Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time review Essay

Plot: Christopher Boone lives with his father in a village. His mother died when he was younger from a heart-attack and the dad was left alone with the challenge of upbringing an autistic child who does not respond like a normal child would. The father has limited money and mental stimulants for the child and does his best to hold back his frustration. However, the reader soon learns that Chris has not been told the complete truth and perhaps that the people he loves have a hidden past. He then begins to understand what has happened and Mark Haddon portrays the challenges he is faced with without the constant safeguarding he needs to feel secure. My Thoughts: I understand that this book is renowned and took the book sales by storm; managing to pick up â€Å"Best novel† and â€Å"Book of the Year† at the Whitbread book awards in 2003, but I do not find it at all appealing. I find myself unable to sympathise with Chris despite Haddon’s brilliant depiction of the mind of a child with autism, as Haddon does writes convincingly through the eyes of an autistic child. I do not think that this is a book that revolves around Asbergers; but instead about being different in general and Haddon is trying to make us see the world through a different lens. He just uses Asbergers as a means of conveying this. Furthermore, as Chris is very rational yet unemotional, there is no depth of character in the novel as Chris is only able to see the world through one plane and cannot build up good character depth, which most popular books have, eg. – â€Å"Harry Potter† and â€Å"The Lord of the Rings†. This direct approach also means that there is no humour apart from the main reoccurring joke of how Chris responds to things which lands im in all sorts of faux pas, (and the novelty of this soon wears off). However, this does not mean to say that I do not understand why it is so popular; it just isn’t something that really enraptured me, and to be honest, it seemed like a waste for a storyline that had the potential to be so rich in dramatic emphasis to be written in such a simplistic style. I have given it two stars but the average for this book is a four/five. Recommendations: If you liked this book I would strongly recommend these as they are both written in a diary style and are about people who do not necessarily fit the norm. The Diary of Adrian Mole (4/5) Molesworth (5/5)

Environmental Effects of Fast-Food Essay

The primary goal What Is Organic Agriculture? of organic agriculture is to optimize the health A and productivity of interdependent According to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic agriculture is â€Å"an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on communities of management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The soil life, plants, rimary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of animals, and people. interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals, and people. † (NOSB, 2003) Though the term â€Å"organic† is defined by law (see â€Å"Legal† section on pages 3 and 4), the terms â€Å"natural† and â€Å"eco-friendly† are not. Labels that contain those terms may imply some organic methods were used in the production of the foodstuff but do not guarantee complete adherence to organic practices as defined by a law. Some products marketed as â€Å"natural† may have been produced with synthetic or manufactured products (those not onsidered to be â€Å"organic†), such as â€Å"natural beef. Farming without tion statistics in the United States the use of petroleum-based chemicals (USDA-ERS, 2002). This census, conductare young people (fertilizers and pesticides) was the sole ed in 2002, identified U. S. farmers who and college-educated option for farmers until after World War reported 2. 5 million acres of land II. The war brought with it technologies dedicated to organic production. This consumers. that were useful to agricultural producfigure probably under-represents current tion. For example, ammonium nitrate production because many organic farmused for munitions during World War II ers produce their products organically, volved into ammonium nitrate fer tilizer; but sell less than $15,000 per year and are exempt organophosphate nerve gas production led to the from inspection (see â€Å"Organic Certification†), or do development of powerful insecticides. These technot label their product as organic and, in general, nical advances since World War II have resulted in are direct marketing to a local customer. In 1999, significant economic benefits as well as environIowa farmers reported 150,000 acres of organic mental and social detriments. Organic agriculture cropland to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and seeks to use those advances that consistently yield Land Stewardship (IDALS) survey. This increase in benefits, such as new varieties of crops, precision organic acreage in Iowa represents a doubling from agriculture technologies, and more efficient the previous year and a sixfold increase since 1996. machinery, while discarding those methods that The U. S. organic industry continues to grow at have led to negative impacts on society and the a rate of 20 percent annually. Industry estimates environment, such as pesticide pollution and insect placed it at $10 billion in 2001. The organic industry pest resistance. Organic farming is considered a s a consumer-driven market. According to industry systems approach, where interactions between surveys, the largest purchasers of organic products components (crops, animals, insects, soil) are as are young people and college-educated consumers. important as the whole farm itself. Today we are faced with the unique opportunity to Instead of using synthetic fertilizers, organic take advantage of a growing market demand and farmers use crop rotations, cover crops, and comuse the technologies developed over the past 50 post to maintain or enhance soil fertility. Also, years. More and more farmers are interested in nstead of using synthetic pesticides, organic the profitability and environmental benefits that farmers employ biological, cultural, and physical organic systems yield. methods to limit pest expansion and increase populations of beneficial insects. Geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs), such as herbicideresistant seeds and plants, as well as product ingredients, such as GM-lecithin, are disallowed in organic agriculture because they constitute synthetic inputs and pose unknown risks (see GMO discussion opposite).

