How to Get ACT Scores, Step by Step

How to Get ACT Scores, Step by Step SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips So you've recently taken the ACT. Congratulations! But now you are probably wondering when and how you will be able to see your ACT scores. Where can you see your ACT scores? Read on to learn when ACT scores become available and how to check your ACT scores online. NOTE: Looking for ACT scores from before Spring 2008 or forgotten your ACT ID? Then you should check out our article on how to get old ACT scores first! When Do ACT Scores Come Out? Your ACT scores will be posted on the official ACT, Inc. website a few weeks after you take the test. They will not be emailed to you directly, so you'll have to access your scores yourself by logging on to your ACT account. Multiple-choice scores are usually available 10 days after the test, with your Writing scores added on about two weeks later (for exact dates, see our article on when ACT scores come out). Note that your Writing score will take a bit longer since it's being graded by actual people and not machines. // All ACT scores should be posted eight weeks after the test date at the very latest. (Your ACT scores could take a bit longer if you live outside the US or Canada.) Be aware that there is no way to speed up or prioritize your test scoring. The priority report option on the ACT website refers to sending scores to colleges- not getting a faster score report. Colleges will not be sent your ACT scores until the full report (including your Writing score, if you took the ACT with Writing) has been processed. How to Get Your ACT Scores: Step-by-Step Guide Now that you know when ACT scores come out, how can you actually see your ACT scores? Here is a step-by-step guide to teach you how. First,log on to your ACT Web Account; using the user ID and password you created when you originally signed up for the ACT. // If you forgot either your user ID or password, use the "Forgot User ID?" or "Forgot password?" links to retrieve your account info. Once you log in, you'll be taken to your ACT Student home page, where you will see a summary of your test registration dates. Click on "Your Test Dates And Scores" in the left column to get to your ACT scores: Next, you'll see a table with the date(s) you took the ACT, the type of test you took (ACT or ACT Plus Writing), and a link to view your scores. (Incidentally, you'll also see any test dates you signed up for and later cancelled, such as my September 2009 test in the screenshot below.) Click on "View Your Scores" to be taken to your ACT scores page: You will then be prompted to enter your password one more time. Don’t worry, it’s the same one you used before! Finally, you'll arrive at your ACT scores page. // On this page, you'll see your composite ACT score (out of 36), your section scores, and your subscores. The subscores are useful in that they give you detailed information about your subject area performance. Unfortunately, unlike with the SAT, with the ACT you won't get to see your exact raw scores. (For more information about how the ACT is scored, see our article.) If you click on the "Download student score report PDF" link, you'll get a PDF report with even more detailsabout your percentile scores, potential areas of improvement, and other pieces of information you can use to boost your ACT score! What to Do Once You Get Your ACT Scores Once you've seen your scores, the first step you should take is to determine whether you met your ACT goal score or not. Even if you didn't, were you pretty close to it, or pretty far from it? Your answer to this question will help you decide whether you should retake the ACT. // For example, if you were aiming for a 30 but got a 24, it'd probably be in your best interest to retake the test. In this case, be sure to focus on improving your weaknesses in your prep. On the other hand, if you were aiming for a 32 and got a 31, you might be satisfied with these results and decide not to retake the ACT. If your score is lower than you wanted it to be and you don't have time to retake the exam, you should definitely put in extra effort into making your college applications as strong as possible. Try to keep up your GPA and write a great personal statement so you can give yourself your best shot at getting accepted to college. Recap: How to Get ACT Scores This is pretty much all there is to getting your official ACT scores. Once again, you will not receive a score report by email or snail mail, so make sure you have your user ID and password ready to go the day your ACT results are scheduled to come out. In addition, once you've seen your ACT scores, take some time to determine whether they are high enough for your schools as well as whether you want to retake the exam or not. // What's Next? You've seen your official ACT scores. Now, the important question is what you should do with them. Should you retake the ACT? Figure out whether you should in our three-step guide. What's a good ACT score? Discover your target score using our expert guide. Still debating between taking the ACT and SAT? Learn which test is easier and get tips on how to choose the right one for you. Unhappy with your ACT scores? PrepScholar might be the program for you.We guarantee an improvement of 4 points on your current ACT score, or your money back. We have the industry's leading ACT prep program. Built byHarvard grads and SAT full scorers, the programlearns your strengths and weaknessesthrough advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our no-commitment 5-day free trial today: //

