PRESSURE GROUPS & THEIR EFFECTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Weight GROUPS and THEIR EFFECTS - Essay Example In all cases, pressure bunches utilize a wide assortment of strategies to attempt to achieve change in governments and organizations. A portion of the gatherings demand remaining inside the laws of the countries in which they work. They raise reserves, teach and campaign individuals from government to institute laws that help their perspectives. In non-vote based nations, this is frequently unrealistic on the grounds that the very presence of the weight gathering might be unlawful. Other weight bunches look to point out their motivation by making legitimate open shows, for example, walks and rallies. By doing this, they would like to produce enthusiasm for their gathering and their motivation that will bring about more noteworthy open mindfulness and expanded enrollment (Utting). In some cases these walks and rallies are legitimate and once in a while they overstep laws such a license infringement or hindering open spots. On the off chance that they turn savage, instigating wild cond uct laws can be brought to tolerate against these gatherings. Other weight bunches blatantly overstep the law as a methods for causing to notice their motivation. They will trespass, vandalize and stigmatize as a methods for influencing general conclusion. While numerous different strategies can be utilized by pressure gatherings, one thing these gatherings can't do is power any partnership or government to change. They should impact the populace in free and abused states the world over to accomplish their objectives. This paper will inspect the objectives and strategies of three weight bunches that are right now dynamic in the United Kingdom and at times, the world over. One open weight bunch is the Open Spaces Society. This gathering attempts to secure normal land, pathways, right of ways and parks from infringement and blockage. This gathering is a generally excellent case of a decentralized weight bunch that demonstrations locally and totally inside the law. A short history of the gathering is basic to seeing how they work and why they utilize the strategies they do. The

Criminal Fraud Trials free essay sample

Portrays thinks about complex cases in U.S., Australia United Kingdom. Preliminary length, job of jury, jury choice, litigants rights, legal capability, venture extortion, sorted out wrongdoing, severance, change. This paper will analyze the issues of complex criminal preliminaries in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The attention will be on genuine misrepresentation cases, which generally include protections laws infringement. There will likewise be some conversation of composed wrongdoing cases in the United States, since the majority of the debates over complex criminal cases have emerged with regards to these cases. The initial segment of the paper will talk about these issues all in all terms, taking note of the reactions of how these preliminaries are directed and the endeavors at change. The second piece of the paper will take a gander at three real preliminaries, one each in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Pundits of the current criminal equity frameworks point to these three preliminaries specifically as illustrative of the issues presented by complex

The Best Research Tips to Get You Started

The Best Research Tips to Get You StartedThe best research is done by you! When you start researching, it is just like any other project that you are trying to do. However, you should take note of some of the following things so that you can have a better chance at achieving your goal in the shortest amount of time possible.The first thing that you should do is to set up goals for your research. Decide what types of products you want to research and then start planning how long you are going to spend doing the research. Keep in mind that it can be tedious work but it is important to set reasonable goals for yourself so that you do not become overwhelmed with the amount of information that you need to go through. It is best to do your research in short bursts because it will be easier for you to keep up with the amount of time that you want to spend researching. And while you are still going through the initial research, you should consider looking at the websites that offer money for certain types of information.Now, the next most important part of getting the best research is to start interviewing people. This is actually a more difficult process than you may have thought. There are various different types of people that you could interview, including those that are close to you, friends, family members, or acquaintances. You should also be careful when it comes to your choice of location and type of surroundings. The type of environment that you are comfortable in will determine how much time you will spend researching on a specific subject.Now, if you want to get the best research for your research then you need to be clear about the scope of your topic. Make sure that you only research topics that are related to your ultimate purpose for doing the research. Having a limited topic will help ensure that you do not end up wasting too much time researching useless information. After all, if you spent a lot of time looking into water purification, then you may a s well spend the same amount of time researching to find out how to make your shower a little cleaner.As mentioned above, it can be tedious to look through all of the available information but if you plan your time well, it can save you a lot of time. This is especially true when you are trying to find out which products to research. You should spend the first couple of days doing the research so that you do not spend the whole day looking through the internet. Remember that each minute that you waste is a minute that you do not achieve something.Also, it is important to know where you are spending your time so that you can set realistic goals for yourself. Remember that it is easy to get distracted from the task at hand when there is a lot of information to go through. Also, try to take notes on the websites that you visit so that you have a clearer picture of what you are looking for. It can be very helpful to stay in one place for a few hours so that you can do the research witho ut worrying about how long it is taking. This is especially true if you are doing an online survey because you may be able to focus on answering questions for longer periods of time.Finally, it is important to stay organized so that you can stay focused. Remember that each minute that you waste is a minute that you are not getting results. So it is important to get rid of any unfinished projects and get back to the task at hand once you have had a chance to finish any of your current tasks.Keep in mind that there are many different ways that you can get your research done. One way is to go through your research and write down everything that you have learned. This should help you get started on your research but once you find what you are looking for, try to stay organized and get back to your primary task.

Business Analysis Business Intelligence And Analytics

Today’s business environment is increasingly complex and dynamic and organizations must adapt to these changes in order to remain competitive. As a result, organizations must continually realign their operations to meet these business environment pressures and challenges by being as responsive as possible to both their customers and competitors. One such tool that organizations and businesses can enlist in order to build stronger capabilities, improve performance, undertake better decision making, and achieve a competitive advantage is Business Intelligence. An organization that successfully employs business intelligence is able to collect pertinent information in a usable form in a timely fashion and have it accessible to decision†¦show more content†¦2011). Organizations often employ BIA to improve their decision making, cut costs, and identify new business opportunities. Based on a survey of over 4,000 information technology professionals from 93 countries and 25 industries, the IBM Tech Trends Report (2011) identified business analytics as one of the most important technology trends in the 2010s. Business intelligence and analytics has, in a relatively short period of time, gone from a relatively unknown concept to one that many argue is essential for organizations to harness in order to attain and retain a competitive advantage. The research questions motivating this project therefore are: RQ1: What factors have led to the evolution of business intelligence and analytics? RQ2: What directions might Business intelligence and analytics go in the future? Research Method This research paper is a result of a literature review of case studies, professional journals, news articles, and industry web sites concerning business intelligence, its history and evolution, and its impact on organizational efficiency and performance. Results of Literature Review Historical Perspective Business intelligence can trace its roots back to the late 1960s and early 1970s with the advent of the relational database (Bergan, 2009). Thanks to the database, organizations

The L-Shaped or Corner Kitchen Layout A Basic Guide

The L-shaped kitchen layout is a standard kitchen layout suitable for corners and open spaces. With great ergonomics, this layout makes kitchen work efficient and avoids traffic problems by providing plenty of counter space in two directions. The basic dimensions of an L-shaped kitchen can vary, depending on how the kitchen is divided. This will create multiple work zones, though for optimal use one length of the L-shape should be longer than 15 feet and the other no longer than eight. L-shaped kitchens can be constructed in any number of ways, but its important to consider the foot traffic expected, need for cabinets and counter space, the positioning of the sink in relation to walls and windows, and the lighting arrangements of the kitchen before building a corner unit into your home. Basic Design Elements of Corner Kitchens Every L-shaped kitchen contains the same basic design elements: a refrigerator, two counter tops perpendicular to one another, cabinets above and below, a stove, how they all are placed in relation to one another, and the overall aesthetic of the room. The two countertops should be built with the tops of the counters at the  optimal counter-top height, which should typically be 36 inches from the floor, however this standard of measurement is in relation to the average American height, so if youre taller or shorter than average, you should adjust the height of your countertop to match. Optimal cabinet heights should be used unless special considerations exist, with base cabinets at a minimum of 24-inches deep and possess an adequate toe kick  while upper cabinets should be used where additional storage space is needed with none placed above the sink. The placement of the refrigerator, stove, and sink should be taken into account before building starts, so be sure to design and develop your  kitchen work triangle in relation to the design of your overall kitchen and what youll be using it for most. The L-Shaped Kitchen Work Triangle Since the 1940s, American home makers have designed their kitchens to all be arranged with the work triangle (fridge, stove, sink) in mind, and now that gold standard has been perfected to dictate that within this triangle, there should be four to seven feet between fridge and sink, four to six between sink and stove, and four to nine between stove and fridge. In this, the refrigerators hinge should be placed on the outside corner of the triangle so it can be opened from the center of the triangle, and no object like a cabinet or table should be placed in the line of any leg of this work triangle. Further, no household foot traffic should flow through the work triangle during dinner preparation. For these reasons, one could also consider how open or wide the L-shape is. An open kitchen allows any through traffic corridors to skirt the kitchen work zone while a wide variation adds a kitchen island or table — which should be at least five feet from the counter-top. ​Lighting levels  from fixtures and windows will also play a major role in the placement of the kitchen work triangle, so keep these in mind as you draft a design for your perfect kitchen.