Research Paper, Finance and Accounting Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

, Finance and Accounting - Research Paper Example Research Paper, Finance and Accounting Hence having an accounting background opens the door to a wide range of career opportunities. Accounting has always been considered as the language and basic tool of business and it is concerned with determining how a business is doing and what the bottom line of the business is. The demand for accountant has been growing and it is outstripping supply. There are a lot of field where accounting can be done like tax, managerial, audit, forensic, governmental, consulting etc. This paper will discuss about the pros and cons of each of the above field of accounting and arrive at the most important one among them which is more relevant today. Managerial accounting is referred to as management accounting and is defined as the internal business building role of finance and accounting professionals who designs, implement and manage internal systems that supports effective decisions and support, plan and control, the value creation operation of an organization. In other words, managerial accounting supports the decision making process through planning and controlling operations. Managerial accounting emphasizes on future event of a company and hence is often considered to be forward looking and uses past result as the basis for estimating future results. It increases the efficiency of a company as everything is done in management accounting in a scientific way of evaluation and compares the performance of the company.

Explain what you understand by the ideas of an 'indigenous people', Essay

Explain what you understand by the ideas of an 'indigenous people', first people, or an 'indigene'. What do you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of these terms - Essay Example Governments have noted the importance of these territories and have even sought to protect them in their natural setting rather than move them to different areas where they may lose what they have sought to protect over the decades (Merlan 105). Others have already been assimilated into the western culture or the American way of life and have lost their identity as members of their original community. As such, they seek to spread the spirit of cosmopolitanism everywhere. This may be seen in the way the Europeans assimilated African societies and later the Africans chose to adopt almost everything that is western (Baaz and Palmberg 29). Others have imitated the western culture to some extent but retained their traditions when it comes to certain rituals that favor traditional points of view. The current globalization has made it difficult for many cultures to maintain their traditions and this has strained many relations. Those who live in rural areas are seen to be the greatest adherents of traditions and customs in many societies. However, the migration that has led many to leave the rural areas to the urban areas in search of greener pastures has come with its constraints (Howard 80). Many have abandoned their cultures and even forgotten about their traditional roots. They have been assimilated into other cultures that have come as a result of the different people that inhabit many of these urban centers. The media has also played a considerable role in eroding many beliefs that people held years ago in the name of civilization (Merlan 105). However, there are others who are termed as the indigenous people. These are groups of people who are said to have stuck to their traditional roots and continue to practice their cultures based on their historical ties that are said to have existed before colonization. These people maintain their cultures despite the big divide between theirs and the mainstream culture as well as political systems (WGIP 2). They have

Islamic Women in the Socio-Political World Case Study

Islamic Women in the Socio-Political World - Case Study Example As the report stresses the society covered by the virtues and rules of Islamic religion can be observed and be seen to have a patriarchal form where male dominates the female. This is where we get to see the real and the original role of women in the Islamic society. This paper discusses that part of the teachings of the Q’uran is for women to be submissive to their husbands especially after marriage. It is also said that a woman has no right to talk with other male other than her husband or close relatives. Going over what is mandated and what is expected for women to do is against the Q’uran. However, this kind of belief and practices no matter how oppressive as seen by many feminists and critics continue to spread and obviously still being practiced to places where Islam resides. But going deeper to the subject of women’s oppressive role in the Islamic society, there can be no doubt that women for their part somehow influence male as they make decisions that affect political and economical status. It is interesting to know that the fact that they are submissive to their husbands, they can still affect these decisions, even if they are out of power. Power and influence the book The Heritage of Islam claims are not the same or co-terminous. The quoted line above gives us an inkling that women are significant in the society not because we are arguing about existence but because the effect of women’s influence to male’s decision-making that most of the times is indirectly done and indirectly observed. This situation has long been observed by women and therefore in answer to this need or rather call for change, they have also decided to take part in the different challenges that male have been facing since time immemorial. In the same book by Creevey, it can be understood that with the search for bigger roles in the society, this in now the very famous words we call 'women empowerment.' The goal of this paper is not merely to check what empowerment of women means, or what the process is. This is just however to simply reiterate the events and factors that affected Islamic women to come out of their shells being oppressed masked by the role of a wife to their husbands. The Heritage of women somehow gives us a glimpse of this abrupt change in the status and giving the Western African as an example, we could see how women tried to rise from the simple roles of just being a wife. Nowhere in West Africa do women control the political structures or dominate the political process. In all West African countries they are permitted to

GENETICS AND GENE MUTATION Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GENETICS AND GENE MUTATION - Coursework Example What meaning do these mRNA codons have for protein synthesis? Explanation: mRNA is essential in protein synthesis because it transports genetic information from the DNA contained in the nucleus to its place in the ribosome. In short, mRNA contains the genetic information needed to make proteins during transcription. The protein molecule that results from the process therefore has genetic information identical to the original genetic material of the individual (Clark, Protein Synthesis, 2007). Did the two mutations result in a change in the final proteins? If so, describe the change. Response/ explanation: All mutations will definitely result in the production of different final proteins, such as the changes caused by the three mutations in the diagram above. Specifically, the two genetic mutations above were significant. In the first mutation, the mutation coded for ILE when in fact MET should be the normal initiation code. The second mutation coded for ASP and PRO instead of HIS and ARG when the gene is normal. However, the third mutation is not that significant since UAA is also a termination codon just like UGA. Such mutations that result in significant changes in proteins may actually manifest as physiological problems in the individual later on (Clark, DNA Mutations, 2007). In general, why might a change in amino acid sequence affect protein function? Explanation: Protein function may be affected even by slight changes in amino acid sequence. This happens in protein synthesis. These changes may manifest as genetic disorders in the individual or even death (Clark, DNA Mutations, 2007). Part II Punnett Square a. Chances (%) for healthy child, not a carrier b. Chances (%) for child that is carrier for cystic fibrosis trait c. Chances (%) for child with cystic fibrosis Fill out/adapt Punnett Square: ___C___ __c___ ___C___ CC Cc ___c___ Cc cc a. Chances (%) for healthy child, not a carrier: 25% (CC) b. % for child that is carrier for cystic fibrosis trait: 50% (Cc) c. % for child with cystic fibrosis: 25% (cc) Part III: Essay How do both meiosis and sexual reproduction (fertilization) produce offspring that differ genetically from the parents? Include steps in meiosis that increase variability Include the process of fertilization. Explanation: Crossing over, or the exchange of genetic material, which takes place during meiosis is responsible for the variation that may show up in the offspring. Prophase I of meiosis is the one responsible for crossing over. The result of this particular process is the production of chromosomes, some of which have maternal and some have paternal traits. During metaphase I, there is another method of variation and this is known as the independent assortment of homologous chromosome pairs. In anaphase I, there is also variation as there is random mixed variation of maternal and paternal chromosomes. Variation is also produced through fertilization because sex cells from both parents combine in many different ways in order to form a new individual. The chromosomes of the father