Taiwan Interesting Facts and History

Taiwan Interesting Facts and History The island of Taiwan floats in the South China Sea, just over one hundred miles from the coast of mainland China. Over the centuries, it has played an intriguing role in the history of East Asia, as a refuge, a mythical land, or a land of opportunity. Today, Taiwan labors under the burden of not being fully recognized diplomatically. Nonetheless, it has a booming economy and is now also a functioning capitalist democracy. Capital and Major Cities Capital: Taipei, population 2,635,766 (2011 data) Major Cities: New Taipei City, 3,903,700 Kaohsiung, 2,722,500 Taichung, 2,655,500 Tainan, 1,874,700 Taiwans Government Taiwan, formally the Republic of China, is a parliamentary democracy. Suffrage is universal for citizens 20 years old and older. The current head of state is President Ma Ying-jeou. Premier Sean Chen is the head of government and President of the unicameral legislature, known as the Legislative Yuan. The President appoints the Premier. The Legislature has 113 seats, including 6 set aside to represent Taiwans aboriginal population. Both executive and legislative members serve four-year terms. Taiwan also has a Judicial Yuan, which administers the courts. The highest court is the Council of Grand Justices; its 15 members are tasked with interpreting the constitution. There are lower courts with specific jurisdictions as well, including the Control Yuan which monitors corruption. Although Taiwan is a prosperous and fully-functioning democracy, it is not recognized diplomatically by many other nations. Only 25 states have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, most of them small states in Oceania or Latin America because the Peoples Republic of China (mainland China) has long withdrawn its own diplomats from any nation that recognized Taiwan. The only European state that formally recognizes Taiwan is Vatican City. Population of Taiwan The total population of Taiwan is approximately 23.2 million as of 2011. Taiwans demographic make-up is extremely interesting, both in terms of history and ethnicity. Some 98% of the Taiwanese are ethnically Han Chinese, but their ancestors migrated to the island in several waves and speak different languages. Approximately 70% of the population are Hoklo, meaning that they are descended from Chinese immigrants from Southern Fujian who arrived in the 17th century. Another 15% are Hakka, descendants of migrants from central China, mainly Guangdong Province. The Hakka are supposed to have immigrated in five or six major waves beginning just after the reign of Qin Shihuangdi (246 - 210 BCE). In addition to the Hoklo and Hakka waves, a third group of mainland Chinese arrived in Taiwan after the Nationalist Guomindang (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong and the Communists. Descendants of this third wave, which took place in 1949, are called waishengren and make up 12% of Taiwans total population. Finally, 2% of Taiwanese citizens are aboriginal people, divided into thirteen major ethnic groups. This is the Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Tao (or Yami), Thao, and Truku. Taiwanese aborigines are Austronesian, and DNA evidence suggests that Taiwan was the starting point for the peopling of the Pacific islands by Polynesian explorers. Languages The official language of Taiwan is Mandarin; however, the 70% of the population who are ethnic Hoklo speak the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan (Southern Min) Chinese as their mother tongue. Hokkien is not mutually intelligible with Cantonese or Mandarin. Most Hoklo people in Taiwan speak both Hokkien and Mandarin fluently. The Hakka people also have their own dialect of Chinese which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, Cantonese or Hokkien - the language is also called Hakka. Mandarin is the language of instruction in Taiwans schools, and most radio and TV programs are broadcast in the official language as well. The aboriginal Taiwanese have their own languages, though most can also speak Mandarin. These aboriginal languages belong to the Austronesian language family rather than the Sino-Tibetan family. Finally, some elderly Taiwanese speak Japanese, learned in school during the Japanese occupation (1895-1945), and do not understand Mandarin. Religion in Taiwan Taiwans constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and 93% of the population profess one faith or another. Most adhere to Buddhism, often in combination with the philosophies of Confucianism and/or Taoism. Approximately 4.5% of Taiwanese are Christians, including about 65% of Taiwans aboriginal people. There are a wide variety of other faiths represented by less than 1% of the population: Islam, Mormonism, Scientology, Bahai, Jehovahs Witnesses, Tenrikyo, Mahikari, Liism, etc. Taiwans Geography Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, is a large island about 180 kilometers (112 miles) off the coast of southeast China. It has a total area of 35,883 square kilometers (13,855 square miles). The western third of the island is flat and fertile, so the vast majority of Taiwans people live there. In contrast, the eastern two-thirds are rugged and mountainous, and hence much more sparsely populated. One of the most famous sites in eastern Taiwan is the Taroko National Park, with its landscape of peaks and gorges. The highest point in Taiwan is Yu Shan, 3,952 meters (12,966 feet) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level. Taiwan sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, situated at a suture between the Yangtze, Okinawa and Philippine tectonic plates. As a result, it is seismically active; on September 21, 1999, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the island, and smaller tremors are quite common. Climate of Taiwan Taiwan has a tropical climate, with a monsoonal rainy season from January through March. Summers are hot and humid. The average temperature in July is about 27 °C (81 °F), while in February the average drops to 15 °C (59 °F). Taiwan is a frequent target of Pacific typhoons. Taiwans Economy Taiwan is one of Asias Tiger Economies, along with Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong. After World War II, the island received a huge influx of cash when the fleeing KMT brought millions in gold and foreign currency from the mainlands treasury to Taipei. Today, Taiwan is a capitalist powerhouse  and a major exporter of electronics and other high-tech products. It had an estimated 5.2% growth rate in its GDP in 2011, despite the global economic downturn and weakened demand for consumer goods. Taiwans unemployment rate is 4.3% (2011), and a per capita GDP of $37,900 US. As of March 2012, $1 US 29.53 Taiwanese New Dollars. History of Taiwan Humans first settled the island of Taiwan as early as 30,000 years ago, although the identity of those first inhabitants is unclear. Around 2,000 BCE or earlier, farming people from the mainland of China immigrated to Taiwan. These farmers spoke an Austronesian language; their descendants today are called Taiwanese aboriginal people. Although many of them stayed in Taiwan, others continued on to populate the Pacific Islands, becoming the Polynesian peoples of Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Island, etc. Waves of Han Chinese settlers arrived in Taiwan via the off-shore Penghu Islands, perhaps as early as 200 BCE. During the Three Kingdoms period, the emperor of Wu sent explorers to seek islands in the Pacific; they returned with thousands of captive aboriginal Taiwanese. The Wu decided that Taiwan was barbaric land, not worthy of joining the Sinocentric trade and tribute system. Larger numbers of Han Chinese began to come in the 13th and then again in the 16th centuries. Some accounts state that one or two ships from Admiral Zheng Hes first voyage might have visited Taiwan in 1405. European awareness of Taiwan began in 1544 when the Portuguese sighted the island and named it Ilha Formosa, beautiful island. In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan sent an armada to take Taiwan, but the aboriginal Taiwanese fought the Japanese off. Dutch traders also established a fort on Tayouan in 1624, which they called Castle Zeelandia. This was an important way-station for the Dutch on their way to Tokugawa Japan, where they were the only Europeans allowed in to trade. The Spanish also occupied northern Taiwan from 1626 to 1642 but were driven off by the Dutch. In 1661-62, pro-Ming military forces fled to Taiwan to escape the Manchus, who had defeated the ethnic-Han Chinese Ming Dynasty in 1644 and were extending their control southward. The pro-Ming forces expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and set up the Kingdom of Tungnin on the southwest coast. This kingdom lasted just two decades, from 1662 to 1683, and was beset by tropical disease and a lack of food. In 1683, the Manchu Qing Dynasty destroyed the Tungnin fleet and conquered the renegade little kingdom. During the Qing annexation of Taiwan, different Han Chinese groups fought one another and the Taiwanese aborigines. Qing troops put down a serious rebellion on the island in 1732, driving the rebels to either assimilate or take refuge high in the mountains. Taiwan became a full province of Qing China in 1885 with Taipei as its capital. This Chinese move was precipitated in part by increasing Japanese interest in Taiwan. In 1871, the Paiwan aboriginal people of southern Taiwan captured fifty-four sailors who were stranded after their ship ran aground. The Paiwan beheaded all the shipwrecked crew, who were from the Japanese tributary state of the Ryukyu Islands. Japan demanded that Qing China compensate them for the incident. However, the Ryukyus were also a tributary of the Qing, so China rejected Japans claim. Japan reiterated the demand, and the Qing officials refused again, citing the wild and uncivilized nature of Taiwanese aborigines. In 1874, the Meiji government sent an expeditionary force of 3,000 to invade Taiwan; 543 of the Japanese died, but they managed to establish a presence on the island. They were not able to establish control of the entire island until the 1930s, however, and had to use chemical weapons and machine guns to subdue the aboriginal warriors. When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, they signed control of Taiwan over to mainland China. However, since China was embroiled in the Chinese Civil War, the United States was supposed to serve as the primary occupying power in the immediate post-war period. Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalist government, the KMT, disputed American occupation rights in Taiwan and set up a Republic of China (ROC) government there in October of 1945. The Taiwanese greeted the Chinese as liberators from harsh Japanese rule, but the ROC soon proved corrupt and inept. When the KMT lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong and the Communists, the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan and based their government in Taipei. Chiang Kai-shek never relinquished his claim over mainland China; likewise, the Peoples Republic of China continued to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The United States, preoccupied with the occupation of Japan, abandoned the KMT in Taiwan to its fate, fully expecting that the Communists would soon route the Nationalists from the island. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, however, the US changed its position on Taiwan; President Harry S Truman sent the American Seventh Fleet into the Straits between Taiwan and the mainland to prevent the island from falling to the Communists. The US has supported Taiwanese autonomy ever since. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Taiwan was under the authoritarian one-party rule of Chiang Kai-shek until his death in 1975. In 1971, the United Nations recognized the Peoples Republic of China as the proper holder of the Chinese seat in the UN (both the Security Council and the General Assembly). The Republic of China (Taiwan) was expelled. In 1975, Chiang Kai-sheks son, Chiang Ching-Kuo, succeeded his father. Taiwan received another diplomatic blow in 1979 when the United States withdrew its recognition from the Republic of China and instead recognized the Peoples Republic of China. Chiang Ching-Kuo gradually loosened his grip on absolute power during the 1980s, rescinding the state of martial law that had lasted since 1948. Meanwhile, Taiwans economy boomed on the strength of high-tech exports. The younger Chiang passed away in 1988, and further political and social liberalization led to the free election of Lee Teng-hui as president in 1996.

Information Management and a Business Environment Research Paper

Information Management and a Business Environment - Research Paper Example Ciena Corporation was founded in 1992, listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (symbol CIEN) in 1997, and included in the S&P 500 market index in 2001. The company is headquartered in Linthicum, State of Maryland, USA, with offices located all over the US and Canada as well as Europe and Asia, totalling approximately 1500 employees. Ciena’s founding mission was to design, manufacture and sell optical transport and switching equipment. The company pioneered DWDM technology and became a world leader in the space. Following four acquisitions since 2003 and several key technology partnerships, Ciena deliberately augmented its portfolio to address the network applications with the most business value to its customers. My role as Human Resources Generalist for EMEA incorporates recruitment for the region as well as providing a fully supportive Human Resource/personnel function. There is a great need for effective Information Management within a business environment. The prime focus of the fieldwork was, therefore, the Travel Agent outlet, using a methodology designed to learn through interviews with counter staff what role the use of view data links to Tour Operators played in the servicing of customers (Feeny D. F., and Brownlee C. G. (2001). Subsequent interviews took place with management representatives of leading Tour Operators to elicit the role they saw for systems links to travel agents, and how it related to their overall strategy for competing in the industry. HR representatives interviewed were presented with a standard customer set and asked to explain how they would respond to each customer type.