Iago Essay - 1146 Words

Iago, More than Just a Villain Iago, the evil villain of Shakespeares Othello, is more than just a villain. In many ways he is the most intelligent and appealing character in the play. Iago shows superiority over the rest of the characters in the play. He has the ability to manipulate the characters in the play, therefore controlling the play with every sequence of events. His intelligence shines through his ability to deceive, his ability to strategize, and his ability to twist the truth. Iago is appealing to the characters of the pay because he gives them what they want. Iago is appealing to the reader as well. His character is totally unconflicted about being evil, making him known to some authors as the villain of all villains. Iago†¦show more content†¦i. 68-74). The significance is that Roderigo makes him upset by telling him of Othello and Desdemona. Iago’s deceiving plot makes Rodrigo as if he is an honest nobody who wants to help Rodrigo and his â€Å"lost â€Å" daughter. Rodrigo calls to Brabantio’s window and pours out his emotions on this subject. â€Å"†¦ Your fair daughter†¦ / Transported with no worse nor better gaured / But with a knave of common hire, a grandolier / To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor† (!. I. 121-25). The significance of these quotes is that Iago creates this blue print in which he uses his strategical intelligence to manipulate Rodrigo into manipulating Brabantio into believing that the â€Å"Moor† is lascivious, which will infuriate Brabantio. This is a very complex scheme that was provoked by Iago. He makes both Rodrigo and Brabantio adversaries of Othello. This plan wasn’t for the benefit of Rodrigo or Brabantio, but by using them as pawns, he gets closer to destroying Othello without getting involved in the conflict, which shows a good example of his intelligence. Iago has a keen ability to be able to twist the truth. He is able to work around what is real by his excellent word usage and persuasiveness. Iago uses words to create puns that can easily make someone, Othello, jealous. In the third act Othello, Iago, and Emilia are having a conversation on Iago and Emilia’s relationship, which notifies Othello of the problems to come. Emilia exits theShow MoreRelatedIago: The Living Janus1325 Words   |  6 Pagesoften by the pursuit of immediate gratification in criminal acts or sexual perversion then Iago fits the description perfectly. Iago of all people wields the power of manipulation like no other man in Othello; he has a complete lack of empathy, is aggressive and he is a master deceiver. To begin with, Iago in the play has a complete lack of empathy towards his peers and general surrounding; although Iago seems to care about his friends, most sociopaths are liked because of their charm and highRead MoreIago Quotes In Othello1008 Words   |  5 Pagescareful who you trust, the devil was once an angel.† (Unknown). Honest Iago, good Iago, many names for the character who created so much chaos throughout Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Othello. Iago manipulated everyone; he went out of his way to destroy Othello’s relationships with Desdemona, take everything from Rodrigo, and the effort to destroy Cassio. Othello had much respect towards Iago and put much trust into him. Iago was very good a hiding his true intentions to take down Othello’s relationshipRead MoreIago, By William Shakespeare1669 Words   |  7 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s Othello, the antagonist Iago is arguably the most heinous villain in all of literature. His ability to shape shift in and out of character is what makes him unique. His tactics are similar to that of a cold blooded chameleon. Iago’s art of persuasion, his mastery of rhetoric as well as his ability to sense his victims’ insecurities and weaknesses, is what makes him so diabolically ruthless. Throughout the play, one can truly see the power of words and their delivery,Read MoreEssay on Honest Iago2147 Words   |  9 PagesHonest Iago The poet Coleridge appropriately described the character of Iago as being one of motiveless malignity. Throughout the play Iago’s motives are secondary to, and seem only to serve as justification for, his actions. Iago is driven by his nature of character. To discuss Coleridge’s assessment we must look at Iago’s character—from Iago’s point of view and that of the other characters—his motives, methods, and pawns. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is ableRead MoreIago the Machiavellian in Othello1420 Words   |  6 Pagessuspect him. Iago is a Machiavellian Shakespearean character who cunningly convinces his victims of his full moral support and proves his innocence in a way that his victims do not suspect him. When Cassio finishes his conversation with Desdemona about how he will not have his job back, Iago unfolds his mischievous plan against Desdemona when he says that, â€Å"so will I turn her virtue into p itch, And out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all† (Shakespeare, 49). Iago plans to destroyRead MoreIago : The Rhetorician Conspirator1680 Words   |  7 PagesDavin Truong Professor Bains English Writing 301 11/13/14 Iago: The Rhetorician Conspirator In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the antagonist Iago is arguably the most heinous villain in all of literature. His ability to shape shift in and out of character is what makes him unique. His tactics are similar to that of a cold blooded chameleon. Iago’s art of persuasion, his mastery of rhetoric as well as his ability to sense his victims’ insecurities and weaknesses, is what makes him so diabolicallyRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello And Iago 1463 Words   |  6 Pagesintentions, this â€Å"hero† ends up causing much more harm then needed because he is not self-aware and has a different perspective than everyone else. In the play Othello many characters have the same issue with perspective and self-awareness. Othello and Iago are the two main characters that allow their views on themselves to take control over their actions without their awareness. There is a tragic ending to this play and it was all because of differing perspectives and lack of self -awareness. The Bhagavad-GitaRead MoreOthello: Iago the Outsider1794 Words   |  8 Pagesmust be an outsider from humanity who somehow stands out from the seemingly equal community. In the case of Shakespeares Othello the outsider from humanity would be Iago for he truly stands out from the rest of society. Although Othello may be physically put out of the community, it seems that on an emotional and egotistical level Iago puts himself out of society further then Othellos blackness does. He is not merely manipulative, as other villains are; he turns aspects of truth and good qualitiesRead MoreEssay about Iago Of Othello709 Words   |  3 PagesIago of Othello What makes a good villain? What qualities make one villain stand out from another? Is it their demeanor, ruthlessness, or the methods that they employ to accomplish their tasks? In any case, a great villain must leave the reader with a respect for their methods and a question about their motives. In Shakespeares Othello, there is one character in Iago that fulfills all of these qualifications. Iago is a wonderful villain because he gains others trust, relentlessly takes advantageRead MoreIago Is The Driving Force Of The Plot1148 Words   |  5 Pagesnothing to reach his goal. Iago, in his hunt for revenge against Othello, fits this role. Or does he? In Shakespeare s play, Othello, Iago is the driving force of the plot and one of the most cunning villains in four hundred years. Without looking into it, Iago could be considered just another generic Shakespeare villain; however, his shallow emotions, high self esteem, and his dishonest nature prove him to be much more. Th e average reader would not define Iago as much more than a regular