The Effect on Job Satisfaction Among Urban Police Officers Dissertation

The Effect on Job Satisfaction Among Urban Police Officers - Dissertation Example This research will begin with the statement that historically, police officers work is to protect life, liberty, and property, the role of police officers comes with many challenges such as fighting, deterring and preventing crimes. In the course of fulfilling this role police officers are exposed to various work situations which require different mental and physical abilities to handle their work efficiently and effectively. According to Gibbons and Gibbons, stress is associated with how an individual appraises situations and the coping strategies utilized to address the situation. Malach-Pines and Keinan stated that police officers are exposed to various occupational stressors which impact negatively on the health and the performance of the individual police officer. According to Rollinson, stress can be defined as a reaction to an external occurrence or any physical or mental demand, while Malach-Pines and Keinan, and Waters and Ussery defined stress as an adverse reaction people may have to excessive pressure or other demands placed on them. In this context, occupational stress or workplace stress refers to stress that is experienced as a direct result of their occupation. Previous research conducted by Malach-Pines and Waters and Ussery, indicated that stress results from a negative workplace environment and interactions at work constitute a major problem for police officers. Some stress can be regarded as a positive motivator, known as eustress, but in general stress is regarded as a destructive distress and may even function as a life threatening event. Police work has been classified as one of the professions rated highest in job stress next to air traffic controllers and firefighters (Gulle, Tredoux, & Foster, 1998). By the very nature of the profession, police officers are exposed to a variety of duty-related stressors that differ significantly in quality and quantity from those experienced by the general population. Examples of such stressors include killing someone in the line of duty, having a partner killed in the line of duty, managing or addressing public concerns on a daily basis, shift work and disruption of family time/family rituals, and lack of support by the department and supervisors (Gulle et al, 1998). Police officer stressors can further be categorized into two areas: internal and external work environment. Internal work environments are those areas that are related to organizational structure, climate, and supervisory support which can be an even greater source of stress for police officers than regular calls for service such as: a stolen car, missing person, and theft reports (Cooper, Davidson, & Robinson, 1982; Violanti & Aron, 1994; Kirkcaldy, Cooper, & Ruffalo, 1995). Lack of recognition, lack of resources, lack of promotion, and excessive paperwork are among the top internal stressors faced by police officers (Waters & Ussery, 2007; Stotland & Pendleton, 1989). External work environments include areas such as: weather, health problems, physical and psychological well-being (Bartol & Bartol, 2004: Waters & Ussery, 2007). Emotional intelligence (EI) has become of widespread interest to psychological research in recent years (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Emotional Intelligence is the ability to process emotional information as it pertains to the perception, assimilation, expression, regulation, and management of emotion (Mayer & Cobb, 2000; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000). According to Goleman (1995), EI is referred to as emotional literacy. Mayer and Salovey (1997) posit that emotional intelligence is one of the important factors that determine success in life and psychological well-being. Individuals with EI are therefore, able to relate to others with compassion and empathy, have well-developed social skills, and use this emotional awareness to direct their acts and behaviors. According to Ciarrochi,