Build and Sustain an Innovative Work Environment Assignment - 3

Build and Sustain an Innovative Work Environment - Assignment Example According to the requirements of the user of the system in the microfinance business, especially in the accounting department where the data of the staffs or workers need to be maintained therefore brought ideas in their mind to develop the system that will keep the data in the database system of the workers (Kroenke & Aeur, 2014). The innovation goals toward coming up with the database management system came due to the how the work was tiresome in getting the details for the workers or staffs therefore resulted to the system designer and analyst contribute their creativity in coming up with the system that will manage staffs database efficiently and that will save time when accessing their data. The stakeholders of the microfinance business involved the database managers, network managers, accountants, and others staff holders. After making that innovation goal proposal, it’s shared among the business stakeholders for them to raise their views over the proposed innovation sys tem suggested During the management of the innovation process, it involved various phases of system development, i.e. gathering the specific user requirements, performing through analysis and designing the logical design and physical design depending on the user requirements indicated from the structured requirements document (Jefferson, 1999). The database designer, system analyst and system designer cooperates in ensuring the innovation process goes well and as expected and making sure that it is being developed according to the needs of the user. Therefore, according to the accounting department in the microfinance business, there has been need for ensuring database for the staffs is stored electronically rather than manually, this organizations goal motivated them to become creative in coming up with the need to develop a database management system (Wang & Global, 2012). During the implementation plan, it involves designing the solution scenarios

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Essay 1. A Clean Well-Lighted Place 2. In the short story A Clean Well-Lighted Place written by Ernest Hemingway in 1933, there are three characters that are defined by light.   First there is the elderly gentleman who is a customer in the bar.   He regularly comes to the bar to get drunk while he sits in the shadows of the leaves of a tree.   This man has lived a long life and has known much pain.   In fact he has known enough pain that he has tried to commit suicide. The two waiters inside the cafe knew that the old man was a little drunk, and while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept watch on him. Last week he tried to commit suicide, one waiter said. (Hemingway)   He drinks to dull his pain of loss and pain.   The shadows are symbolic of all of his bead memories clumped together and the leaves that through tiny shadows to hide him are specific memories.   Even though he wraps himself in the darkness, he must be close to the light in order to survive.   The light, or goodness, gives him hope to carry on in a life that he cannot even successfully leave. The next character is the young waiter who must have the light.   He has not lived long, has a wife, and children.   Because his life seems to be exactly where it should be things are good and that is represented by the clean light of the bar.   Because of his youth, there has not been time for messes or losses.   He fears the shadows that shroud the elderly man because he sees them as foreshadows of his own life that he does not want to face. Hell stay all night, he said to his colleague. Im sleepy now. I never get into bed before three oclock. He should have killed himself last week. (Hemingway) The last is the older waiter.   This man has experienced enough life that he, like the elderly gentleman, prefers the dark.   He sees the light as only something to illuminate the defects in life.   The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished, the waiter. said. (Hemingway)   This way feels that understands that he has more in common with the elderly man in the shadows, but he longs to be back in the light. I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe, the older waiter said. With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night. (Hemingway) 3. Hemingway uses A Clean Well-Lighted Place to ponder the meaning of life.   Life is lived and through the journey, individuals know the joy which leave them with a lack of understanding of others like the young waiter and the elderly man.   You should have killed yourself last week, he said to the deaf man. The old man motioned with his finger. (Hemingway) Only those who are satisfied with life should be around him.   Money is not what makes people happy. The elderly man has money, but still he tries unsuccessfully to committee suicide.   Hemingway was well into his career at this time and had plenty of money yet he was not happy.   He adds the quick glimpse of the girl and the soldier who brave the fear of getting caught for the sake of love or the physical part of love to show that there are things that are meaningful in life that are worth the risk.   Yet in the end people are left with their shadows of memories that are so painful that they either desire for nothing but to turn back to the light part of their lives or to desire to leave life.

Australia Essay -- essays research papers

Australia- Trade and Immigration Background As Joycelyn has mentioned Australia's having greater and greater interaction with its Asian neighbours, through the areas of trade and its active role in the regional trade organization - APEC. Despite its location, Australia can hardly be thought of being an Asian country. Not so long ago, Asian were looked down upon, with a mixture of fear because of the communist aggression, pity because of their poverty, and contempt, as they dumped cheap and poorly made products to do Australian workers out of job. For decades, high prohibitive tariffs blocked the imports of Asian goods, and a 'White Australia' policy fenced off Asian migrants. However, the situation is reversed in the past 2 decades. With East Asia being the fastest growing economy, and the development of regional trade blocs in their traditional trading partners such as the EC and NAFTA that tend to emphasize internal trade, Asia becomes Australia's single most promising opportunity. And now, Australia is eager to be Asian. Trade (See overhead - Exports) In 1994, some 60% of Australia's total exports equivalent to more than 60 B A$ went to Asia. While Japan remains to be their largest trading partner, S Korea replaced US to take the second place. But at the same time, Australia's share of Asia's total imports is declining, down from 3% in 1985 to 2% in 95. The main reason is that Asian countries are trading more among themselves, and importing more hi-er value-added products, rather than the common Australian exported commodities. However, steering towards value-adding industries is not easy. Besides infrastructure and labor reform, Australian manufacturers will become head on with some of Asia's most efficient operations. Anyway, Australia has shown its committment to free trading. The former Labor government has committed to cutting the average tariff for most imports to 5% by 2000, compared to 20% in 1983. And the trend towards a more open economy will be continued by the new Liberal-National gov't. Most domestic business will not survive under such open competition, but Australia sees this as an opportunity to reshape its manufacturing base to become narrower and deeper, and more competitive. They see an ideal picture of Australia importing cheap manufactured goods from Asia instead of making expensive ones at home behind tariff, and Asia buying mineral... ...or a tv program 'Embassy' which he claimed was mocking Malaysia. Australia also got into diplomatic problems with certain authoritarian regimes for critizing their behaviors. Its relationship with Indonesia is always tense for its criticisms of Indonesia over human rights, corruption, and the status of East Timor. Even Singapore didn't like Australia's comment on its harrassment of the Asian Wall St Journal and other newspaper. As other Asian countries all share similar culture and values, Australia with its western nature would easily be labelled as intruder. And they all understand that Australia's friendliness towards Asia is economically driven, it comes out of the mind, not the heart. Moreover, some of them even suspect it of acting as a stalking horse for western interests. Malaysia proposed a regional East Asia Econ Caucus which will exclude the US and Australia, and this is clashing over with APEC in which Australia and US are active participant. So, how can Australia manage its odd man role in the Asian region? Should it go for Multiculturalism or a melting pot policy like the US? How can it balance its relationship with its neighbours while preserving its western values?