Driver behavior and the accident research - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Driver behavior and the accident research. Answer: Introduction This paper demonstrates the impact of fluctuation in Australian dollar on the Australian retail organizations. Every currency periodically experiences fluctuations due to several external factors. When the currency slides its value, it creates a negative impact on the retail industry. The retail companies are forced to raise their retail price which results in poor consumer sentiments (Campbell, 2013). It is observed thatAustralia market is recovered after the 2008 financial crisis. The currency fluctuation rate can be defined as the slight increase or decrease in currency as compared to the US Dollar. It also discusses the role of the exchange rate and its direct impact on the nations trade level. Furthermore, the exchange rate influence the ROI. This report will also consider different factors that influence the Australian dollar as compared to the US dollar. Research problem In the current business scenario, it is analyzed that the fluctuation in the Australian dollar exchange rate has increased the risk on the certain business. The value of Australian dollar has been increasing and decreasing with the US dollar. Hence, the organization was needed to manage the exchange rate fluctuation issue due to effectively operating the business and getting higher profitability (Reboredo, et al., 2014). Background In the current business scenario, the Australian retail organizations faced many issues by fluctuations in the Australian dollar exchange rate. Due to high competition in the Australian retail industry, organization is unable to influence a large number of consumers and retain them in long-term. Furthermore, demand and needs of customers have direct impact on the financial performance and market recognition. Australian organization uses different policy and procedure as compared to a retail organization of another country because each country has their different policy (Ferraro, et al., 2015). Historical Background The above graph shows the average value of Woolworths over the years. Although the value of the company has declined, it has reduced over the years. Economic Background The above graph shows that in the Australian market, the company has maximum market share. It has the largest share which is more than Coles, its biggest competitors and other foreign retailers. Social Background The above graph shows the social contribution of Woolworths in South Africa. The company has second biggest market in South Africa after Australia. The graph shows the contribution of the company in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in South African market. The figures are shown in South African Rand. The organization needs to improve their understanding regarding the impact of Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuation.Consequently, it supports Australian retail organization tooperate their business in the Australian. The exchange rate attracts the business process of Australian retail organization and generates the problem to make a unique image in the marketplace. In the existing period, it is also addressed that the Australian retail organization faces many problems to effectively run their businessand attain their specified goal.Hence,Woolworths limited has needed to develop their knowledge about the impact of Australia exchange rate fluctuation as compared to the US dollar on the retail organization as it will be effectiveto get higher competitive benefits. Moreover, company canalso be capable toattract a large number of consumers in less time and cost as it could improve their financial performance (Chkili and Nguyen, 2014). Moreover, a large number of retail organizationshavegained their knowledge about the Australian exchange rate influence forgetting higher profit. It will also aidan organization to enhance their awareness about new technologies for effectively deal with Australian exchange rate fluctuation issues as it will support the employee to meet their specified task inspecified cost and time.The fluctuation in Australian exchange ratewill also influence the demand and sale of product and services in the marketplace. Therefore, theorganization will use marketing strategies to manage with the exchange rate fluctuation and operate their business effectively (Gyntelberg, et al., 2014). Through this, an organization will be capableto improve their existing situation of thefirm. Moreover, an organization will also be able to develop their internal abilities to effectively manage the crisis situation and enhance the level of competitive benefit. Beside this, it could also be examined that dollar exch ange rate is significant in the business hence many researchers have completed their research study on the role of dollar exchange rate in business. However, there is lack of research on the impact of Australian exchange rate fluctuation as compared to the US dollar in the context of retail organization. Hence, researcher has decided to complete their research on current research dilemma. Further, it is also found that there are many causes that inspired the investigator to choose this research problem like thesignificance of the research, resource availability,and research motivation. It would also enable the investigator to obtain the liable data in less cost and time. This research studywill help the researcherand reader to enhance their understanding towards the Australian exchange rate fluctuation as compared to the US dollar (Chen and Juvenal 2016). Ethical Consideration In the research, concept of ethics is associated with the concluded every task of research in a valid and ethical way by considering the rules and regulation of university and confidentiality of participants. It supports researcher to conduct suitable behavior for completing their research and get avalid outcome. In this dissertation, the researcher will face ethical issues in thecontext of copyright acts violation, plagiarism, and manipulation of data (Jayasinghe, and Tsui2014). These issues will be mitigated by the researcher by using appropriate references and citation of theactual author. Beside this, for eliminating similarity from the report, a researcher will use the particular language to evaluate the collected information. In addition, the researcher will also take aprior appointmentwith the chosen candidates in order to collectinformation incontext of research dilemma. From this, the researcher will be capable to pool the actual information from the candidates. It will also facilitate the researcher to keep the validity and reliability of data. Beside this, a researcher will also make secure the personal data of participants at the time of research. It will aid the researcher to make arobust relationship with the candidates (Brahmasrene, et al., 2014).Researcher should focus on some different factors at the time of conducting their research such as honest, reliable, transparent, objective, and non-biased as it could be effective to obtain the ethical result. Literature Review In the perspective of Comarda (2017), the fluctuations in the currency rate has a significant impact on the trade and commerce of an industry. The luxury brands also have a significant impact as a result of the shifts in the exchange rate. Most of the companies in different sector utilize the option of shifting production as a response to the fluctuations in the retail industry. However, the retail or the manufacturing industry is regional; therefore, the volatility in the currency can have a strong impact on the fashion companies. The fluctuations in the currency also have a shaping impact on the sourcing decision. It results in the revision or the abandonment of the trade agreement, maintaining the security risk, availability of workers, technology transfer, and consumer expectations. All these factors operate in alignment creating an overall stronger impact on the trade and the industry. As per the report of Euro Investor (2012), the constantly changing currency rates have a strong impact on the profits of the organization. The business organizations which have overseas branches or which trade internationally are influenced by the changes on the fluctuation in the global currency. The Euro Investor report of 2012 has also stated if the size of the business organization is large, then it can have strong impact on the profits and the losses of the company. There are several risks which are needed to be evaluated when the business are operating at an international level. However, there are several approaches which can be used to counteract the currency exposure of the business enterprises. The simplest method, which is popularly used by the small and medium organizations equally. It is the best method, if the companies are do not consider that they are at a high risk from the fluctuations in the exchange rate. Another approach to control the impact of the currency on the business organization is to hedge against the risk exposure. Derivatives is a common method which can limit the exposure to the volatility. Although it is a complicated method, it can reduce the impact on the risk. The firms can also manage the exposure to the currency by changing their business practices. The business can also set up clauses to reduce the exposure to the risk. McKinnon and Schnabl (2014) evaluated that international and domestic investors are affected by Australian dollar fluctuation. It can indirectly affects the companies in the retail industry. Speculation related to devaluation can delay in bringing funds to investors in Australia. But, the assets could be cheaper. Along with this, international and domestic investors focus that fluctuation in Australian exchange rate represents the increase in the risk of investment in Australia. Global shareholders are highly persuaded from the fluctuation of the exchange rate in the Australian dollar as compared to US dollar. In the view OfIto et al. (2016) worst case for shareholders could be when the worth of currency of Australia declines as compared to US dollar. It is evaluated that fluctuation of Australian dollar rate has an impact on different categories of business such as an airlines, a gold miner, an online business of selling and buying cars Carsales.com and a consumer goods retailer JB HI-FI. It has an impact on the business due to Australian dollar movement. Similarly, .Mackey and Gass (2015)stated that movement in Australian dollar exchange can direct impact on the commodity. It is evaluated that Australian dollar deals as a special currency because it makes movement in the commodities price and shares of commodity-based companies. The Australian dollar could be dealt in commodity currency. These commodity currencies are linked to the evolution of mining. According toTaylor et al. (2015), Australian dollar movement has less or no impact on the commodity prices. There is four corporation which deals with the currency. It has an impact on the business as per the classical theory. It is evaluated that JB HI-FI imports awide range of goods and then sell it as its profit is progressively affected by the stronger Australian dollar for the inexpensive imported goods. At the same time, the impact of Australian dollar fluctuation is addressed by operation of Carsales.com within the country as it has an impact on the wide range of cars and its imported parts. In contrast to this, Flick (2015) described that the organization deals in the Asian market and Latin America which create difficulties to measure the impact of Australian dollar rate fluctuation. It also relied on the correlation of currency within and between the areas. An elevated correlation demonstrates the increment in currency exposure. It is discussed that all three corporation makes effort to decline the currency risk by locking in the rate overspecified time duration. It illustrates that companies are engaged in forwarding exchange contracts and derivatives. Australian dollar deals in commodity currency as it is observed that there is adrastic impact on the organizations in different industries. It is also evaluated that movement in certain currency has not only impact on the local economy but also impact on the global economy. Another characteristic is that shareholders might be engaged to gain benefits from this fluctuation by investing in theoverseas market and US multinationals. Another characteristic is that movement in thecurrency could be riskier and has wider for exchange exposure. There is a need to hedging the risk by using thevarious instrument of hedging. Further, another characteristic which could be addressed that Australian dollar has been fluctuating more in against to US dollar counterpart from past few periods. Therefore, Federal Reserve has made thedecision to gain the interest rates (Vaioleti, 2016). Aims/Objectives of the Research The main aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations on retail organizations. In the present case, the example of Woolworths is taken. The following objectives will be used to meet the main aim of research: Research objectives are mentioned below: To analyze economic, social, and business impact of Australian dollar fluctuation on retail industries To identify strategies which can be used to minimize the impact of currency fluctuation on retail industry Research Question What are the various impacts of Australian dollar fluctuation on retail industry? How retail industries can minimize the impact of dollar fluctuation? What are the trends of Australian dollar fluctuations over three years? Research hypothesis Hypothesis 1 Ho: There is negative relationship between profitability of Australian dollar and retail industry H1: There is no relationship between profitability of Australian dollar and retail industry Hypothesis 2 Ho: There is positive relationship between retail sector growth and Australian dollar fluctuation H2: There is no relationship between retail sector growth and Australian dollar fluctuation Hypothesis 3 Ho: There is positive relationship between consumer sentiments and Australian dollar fluctuation H3: There is no relationship between consumer sentiments and Australian dollar fluctuation Research methodology Introduction This section of research proposal considers many researchmethods like research philosophy, research design, data collection method, and research approach. It will facilitate the researcher to obtain reliable information towards the research problem.This chapter will also help the researcher to enhance their understanding about Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations.This transparent methodology will support to increase the research quality, and their validity through multiple sources and observations (Panneerselvam, 2014). Research Philosophy For this dissertation, research philosophy will be used by the researcher to pool the valid and logical information regarding current research issue. The motive of research philosophy is to reflect and executive the assumption and beliefs of research matter. Moreover, the assumptions and beliefs of the researcher will act as a foundation to effectively conduct the research. Research philosophy considers different factors like interpretivism and positivism research philosophy. In the research study, the positivism philosophy is used by the researcher to collect factual data gathered through observation (Neuman and Robson, 2014).Beside this, interpretivism philosophy permits the researcher to evaluate each aspect of the research. The researcher will practice interpretivism philosophy for obtaining reliable information in the context of research issue. It will also support to enhance research quality. The motive behind the selection of this philosophy is that it is connected with the lo gical situation of idealism. Furthermore, this research philosophy could enable the researcher to put all different strategies and attain effective result. For this research, the researcher will need to collect the factual data, which could be possible through positivism philosophy. Hence, the researcher will use positivism philosophy researcher and enhance the reliability of outcome (Humphries, 2017). Research Approach This is an imperative element of research methodology because it shows the cause for selecting the specific research process. Research approach could be categorized into two parts nameddeductive and inductive research approach. The inductive approach will be used to examine the collected observation and develop the theoretical data towards the research matter. On the other hand, the deductive approach is practiced to develop the hypothesis. On behalf of hypothesis development, the researcher will reject and accept and reject the process of research (Bauer, 2014). In this research, the deductive approach will be practiced by the researcher over the inductive approach, because it facilitated the researcher to develop hypotheses on Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar (Billig and Waterman2014). Through this method, the researcher will be capable to increasethe validity and reliability of research result. From the utilization of this approach, a researcher will also capable to gather the information and develop valid conclusion to deliberate the Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar. In this dissertation, a researcher will not imply the inductive approach because the research is objective in nature. Moreover, the deductive approach will help the researcher to answer the research question (Nieswiadomy and Bailey 2017). Research Design It is an important factor of research methodology that is effective for attaining the research aim and objectives. There are two kinds of methods that is considered in the research design like qualitative and quantitative research design. The qualitative research design is used to gain the understanding about the research study. This method is practised for collecting the opinion and belief of participants towards research concern (Matthews and Ross2014).It considers many strategies such as experiment, questionnaire, interview, and focus group. Beside this, quantitative research design supports to collect the numerical data in context of the current research issue. For this dissertation, researcher will use the mixed data collection method to collect the appropriate information towards the research matter. Researcher willuse mixed data collection method to avoid research issues, which will be happed at the time of conducting the research as it will be supportive to obtain the favoura ble outcome regarding the research issue (Reynolds, et al., 2014). Research Strategy In the research, research strategy is significant elements because it enables the researcher to discover the research problem by solving the research question in an appropriate manner. From appropriate research plan, the researcher will be capable tocollect depth evidence and evaluate the facts to develop valid decision. In order to accomplish the research objectives, the researcher will imply the different research approaches like literature review, observations, interview, case study, questionnaire, focused group, and case study. In this dissertation, a researcher will use interview and survey research strategies are implied by the researcher (Dumay and Cai2015). This strategy will facilitate the researcher to collect the info towards the Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar. Beside this, a researcher will use survey strategy because it will enable the researcher to get reliable information in the adequate cost and time, which will help the resear cher to increase the researcher reliability among shareholders. Through interview strategy, the researcher will be capable to directly communicate with the participants and obtain their perception and views related to the research matter. It will support the researcher to develop the research validity (AfWhlberg, 2017). Data Collection Method In the research study, the data collection consists of the collection of the information from many sources to attain the research aims. The appropriate information will assist the researcher to make a valid conclusion related to the Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar. In the research study, data collection methods consider two kinds of methods like primary and secondary data collection method. In this, the primary data collection method aids the investigator to get new information. For gathering the primary data, the researcher will use different sources like interview, survey, action research, and case study (Jaggar, 2015). On the other hand, the secondary data collection method will aid the research scholar to obtain accurate data in the context of research matter. In the secondary data collection method, a researcher will consider many kinds of sources like published data, academic journal, books, company website, magazines, governmental reports, newspapers, online and offline website (Alvesson and Skldberg, 2017). For this research study on Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar, the research scholar will select both information gathering techniques like primary and secondary data collection method. The primary data collection method will assist the researcher to directly converse with research participants in order to collect their opinion and views in context of the research matter. Besides this, the researcher will also imply secondary data collection method to collect theoretical information in context of research matter. It will help the research scholar to gain the accuracy of research result (Gall, et al., 2014). Sampling Method The sampling method is also imperative for research scholar to get the accurate sample size in the context of research issue. The sampling method considers two kinds of methods like probability and non-probability sampling method, which aid the research scholar to choose valid observation from a different population. The probability sampling methodis used to collect the data without any biases on arandom basis. Through this method, the researcher will select participants by offering a similar chanceto all the candidates. Besides this, the non-probability sampling method enables the researcher to collect the participants on the basis of age, education, gender, and region (Goldberg,et al., 2017). The non-probability sampling method creates the biases in the research study because this method does not offer the equal chance to the participants. For this dissertation, research schloar will practise probability sampling method with random sampling method to collect data in the context of the Australian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar. In this dissertation, 50 employees of different Woolworth limited David Jones and Mayer. Besides this, the non-probability sampling method will not be considered by the researcher because this method createsbiases in the research. On the other hand, the probability sampling methodwill assist to collect the valid information and meet research issue. Data Analysis Method After gathering the information, it is effective for the researcher to evaluate the collected data gather the reliable result related to theAustralian dollar exchange rate fluctuations in comparison to US Dollar. For this research study, the researcher will use different kinds of methods like conversational analysis, disclosure analysis, statistical analysis, and content analysis with respect to getting avalid result. The statistical data analysis method will be used by the researcher to effectively evaluate the collected data. In this, the researcher will be capable to present pie chart and bar diagram. Moreover, the researcher will use MS-Excel to present all the graphs and table (Goldberg, et al., 2017). Conclusion From the above interpretation, it can be concluded that appropriate determination of research methodology facilitated the research scholar to attain aim and objectives of research. Furthermore, it is also concluded that there are many methods which support the researcher to obtain the feasible outcome like research approach, research strategy, research approach, research design, and data collection method. Moreover, it is also illustrated that the ethical consideration will be imperative for the researcher to perform the study in asystematic manner. Research Plan An appropriate research takes more time to complete all research activity systematically and meet the favorable result. For this research study, the determination of time will be presented as below: The above research plan would be appropriate for the investigator to attain the research objective in specified time and cost. Through the research plan, the researcher will be capable to generate the understanding towards the research activity completion time. Moreover, it is also analyzed that the data collection method activity takes more time period as compared to other research work effectively. Reference AfWhlberg, A. (2017)Driver behavior and accident research methodology: unresolved problems. USA: CRC Press. Alvesson, M., and Skldberg, K. (2017)Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research.USA: Sage. Bauer, G. R. (2014)Incorporatingintersectionality theory into population health research methodology: challenges and the potential to advance health equity,Social Science and Medicine,110, pp. 10-17. Billig, S. H., and Waterman, A. S. (Eds.). (2014)Studying service-learning: Innovations in education research methodology. UK: Routledge. Brahmasrene, T., Huang, J. C., andSissoko, Y. (2014)Crude oil prices and exchange rates: Causality, variance decomposition,and impulse response,Energy Economics,44, pp. 407-412. Camarda, B. (2017). Fashion: On the Frontlines When Currencies Shift. Americal Express. Retrieved 25 January 2017 from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/foreign-exchange/articles/impact-of-foreign-exchange-rates-on-fashion-industry/ Chen, N., and Juvenal, L. (2016)Quality, trade, and exchange rate pass-through,Journal of International Economics,100, pp. 61-80. Chkili, W., and Nguyen, D. K. (2014) Exchange rate movements and stock market returns in a regime-switching environment: Evidence for BRICS countries,Research in International Business and Finance,31, pp. 46-56. Dumay, J., andCai, L. (2015)Using content analysis as a research methodology for investigating intellectual capital disclosure: a critique,Journal of Intellectual Capital,16(1), pp. 121-155. Euroinvestor. (2012). How exchange rate fluctuations affect companies. Retrieved 25 January 2017 from https://www.euroinvestor.com/ei-news/2012/07/17/how-exchange-rate-fluctuations-affect-companies/19796 Ferraro, D., Rogoff, K., and Rossi, B. (2015)Can oil prices forecast exchange rates? An empirical analysis of the relationship between commodity prices and exchange ratesJournal of International Money and Finance,54, pp. 116-141. Flick, U. (2015)Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. USA: Sage. Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., and Borg, W. R. (2014)Applying educational research: How to read, do, and use research to solve problems of practice. USA: Pearson Higher Ed. Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Simpson, T. L., Kearney, D. J., and Davidson, R. J. (2017) Is mindfulness research methodology improving over time? A systematic review.PloS one,12(10), e0187298. Gyntelberg, J., Loretan, M., Subhanij, T., and Chan, E. (2014)Exchange rate fluctuations and international portfolio rebalancing,Emerging Markets Review.18, pp. 34-44. Humphries, B. (2017)Re-thinking social research: anti-discriminatory approaches in research methodology. USA: Taylor and Francis. Ito, T., Koibuchi, S., Sato, K., and Shimizu, J. (2016) Exchange rate exposure and risk management: The case of Japanese exporting firms,Journal of the Japanese and International Economies,41,pp. 17-29. Jaggar, A. M. (2015) Just methods: An interdisciplinary feminist reader. UK: Routledge. Jayasinghe, P., andTsui, A. K. (2014) Time-Varying Exchange Rate Exposure Coefficients (Exposure betas): Evidence from Country Level Stock Returns.USA: Taylor and Francis. Li, H., Ma, H., and, Y. (2015) How do exchange rate movements affect Chinese exports?A firm-level investigation.Journal of International Economics,97(1), pp. 148-161. Mackey, A., Gass, S. M. (2015)Second language research: Methodology and design. UK: Routledge. Matthews, B., and Ross, L. (2014)Research methods.USA: Pearson Higher Ed. McKinnon, R., andSchnabl, G. (2014) China's exchange rate and financial repression: The conflicted emergence of the RMB as an international currency,China and World Economy,22(3), pp. 1-35. Neuman, W. L., and Robson, K. (2014)Basics of social research.USA: Pearson Canada. Nieswiadomy, R. M., and Bailey, C. (2017) Foundations of nursing research.USA: Pearson. Panneerselvam, R. (2014) Research methodology.USA: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Reboredo, J. C., Rivera-Castro, M. A., andZebende, G. F. (2014) Oil and US dollar exchange rate dependence: A detrended cross-correlation approach.Energy Economics,42, pp. 132-139. Reynolds, D., Creemers, B., Nesselrodt, P. S., Shaffer, E. C., Stringfield, S., and Eddie, C. (Eds.). (2014) Advances in school effectiveness research and practice.UK: Elsevier. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., andDeVault, M. (2015)Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource.USA: John Wiley and Sons. Vaioleti, T. M. (2016)Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific research,Waikato Journal of Education,12(1), pp.18-25.