Customer Relationship Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Customer Relationship Management - Essay Example CRM is a broad aspect and can be used from the perspective of consumer, business and implementation of strategies. CRM can be broadly divided into three major categories namely, functional, business strategy and implementation. Functional category includes aspects which relate to the functional areas of an organization and includes areas like sales force automation, customer support etc. The business strategy aspect can be divided into three types which are business, technology and customer. The implementation perspective can be divided into analytical, collaborative and operational based practices. Analytical CRM is a tool that seeks to gather and analyse data related to operational aspects of an organization. Tools like OLAP and other data warehousing techniques help in creating a better experience for consumers by improving their relationship with the organization. Collaborative CRM focuses upon the different points of interaction with the customer and the firm and serves to integ rate the various channels of communication for a better service delivery. Operational CRM helps in providing solutions with regards to various back and front end support for administrative and customer related aspects by integration with different databases to provide customer friendly support and delivery business processes (Motiwalla & Thompson, p.332-333). CRM not only aims at developing a better relationship with the customers but also strives towards creating an all round development.... Collaborative CRM focuses upon the different points of interaction with the customer and the firm and serves to integrate the various channels of communication for a better service delivery. Operational CRM helps in providing solutions with regards to various back and front end support for administrative and customer related aspects by integration with different databases to provide customer friendly support and delivery business processes (Motiwalla & Thompson, p.332-333). Scope and Importance of Customer Relationship Management CRM not only aims at developing a better relationship with the customers but also strives towards creating an all round development of relationship with all the major stakeholders including the suppliers who play a crucial part in the sustainability of the organization. The main aspects of CRM include knowledge of the customer, an effective strategy directed towards maintaining a relationship with the customer, communication and finally the value addition in the product or service offering (Peelen, p.7). Figure 2: Diagram showing the scope of CRM (Source: Buttle, p.299) CRM places the customer at the centre of the framework as all its intended policies are directed towards the development of customer relationship. Management of suppliers is essential considering the fact that they form the backbone of an organization’s business activities. Firms like Wal-Mart have effectively used ERP to bring about a better and efficient relationship with the suppliers so as to deliver greater value to the consumers. Toyota uses a effective CRM framework to manage its large number of suppliers which has helped in attaining efficiency which has reaped numerous operational benefits to

The law of media publicity contempt is obviously broken. The problem Essay

The law of media publicity contempt is obviously broken. The problem is that there is no better system that might reasonably su - Essay Example A strict implementation of prohibition laws such as the 1987 Act tend to clash, however, with certain basic human rights such as freedom of the press and the right to information. On top of this, advances in communication technology and the advent of globalisation make it doubly hard for authorities to fully impose sanctions on recalcitrant press and bloggers. Nonetheless, it would be wrong to say that the UK law on media publicity contempt is totally broken and that there is nothing that can be done about it. On the contrary, the UK media publicity contempt system has proven to be comparatively effective than those of other jurisdictions and the present state of the law presents a more mature approach in balancing between freedoms and obligations. State of the Law Media Publicity Contempt English media publicity contempt is governed primarily by the Contempt of Court Act 1981. It is a strict liability rule that does not take into consideration intent as an element in finding a verdi ct of guilt or absence of it and applies to publications, which include speech, writing and all other form of communications, addressed to the public. The strict liability rule applies only in the following cases: when publications create substantial risk in the obstruction or prejudice of judicial proceedings, and; the proceedings are active, as defined in Schedule 1 of said law. Schedule 1 describes an active proceeding, whether criminal or appellate, as the period from the time of a proceeding’s initial steps to the time of its conclusion, with initial steps including the arrest of the accused without warrant, the issuance of a warrant of arrest, the issuance of summons, the service of indictment or similar documents or oral charge. The conclusion stage of a proceeding includes the acquittal or any other verdict, which ends the proceeding or the discontinuance of the proceeding or by operation of law.1 The British law on media publicity contempt arose out of the 1820 case of R v Clement 2 where the Observer newspaper was fined ?500 for featuring a series of report on an ongoing trial. The case involved the trials of Cato Street conspirators who were then charged of treason for conspiring to kill members of the British Cabinet. The Observer was faithfully detailing the trials to the chagrin of the Government who was trying to conceal its substantive and procedural lapses. The newspaper’s editor was charged and tried in absentia for contempt for disregarding a court gag order. His subsequent appeal, which was also heard by almost the same judges who decided against him in the lower court contrary to the principle of natural justice, was dismissed.3 Since 1931, however, a â€Å"scandalising the court† case, or a case where the charge involves bringing down the authority of the judge or court through an act or publication, has not been successful in this jurisdiction.4 The 1981 Act came about as a result of the European Court of Human Right s (ECHR) decision in the case of The Sunday Times v United Kingdom5 where the newspaper featured a series of reports about the drug thalidomide that caused women to give birth to deformed babies during the pendency of the negotiations of settlement between