Employee Empowerment Essay

The empowered employee is said to respond more quickly to customer service requests, act to rectify complaints and be more engaged in service encounters. A more reflective approach suggests there are different managerial perceptions of empowerment, resulting in empowerment being introduced in different service organisations in different ways, and presenting different benefits to managers and working experiences for the empowered. This paper suggests that a framework of analysis needs to be developed which goes beyond the more simplistic claims which tend to discuss empowerment as that which is labelled empowerment. The success or failure of an initiative which claims to be empowering will be determined by the experience of being empowered. Employee empowerment in services 169 Introduction Employee empowerment has been hailed as a management technique which can be applied universally across all organisations as a means of dealing with the needs of modern global business (Barry, 1993: Johnson, 1993; Foy, 1994), and across all industrial sectors. However, the service sector is said to involve a unique cluster of tension which managers, employees and customers have to address (Heskett et al. 1990), and the empowerment of employees is an approach which has been advocated for service sector management (Sternberg, 1992; Lockwood, 1996). Investigation of the use of empowerment in service sector organisations reveals a number of different forms of empowerment being applied in practice. These different approaches evidence a range of managerial meanings being applied which are based on different perceptions of business problems, motives for introducing empowerment and perceived benefits to be gained from empowerment. The fact that empowerment can be used as a term to describe different initiatives provides a convenient rhetoric which suggests that empowerment is â€Å"in principle a good thing† and produces a â€Å"win-win† situation for employees and managers. In part these different perceptions of the service need and the appropriate match with the management of employees, is a consequence of the different service offers being made to customers. Some service offers require employees to exercise discretion in detecting and delivering customer service needs. In other cases, the service offer is highly standardised and require employees to practise service delivery in â€Å"the one best Personnel Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, 1999, pp. 169-191. # MCB University Press, 0048-3486 Personnel Review 28,3 170 way†. Reflection on both the specific applications entitled â€Å"empowerment† and on variations in the characteristics of the service offer, question the somewhat simplistic claims for the universality of empowerment, and the supposed benefits which ensue. This paper is based on a cluster of research projects which have investigated different approaches to empowerment in similar service businesses: Harvester Restaurants, TGI Fridays and McDonald’s Restaurants Limited operate branded restaurant chains. All are to some extent â€Å"McDonaldized† (Ritzer, 1993), they use highly standardised menus, â€Å"one best way† production techniques which assist in the delivery of consistency and predictability to customers. That said, these organisations differ in the service offer to customers, particularly in the extent that employees exercise discretion to meet customer service needs. The approach outlined in the paper is informed by these cases studies, though the key concern of the paper is to establish a framework for understanding empowerment in the service sector which questions the universalistic and evangelical claims of some of the advocates of empowerment. This framework of analysis suggests that there is a need to approach the study of empowerment in a systematic manner which goes beyond the label. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988) empowerment describes working arrangements which engage the empowered at an emotional level. They istinguish between concepts of empowerment which are relational and motivational. As a relational concept empowerment is concerned with issues to do with management style and employee participation. As a motivational construct empowerment is individual and personal, it is about discretion, autonomy, power and control. This motivational aspect to empowerment becomes the defining feature of the initiative. The empowered must feel a sense of personal worth, with the ability to effect outcomes and having the power to make a difference (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993; Johnson, 1993). Advocates of empowerment claim that employee empowerment helps firms to enthuse and enable employees to take responsibility for the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The paper identifies four different types, or managerial intentions, for empowering employees, which in turn impact on the precise form the arrangements take. Following from this, and so as to better understand the detailed changes in working arrangements which claim to be empowering, the paper provides a five dimensional framework of analysis. By contrasting and comparing the detail of the changes to what the newly empowered employee can now do, it is possible to establish the boundaries and limits which are placed on empowerment in any particular context. Given the need to engage employees at an emotional level and to generate the appropriate feelings about the service encounter, the impact of each initiative on the employee is a crucial ingredient in meeting the objectives set. This paper suggests that there are likely to be a number of factors which generate positive or negative feelings about a particular initiative. At root this will be concerned with the empowered employee’s perception of the state rather Employee than the form of empowerment. Investigation into empowerment must, empowerment in therefore, incorporate an analysis of how individuals feel about the result of services being empowered. Finally this paper suggests that beneath the rhetoric of empowerment, service firms are in different positions in relation to their customers and markets, and 171 this will impact on how managers perceive and interpret empowerment. Factors such as the degree of customisation/standardisation and the relative importance of tangibles/intangibles in customer satisfaction are likely to be influential in determining the locus of control of employee performance. Empowerment in the service sector Interest in employee empowerment in service industry firms has been associated with many of the key issues related to employment practices in general, namely in gaining competitive advantage through improved service quality. Paradoxically, however, attempts to gain competitive advantage through service quality can present some major problems for service operators. In the first instance, there are difficulties in defining the successful service encounter, particularly in the intangible sources of customer satisfaction. Customers vary considerably in their expectations of service quality (Rust and Oliver, 1994). Indeed individual customers may define and re-define their needs from service deliverers as their circumstances, experiences and expectations change. In turn, customer evaluation of a successful service encounter, and thereby repeat visits, will be a product of the extent to which their experience matches their expectations (Foulkes, 1994). Whilst there are these difficulties in defining successful encounters, many writers agree that â€Å"front line staff† (Johnston, 1989; Horovirz and Cudenne-Poon, 1990; Barbee and Bott, 1991) play a crucial role in the service encounter. There are in fact, some base level customer expectations of employee performance, positive interpersonal contacts, service deliverer attitudes, courtesy and helpfulness that are all closely related to customer evaluations of service quality (Adelmann et al. 1994). Hence human resources management and the strategies needed to engage employees emotionally in the objective of customer service take on a new and urgent meaning. This leads to the second difficulty for service deliverers. Unlike other resources used within an organisation there is a problem in predicting the levels of output, efficiency and general effectiveness which will be the outcome of a given level of labour employed. Human resources can be uniquely unstable. Under certain circumstances they physically leave the organisation, they may collectively resist management instructions or individually just not give â€Å"a fair days work for a fair days pay†. Clearly, these are problems shared by all employers but given the pivotal role of service delivery employees these issues are of particular concern to service sector employers. The response of many employers in the sector has been to look to manufacturing industry for models of control which minimised the significance Personnel Review 28,3 172 of individual idiosyncrasies. What Levitt called the â€Å"production-line approach to service† (1972) or the â€Å"industrialisation of service† (1976). Based on essentially Taylorist (1947) views of job design, they establish standardised procedures and one best way of doing each task. In many cases this extended to scripting the interaction with clients and left little to the discretion of the individual service deliverers. The consequence of this has been the rapid growth of organisations specialising in high volume, mass produced, standardised services which minimised the significance of labour inputs (Bowen and Lawler, 1992) in the delivery of predictable tangible and intangible product attributes to customers. Ritzer’s (1993) somewhat overblown comments about the â€Å"McDonaldization of Society† are little more than observations about the application of manufacturing techniques to the production of mass services, which are themselves but one of a number of service offers (Wood, 1997). Whilst this strategy was tremendously successful over the two decades preceding 1990, many of these operators now see the limits of standardisation and control. A point largely ignored by Ritzer. Apart from high labour turnover which has been endemic in many of these firms, any attempt to compete on service quality cuts across the rigidities of the production line approach. Firstly, even the most standardised operation encounters occasions when customer service needs are difficult to predict and a quick response is needed at the point of the service encounter. A small child in a family group at a McDonald’s is getting restive and the quick intervention of a crew member with a balloon or a hat calms the child. A customer knocks over his coffee in a Welcome Break and the service operative replaces it without charge. Whilst these responses may well be prescribed in operational manuals, they still require employees