The Popularity of Social Networking Sites Essay Example For Students

The Popularity of Social Networking Sites Essay The Popularity of Social Networking Sites In recent years, social networking sites have rapidly gained popularity among people at all ages. A large number of people have registered and become members of some social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Wechat. Also, people spend a lot of time on these sites chatting, playing games, and making friends. Social networking sites have become a part of people’s life. However, what accounts for the popularity of these sites? As far as I’m concerned, this phenomenon, which social networking sites are very popular nowadays, is caused by three important reasons. First of all, copycat effect leads to the popularity of social networking sites. Copycat effect is a well-known psychological phenomenon, and most of people have this mentality. When they notice that people around them are using different social networking sites, they may feel that they don’t follow the trend. They may even don’t know these sites before, and then they go to register an account. When they begin using social networking sites, lots of their friends will be affected and follow the trend. For example, my friend, Jun, didn’t download any social networking apps before. When she found that all her friends were having fun in social networking apps, she began using these apps and was addicted to them. Therefore, copycat effect causes social networking sites become more widely used. Second, with the development of the network, social networking sites are very convenient to access, which is an important reason for their popularity. The number of Internet users has increased with improved Internet technology, which is beneficial for promotin. .ending much time on social networking sites affects people’s work and study, and people will become more and more isolated from their friends in real life. We will write a custom essay on The Popularity of Social Networking Sites specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Moreover, it is difficult to protect users’ privacy on social networking sites, so it may result in the risk of revealing person details.All in all, the popularity of social networking sites depends on copycat effect during people, convenience in themselves, and their good functions. When social networking sites are becoming an important part of people’s life, people should learn to make the most of these sites instead of wasting time. In other words, people are supposed to use social networking sites temperately but not be addicted to them. It is unwise to let the normal life of people be influenced by these sites. Remember that social networking sites are the joys of the life, but they are not all of the life.