The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay Example for Free

The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay The story of Gilgamesh was one of the world’s first literary works but most importantly the very first epic. â€Å"An epic or heroic poem is a long narrative poem, on a serious subject [that was] written in a grand or elevated style, centered on a larger-than-life hero† (Lynch). Because it was only recited orally for many centuries it was forgotten and vanished until â€Å"it was recorded at Sumer in the late third millennium B. C. E† (Fiero 19). The story of Gilgamesh is about an arrogant ruler, who changes because of an immense love and friendship with his companion Enkidu, it is a story about the wisdom he acquires with his journeys, and the inevitability of death. The story begins with the introduction of the two main characters, Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The love these friends will stumble upon for each other makes both of them change as individuals. From their initial encounter they will discard part of their own lives and give a piece of them to each other. Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk is described as two thirds god and one third human. The Gods bestowed upon him courage, strength and beauty. â€Å"In our first view of him, Gilgamesh is the epitome of a bad ruler: arrogant, oppressive and brutal† (Lawall 10). He has no consideration for the people in Uruk he forces labor upon them, kills their sons and rapes their daughters, leaving â€Å"neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble† (Lawall 13). The people of Uruk soon get irritated with Gilgamesh’s ways and pray to the gods to make his equal so that he may see his own evil ways and ultimately change. Aruru, the goddess of creation then creates Enkidu, the second main character, as a counterpoint to Gilgamesh. Far different from Gilgamesh he still contains his strength. â€Å"His body was rough, he had long hair like a woman’s [†¦] his body was covered with matted hair [†¦] he was innocent of mankind† (Lawall 13). Gilgamesh is told of Enkidu and his immense strength and devises a plan to overpower him by seducing him with a harlot so that he may grow weak and loose the powers of the beasts. Close to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Enkidu is stripped of his primitive self and his innocence by the harlot. Gilgamesh has accomplished to civilize Enkidu there by weakening him as an individual. â€Å"The thoughts of a man were in his heart now† (Lawall 15) and he had become aware of the ways of the world. Meanwhile through Gilgamesh’s dreams he is told that a friend whom he will love like he would a woman is going to rescue him in this time of need. Enkidu then arrives at Uruk to challenge Gilgamesh but instead become friends, marking the beginning of Gilgamesh’s complete transformation. The journey to fight Humbaba, the guardian of the forest was Gilgamesh’s next component of change. Deciding to kill the evil in the land for the sake of his people gave him some wisdom and connection to the people, something Enkidu had already begun doing. By facing Humbaba in the forest Gilgamesh makes a name for him and changes the outlook of the people in the kingdom. Although the journey was at first only beneficial for him it would later be helpful in his own journey to become a more justly and praiseworthy ruler. The death of Enkidu also significantly changes Gilgamesh. After the killing of Humbaba, Ishtar deeply wanted to marry Gilgamesh but he refused. Extremely enraged she asked her father for the Bull of Heaven to kill him, which failed. Instead Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven and feast, for now they were heroes, â€Å"endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for [their] bold exploits† (American Heritage Dictionary). She then puts a curse on Enkidu which leads him to a great sickness and finally after twelve days, to his death. Gilgamesh could not be anymore devastated about the loss. We can see his anguish when he says â€Å"the joyful people will stoop with sorrow; and when you have gone to the earth I will let my hair grow long for your sake, I will wander through the wilderness in the skin of a lion† (Lawall 30). Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu’s death by making the people weep over his death. By using garments such as he did and wandering like his old companion he is able to keep a part of Enkidu close to him and ultimately gain something from him. Following this, Gilgamesh comes to a realization that his day will soon come too â€Å"How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair in my heart. What my brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead. (Lawell 30). This will lead Gilgamesh to his quest for eternal life, it is in this journey where we he will find his real destiny. Gilgamesh’s quest is to find Utnapishtim who was the only mortal to receive everlasting life. In an effort to erase humankind because of an uproar, the gods sent a big flood and asked Utnapishtim to build a boat to save himself. â€Å"Tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive† (35). Here we are able to see another biblical reference to the Old Testament. Just as Noah did when he was warned of such a disaster, so did Utnapishtim. Because they were the only mortals to survive, the gods gave him and his wife everlasting life to live at the mouths of the rivers. When Gilgamesh finally reached Utnapishtim he also gave him a chance at immortality. â€Å"As for you Gilgamesh who will assemble the gods for your sake, so that you may find that life for which you are searching? [†¦] only prevail against sleep for six days and seven nights† (38). But his attempt failed. Just as Siduri, the woman of the vine had for told Gilgamesh that heâ€Å"[would] never find that life for which [he was] looking† (Lawall 32) for. Before Gilgamesh returns to Uruk Utnapishtim tells him of a plant that will restore his youth. Despite its hard catch, he obtains it to give to the old men in his kingdom. But while bathing, a serpent snatches the plant and immediately his skin sheds to a new form. Most commonly in religious text serpents symbolize evil but here the gift of immortality is taken by the serpent because this destiny is forbidden for Gilgamesh. Although he did not achieve his most desired attribute Gilgamesh acquired many other things. From his journey of killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven to the death of his dearest friend Enkidu he most definitely gained more wisdom, ultimately understanding the people which in turn gained their trust and the glory. His failed attempt at his most endearing and significant journey to find immortality led Gilgamesh to find the meaningfulness of being human. Gilgamesh finally understood his true destiny. â€Å"You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny†.