to act with initiative and discretion. The intangible element of the service encounter requires some form employee of participation, even in highly standardised and Tayloristic situations. The second problem is in the quality of the service encounter itself. Hochschild’s (1983) work with air stewardesses reveals much in common with â€Å"the commercialisation of feelings† across the service sector in general. She makes the point that seeming to love the job becomes part of the job; and managing the appropriate feelings of enjoyment of the customer helps the worker in this effort. Fineman (1993) also comments on the interplay between feelings and performance in service interactions. Enabling employees to sense their own power and the significance of their role in the service drama may help employees manage the emotions required of their performance. It is here that empowerment of employees seems to offer the prize of generating feelings of commitment to the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991) with the appropriate amount of power and the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) to meet customer needs as they arise. The extract below is from a series of advertisements by Marriott Hotels which make play of the benefits of empowered employees. It highlights the aspirations for empowerment. Here the night porter’s feelings of commitment to â€Å"delighting the customer† perfectly match the organisation’s commitment to its clients. The Employee advertisement also confirms that empowerment, service quality and empowerment in organisational attempts to gain competitive advantage through improved services service quality are entwined in some operations. It was more than considerate of the Marriott night porter to trace my lost wallet  ± it meant he had to re-trace my entire journey through Vienna. All I could remember was that I’d been travelling on a Southern District streetcar. Miraculously, from this tiny piece of information, the night porter from the Marriott hotel managed to trace the route I’d travelled, the particular streetcar I was on, and my wallet. I was astonished that he went out of his way so much to help me. But, as I now know, everyone at Marriott works this way. personally assuming responsibility for the needs of every guest. It’s called Empowerment. And thankfully, they never seem to find anything too much trouble. (Always in the Right Place at the Right Time, Marriott). 173 For the advocates of empowerment, empowered employees willingly take responsibility for the service encounter, they respond more quickly to customer needs, complaints and changes in customer tastes (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The organisation will experience lower labour turnover (Cook, 1994), there will be high staff morale and employees will take responsibility for their own performance and its improvement (Barry, 1993). Employees’ inherent skills and talents will be put to work for the organisation (Ripley and Ripley, 1993) so as to produce more satisfied customers (Johns, 1993) and greater profits (Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Research methods The observations reflected in this paper are based on case studies of three organisations who make different service offers to their customers, and who manage their employees in different ways. Each is attempting to empower employees to take responsibility for the service encounter, though each expects employees to exercise discretion in different ways. The case studies provide a valuable context through which to explore employment practice in context (Hartley, 1994), though these are published in detail in other publications (Lashley, 1995; Ashness and Lashley, 1995; Lashley, 1997). This paper reflects on the findings from the case studies to build the framework for analysing empowerment. In each case, the study involved semi-structured interviews with senior managers to explore their perceptions of empowerment, intentions for the initiative and the perceived benefits ensuing from the changes. Interviews were also conducted with the immediate line managers of the empowered. Again the intention was to explore the detail of the changes on the ground, and most importantly the practical responses from both middle managers and those line managers whose role might have been changed by the introduction of empowerment. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the â€Å"empowered†, that is the subjects of the initiative. In particular, the study explored their perceptions of the changes, the boundaries in which they had to operate and the extent to which employees developed a sense of personal efficacy. Personnel Review 28,3 174 The semi-structured interviews identified key themes which needed to be explored with each respondent. For managers and those responsible for introducing and managing the initiative (the empowering), the questioning explored the background to the change in the way the organisation was to be managed  ± perceived problems and views as to what contribution empowerment ould make to overcoming the problems. Having established the managerial intentions for empowerment, interviewees were asked to describe the form of empowerment and the changes in working arrangements which ensued. They were then asked to comment on the success and weakness of the changes, and comment on any plans for the future development of the approach. For the supposedly empowered, questioning followed similar broad themes but from their perspective. In other words, to what extent did they share managerial views of problems and benefits of empowerment? They were asked to comment on how the nature of their work had changed and how they felt about it. Fundamentally did they feel empowered? Flowing from this, the interviews explored changes in work behaviour and their perceptions of the benefits and limitations of the initiative. Table I shows the total number of interviews in each of the three case study organisations. The table indicates the number of interviews that were conducted with â€Å"empowering† and the â€Å"empowered† in each organisation. The case studies which inform this paper were founded on an approach which suggests that empowerment needs to be based on the systematic exploration of each aspect of empowerment. The more evangelical claims suggest that empowerment of employees will result in an almost automatic improvement in organisational performance (Foy, 1994; Stewart, 1994). These models are simplistic and do not take into account, different managerial intentions, different forms introduced, differences in what employees can now do, different needs of employees to feel empowered and different impacts on the resulting performance exercised by employees. It is more likely that a multistage model is needed to analyse initiatives and outcomes. Figure 1 suggests a model for studying empowerment which assumes that the organisational benefits will not be a simple and direct trade-off. Managerial perceptions of what empowerment is and the benefits it is supposed to deliver will shape the form that is introduced (quality circles, autonomous groups, etc. ), which in turn will shape what employees can now do that they did not do before the change. This in turn has an impact on the feelings of those empowered, do they Number of interviews with â€Å"empowering† 11 8 11 Number of interviews with â€Å"empowered† 28 38 25 Organisation Table I. Numbers of interviews in three case study organisations Harvester Restaurants McDonald’s Restaurants TGI Friday Restaurants Managerial intentions Forms of empowerment Change in working arrangements The state of empowerment Change in work behaviour Organisation objectives: – improved service quality – increased service productivity – reduced labour turnover Employee empowerment in services 175 Figure 1. The form, state and outcomes of empowerment experience the state of empowerment, and if they do, does the state of empowerment result in improved work performance which then results in the desired organisational objective? Managerial intentions for empowerment Once we move away from the generalised claims for empowerment it is possible to see that the term itself is being used to describe a wide variety of practice in service delivery. In the Accor group of hotels, for example, empowerment has been used to describe the use of quality circles (Barbee and Bott, 1991); in McDonald’s Restaurants, suggestion schemes (Bowen and Lawler, 1992); â€Å"Whatever it Takes† employee training programmes in Scott’s Hotels (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993); employee involvement in devising departmental service standards in Hilton International Hotels (Hirst, 1991); autonomous work groups and removal of levels of management in Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993); and the delegation of greater authority to service managers in British Telecom (Foy, 1994). Investigation of these specific initiatives reveals that there is considerable overlap between employee empowerment, employee participation, employee involvement and even employee commitment. Often these terms are used interchangeably (Collins, 1994; Cotton, 1993; Denton, 1994; Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Thus quality circles, autonomous work groups, suggestion schemes and various employee share ownership programmes are frequently discussed under these different headings without defining the boundaries between them. Clearly, these initiatives do have similar antecedents in that they aim to meet, in varying ways, the individual employee’s psychological needs (Watson, 1986). In addition there is similarity in the intended outcomes. Marchington et al. (1992) say that employee involvement is used to describe initiatives which are largely designed and initiated by management and intended to improve communication with employees, generate greater commitment and enhance employee contributions to the organisation. This Personnel Review 28,3 176 might equally be said of the intentions for employee empowerment (Sewell and Wilkinson, 1992). Indeed empowerment is an integral feature of the â€Å"soft† version of human resource management (Legge, 1995). Watson (1986) suggests that employment strategy tends to wax and wane between managerial concern for control over employee performance and concern for employee commitment. Whilst this is a useful metaphor which does indeed suggest that employment strategy is both dynamic and political, it does suggest that a shift towards employee commitment results in less organisational control. A view frequently expressed by line mangers is that empowerment of subordinates will result in a loss of control. In reality empowerment as an employment strategy is concerned with both commitment and control of employees. It is more a shift in the locus of control (Friedman, 1977). Figure 2 provides a model which