Management Research Project Symantec Corporation

Management Research Project Symantec Corporation Free Online Research Papers Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 Background Symantec Corporation, founded in 1982, is the world’s 4th largest independent software companies with operations in more than 40 countries and more than 18,000 employees. Joining Fortune 500 in 2008 and ranked 461, Symantec is headquartered in Cupertino, California, USA. Serving 99% of companies listed in Fortune 100 and 50 million active consumers worldwide, Symantec is a global leader in providing software and services that protect, manage and control information risks related to security, data protection, storage, compliance and system management. There have been talks from employees over lunch about having little motivation and the company has noticed lower productivity of late. Every organisation wants to be successful and stay competitive within their respective industries. And to do that, organisations need to maximise their employees’ actual and potential capabilities through initiatives that can keep them motivated as well as to keep them happy. Motivating employees has always been a very difficult topic because each individual is motivated differently. However, there are many conclusive researches indicating a strong relationship between happy employees and productivity (Regina, 2009). Designing the right job for employees may be able to get employees more motivated to improve performance and productivity. The correlation of job satisfaction and job performance is intensively studied by many researchers in the past. And all the studies (Yoav, 1998; Jose, 2007; Daniel, 2000) till date have come not to many but one conclusion that job satisfaction is indeed a very important variable to improved job performance (Spector, 1997) because it affects the incumbent’s capacity to perform. It is experienced that when the three variables of performance, motivation and satisfaction are well-balanced within the employees’ work environments, there will be a positive impact on the productivity of the employees. Organisations cannot reach competitive levels of quality, either at a product level or a customer service level, if the employees do not feel satisfied or do not identify with the company (Steward, 1996). Therefore, motivated and committed employees can be a determining factor in the success of an organisation. In this study, it is proposed that these three factors would make up the rudder that steer the direction of the organisation just like how it would for the boat. An organisation that is able to design the work environment that successfully manipulate these three variables to their advantage will be able to increase overall organisational productivity. This research will focus on how the organisational working environment, has an impact on employees’ job performance, motivation and satisfaction which will be reviewed in this study. Although, there are many organisational working environment factors, this research will focus on supervisor and supportive peers’ relationship, political and conflicts and career expectations. 1.2 Scope of Research The scope of this study is to understand how the Symantec’s working environment affects the employees and how productivity may be increased. Investigations will be conducted on each of the three different variables job performance (Chapter 5, pg 84 of txt), motivation (Chapter 5, pg 74 of txt) and satisfaction (Chapter 2, pg 22 of txt) to gain further understanding on employees’ reactions and attitudes towards their working environments. This will definitely help Symantec gain better insight of what is required from their superiors and what directives to be improved on or implemented so as to enhance the quality of job performance, motivation and satisfaction. An in-depth study will be conducted to explore employees’ views on these three variables. 1.3 Objectives of Research The objectives of the research are : a) To investigate if the presence of supportive peers will lead to a higher job satisfaction level b) To examine if an effective supervisor will lead to better job performance. c) To determine if high conflict and political work environment really increases job motivation. d) To study if there is a positive impact on employees’ satisfaction when career expectations are met. e) To test if challenging work positively increases job motivation. 1.4 Organisation of Research The study will be divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 is the introductory chapter of this current study. A brief overview of the company and the variables that will affect it will be given. The study scope and objectives of this study will also be discussed. A series of research papers and journal articles that are relevant to this study will be reviewed in Chapter 2 to help grasp a better understanding of the study matter. It will provide the fundamental background for this research. Chapter 3 sets out the formulation of the hypotheses in this research. Based on these hypotheses, survey questionnaires will be formulated and distributed to the respondents working for the various industries for data collection purposes. The research methodology for this study will be outlined in Chapter 4. It will give a brief explanation of how the information is collected to and at the same time ensure that there will a high level of reliability and validity. Chapter 5 will present the analyses and findings of the survey results. The result will be tabulated and presented according to the sequence of hypotheses formulated in the earlier chapter. This study will be concluded in Chapter 6. And the limitations and areas for future research will also be discussed. Chapter 2 – Literature Reviews 2.1 Introduction The objective of this chapter is to review journal articles in order to gain a better insight and have a strong fundamental background on the subject matter. The topic on work environment is very wide and there has been numerous studies undertaken to measure the variables or factors that will affect work environment. This chapter will present summaries of previous research studies conducted in the different areas of concern in many industries that has been in the interest of professionals and academics which are curious to find the link between the variables that will alter work environment. The reviewing of journals by previous author is important as it could assist in the having an understanding of how they formulate hypotheses and carry out further empirical investigation in the present study. The reviews have been segmented into 3 broad segments. They are: 1. Job Satisfaction 2. Job Motivation 3. Job Performance With the above segments, researchers will be able to derive an in-depth overview of comprehending the subject matter. 2.2 Job Satisfaction 2.2.1 Introduction Job satisfaction came to be the work-behaviour of choice for many researchers interested in studying the relationship between attitudes and efficiency in the working environment. Job satisfaction by far is the most frequently studied variable in the organisational research. Various studies were carried out to test the relation of job satisfaction in aspect in the environment both internal and external. Charlie O. Trevor (2001) had demonstrated â€Å"Interactions among actual ease-of-movement determinants and job satisfaction in the prediction of voluntary turnover.† The methodology used longitudinal data which were analyzed via time dependent convaries and repeated turnover events with a sample size of 5506. The results showed that job satisfaction matters more for turnover when there is greater opportunity to move. Job satisfaction negative effect on turnover was greater when each of the three indicators of movement capital was high. Limitation is to think that it is self-serving to think of oneself as voluntarily leaving the job when dissatisfied and, consequently, job satisfaction and voluntary turnover could arguably co-vary in part because both measures were taken from NLSY survey instrument. Gilbert A. Churchill Jr., Neil M. Ford and Orville C. Walker, Jr. (1976) undertook a research â€Å"Organisation Climate and Job Satisfaction in the Salesforce† concluded that organisational climate is an important determinant of salesforce morale. The methodology approach were through primary data collected through mailed questionnaires from a sample of 479 industrial salesmen drawn from 10 companies in 7 industries. Analysis shows job satisfaction improves when their performance is being directed and monitored closely by their superiors. And as the quality of interpersonal contact improves i.e. receiving support from superiors and co-workers when they meet non-routine challenges and helping him understand what were the expected jobscope, so will their job satisfaction. A salesman is happier when he perceives himself as an active participant in determining the company directives that affect him. 2.2.2 Overview of Job Satisfaction. As a person values, attitudes and beliefs change over the years, job satisfaction can be affected. Moreover, adverse working environment can substantially decreases job satisfaction as well. The research supports that there is a correlation between employees’ low-level job satisfaction and high absenteeism rates. The organisation may improve the satisfaction level via meeting the aspirations, needs and expectations of the employees. Satisfied employees may in return be more committed and productive to the organisation in a long run. 2.3 Job motivation 2.3.1 Introduction Job motivation is considered to be one of the most important factors in driving an individual towards a goal or accomplishments. It is proposed that a well-define job will enhance motivation of an employee, thus making it very important to reduce all other factors that may alter the motivation level of an individual in any environment. Jacob K. Eskilden, Kai Kristensen and Ander H. Westlund (2003) studies Work motivation and Job satisfaction in the Nordic countries. The methodology approach took a survey with a sample size of 9623 employees in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The results show that job satisfaction can almost replicate in internal work motivation. This indicate that job satisfaction and internal work motivation is highly related to one another. An interesting aspect is that although the employees with a high education are less satisfied, they are more motivated. It might be that the highly educated have more diversified and challenging tasks that can motivate them despite their lower level of satisfaction. J. Daniel Couger (1986) in his research Effect of cultural differences on motivational of analysts and programmers: Singapore vs. The United States. The methodology was through survey of Singapore computer professionals with a sample size of 1179. The findings shows that five job characteristics which comprise the job motivating potential score are: skill variety task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback from the job. Singapore Analyst and programmers in contrast to U.S counterparts perceived their job to be deficient in key job characteristics, thus there is a huge potential improvement for motivation for the individuals in Singapore. 2.3.2 Overview for Job Motivation The literature show that in the last decade of studies, motivation can be improved through empowerment and autonomy in the organisation. There are six main motivating factors in any organisation; high wages, good working conditions, promotion, job security, interesting work and appreciation of work done. Intrinsic motivation has a stronger influence than extrinsic motivation on organisational climate variables. 2.4 Job Performance 2.4.1 Introduction It is experienced that well design jobs can have a positive impact on the job performance of an employee. The possibility that job performance can cause a vast difference in the outcome of any organisation which makes more researchers looked into the variables affecting job performance. Ryan D. Zimmerman and Todd C. Darnold (2009) had the purpose to estimate the impact of job performance on employee turnover intentions and the voluntary turnover process. The methodology was data form 65 studies meta-analyzed to estimate the performance-intention to quit (ITQ) relationship. The results observed supervisor ratings of performance had the strongest relationship to ITQ, followed by self ratings and objective measures. Poor performers are more likely to quit even after controlling for job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Job performance affects turnover intentions and behaviours both directly and in-directly. The fact that the performance-turnover relationship was not fully mediated by job satisfaction and ITQ, poor performers are more likely to engage in unplanned or impulsive quitting. Charles M. Futrell, John E. Swan and John T. Todd (1976) investigated Job performance related to management control system for pharmaceutical salesman. The methodology uses quantitative surveys in two national pharmaceutical firms from salesman to supervisors with a sample size of 431. The results indicate that the three control system constructs of goal clarity, performance-rewards relationship and influence and control were all significantly related to performance. The performance construct could be represented by the two Variables of â€Å"work hard† and â€Å"attitude†. The performance-rewards relationship was shown to have the strongest association with performance. Desmond Yuen (2007) aim to investigate, the antecedents of budgetary participation: enhancing employees’ job performance. The methodology is data collected through a quantitative survey with the sample size of 216 managers. The results show positive association between a need for achievement/work attitudes and job performance. A need for achievement and a positive work attitude are significant antecedents to budgetary participation which, in turn, positively influence job performance. The study suggests that the job performance of employees can be enhanced by encouraging participation in budgetary activities. The participants volunteered to participate in this study and thus sample was not random which makes it a limitation for this research. 2.4.2 Overview for Job Performance In this segment of the study shows that Job Performance does affect turnover intentions and behaviour in every organisation. Employees who perceived as having a favourable chance of getting a promotion would have a higher job performance. A need for performance and a positive work attitude positively influences job performance. To know that Goal clarity, performance-rewards relationship, and influence and control all are significantly related to performance will be the key to keep employees in peak performance. 