the differences in responses could be examined by four main factors. Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Individualism Masculinity Power distance: Power distance relates to the extent to which societies discriminates the different levels of employees in any organization i.e. how unequally the employees are treated in any company. It is the relation between blue collar and white collar workers. It should be less in order to achieve any success. In high power distance countries superiors seen to be more powerful than heir subordinates. Countries with low power distance favour a more democratic style of management. Uncertainty avoidance: It refers to the degree to which they try to avoid uncertain situations by discouraging the risk taking activities. Countries with low uncertainty avoidance will adopt flexible structures and encourage more diverse views. (Chris. B, Paul. S guy. V, 2007) Individualism: Individualism means the extent to which individuals try to merge into groups. In the usa we can find more individualism. It is to gain self-respect and personal achievement. In the contrast, collectivistic society’s people are integrated into strong groups. Masculinity: It measures the extent to which male values are dominated such as assertiveness, acquisition of money and goods and not caring for others. References: Toyota works on over work culture, Thursday, 22 may 2008 http://search.bbc.co.uk/search?site=News+-+Businessq=toyota%20culture%20in%20uktab=allscope=all Misumi, J. (1984).’Decision making in Japanese groups and organisations’, in international year-book of organisational democracy. Volume. 2, Chichester: Wiley. Forest breyfogle,dec 10th 2008. http://www.smartersolutions.com/blog/forrestbreyfogle/?p=551 Monir h. tayeb 2005. International human resource management, a multinational company perspective Gupta,p.’general motors and Toyota cultural differences’.