suggests that different employment strategies might shift the locus of control along a continuum between externally imposed control of the individual to internally generated self control. In effect employee empowerment, â€Å"increases [top management’s] control whilst creating the impression of lessening it† (Robbins, 1983, p. 67). Under this model, production line approaches to service delivery rely largely on imposed external controls in which employee commitment is less significant for effective performance, it is typical of Edwards’ (1979) â€Å"technological control†. Employee empowerment, in its more participative form, is more reliant on internalised self-control, where the employee works to the desired standard and controls their own performance accordingly (Salaman, 1979). Personal commitment to these standards then becomes a crucial ingredient. The empowered employee has much in common with Friedman’s (1977) employee with â€Å"responsible autonomy†. Having said that, it is possible to detect variations in the locus of control implied within different definitions of empowerment. Bowen and Lawler (1991), suggest that empowerment is defined as â€Å"management strategies for sharing decision making power† (p. 49). Others (Barbee and Bott, 1991) define empowerment as being â€Å"the act of vesting substantial responsibility in the people nearest the problem† (p. 28). These two different phrases reflect more than mere semantic differences. They reflect different assumptions about the nature of empowerment and the power of the empowered. The first implies a shift in authority whilst the second is concerned with a shift in responsibility. Traditional Technological Social Self Organisation Structure and Procedures Technology Leadership/ Management Style Work Groups Empowerment Professionalism Figure 2. Employment strategies and the locus of control External Control Internal Control My own investigation in the hospitality sector suggests that there are probably Employee four distinct but overlapping managerial intentions for empowerment (Lashley, empowerment in 1994). These are summarised in Table II. In principle they reflect the variations services in the assumptions discussed above, but there do appear a range of managerial intentions which have their roots in other initiatives mentioned earlier. For this reason the four categories are labelled with terms which reflect their 177 antecedents. There are three types of managerial intentions for empowerment of operatives. Empowering through participation is closely related to the Bowen and Lawler definition because they are chiefly concerned with empowering employees with decision making authority in some aspect of the work which had been formerly the domain of management. Harvester Restaurant’s use of semi-autonomous work teams (Ashness and Lashley, 1995) provides a good example. Employees not only dealt with and rectified customer complaints, they also were involved in receiving goods, securing the building and â€Å"cashing up the tills†. Empowerment through involvement is chiefly concerned with gaining from the experiences and expertise of service deliverers through consultation and joint problem solving. Managers continue to make the decision but with inputs from employees. The study of TGI Fridays (Lashley, 1997), confirms that pre-service team briefing sessions are used to both provide employees with immediate information about the operation and company objectives, but are also used to test out ideas with employees and gain suggestions. Employees have little authority to make decisions, even complaint handling is the responsibility of managers. Attempts at empowerment through commitment overlap and interrelate with both these other categories because it is hoped that improved employee commitment will result from the changed arrangements. However, some initiatives are distinctly aimed at winning Managerial meaning Empowerment through participation Initiatives used Autonomous work groups â€Å"Whatever it takes† training Job enrichment Works councils Employee directors Quality circles Team briefings Suggestion schemes Employee share ownership Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Quality of working life programmes (job rotation, job enlargement) Job redesign Re-training Autonomous work groups Job enrichment Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Empowerment through involvement Empowerment through commitment Empowerment through delayering Table II. Managerial meanings of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 178 greater commitment to organisational service quality objectives. As with Barbee and Bott’s definition, these initiatives are ultimately about employees taking more responsibility for the service encounter through a variety of training programmes and appeals to both extrinsic and intrinsic sources of job satisfaction. McDonald’s crew training includes a customer care programme which aims to sensitise employees to customer service objectives. Crew are encouraged to intervene in the service situation, as in the example given above. They can give away some low cost gifts to children. The limits and boundaries of what they are empowered to do are narrow and restricted. Whilst the three foregoing intentions are typically concerned with employees, particularly front line personnel, some initiatives empower managers within the management hierarchy. These I have called empowerment through delayering. The restructuring of the McDonald’s MCOPCO organisation (Lashley, 1995), and the removal of layers of management in the external management of Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993), or empowerment of hotel managers (Jones and Davies, 1991) are examples. Here the intention is greater managerial focus on the source of organisational profits  ± the units, greater responsiveness to customer needs, reduced management costs and the encouragement of entrepreneurialism. In the McDonald’s case, two levels of management were removed and the unit managers were â€Å"empowered†. In reality it meant that they were allowed to operate with reduced contact with their Area Supervisors. In this case, empowerment of the unit managers meant they were not as closely supervised by their superordinates and were â€Å"left to get on with it†. In suggesting these four features of managerial intentions I do not wish to imply that these are mutually exclusive. Whilst managers in some organisations may well be more concerned with one meaning more than others, it is more likely that managerial actions will be driven by a mixture of motives, and hence will encompass more than one, or all, of these. However, it is useful to suggest that managerial intentions are different and there are different managerial perceptions about empowerment and the benefits it will deliver. The form of empowerment Whatever the intentions of managers, initiatives which claim to be empowering will be translated into concrete practical arrangements which set the limits and boundaries within which the empowered operate (Ripley and Ripley, 1993; Potter, 1994). Somewhere, these arrangements will clarify just what the empowered have the authority to do and for what they will be responsible. It is here within the practical objective limits set by management that tensions between the perceptions and needs of management are likely to be set against the perceptions and needs of the empowered (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). Ultimately, the success of a particular initiative will be dependent in the first instance on the empowered being given the authority and freedom to make decisions which they themselves consider to be valuable, significant and important. Whilst this will clearly be subjectively assessed by individuals, who ill differ in their evaluation of these arrangements, it is important to arrive at Employee an objective analysis of the changes which have been introduced. empowerment in Our research has identified a number of dimensions of empowerment which services provide a means of describing, analysing and locating the form of empowerment being introduced in a particular company (Lashley and McGoldrick, 1994). These dimensions are listed in Table III. Essentially they 179 provide a mechanism for identifying the boundaries and contexts set for the form of empowerment being introduced. Consideration of these themes creates a framework for understanding the likely meanings of a particular form of empowerment within a given context. Each of the five dimensions is based on a bi-polar model which assumes a traditional â€Å"production line†, â€Å"top-down† approach at one extreme and a more empowered approach at the other. The task dimension considers the discretion which is allowed to the empowered in performing the task for which they were employed. To what extent are the empowered allowed to interpret the tangible and intangible aspects of the organisation’s services so as to satisfy customers. To what extent are the brand attributes, prices, product sizes, etc. , fixed, or to what extent can they be customised? To what extent does the need to control these issues set limits on the ability of an organisation to empower its members? In the cases we have studied there are frequently limits put on the employee because of the brand attributes being marketed. Hence employees in McDonald’s Restaurants and Harvester Restaurants were not allowed to alter menus or provide dishes off the menu, not even unit managers were allowed to make these decisions. In TGI Fridays employees could get a non-menu item produced if it involved ingredients which were stocked. In most cases, and to varying degrees, employees had some discretion over the service encounter. As stated earlier, McDonald’s had scripted the service in the past, but had dropped this in recent years as part of a strategy to improve service quality. Harvesters and TGI Fridays both relied on training and service values to guide the employee in their interactions with customers. An employee of TGI Fridays reported an incident that seemed typical. A customer had asked for a cigar, the company do Employee involvement in production line organisation (High volume, standardised, short time period, simple technology, theory X organisations) Low discretion Seeks permission Limited to task Calculative Control-oriented Employee involvement in empowered organisation (Personalised service, long time period, complex technology, unpredicatable, theory Y organisations) High discretion Responsible autonomy Influences the direction of policy Moral Trust-oriented Dimensions Task Task allocation Power Commitment Culture Table III. Five dimensions of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 180 not stock cigars, so the employee went next door to the tobacconist and bought one. The guest was very pleased and wrote a letter to the company congratulating it