2.5 Summary of Literature Review From the Literature Reviews of paragraph 2.2 to 2.4 illustrated that employee’ attitudes, values and beliefs do add to one’s job satisfaction. It would decrease the chances of employees being absent from the workplace and at the same time improve the productivity of the organisation. Having the right motivating force for the employees is getting more autonomy and empowerment that they may feel a sense of responsibility in the working environment resulting in longer commitments and loyalty to the organisation. Rafikul Islam and Ahmad Zaki Hj. Ismail (2006) found six main factors that will increase motivation in any organisation which are good working conditions, high wages, job security, promotion, interesting work and lastly being appreciated for their contributions in the workplace. Only by knowing how to satisfy and motivate employees, will the organisation be able to benefit from the performance of the individuals as they will feel compelled to put in more effort for the advancement for the company and also themselves. Positive mindset towards work is definitely the way for an employee to perform in their working environment. The three segments of job satisfaction, motivation and performance although are different in their areas of results, there is a strong correlations between the three segment of how it affects and influence on another. The above literature reviews have given an in-depth insight on the environmental factors that affect job satisfaction, motivation and performance. With this understanding, the research is able to develop the appropriate hypotheses to meet the research objectives. The development of hypotheses is elaborated in the next chapter. Chapter 3 Formulation of Hypotheses 3.1 Introduction The main aim of this research is to investigate how work environment has an impact on employee’s job satisfaction, motivation and performance. This is important as we know that even in our own daily workplace, motivation and having a sense of satisfaction at work do affect performance and vice versa. In this chapter, hypotheses are developed based on the relationship among work environment and job satisfaction, work environment and job motivation, and lastly work environment and job performance. 3.2 Hypothesis 1 Charlie O. Trevor (2001) in his research about job satisfaction and its effect on voluntary turnover in the organisation had shown that there is a correlation between the two variables. To understand how we can reduce voluntary turnover is to know how much does the employee interact in the workplace and how much job satisfaction they have in the job. Having a pleasant work environment is more likely to make employees feel a sense of belonging and satisfied coming to the work place. Hence, the following hypothesis states that: H1: Supportive peers will lead to higher job satisfaction. 3.3 Hypothesis 2 The findings through research of Clifford P. McCue and Gerasimos A. Gianakis (1997) research objectives were the relationship between job satisfaction and performance has supported the facts that better job performance will lead to job satisfaction in the organisation. The feeling that it has to be true in every aspect, has to be tested to validate itself of how people react to between performance and satisfaction. With this, the hypothesis is: H2: An effective leader leads to higher employees’ performance. 3.4 Hypothesis 3 In many research studies, motivation is the key attribute for an employee to possess if they would like the organisation to advance in increasing efficiency and efficacy in the way things are done. The workplace must be pleasant and appealing to the employees making them feel motivated all the time that will indirectly increase performance within the organisation. The following hypothesis will look into this: H3: High conflict and political work environment increases my motivation level. 3.5 Hypothesis 4 Meeting career expectations of the employees may in return have an impact on the employees’ satisfaction level. As contend by Thomas Lange (2008) and Kenneth Teas (1983) shows that jobs satisfaction does in return contribute to the positive aspects of an individuals in their careers. To study on this, a hypothesis is formulated. H4: There is a positive impact on employees’ satisfaction when career expectations are met. 3.6 Hypothesis 5 Jacob K. Eskilden, Kai Kristensen and Ander H. Westlund (2003) in their study showed that challenging task may motivate an individual despite having lower satisfaction level. In this fast moving environment and fast changing economy, will individuals still be motivated with more challenging work? Hence the hypothesis: H5: Challenging work positively increases Job motivation. Chapter 4 – Research Methodology 4.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to outline the methodology employed in this study. It will give a brief explanation of how the information is collected and at the same time ensure that the study has a high level of reliability and validity. Respondents will participate in this research to help to the analysis of the study. Figure 4.1 Research Methodology Process Source : Blaikie (2003) Analyzing quantitative data: from description to explanation. 4.2 Importance of Research Methodology Asker, Kumar, Day and Lawley (2005) stresses that the importance of having a research methodology because it serves to guide the direction of the research towards fulfilling its objectives. It enables better control of the study, data collection and raw data interpretation and analysis. Research methodology is thus the thread that strings all the elements of the study systematically to achieve the research objectives. 4.2.1 Primary Data According to Bruce (2007), â€Å"primary data are data not available in a secondary form that must be collected to address the specific needs of the research†. Allen (1999) also pointed out in his study that primary data collection is crucial when secondary data sources are not available. Questionnaire surveys are the source of primary data in this research. Data collection is standardised so that analysis and comparison can be made easier. Most of the questionnaires were distributed directly to working adults. Using this direct approach is advantageous because any doubts can be clarified immediately and responses can be gathered on-the-spot. But the downside to using the direct approach is that respondents have limited time to think through their answers when completing the questionnaires. 4.2.2 Secondary Data Bruce (2007) stated that â€Å"secondary data are data gathered for some purpose other than the project at hand†. Though secondary data are readily available, caution must be exercised when interpreting the contents as they may not up-to-date or from incredible sources. Thus, primary research should be carried out to obtain more current information. Secondary data for this study was sourced from avenues such as journal, articles, books and the internet which main focuses on job satisfaction, motivation and performance which are to be explored in this study. 4.3 Research Design The random sampling design is used because the data was collected over certain time-periods. The questionnaire survey approach was adopted for data collection primarily because a large of sample can be collected over the shortest time frame. This approach also facilitates ease of recording and processing of survey results The questionnaire surveys will be distributed to working adults across Symantec to acquire a meaningful representation of the whole population. Different data collection methods were used ensure reliable estimates: electronic mails, face to face interviews, telephone interviews. This study utilises data gathered from working adults from Symantec and the sample size is targeted at 500 respondents. To increase the accuracy of the response, each survey was distributed with a verbal guarantee of anonymity. 4.4 Development of Questionnaires To achieve the objectives of this research as stated in paragraph 1.3 on Page 3, a set of questionnaires consisting of 24 questions were developed and modified to test the hypotheses as formulated in Chapter 3. Questions 1 to 5 are formulated to test Hypothesis 1. The questions examine the responses of individuals about how they feel about job satisfaction when they have supportive their peers. To test Hypothesis 2, questions 6 to 9 are formulated to investigate whether effective supervisors are able to affect the employees’ performance. For testing Hypothesis 3, questions 10 to 14 seek to evaluate the relationship of between conflicting and political working environment and employees’ motivation levels. Hypothesis 4 is tested against questions from 15 to 19 which are formulated to test if there will be any positive impact on job satisfaction when career expectations are met. Questions 20 to 24 are formulated to test for Hypothesis 5. The questions aid in the examination of whether challenging work produces more job motivation for employees. The demographic characteristics of the sample population can be identified through questions 25 to 31. 4.5 Measurement Questions 1 to 24 use a 4-point response Likert scale to eliminate central tendency biasness and to ease date collection and tabulation. The respondents will be required to express the extent of their agreement or disagreement from (1) â€Å"strongly agree† to (4) â€Å"strongly disagree† with regards to a series of statements. Questions 25 to 31 are closed-ended questions. Such structure allows effective probing to the specific item and reduces the presence of free-response data which may complicate statistical interpretation and analysis. 4.6 Pilot study Prior in conducting the actual survey, a pilot study was carried out with a research supervisor to help rectify the content of the survey according to Saunders, Lewis and Thronhill (2003). This pilot study helps in identifying the problems from the start and consistent feedbacks were given to polish up on the questionnaire structure. Many changes were made to the questionnaires and then given to a small group of 10 individuals to see if they could understand the instructions and content of the survey in the pilot test. 4.7 Data Collection The data is collected over a period of two weeks with a dateline on 10th November 2009 and responses received within this timeframe will be used in this study. Most of the questionnaires were distributed during lunch hour and also after-office hours. Whenever possible, the respondents were encouraged to complete the survey on-the-spot to minimise data loss i.e. failing to return the survey forms. 4.8 Computation of Data The data for the study is computed using the Microsoft Office Excel application. Hypothesis testing taken from questions 1 to 24 are tabulated using the following criteria : Strongly agree – 1 Agree – 2 Disagree – 3 Strongly disagree – 4 The mean score of each question and each hypothesis will be calculated While demographic attributes taken from questions 25 to 30 are tabulated using the following criteria : Gender – (1) male and (2) female Age Group – (1) under 20, (2) between 20 to 30, (3) between 31 to 40, (4) between 41 to 50, (5) between 51 to 60 and (6) 61and above; Profession – (1) student, (2) executive, (3) technician, (4) manager, (5) administration and (6) self-employed; Income Level – (1) less than S$1000, (2) between S$1001 to S$2000, (3) between S$2001 to S$3000, (4) between S$3000 to S$4000, (5) between S$4001 to S$5000 and (6) S$5000 and above; Educational Level – (1) PSLE, (2) ‘O’ level, (3) ‘A’ level, (4) diploma/advanced diploma, (5) degree and (6) masters/PhD; Nationality – (1) Singaporean, (2) Singapore permanent residents and (3) Others. 4.9 Conclusion The survey questionnaires were designed for data collection to achieve the objectives of this study. A sample size of 500 questionnaires was used to represent the population in the research to ensure reliability, accuracy and validity. Data collected from various departments and from employees holding different designations were then computed using the Microsoft Office Excel application which will be presented in the next chapter. Chapter 5 Findings and Analysis 5.1 Introduction This chapter shows the analysis and findings of the survey results done. This chapter is important as it will validate whether the hypotheses formulated in Chapter 3 are true to its claims. Paragraph 5.3 will cover the demographic profile of the respondents while the analyses and finding will be presented in Paragraphs 5.4 to 5.8. The survey results will be reported after each test and a summary of the hypotheses will be provided in Paragraph 5.9. 5.2 Data Collection and Research Responses A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed to various individuals from Symantec. The final sample size consists of 433 responses. A total of 23 responses were rejected due to error or incompletion of the questionnaires. Hence, a total number of 410 valid responses were used to tabulate the findings effectively making a response rate of 82.0%. 5.3 Demography Survey questions 25 to 30 are designed in such a way as to give an overview of the demographic profile of the sample population which serves to provide an important insight of the entire company’s demography. All findings will be translated into graphs and charts to enable ease of referencing. 5.3.1 Gender Chart 5.1 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.1, the response rates for male and female are almost similar at 51.46% and 48.54% respectively. This is indicates that the workforce in Symantec are quite evenly distributed and also suggests that both genders enjoy equal employment opportunities with little or no gender discrimination. 5.3.2 Age Group Chart 5.2 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.2, the data shows that a significant portion of the respondents falls under the age groups 21-30 and 31-40 at 49.76% and 30.98% respectively. This indicates that young and middle-aged working adults make up the majority of Symantec’s workforce. Making up 11.22% and 5.12% of the sample population are older workers from the age groups 41-50 and 51-60 respectively. There indicates that there is also a substantial percentage of older workers within Symantec’s workforce suggesting that the policy of employing older workers is rather effective. 5.3.3 Profession Chart 5.3 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.3, the majority of the sample population is made up of executives at 52.20% followed by administration staffs at 17.80%. Managerial and technical staffs made up another 16.83% and 13.17% respectively. This is representative that majority of Symantec’s employees hold middle to high level positions within the organisations. 5.3.4 Current Income Level Chart 5.4 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.4, the data reveals the earning capabilities of the respondents. Most of the respondents are earning a comfortable monthly income range of above S$2000, with the bulk of 37.80% earning between S$3001 – S$4000. 5.3.5 Education Level Chart 5.5 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.5, the data shows that the majority of the respondents have completed tertiary education – 18.05%, 57.80% and 3.66% having completed their Diploma/Advanced Diploma, Degree and Masters/PhD respectively. This presents an accurate picture of Symantec’s current workforce which has high literacy rates. 