Online Education And Traditional Education Education Essay

Online Education And Traditional Education Education Essay Thousands of people turned to online teaching them to complete their education to rise to the high level in their jobs and them to take qualifying courses or improve their level of education .It has influence in our society such as helped a lot of people who can not come to the seat of education, and it has its pros such as gives us with an chance to develop technology skills for teachers and students, and cons such as It is known that online education is not for all people, not for the uncontrolled educated or inflexible instructors , and there is a difference between online education and traditional education, and it has types. It is highly important to say that learning is no longer confined within the four walls of a classroom. The instructor, armed with a textbook, is no longer the sole source of educational experience. It is also known that Information resources are everywhere, often separated from the learner by time and space. Online Education defines the process of connecting learners with these remote resources. No one can deny that Learning is a lifelong pursuit where training and retraining become strategies for both individual and corporate success. It is noted that there are a variety of Online Education solutions for every educational need. It is thought that some people agree that Online Education has come a long way and opened new vistas in the field of education, some researchers are still questioning the value of learning through non traditional means. Whatever is the case, there are various opinions to consider and they are all true in their own right. This search for the purpose of to show people different between online education and traditional education .Many people prefer traditional education than online education. Introduction Online Education can be defined as a media based, remote, or asynchronous and supported by some instructional systems, it vans also be defined as it is a formalized teaching and learning system dedicated Because it can learn through electronic media and the Internet, and online education low cost and do not require specific places for education. It is noted that Online Education offers more opportunities Cases where it is difficult to traditional education of students with difficulty scheduling or distances as well as distance education can be easier and more flexible in terms of time and place There are three popular Online Education technologies include: is Voice-centered technology, such as CD or MP3 recordings, is Video technology, such as instructional videos, DVDs, and interactive videoconferencing, and Computer-centered technology delivered over the Internet or corporate intranet. Many surveys, studies and researched highlight the fact that Online Education Can be online education such as traditional education to provide appropriate ways for teaching assignments, and no interaction between student and teacher, and can be for students and teachers formulation their opinions in a timely manner. No one can deny that this type of education has merits and demerits, in our research, we will focus on that fact, we will do our best to discuss it I a manner that helps us to develop the Saudi educational system and upgrade its output. One of the most important benefits of Online Education is that beneficial for gifted and slower Students for many reasons such as : one hand, Provides advanced education and good for all ages, especially for students who have been deprived of the school environment . On the other hand, it provides students with individualized Online Education classes allow interactive. Stimulate and support and boost the morale of students that will enable them to progress in our time. Help develop and expand the horizons of children from gifted students through improved curricula. On the other hand, one can not deny that online education works to save money, and one of its advantages. While in traditional education to provide a budget for many requirements such as housing and gas, and other needs of students both in online education do not need them, with the students ability to full education at But, we can conclude that Become rare to use and transport, and they only need a computer and a quiet place suitable for the study, and there are a lot of students dream to go to the headquarters of the study. In our research we will identify the importance of online education and the pros and cons, and its effects on society and types. Figure 1.1 Online Education. Discussion First of all, we a student group would like to say that our research report will be forwarded to all people who want to complete their education, but they still have some problems in time or anything, also for student in higher education or secondary student in some country. Due to the developments in Information Technology and the industrial revolution as well, it is agreed that there are many new ways and modes of transfer and accommodate materials for students .Which make education floppy in nature ,and also not strictly obliged by time and place . Some studies mentioned the fact that: there is information already collected by the researchers and findings reached can be extrapolated across all the universities imparting education in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the applicability of certain previous studies in gathering data and then inferring concrete results may not be quite fully applicable to Saudi Arabia, Taking in to consideration that any comprehensive On-line Education solution will often be a combination of technology options, creating a set of learning tools that meet the needs of both the instructor and the learner. It is worthy mentioned to say that Distance education is divided in terms of transportation into two types: Direct contact and indirect contact .It Is allows the possibility of combining start work life and study at the same time, its to reduce cost and its use the technical means and advanced technologies, such as the printed word , or recorded on cassette tape , or recorded on videotape or on CD and make the links between teacher and student and the delivery of material to the last . Online education not relies on the actual attendance but in traditional education you must attend every day for the study. Online education is reducing the administrative burden for the teacher .its a good way to teach some people because it has multiple ways . It is of paramount importance to mention the advantages and disadvantages of On-line Education in order to utilized the advantages and avoid disadvantage in the soon future to develop the Saudi educational systems a whole: First let us talk about the advantages: These advantages of online education include the following: Firstly, Gives us with an chance to develop technology skills for teachers and students . Secondly, It also gives us access to World Resources And experts through Internet connection and Internet resources. Thirdly, It states for an increase in access to education for those who otherwise have no other chances because of the labor , family or financial constraints. in addition, It give us for a modality of instruction best appropriate for certain students . Fourthly It states greater elasticity to schedule education students can select the time and Location of class time. Fifthly, It also gives greater elasticity in location for study . Sixthly, learners can participate course at house or labor or on campus or at library. Seventhly, bearing in mind that it is student Centered -DE places responsibility for learning with the student who should be more active and self directed. Eighthly, It facilitates greater learner instructor interaction, it also increased interaction with classmates. Ninthly ,Facilitates Pedagogic Development-Individual Instructor Development, Produces a carryover effect into the regular classroom of improved pedagogic techniques, and it allows for the internationalization of learning opportunities. Finally, it has the ability to equalize get to education. . Second, we will talk about the disadvantages to be avoided in order to reach our own target to develop and upgrade the Saudi educational system: These disadvantages of online education include the following, firstly, It is known that online education is not for all people, not for the uncontrolled educated or inflexible instructors. Secondly ,It provides us with sentiments of solitude from time to time . Thirdly, Is likely to be less group uphold for educated resulting to isolation and potential non-completion of the program .Fourthly, It requires a great voltage to establish and maintain the technological infrastructure .fifthly, It also requires considerable effort and cost to develop suitable materials.sixthly, It is noted that education design for group activities and group interaction more require on the teacher . Seventhly , it is also noted that learner should be more proactive and self-directed in online education environment. Eighthly, It depends on individual motivation and initiative .Online Education takes gap time between learner participation and feedback time interval between need for student support and decisi on .ninthly, It also needs occasional internet provider downtime and Finally, we can say that one of the big disadvantages of Online Education is time and frustrations participate learning how to access online for beginner. There are four types of Online Education but it is highly important to understand the difference between different types of Online Education when choosing the right course for you, you can choose the one that best suits your learning style and personal circumstances. Distance Learning: It has a lot in common with the original correspondence .Students can study in anytime, and at any place of their choice , and without face-to-face with a teacher. Self Study: It can be defined as a minimalist form of distance learning. , and considers a good method of education so that the person learns and understands himself. Enables person to take responsibility in the planning and implementation. E-Learning: e-learning gave to people many opportunities to learn through the Internet and to benefit Blended learning: It can be defined as a combination of Online Education and traditional classroom teaching. . Figure 2.2 Self Study . Conclusion Our research is focused onà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  Online educationà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  , therefore, It is of paramount importance to mention the pros and cons of Online Education in order to utilized the advantages and avoid disadvantage in the soon future to develop the Saudi educational systems a whole. It is agreed upon the fact that Online Education Presents more opportunities in situations where traditional education has difficulty running. Students with scheduling or distance problems can benefit, as can employees, because distance education can be more flexible in terms of time and can be delivered almost anywhere and anytime. Online Education is the provision of academic courses and entire degree programs when instructor and students are geographically separated. Many surveys, studies and research highlight the fact that Online Education be as effective as the traditional format when the methods are appropriate to the teaching assign , there is interaction between student and teacher, and the teachers supply students with the appropriate and timely feedback. Online Education it has different types . It is highly important to understand the difference between this types when choosing the right course for you, you can choose the one that best suits your learning style and personal circumstances Finally, the success of the On-line Education depends basically on the environments surrounding us, many nation has succeed to follow this system as they apply it as appropriate, while others failed to do this but this is an important type of education to be observed and followed.