on its excellent service. The task allocation dimension considers the amount of responsible autonomy an individual employee or group of employees have in carrying out their tasks. To what extent are they directed, or need to ask permission to complete their tasks? To what extent do company policies and procedures lay down what has to be done and then let them get on with it? To what extent are there tensions between responsible utonomy and the objectives for effective performance set by senior managers. In McDonald’s Restaurants, a â€Å"one best way† approach involves a narrow span of control and close supervision of both â€Å"crew† and managers. TGI Fridays, was also tightly controlled in the tangibles, again one best way procedures and close supervision of standards meant that employee performance was directly controlled. However, food and drinks service staff are encouraged to use their initiative in finding ways to customise the service interaction. Having said that, staff are not generally allowed to provide discounts or free meals to customers who complain. In Harvester Restaurants staff exercised more responsible autonomy, they were empowered to deal with complaints, to give free drinks, etc. , without reference to a â€Å"team manager† where they felt it would resolve a situation to the guest’s satisfaction. In some situations staff were able to decide on staffing levels, order stock and decide on how best to meet sales targets without the immediate involvement of the team manager. The power dimension is concerned with the feelings of personal power which individuals experience as the result of being empowered. What is it that the empowered are empowered to do? To what extent is their power limited to tasks? To what extent does it involve issues of policy at a more senior level (Marchington et al. , 1992)? To what extent do management efforts to share power foster feelings of empowerment in employees? What tensions are there between strategic objectives and limits on individual power? In all the cases included in these studies, arrangements were limited to what has been described as being â€Å"task participation† (Geary, 1994). In other words the empowered employee was not able to influence the policies which influence them. Thus at Harvester Restaurants, food service staff were able to decide as a team how best to achieve a sales target which required employees to sell one extra side order per table (Pickard,1993), but had no influence over this as an objective. The commitment dimension explores the assumptions about the source of employee commitment and organisational compliance in a particular form of empowerment. To what extent do they follow patterns in traditional organisations which assume that commitment is calculative and based on material extrinsic rewards (Etzioni, 1961). To what extent does the initiative assume a moral commitment, as the individual takes a personal sense of ownership in their activities and work? To what extent is there recognition that individuals may differ in their attachments and needs from work? How, if at all do the changes address needs for a sense of equity and fairness in the benefits from empowerment? Interviews with employees at Harvester Restaurants Employee revealed that employees working in autonomous work teams liked the empowerment in experience. Many reported that they â€Å"liked the extra responsibility† (Ashness services and Lashley, 1995, p. 27) and some that this was the first time they had been given responsibility. In TGI Fridays, employees reported that they enjoyed the â€Å"atmosphere† and that â€Å"you could have a good laugh†, but many also reported 181 that â€Å"they were working here because the money is good†. Employees are guaranteed a low basic pay, but can substantially add to this through a bonus on food sales and tips. Employees and managers both stated employees could earn over ? 0,000 per annum, some even as much as ? 30,000. The culture dimension examines the extent to which organisational culture fosters feelings of empowerment. To what extent can it be typified as being oriented towards openness, learning, and employee contributions (ChristensenHughes, 1992) and creating a climate of trust (Sternberg, 1992)? To what extent can the culture be described as bureaucratic, role, task or control oriented? To what extent is the initiative to empower a part of a broad organisational culture, or just â€Å"bolted on†? The research with the â€Å"delayered† McDonald’s organisation revealed that â€Å"empowered† General Area Supervisors in the pilot group experienced tensions with senior management because senior managers wanted to retain control over the recruitment of Restaurant Managers, and to get involved when problems occurred (Lashley, 1995). Using this five dimension model it is possible to locate the different forms which empowerment takes in practical organisational arrangements against the managerial intentions and the form empowerment takes  ± quality circles  ± autonomous work groups  ± â€Å"whatever it takes training†, etc. As stated earlier, managerial intentions may not be mono-dimensional, and particular initiatives may be driven by a range of intentions. However, each form of empowerment is likely to represent different sources of satisfaction to employees and represent different benefits to employers. Thus quality circles are usually representative, and may provide intrinsic satisfactions for those immediately involved (Kelly and Kelly, 1990), but they represent a more indirect source of satisfaction for the staff who do not take part. Managers gain suggestions and involvement in problem solving for those closest to the problem, but managers retain the decision making power. Autonomous work groups do give employees more direct involvement, all employees take part. They can provide sources of satisfaction which meet belonging and control needs. They can involve some task dimensions, but in the main, autonomous work groups are about improving work organisation. Frequently they are used in situations where the immediate organisational needs are difficult to predict, but the people directly involved are best placed to respond to changed circumstances. Several employees at Harvester Restaurants reported that when the operation was quiet the team would, â€Å"jointly agree for one member to go home for the rest of the shift, so that the team’s labour costs would be kept under control† (Ashness and Lashley, 1995, p. 27). â€Å"Whatever it takes† is again a direct form of involvement, particularly for service personnel, training is aimed at â€Å"giving Personnel Review 28,3 182 staff confidence to make decisions large or small, that impact on a guest’s stay† (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993). Typically these arrangements are focused at the task and interpreting customer requirements. For employees a sense of ownership, pride in the service encounter and the potential tip are sources of employee satisfaction. For the organisation, employees are encouraged to be responsive to customer needs and a greater level of customer satisfaction is likely to follow. Each of these examples, claim to empower employees, yet the brief discussion above shows that each represents different sources of satisfaction for employees. The arrangements are themselves different and appear to meet varied managerial needs. Certainly it is possible to identify alternative ways of managing and motivating employees which involve different amounts of discretion, autonomy, power, sources of commitment and cultural contexts, all claiming to be empowering. By considering the detail of the changes against the five dimensions it is possible to develop a much closer picture of the form of empowerment, the consistency of the arrangements and the limits placed upon them. My research with hospitality operators provides some useful vehicles for the analysis of forms of empowerment. For example, it is possible to describe Harvester Restaurants as empowering front line personnel through participation. In this case it takes the form of autonomous work groups where employees have virtually no discretion in the tangible aspects of their task, though they have some limited discretion in the intangible elements of the task. There is a high degree of responsible autonomy in task allocation. Power is limited, however, to the task level with little opportunity to influence objectives outside the immediate job. Commitment is in part calculative though, for some individuals, arrangements do meet psychological needs within a culture which is best typified as being control oriented. The state of empowerment The feelings of the empowered are fundamental to understanding the concept of empowerment and variations in form and application. Most definitions of the state rather than the form of empowerment stress the need for the individual to feel in control (Conger, 1989), have a sense of personal power together with the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) and a sense of personal efficacy and self determination (Alpander, 1991). Similarly, Thomas and Velthouse (1990) suggest a four dimensional model of employee motivation based on a cognitive assessment of the competence, impact, meaningfulness and choice associated with a set of changes. In other words the state of empowerment is likely to be a consequence of the individual’s assessment of their ability to be effective, that they could make a difference, in a task which they feel is worthwhile and they have some degree of freedom to act as they see fit within a given context. Attempts to empower service workers will be tested against the experience of being empowered and the sense of personal efficacy which is created. Empowerment, therefore, involves both the objective facts of what a person is mpowered to do and the subjective feelings which the individual experiences Employee as a result. In these circumstances individual differences, orientations to work empowerment in and needs are likely to be important factors in the way an individual interprets services and responds to a particular change (Alpander, 1991). Managerial initiatives to empower employees are introduced to meet commercial objectives. In the case of service workers, the objectives may be to improve service quality or service 183 worker productivity, or improve job satisfaction and reduce labour turnover. Managerial evaluations of empowerment will therefore turn on the extent that these initiatives result in worker behaviour which meets the desired objectives. Whilst there is some research, on service workers which identifies factors likely to result in outcomes of empowerment as measured by pay satisfaction, promotion satisfaction and intentions to leave (Sparrowe, 1994), few studies draw the links between these feelings of empowerment and increased productivity or improvements in service quality.