5.3.6 Nationality Chart 5.6 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.6, the data indicates that the vast majority of the respondents are mainly made up of locals. 5.3.7 Summary of Demographic Profile The findings from paragraphs 5.3.1 to 5.3.6 enable the researcher to draw inferences about the demography of the company’s workforce based on the analysis of the sample population of 410 respondents. To summarise, Symantec offers unbiased employment opportunities to its employees, comprising mainly of locals who are highly educated and mainly from the age group 21 to 40. Most of the population holds middle to high level posts in the organisation and drawing high income. This sample demography is adequate for the study to achieve its research objectives. 5.4 Survey Findings – Hypothesis 1 H1 : Supportive peers will lead to higher job satisfaction. 5.4.1 Question 1 : I am satisfied when my peers understand my work related problems. Chart 5.7 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.7 shows that 10.24% and 82.68% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 6.83% and 0.24% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 1.97 (refer to Appendix 1), indicating that most respondents is in agreement to the above question. This attest the fact that job satisfaction is highly influenced by peers’ understanding work related problems. 5.4.2 Question 2 : Frequent communication with my peers increases my job satisfaction. Chart 5.8 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.8 register that 25.61% and 60.73% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 12.20% and 1.46% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 1.90 (refer to Appendix 1) suggesting that a significant number of the respondent is in agreement with the above question. This confirms that that there is a positive correlation between job satisfaction and the frequency of peer-to-peer communication. 5.4.3 Question 3 : When my peers show me respect, I am satisfied. Chart 5.9 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.9 reveals that 45.85% and 44.63% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 5.12% and 4.39% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 1.68 (refer to Appendix 1) which indicates high agreement rates from the respondents. Thus pointing out that job satisfaction is depends on the levels of respect for they receive from their peers in Symantec. 5.4.4 Question 4 : Without my supportive peers, I am not satisfied even if the job is done well. Chart 5.10 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.10 shows that 16.10% and 44.39% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 23.90% and 15.61% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.39 (refer to Appendix 1) pointing out the fact that most respondents agree to the above question. This emphasizes that most individuals believe that supportive peers will enhance their job satisfaction levels. 5.4.5 Question 5 : When my manager avoids conflict in my department, it decreases my motivation level. Chart 5.11 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.11 reveals that 10.00% and 48.05% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 22.93% and 19.02% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.51 (refer to Appendix 1) suggesting that in general, most individuals believe that when their manager do not avoid conflicts, they will be more motivated and hence increase their job satisfaction levels. 5.4.6 Summary of Findings for Hypothesis 1 H1 : Supportive peers will lead to higher job satisfaction. For Hypothesis 1, the mean score is 2.09 (refer to Appendix 1) indicating that most respondents agree that supportive peers will lead to higher job satisfaction which strongly support the claims of Hypothesis 1. The findings in paragraphs 5.4.1 to 5.4.5 further support the hypothesis. 92.92% of the respondents feel that they will be satisfied when their peers understand their work related problem because 86.34% and 90.48% of the respondents noted an increase in their job satisfaction levels when there is frequent communication between peers as well as when their peers show them respect respectively. Moreover, 60.49% of the respondents feel that without supportive peers, they will not be satisfied even when the job is well done. 58.05% of the respondents feel that their motivational levels will fall when the manager avoid conflicts. Hence, there is a positive correlation between higher job satisfaction levels and supportive peers. 5.5 Survey Findings – Hypothesis 2 H2 : An effective supervisor leads to higher performance. 5.5.1 Question 6 : My supervisor influences my job performance. Chart 5.12 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.12, the data indicates that 13.66% and 59.27% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 20.24% and 6.83% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.20 (refer to Appendix 1) suggesting that a significant portion of respondents agree to the above question. This implies that supervisor does have a certain level of influence over individuals’ job performance. 5.5.2 Question 7 : Without my supervisor, I am not able to perform. Chart 5.13 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.13, the data shows that 9.02% and 24.63% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 49.76% and 16.59% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.74 (refer to Appendix 1) indicating that a substantial number of respondents disagree to the above question. The high disagreement rate has pointed out that supervisors’ presence is not really necessary to bring about better job performance. 5.5.3 Question 8 : My job performance increases when I work for an effective supervisor. Chart 5.14 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.14, the data reveals that 26.10% and 42.44% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 24.88% and 6.59% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.12 (refer to Appendix 1) which implies that the majority of the respondents agree to the above question. This is indicative that better job performance can be accredited to an effective supervisor. 5.5.4 Question 9 : I need encouragement by my supervisor to improve my job performance. Chart 5.15 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.15, the data register that 11.46% and 63.90% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 20.49% and 4.15% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.17 (refer to Appendix 1) reflecting that a significant number of respondents believe that with their supervisors’ encouragements, their job performance will improve significantly. 5.5.5 Summary of Findings for Hypothesis 2 H2 : An effective supervisor leads to higher performance. For Hypothesis 2, the mean score is 2.31 (refer to Appendix 1) which is indicative that most respondents agree that an effective supervisor leads to higher performance. From the analysis, Hypothesis 2 is well supported. The findings in paragraphs 5.5.1 to 5.5.4 further support the hypothesis. 72.93% of the respondents agree that their supervisor influence their job performance as 68.54% of the respondents felt that their job performance will increase when they work with an effective supervisor and 75.36% of the respondents’ feedback that they need the encouragement of their supervisor to improve their job performance. However, only 33.65% of the respondents agree that they will not be able to perform without their supervisor. Hence, there is a positive correlation between higher job performance levels and having an effective supervisor. 5.6 Survey Findings – Hypothesis 3 H3 : High conflict and political work environment increases my motivation level. 5.6.1 Question 10 : There are a lot of conflicts in the office. Chart 5.16 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.16, the data reveals that 11.22% and 59.02% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 24.63% and 5.12% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.24 (refer to Appendix 1). This point to the fact that most of the respondents felt that there are a lot of conflicts in their offices. 5.6.2 Question 11 : I will be motivated in a high conflict working environment. Chart 5.17 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.17, the data indicates that 15.12% and 40.00% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 34.15% and 10.73% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.40 (refer to Appendix 1) reflecting a minor difference between the agreement and disagreement rates. This suggest that there are mixed feelings towards being motivated in an environment with high levels of conflicts, however, there is a slight deviation of 10.24% towards agreeing with being motivated in a high conflict working environment. 5.6.3 Question 12 : I will leave the organisation if there is too much political behaviour by my peers. Chart 5.18 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.18, the data register that 10.24% and 35.61% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 39.27% and 14.88% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.64 (refer to Appendix 1) which reflects a minimal difference between the agreement and disagreement rates. This indicates that there are mixed feelings towards leaving an organisation when there are too much political plays between peers. 8.30% more of the respondents tend towards disagreement with the above statement which implies that the decision to leave an organisation will not be significantly influenced by the exhibition of political behaviours by the peers. 5.6.4 Question 13 : The work I am doing motivates me even if there is political behaviours in my organisation. Chart 5.19 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.19, the data shows that 18.05% and 57.32% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 15.85% and 8.78% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.20 (refer to Appendix 1) revealing a high agreement rates with the above question. This implies that the nature of the job will motivate the respondents even when they are placed in an environment with a lot of political behaviours. 5.6.5 Question 14 : My motivation is not affected by the environment. Chart 5.20 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.20, the data reveals that 7.80% and 39.02% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 32.68% and 20.49% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.65 (refer to Appendix 1) reveals an insubstantial difference between the agreement and disagreement rates. This suggests mixed feelings towards the effect of the working environment and the respondents’ motivational level. The difference of 6.35% is deviated towards disagreement which may imply that the working environment can affect the motivational level but has little influence on it. 5.6.6 Summary of findings for Hypothesis 3 H3 : High conflict and political work environment increases my motivation level. For Hypothesis 3, the mean score is 2.43 (refer to Appendix 1) which is indicative that although quite a fair number of respondents agree that high conflict and political work environment increase their motivation level, there is too much disparity in the responses to provide any concrete findings to prove the correlation. Hence, the hypothesis is not supported. The findings in Questions 10 to 14 in paragraphs 5.6.1 to 5.6.5 from pages 51 to 55 further elaborates the inaccurate responses which render Hypothesis 3 invalid for any effective inference. 70.24% of the respondents are aware that there are a lot of conflicts in their working environments. Among the respondents, 55.12% agree that they are motivated in a high conflict working environment but then again 45.82% feels that their motivation level is not affected by the environment. There is a clear disparity in their responses – if most respondents feel motivated by a high conflict environment, their motivation level should be affected by the environment as well and yet the actual responses are negatively correlated. Further analysis shows that majority of the respondents are young executives from the age group 21-30 years of age currently holding degrees and earning high income. As they are young, they feel a need to be challenged in a high conflict environment proving their capa bilities. The majority 75.37% of the respondents believed that the nature of the work they are doing will motivate them even though there is political plays in their organisations. And yet 45.85% of respondents will consider leaving the organisation if there is too much political behaviour experienced. Again, there is a huge variance between both responses – if the respondents are motivated by their work and not the environment, the response rates towards leaving the organisation should register at a lesser percentage. Thus, it may be infer that the respondents are trying to give a politically correct answer. The majority of these respondents are also from young executive from the age group 21-30 years of age currently holding degrees and earning high income. They may be impulsive with regards to job changes and constantly looking out for new challenges. Although there is a very slight positive correlation between high conflict and political work environment and motivational levels, the results do not support Hypothesis 3. Perhaps the questions were structured to caution the respondents to give political responses. However, there is sufficient evidence to show that the nature of the work plays a more important role in influencing the motivational levels. 5.7 Survey Findings – Hypothesis 4 H4 : There is a positive impact on employees’ satisfaction when career expectations are met. 5.7.1 Question 15 : My employer knows about my career expectations. Chart 5.21 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.21 register that 12.44% and 51.46% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 22.44% and 13.66% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.37 (refer to Appendix 1) which reflects that most of the respondents noted that their employers are aware of their career expectations. 5.7.2 Question 16 : I am satisfied when my career expectations are met by my organisation. Chart 5.22 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.22 shows that 23.66% and 44.63% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 25.37% and 6.34% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.14 (refer to Appendix 1) suggests that majority of the respondents will be satisfied when their career expectations are met by the organisation. 5.7.3 Question 17 : My satisfaction level increases when my employer helps me achieve my career expectations. Chart 5.23 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.23 shows that 24.63% and 58.29% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 13.90% and 3.17% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 1.96 (refer to Appendix 1) since a majority of the respondents experience an incremental improvement in their satisfaction levels of when their employers help them to achieve their career expectations. 