Ashcan School :: essays research papers

ASHCAN SCHOOL The Ashcan School was a movement which was integral and in a way 1 inevitable with the infancy of the twentieth century. This movement in art was brought about by a handful of artists who converged on New York City around the turn of the century.2 The major Ashcan artists who will be discussed later are Robert Henry ( 1865- 1929), George Luks (1866- 1933), Everett Shinn (1876- 1953), George Bellows (1882- 1925), John Sloan (1871- 1951), and William Glackens ( 1870- 1938).3 These were the major members of the Ashcan School. This is a group of artists who are credited with documenting the ordinary life on a human level in New York City during this incredible time of transformation. Because of these artists we have a picture of New York not based on the monuments or buildings but based on the interaction and the coexistence of the people who shaped the society which was emerging. The island of Manhattan was consolidated into the greater New York City in 1898. Because of this the city was transformed from a nineteenth century seaport with cobblestone streets into a twentieth century metropolis of skyscrapers and subways. The artists of the Ashcan movement saw this changing society in human terms. They saw this in a light which depicted the interaction of so many different cultures which were being thrust together. They documented these changes on a level which the ordinary person could understand. Because of the Ashcan School we have a picture of society which one really cannot understand amidst the overpowering spectacle of overpowering buildings and increasing technology.4 To understand the Ashcan movement it is necessary to look more closely at some of the major artists who were involved. George Bellows moved to New York in 1904 after he dropped out of Ohio State University following his junior year. Once in New York he enrolled in classes at The New York School of Art. He quickly became Robert Henri's star pupil and valued friend. Bellows was fascinated by New York City. He attempted to capture in his art the social change which he noticed in the city. By the time he was twenty four his art had the attention of the cities leading critics, and his work was shown regularly at exhibitions at the national academy of design. Bellows became the youngest artist ever to elected an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1909.

Fahrenheit 451 and Cautions for Society :: Free Essay Writer

Fahrenheit 451 and Cautions for Society Much of what the future holds are consequences of the events that have already taken place. Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is a story about a lifestyle in the future that has evolved from our present, but in a seemingly different world. There is no flow of ideas, and the main purpose in a person's life in those days was to relax, not think, and be happy. Despite the seemingly unreality of the world in the future, the author is using it as a cautionary tale of what may become of our society. Bradbury stresses his views on how best to keep our society's system of government checks and balances, technological advances, and its fluidity of ideas. In the futuristic novel, the government orders the burning of all books and makes it illegal to read them. This burning of books in the story also allows more government control over the people by imposing a clamp over the flow of ideas that makes up our advancing society today. In the book, the people are like the puppets on strings in the hands of the government who acts as the puppeteer. The citizens of that time have no will of the their own but must believe what the government tells them. The author attempts to caution that people must accept the differences and ideas of people and embrace them, not use them as fuel and drive them further away. He is also trying to state that man does not consider the consequences of his actions before he acts. The burning of books provides an example of this. By burning books, the government is attempting to limit independent ideas so they can make people "happy." That way, people wouldn't have to be smarter or better looking. In theory, this would stop the competition between human beings and in effect, would make people more content with who they are. Many people accept this cause, and the government makes sure that all rebels are stopped in order to maintain their "perfect" society. By assuring a steady flow of new ideas in our society, there have been many advances in the social, cultural, scientific, and technological field. New medicines and vaccines are constantly and rapidly being discovered. Although these changes may seem beneficial, Fahrenheit 451 provides a counterexample. The four screen TV's in that time hampers the thought process so people only have fun but do not think.

