Pensions and Redundancy Pay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pensions and Redundancy Pay - Essay Example The agenda of these consultations will include ways of avoiding redundancies or reducing the numbers affected, as well as disclosure of "the reasons for the redundanciesthe numbers and descriptions of those affectedthe proposed method of selecting those to be made redundanthow any redundancy payments better than the legal minimum will be worked out" (Trades Union Congress). Note that because in the first phase of redundancies 100 or more employees are likely to be made redundant over a period of 90 days or less, consultation must last at least 90 days. In the second phase of redundancies, if "20 to 99 employees to be made redundant over a period of 90 days or less, consultation must last at least 30 days" (Trades Union Congress). Concerning the company pension plan, the company will maintain pension plan commitments as previously defined. This is important for staff being made redundant and also for staff who remain with the company who see their pension rights being maintained. To achieve new lower staff levels, any staff over retirement age will be asked to retire. The company should however be aware of recommendations to "give a right to employees to request postponing retirement beyond 65 and a duty for the employer to consider these requests" (Confederation of British Industry). The company will propose that for redundancy pay the legal minimum is the preferred solution because it allows remaining jobs to be preserved. Also and for the reasons already mentioned, a "last-in, first-out" policy will be applied. Besides being consistent with the loyalty demonstrated by long-serving employees, the financial impact to the company will be minimised if redundancies are made to employees who joined the company more recently and who are typically younger. In particular, notice periods will be shorter and any negative effects on remaining staff minimised. Redundancy pay will be calculated to take account of length of service and current rate of pay and according to the legal minimum. This will be done with the financial department. The legal minimum for an employee who is made redundant will depend on the length of service, age and current pay of the employee concerned. The calculation is as follows: for employees over 41, for each complete year of employment after their 41st birthday, but before the age of 65, one and a half week's pay for employees aged 22-40, for each complete year of employment after their 22nd birthday, but before the age of 41, one week's pay for employees aged 18-21: for each complete year of employment while they were either 18, 19, 20 or 21, half a week's pay. These rules apply for employees with over two years of service with the company within a maximum of 20 years of service and pay levels up to a current weekly limit of 310 (Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform - BERR). The company should note that some organisations choose to offer more redundancy pay (World Bank) and should be prepared to justify its position in this case. Employees should note that no income tax is payable on a statutory redundancy payment. Pensions maintained with the company as deferrable pensions will be paid as an annuity rather than as a lump sum

New business challenges in the Saudi market Thesis

New business challenges in the Saudi market - Thesis Example The objective of this research is to acquire a better insight business challenges in the Saudi market. Many emerging economies have been turning to their new businesses for economic growth. This has been the primary drivers of economic growth for most of the emerging and developing economies. Also, majority of the businesses in many countries worldwide are dotted with these new businesses. However, in Saudi Arabia, the performances of their new businesses have been very dismal. In fact, despite accounting for over 90% of their industries, these start-up companies only manage to employ less than a quarter of their labor force. As such, this situation has been believed to be a strong contributor to the high unemployment rate in the country. However, it seems that problems beyond entrepreneurship drives are pervasive in the country. In fact, there are many foreign workers in the country and statistics show that foreign male workers hold an even bigger chunk of employment than their Saud i counterparts. This has shown a more systemic problem in the country involving the education system of Saudi Arabia. Also, there should be an increase in the contribution to the economy from the private sector and the paper will attempt to explain the underlying problems affecting the new businesses in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, there policies of the country such as the Nitaqat and Saudization will be explored so as to shed more understanding into the possible solutions to the wanting contribution of the private sector in the country’s economy. ... The country is governed by a monarchy system of government and is a predominantly Muslim country. It is among the richest nations among the Arab states and this is mainly due to the oil that it exports. In 2010, the country’s oil fields churned out approximately 10.5 billion barrels per day (bbl) and so far, this has been the greatest source of revenue for this Arab state (CIA World Factbook, 2011 and Library of Congress, 2006). However, there is a growing need to diversify the sources of income for the government and basically, the country cannot forever rely on the public sector and its oil to be the only revenue generators for the country. Therefore, the country needs to encourage the strong growth of the public sector, especially the new businesses that will have to provide the necessary diversity to the Saudi economy as well as the needed boost for its economic growth. Although the country enjoy a relative prominence among its regional neighbours, the economic weakness of the country is seeping out reflected by the increasing unemployment in the kingdom. According to the ILO (2010), the global crisis that emanated from the deep recession among the advanced economies has adversely affected Saudi Arabia’s economy. Being among the world’s most voracious oil consumers, it is easy to see why the deep downturn in the advanced economies has greatly affected the economy of oil producers, most notably Saudi Arabia. The adverse effect of the economic turmoil that deepened the problem of unemployment in Saudi Arabia clearly demonstrates the lack of diversity in its economy since it is heavily reliant on oil. This commodity has been largely controlled by the state therefore it is easy to see why the public sector has been