5.7.4 Question 18 : My motivation level increases when there is low political behaviour but high level of work conflict within my department. Chart 5.24 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.24 indicates that 12.93% and 46.59% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 28.54% and 11.95% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.40 (refer to Appendix 1) as there is a significant portion of the respondents experiencing a surge in their motivational levels when there is low political behaviour but high level of work conflicts within their departments 5.7.5 Question 19 : I feel it is not important to meet my career expectations when my needs are satisfied by my organisation Chart 5.25 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 The data from Chart 5.25 registers that 18.05% and 54.88% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 22.93% and 4.15% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.12 (refer to Appendix 1) which point to the fact that a substantial number of the respondents feel that it is not important to meet their career expectations so long as their needs are satisfied by the organisation. 5.7.6 Summary of findings for Hypothesis 4 H4 : There is a positive impact on employees’ satisfaction when career expectations are met. For hypothesis 4, the mean score is 2.20 (refer to Appendix 1) indicating that most respondents agrees that there is a positive impact on their satisfaction levels when their career expectations are met. The findings in paragraphs 5.7.1 to 5.7.5 support the claims of Hypothesis 4. 63.90% of the respondents pointed out that their respective employers are aware of their career expectations and 68.29% of the respondents agree that that they will be satisfied when their career expectations are met by the organisation. Moreover 82.92% of the respondents will experience an increase on satisfaction levels when their employers help them to achieve their career expectations. However, only 59.52% of the respondent felt that their motivational levels will increase when there is low political behaviour but high levels of work conflict within their departments. However, it is important to note that 72.93% of the respondents felt that fulfilling their career expectations can be forgone so long the organisation satisfy their needs. Hypothesis 4 is well-supported as the analyses find a positive correlation between career expectation fulfilment and satisfaction levels. Nevertheless, fulfilling needs is still more important and there are other factors that will influence satisfaction levels as well. 5.8 Survey Findings – Hypothesis 5 H5 : Challenging work positively increases Job motivation. 5.8.1 Question 20 : The work I am doing is challenging. Chart 5.26 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.26, the data registers that 10.00% and 72.20% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 12.93% and 4.88% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.13 (refer to Appendix 1) which implies that a majority of the respondents feel that the work they are doing is challenging. 5.8.2 Question 21 : Challenging work is more important to me than monetary reward that keeps me motivated. Chart 5.27 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.27, the data indicates that 12.68% and 59.27% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 20.98% and 7.07% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.23 (refer to Appendix 1) which reflects a general sentiment that challenging work is more important to the respondents’ motivational levels than monetary rewards as implied by the high agreement rates. 5.8.3 Question 22 : Increasing in job responsibility increases my motivational level. Chart 5.28 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.28, the data shows that 26.59% and 52.68% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 12.68% and 8.05% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.02 (refer to Appendix 1) indicating that a significant portion of the sample population agrees to the fact that when their job responsibilities increase so will their motivational levels. 5.8.4 Question 23 : Challenging work with no pay increase, increases my motivation level. Chart 5.29 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.29, the data indicates that 9.51% and 21.22% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 40.98% and 28.29% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.88 (refer to Appendix 1) as there is a high level of disagreement rates to an increment in motivational levels when there is challenging work with no pay increase. This implies that monetary rewards overrule challenging work. 5.8.5 Question 24 : The more challenging work I have, the more motivated I am. Chart 5.30 Source : Created by Jonathan Tay, 2009 From Chart 5.30, the data register that 22.20% and 59.27% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively while 10.00% and 8.54% of the respondents disagree and strongly disagree respectively with the statement. The findings of this question have shown a mean score of 2.05 (refer to Appendix 1) since most of the respondents feel that when they are challenged at work, they will be more motivated to prove their worth. 5.8.6 Summary of Findings for Hypothesis 5 H5 : Challenging work positively increases Job motivation. For hypothesis 4, the mean score is 2.26 (refer to Appendix 1) indicating that there is significant evidence to support the claims of Hypothesis 5 that challenging work positively increase job motivation. The findings in paragraphs 5.8.1 to 5.8.5 further support the claims by pointing out that with 82.20% of the respondents feeling that their work is challenging, 71.95% and 79.27% of the respondents feedback that they experience that challenging work is more important than monetary rewards and increasing responsibility keep them motivated, However, there is a significant percentage (69.27%) of respondents will not be motivated when they engage in challenging jobs with no pay increments. Although there is enough evidence to conclude that challenging work will positively increases job motivation, there are also significant evidence to show that monetary rewards is also another preceding factor towards increasing motivation. 5.9 Summary of Findings There is significant evidence to support the claims of Hypothesis 1 and 2 leading to a conclusive confirmation that there are indeed positive correlations between higher job satisfaction levels and the presence of supportive peers and effective supervisors respectively. Although there is a very slight positive correlation between high conflict and political work environment and motivational levels, the huge disparity in the responses produces conflicting results is unable to support Hypothesis 3. However, there is significant evidence to show that the nature of the work plays a more important role in influencing the motivational levels. Although the findings support the claims of Hypothesis 4 to show that there is a positive impact on the satisfaction levels when there is fulfilment of career expectations, fulfilling needs is still more important and there are other factors that will influence satisfaction levels as well. There is enough evidence in support of Hypothesis 5 to conclude that challenging work will positively increases job motivation but monetary rewards is also another significant preceding factor towards increasing motivation. 5.10 Linking Findings with Literature Reviews As shared by Clifford P. McCue and Gerasimos A.Gianakis (1997) the level of satisfaction is the function of the correspondence between expectations, aspirations, needs, and the degree to which the organisation fulfils these needs. The analyses of the findings in the above paragraphs do duplicate similar conclusions, in the findings supporting the hypothesis that when employees career expectations are met, there will be a positive impact on their satisfaction levels. However, there is enough evidence to show that, career expectations can be forgone so long needs are met. Besides that, the findings shown that 72.20% of the sample population gives a strong agreement that they find their work challenging and would find it motivating when more responsibility are given to them which corresponds to the study done by Zydziunaite Vilma and Katiliute Egle (2007). However, as researchers Rafikul Islam and Ahmad Zaki Hj. Ismail (2006) has pointed out, monetary rewards must be present which has been tested positive in this study. Analysis of the data showed effective supervisors to affect the job performance level which Paul F. Rotenberry and Philip J. Moberg (2007) do agree in their assessment of job involvement and performance in the working environment. There are not a significant number of linkages to the literature reviews in Chapter 2 on performance but this gives new insights to effective supervisor being able to improve job performance capabilities which are supported by other numerous literatures (Douglas, 1981; Mark, 2006; Onne, 2001) which are not presented in the current study. Chapter 6 – Conclusion 6.1 Introduction This chapter will summarise all the discussions from previous chapters will look into the research summary of this study. The analysis of how the research was done and discussions of the limitations and assumptions undertaken will be elaborated in the next few paragraphs. Based on the evaluations on Chapter 5, suggestions for future research will be discussed as well. 6.2 Research Summary and Analysis The objective of this study is to examine the factors that will be influenced by Symantec’s working environment. In Chapter 2, many literatures by various professionals and academics were reviewed to explore the possible areas that can be studied and 3 variables are narrowed down, namely job satisfaction, motivation and performance to provide a base on which hypotheses can be formulated. The 5 hypotheses formulated in Chapter 3 are : i. H1 : Supportive peers will lead to higher job satisfaction. ii. H2 : An effective supervisor leads to higher performance. iii. H3 : High conflict and political work environment increases my motivation level. iv. H4 : There is a positive impact on employees’ satisfaction when career expectations are met. v. H5 : Challenging work positively increases Job motivation. With reference to the hypotheses, survey questionnaires are created to serve the twin purpose of testing if the employees’ working environments will affect the 3 variables consisting of job satisfaction, motivation and performance as well as to measure the degree of cause-and-effect relationships between the working environments and each of the 3 variables. The methodology can be reviewed in detail in Chapter 4. From the analyses and findings in Chapter 5, respondents in the working environment are indeed affected by their peers and even superiors, which will be able to affect their satisfaction level which supports the claims by Hypothesis 1. The findings for Hypothesis 2 have indeed shown that an employee’s performance is also based on the effectiveness of their superior in the working environment. A vast majority have agreed that they would need encouragement by their superiors to perform in their workplace and would feel that the supervisor in a way or another affects the job performance level. However, it is unfortunate that the test results for Hypothesis 3 which measures motivation levels in a high conflict and political environments presents contradicting responses. Thus, there are not enough findings to support the claims of Hypothesis 3. As for Hypothesis 4, the findings showed that employees’ needs have to be met to enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction although n ot necessary to be in line with their career expectations as presented earlier. The majority of the respondents felt that their work is challenging and thus keeping them motivated in striving to excellence. In Hypothesis 5, an increased in job responsibility would in return increase the job motivation level for the bulk of respondents. As much as monetary rewards may not be as important as a challenging job, most would not take up additional workload if no monetary incentives were given. These hypotheses formulated are generally supported with the exception of Hypothesis 3. Nonetheless, they do have some limitations for Symantec’s work environment which will be elaborate in the paragraphs below. 6.3 Limitation of Research This study has some limitations that should be acknowledged. Time was the main constraints of this study. Given only a relatively short time frame to gather, analyse and interpret the data, conducting the research on such a schedule may not be able to provide optimal insights to the subject matter. The research grouping also focuses mainly on Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. Thus, the results may not serve as a useful indication when applied to other companies or even countries. The current study suggests that Symantec’s working environment can only affect three variables which are job satisfaction, performance and motivation. As acknowledged in the literature reviews in Chapter 2, there are a myriad of other factors within the organisation that may affect employees in other ways. The responses received do not support Hypothesis 3. Perhaps more hypotheses should be drawn to measure motivational levels in a high conflict and political working environments. Last but not least, data collected from the survey are from the whole company, perhaps an even better way to conduct the research would be to narrow it down to the various business units (i.e. Sales, HR, Management) so as to have a better and deeper understanding. The results collated also may have limited inference to the subject matter and caution must be exercised when interpreting the results. 6.4 Further Research and Conclusion In conclusion, the current dissertation examines and surmises how an employee’s job performance, motivation and satisfaction can be influence by Symantec’s working environment. And the results from Chapter 5 have clearly supported the existence of a strong causal relationship between organisation working environment with job satisfaction and performance – the more pleasant the working environment is, the higher the job satisfaction and performance. For Hypothesis 3, there is a clear disparity in their responses – if most respondents feel motivated by a high conflict environment, their motivation level should be affected by the environment as well and yet the actual responses are negatively correlated or perhaps, respondents were caution to give politically correct answer which is why it is advisable to re-test Hypothesis 3 with either different scale or ranking and a more specific questionnaire to determine how politics and conflicts affects employeeâ€⠄¢s job satisfaction, motivation and performance. Thus, this is definitely an area to explore for any further research. 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