The Mediatization of Politics in Western Democracies Essay example --

This growing influence of the mass media and changes in communication has led to the subordination of the power of other influential institutions in society. â€Å"This process is referred to as â€Å"mediatisation† and as a result of mediatisation institutions in society and society as a whole is shaped by and ultimately dependent on the mass media† (Mazzoleni and Schulz 1999: 247 – 261). This ultimately means a â€Å"media logic† has formed. In relation to politics the theory of mediatisation is extremely relevant as it is argued that the media shapes political campaigns and political figures. However others argue that the theory of mediatisation and the media has no influence over politics nor does it shape politics. Also that politics remains in control of political processes and functions. In this essay I plan to delve into these arguments to then come up with a conclusion to answer the question of whether there has actually been a â€Å"mediatisatio n† of politics. The first aspect of the mediatisation of politics is the degree to which the media constitutes to be the dominant source of information and channel of political information. This raises the question on whether the media is the main source of information for politics in society. The mass media in politics plays an important role in campaign strategies, communications and opinion polling. An election campaign involves many activities such as speeches, rallies, and press conferences and so on. It is the media which covers these activities and ultimately which political party is winning. This constant coverage of political affairs in the media shows that the media is the main source of communication for politicians in order for the public to find out what is happening in relation to po... ...rketing of Politics Oxford: Blackwells (Chapter 10) Lilleker, D., 2008, Key Concepts in Political Communications. SAGE London Negrine, R. (1996) Communication in the Future of Democracy, Cambridge: University Press Neil T Gavin (2009) Addressing climate change: a media perspective Environmental Politics, 18(5), 765-780 Plasser, F. And Plasser, G. (2002) Global political campaigning: a worldwide analysis of campaigning professionals and their practices_ Praeger Scammel, M. (1995) Designer Politics Basing stoke: Macmillian. (Chapter 8) Web referencing Gordon Brown: I will continue to use YouTube: PM says he will continue using YouTube because it is 'one of the most important mediums' after Tory MP Bill Cash congratulates Brown on his 'comedy turn' accessed 21 Nov. 2012 at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/29/gordon-brown-youtube-video

Play Report: Our Lady of 121st Street

Immediate Responses: -Easy read -Incredibly funny -Characters are so unlike one another -The relationships all linked together somehow -Very disappointed by the way they found Sister Rose -Loved the simple flow of the dialogue -Had to re-read several things in order to keep the sequence straight due to the jumping around of the scenes and time. Basic Conflict: The basic conflict of the play is the unsettling fact that somebody has stolen the corpse of their beloved nun Sister Rose. Major Events: -Somebody stole Sister Rose’s corpse Balthazar tells Vic a story about a man who didn’t care that his son had died -Rooftop goes to confession with Father Lux for the first time in 30 years. -Inez is Rooftop’s ex wife -Gail’s and Flip’s relationship is established. Gail is an actor. -Flip denies his relationship with Gail in front of Inez -The interrogation of Norca by Balthazar -Edwin’s and Pinky’s relationship is established -Edwin sends Pink y out for Yodels at 10:30 in the morning -Marcia’s asthma attack. Edwin takes care of her. Marcia tries hooking up with Edwin. -Norca and Inez speak in the bar for the first time since Norca slept with Rooftop, Inez’s ex husband. Balthazar takes Rooftop out of his confession. * Pinky kisses Father Lux * Pinky returns from getting yodels over 12 hours later. * He admits to Edwin that he spent time with Norca * Marcia expresses her concerns that Edwin will turn into her alcoholic grandfather * Marcia wants to marry Edwin who doesn’t want to leave Pinky alone. * Flip kisses Gail in public * Balthazar confesses that he was the guy who decided to watch a game on television over going to his son’s death sight. Major Theme: The major theme/lesson of the play is to always put somebody else before you. If you do than you will learn more about yourself in long run. Environment: The environment of our scene is a bar and grill on 121st street at 2 a. m. in the morning. Sitting in the bar I can see the smoke from the kitchen as it passes the lights on the ceiling. I can smell the fantastic aroma of fried food being cooked out back. I can taste the cold, salty, and seasoned French fries as I bite into them off of Marcia’s plate. I can hear the faint jazz music from the jukebox in the corner behind me. I can feel the cool air conditioning coming from the vents as I stand under them when I get warm. Character My character is Edwin Velasquez. Edwin is a super for a building on 121st street and has a great relationship with some of his tenants. Edwin dresses incredibly mainstream and boring. He hasn’t shaved in 3 months, so his scruff is quite visible and doesn’t waste time doing his hair. Edwin loves to eat Yodels with whole milk, and smoke. Edwin’s not the smartest 32 year old and he had to re-do 2nd grade 3 times. He is a very happy person who has taken on a huge burden that causes him to be on edge almost all of the time. Some people may see this as a bad attitude, but it’s simply a result of always worrying. Edwin has to take care of his little Brother, Pinky, by himself due to the fact that their parents are dead. Pinky is mentally challenged, and it just so happens that it’s Edwin’s fault which really weighs down on his shoulder’s 24/7. He threw a brick through a window after being yelled at by his parents for calling Pinky a retard, and the brick hit Pinky on the head causing permanent damage. Edwin’s most important relationship is the one with his brother Pinky. Their parents passed away several years ago. Social Services insisted on taking Pinky into custody, but Edwin would not let that happen, so he took full responsibility for Pinky. He feels that he owes it to his parents to be the best possible parental figure he can be for Pinky. Edwin’s overall need or desire throughout his life is to be certain Pinky is happy and safe at all times. Edwin does extremely well trying to protect Pinky and know exactly where he is at all times, but Pinky makes it incredibly difficult to do so. In our scene he does not achieve it because Pinky was out for over 12 hours and did not tell Edwin where he was going to be which worried Edwin to death, but it was truly out of his hands.

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