Effects of Employee Rewards on Organisational Commitment

Effects of Employee Rewards on Organisational Commitment CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Overview In any organization, employees rewards usually given to attract, motivate and retain the employees to stay longer and contribute a good quality services to ensure the successful of the organization; in other words, rewards play an important role in creating, building and maintaining the commitment among employees with the purpose to ensure high standard of performances and workforce stability. According to the individual organizational exchange theme, individuals enter the organization with special qualification and skill, desire and goals, and expect in return a work setting where they can use their skill, satisfy their desire, and achieve their goals (Mottaz, 1988). At the minimum, employees expect their organization to provide fair pay, safe working condition, and fair treatment. (Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills, Walton, 1984). It simply implies that employees offer or increase their commitment when organization meets employees expectation regarding fulfillment of their important needs. Thus, the exchange perspective explains organizational commitment as a function of work rewards and work values (Lambert, 2000; Mottazz, 1988), and suggests the importance of work rewards for continuously encouraging employees. According to exchange theory and reciprocity norm, employees repay the rewards received from organization through increase commitment to the organization, which re-enforce the exchange prevalent in the employee employer relationship in a mutually beneficial manner (Blau, 1964; Haar and Spell, 2004). In addition, Vroom, V.H (1964) maintained in his expectation theory that everyone works in expectation of some rewards in both spiritual and material. In the other words, the level of reward influences the quality and the quantity of work, and will response on their commitment to doing the job in the workplace. Therefore, this paper will study the relationship between various type of rewards (extrinsic/intrinsic) received by the employees and the component of organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) focusing on hypermarket (retail industry) in Kota Kinabalu. 1.1 Research Problem Over the last two decades, much research has explored issues related to effects of employee benefits or rewards at individual levels. On the whole, most studies explored the impact of employees benefits or reward on turnover intention, satisfaction, productivity, mobility, attraction, retention also motivation. Little is known about whether rewards or benefits have impact on organizational commitment, specially in hypermarket (retail industry) in Malaysia context. Meyer and Smith (2000) had found out that despite the vast literature on job atttitue, the issue of commitment still remain ill-defined and ill-conceptualized. Reseachers argue these dissappointing reseach outcomes are due to a ‘lop-sided approach towards the study of commitment, which conceptualized as a uni-dimensional construct (Mowday et al., 1982) whereas commitment is actually found to be multidimensional construct comprising three components (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Thus, the relationship between rewards and commitment also required further attention because majority of studies have based their approach solely on the affective component of commitment, negleting the other two; continuance and normative (Dunham et al., 1994; Meyer and Smith, 2000). It is argue that reseach is required to explore further the entencedents, especially, with regard to normative and continuance commitment (Allen and Meyer, 1990; Dunham et al., 1994). Previous study by Neeru Molhotra at el (2007 ) tends to fill the gaps in the existing literature by doing the comparative effect of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards on the three components of commitment. However, as mention by reseachers, the possible differential antecedent of the three component model of commitment should continue to develop (Culpepper et al., 2004, Hacket et al., 1994; Meyer and Smith, 2000 ; Neeru Molhotra, Pawan Budhwar and Peter Prowse, 2007). Furthermore, it is essential for top management also to understand which rewards mean the most to which employees, given that the bases of thier commitment are distinct. Nevertheless, the great of the greater understanding of this organizational phonemenon increase daily. The major driving force behind this continue recognition of commitment in the management literature for more than three decades is that is often seen as the key of ‘business success (Benkhoff, 1997). The retail industry has always suffered from high employee turnover rates. High employee turnover is costly to retailers not only because it increases administrative costs in recruiting and training employees but it also reduces the operational capability of the retailer. Good et al (1988) had noted that the retail industry has one of the highest turnover rates at 30 percent. Turnover rate among retail management trainees, the entry position for retailing graduates, had been especially high with one study reporting the employee turnover rate as high as 49 percent. Yet, as Akehurst et al (1995) had noted, despite the importance of personnel issues in the retail industry, retail employment is a comparatively under-researched area. It had been suggested that high employee turnover in the retail industry is the result of the unique human resource environment in the retail industry. A career in the retail industry is not appealing to