Almost One of the Gods. “The Odyssey”, by Homer Essay

An epic hero is one who does not act irrationally and contemplates his actions and their implications. Odysseus, of Homer’s The Odyssey, is an appropriate epic hero because he embodies the values of bravery, intelligence, astuteness, and competency. Numerous examples are found throughout The Odyssey. Such illustrations include Odysseus’ conflict with the Cyclops, the Sirens, and Scylla and Charybdis. First, Odysseus proves that he is a mortal laudable of being dubbed an epic hero during his conflict with the Cyclops. Odysseus shows evidence of his intellectual abilities by first devising a plan to disable the Cyclops and then by cleverly telling the Cyclops that his name is â€Å"Noman.† Odysseus exemplifies his physical strength by putting his plan into action and ramming a monstrous spear into the Cyclops’ eye. Later, when the Cyclops calls for help, he says that Noman is doing harm to him. Another event in which Odysseus displays his physical and intellectual abilities is during his passing of the Sirens. Odysseus shows that he has wisdom by listening to the goddess Circe’s advice and putting wax into his crew’s ears so they will not take notice of the Sirens and try to swim across the ocean to them. He also has his crew lash him to the mast so he can listen to the Sirens without being able to jump out of the boat. This incident also tells of Odysseus’ physical force because when he attempts to free himself from the mast the crewmen have to fasten him down even tighter. Finally, Odysseus confirms his great intellectual aptitudes by getting past Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus, following Circe’s instructions, avoids Charybdis, and chooses the side of the six-headed monster, Scylla. Odysseus recognizes that the six-headed beast is too large for him to mà ªlà ©e with and rows very swiftly, successfully surpassing it. In conclusion, Odysseus is a perfect example of an epic hero. Odysseus has all of the traits of an epic hero. He has verified these qualities in many intricate situations in which he always gets out of and is always prepared for.

Nebuchadnezzar II essays

Nebuchadnezzar II essays When attempting to write a detailed biographical essay on an individual who lived twenty-seven centuries ago, one may find themselves overwhelmed by the lack of tangible evidence presented. Not only is the evidence difficult to come across, but most often, it seems to contradict itself. Furthermore, it appears the Germans and Italians are far more interested in the history of Mesopotamia than we. I cannot count the amount of times my searches were ended by books entitled, Hethitische or Hethiter. It is noteworthy to understand the complexity of an ancient historians situation. How is one to comprehend, truly comprehend, the lives of people and cultures that existed long before our civilization was even conceptualized if we are yet unable to discover the truths behind such immediate events as the identities of Jack the Ripper or John F. Kennedys assassin? And yet, I found myself enthralled by a character that, more than any other, filled my imagination with fantasies of tremendous pow er and splendor. My mind raced as my imagination wandered long ago to the height of Babylonian supremacy under the great King Nebuchadnezzar II. His name is mentioned over one hundred times in the Bible and his military campaigns changed the shape of the world for five decades. He was born into Chaldean culture. These were nomadic peoples who had recently gained power in Babylonia. He reigned as king from 605-562 BC. Although his accomplishments barely outlived him, he single-handedly rebuilt an empire that lay dormant for six hundred years to a status of grandeur and elegance unmatched by any of its time. Finally, he renovated Babylon to such an extent that its majestic beauty surpassed anything that existed in the ancient world and enchants modern day visitors worldwide hungry to catch a glimpse of the great kings magnificence. In the Talmud, Nebuchadnezar is presented as Nebuchadnezzar the Dwarf. And yet, the...

An Overview of the Book Democracy in America

An Overview of the Book Democracy in America Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville between 1835 and 1840, is considered one of the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written about the U.S. Having seen the failed attempts at a democratic government in his native France, Tocqueville set out to study a stable and prosperous democracy in order to gain insight into how it worked. Democracy in America is the result of his studies. The book was and still remains, so popular because it deals with issues such as religion, the press, money, class structure, racism, the role of government, and the judicial system – issues that are just as relevant today as they were then. ​Many colleges in the U.S. continue to use Democracy in America in political science and history courses. There are two volumes to Democracy in America. Volume one was published in 1835 and is more optimistic of the two. It focuses mainly on the structure of government and the institutions that help maintain freedom in the United States. Volume two, published in 1840, focuses more on individuals and the effects that the democratic mentality has on the norms and thoughts that exist in society. Tocqueville’s main purpose in writing Democracy in America was to analyze the functioning of political society and the various forms of political associations, although he also had some reflections on civil society as well as the relations between political and civil society. He ultimately seeks to understand the true nature of American political life and why it was so different from Europe. Topics Covered Democracy in America covers a vast array of topics. In Volume I, Tocqueville discusses things such as: the social condition of Anglo-Americans; judicial power in the United States and its influence on political society; the United States Constitution; freedom of press; political associations; the advantages of a democratic government; the consequences of democracy; and the future of the races in the United States. In Volume II of the book, Tocqueville covers topics such as: How religion in the United States avails itself to democratic tendencies; Roman Catholicism in the United States; pantheism; equality and the perfectibility of man; science; literature; art; how democracy has modified the English language; spiritual fanaticism; education; and equality of the sexes. Features of American Democracy Tocqueville’s studies of democracy in the United States led him to the conclusion that American society is characterized by five key features: 1. Love of equality: Americans love equality even more than we love individual liberty or freedom (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 1). 2. Absence of tradition: Americans inhabit a landscape largely without inherited institutions and traditions (family, class, religion) that define their relations to one another (Volume 2, Part 1, Chapter 1). 3. Individualism: Because no person is intrinsically better than another, Americans begin to seek all reasons in themselves, looking not to tradition nor to the wisdom of singular individuals, but to their own opinion for guidance (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 2). 4. Tyranny of the majority: At the same time, Americans give great weight to, and feel great pressure from, the opinion of the majority. Precisely because they are all equal, they feel insignificant and weak in contrast to the greater number (Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 7). 5. Importance of free association: Americans have a happy impulse to work together to improve their common life, most obviously by forming voluntary associations. This uniquely American art of association tempers their tendencies towards individualism and gives them a habit and taste for serving others (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 4 and 5). Predictions for America Tocqueville is often acclaimed for making a number of correct predictions in Democracy in America. First, he anticipated that the debate over the abolition of slavery could potentially tear apart the United States, which it did during the American Civil War. Second, he predicted that the United States and Russia would rise as rival superpowers, and they did after World War II. Some scholars also argue that Tocqueville, in his discussion of the rise of the industrial sector in the American economy, correctly predicted that an industrial aristocracy would rise from the ownership of labor. In the book, he warned that â€Å"friends of democracy must keep an anxious eye peeled in this direction at all times† and went on to say that a new found wealthy class may potentially dominate society. According to Tocqueville, democracy would also have some unfavorable consequences, including the tyranny of the majority over thought, a preoccupation with material goods, and isolating individuals from each other and society. Source: Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop, trans., ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)

Foreign Investment In Brazil Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Foreign Investment In Brazil - Research Paper Example A country’s external environment will play a key role in facilitating as well as dampening new entering foreign firms. External environment constitutes various factors particularly cultural, political, economic and legal factors. To initiate and actualize a successful entry, firms have to study all these external environmental factors in-depth, so they can formulate apt strategies including entry strategies, recruitment strategies, marketing strategies, operational strategies, etc, etc. Only when studying these factors, the organizations and the management team will come across various aspects, which may aid them to carry out a successful entry as well as aspects, which may impede them in the entry. So, there will be advantages as well as challenges. For example, the South American country of Brazil has some distinct environmental factors, which will surely act as an advantage as well as challenge for the new firms, who are planning to enter it. This is applicable to the cell phone firms as well. So, this paper will analyze the designated foreign market of Brazil, by summarizing its different external environmental factors that could make an impact on the cell phone company, which is planning to enter Brazil. Brazil is a land of diversity and so its external environmental factors of culture, political, economic, lifestyle, etc is also of very diverse nature. Historically speaking, Brazil became the land for the migrants from different parts of the world. From early centuries and during the colonial period, Native Americans, Portuguese from European continent and the Africans started settling in Brazil and formed the bulk of Brazilian population. This coexistence and mixing of three groups of population and importantly their culture lead to the evolution of the basic Brazilian culture. Then, more European and Asian migrants started arriving in Brazil in the late 19th century and mingled with the