many workers. Coupled with the need to employ large numbers of workers in the industry, the retail industry is forced to employ large number of workers who are not motivated or interested to remain in the industry. This has resulted in high employee turnover rates in the industry. This statement was admitted by HR Manager of Giant and Servay Hypermarket, theyve said that turn over rate in their hypermarket quite high where employees reported in and out monthly. Meanwhile, these day one of the major problems by all companies is the lack of the total commitment from their employees. In Malaysia for example, it is comman complaint that employees are no more loyal as they used to be in the past. As a result of lower commitment, employees leave their companies for slighty higher pay. And to cope with this problem, they have to adopted many programmes and strategies, which tries to restore employees commitment. Higher salaries can increase the attractiveness of a job, including in the retailing job (Swinyard et al 1991). To motivate employees, retailers should review their reward policies and ensure that they are still competitive (Levy et al 2001). Base on above analysis, this study tends to examine the relationship between various intrinsic and exrinsic rewards and three component of organization commitment, taking the multidimensional perspective of commitment in retail industry which is hypermarket in Kota Kinablu area. 1.2 Research Question The study aims to understand the relationship between rewards and organizational commitment among workers in hypermarket (Kota Kinabalu). Accordingly, few main research questions are examined in the research; Is there a significant relationship between extrinsic rewards (working condition, pay satisfaction, satisfaction with fringe benefits and promotional opportunities) and organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) among workers in hypermarket (Kota Kinabalu). Is there a significant relationship between intrinsic rewards (supervision, training and feedback) and organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) among workers in hypermarket (Kota Kinabalu). 1.3 Research Objective Based on the assumption that employees rewards tend to attract, retain, and motivate employee, which eventually increase employee commitment, the purpose of this study are; To examine the relationship between extrinsic rewards (working condition, pay satisfaction, satisfaction with fringe benefits and promotional opportunities) and organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) among workers in hypermarket (Kota Kinabalu). To examine the relationship between intrinsic rewards (supervision, training and feedback) and organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) among workers in hypermarket (Kota Kinabalu). 1.4 Scope Of The Study The retail industry is used in this study to measure the relationship between rewards and organizational commitment in the industry. This is because; retail industry is the most important sector in terms of volume and value. Retail has been one of the most active sub-sectors in the Malaysian economy, also the second biggest contributor to the national GDP, contributing RM31,081 million (AUD14,603 million) in 2000 (Eighth Malaysia Plan, 2001). Based on Euromonitor‘s Retailing Report in Malaysia (2008), four main retail formats are hypermarket, supermarket, convenience store, and traditional grocery store; however, this study will only focus on one of retail format which is Hypermarket. The study was conducted in the Kota Kinabalu area using non probability and convenience sampling. Kota Kinabalu was chosen due to the number and large variety of choice of formats available and also its highly dense population in Sabah. 1.4.1 Retail Industry in Malaysia The rapid expansion of the Malaysian economy over the last few decades, combined with external and social influences has led to a boom in the retail industry. Consequently, the retail industry in Malaysia is highly fragmented, as there are a lot of retailers entering the competitive market each year. Retail in Malaysia is wide-ranging; from department stores, hypermarket, supermarkets and mini markets, specialty shops, convenience stores, provision stores, pharmacies, medical halls, direct sale, wet market stalls to pavement shops and petrol kiosks (Seventh Malaysia Plan, 1996). Such variety reflects the changing demands and expectations among consumers for better quality products and services. The retail environment in Malaysia has undergone a continuous and marked change over the decades. New facilities ranging from supermarkets and superstores to retail warehouses and convenience stores have been added to the retail landscape, much at the expense of the traditional shop houses. The retail sector has been very active in the last few years due to the strong economic growth which had led to an increase in income levels and spending power. Furthermore, Malaysia has become a prime target for foreign investors like the Japanese, Americans and Europeans. Participation by foreign investors will support the industry by introducing future products for the higher quality of life as well as environmentally-friendly products. 1.4.2 Definition of Retail Retailing refers to all activities directly related to the selling of small quantities of goods and services, at a profit, to the ultimate customers for personal consumption and non-business use (Mohd-Said, 1990). Guy (1980) for instance has categorized retail trade into three groups: (a) convenience goods which include groceries and daily provisions; (b) shopping or comparison goods which refer to relatively more expensive items bought at less regular intervals; and (c) specialty goods which are unique items that appeal to customers of the higher income level. Goldman and Hino (2005) have divided the retail trade depending on size large scale or small scale. The 13 small scale retailers are also referred to as the traditional retail store where they include the single propriety stores, wet market, and mini market. Whilst the large scale retailers, which are also known as the modern retailers include superstores, department stores, hypermarkets, and discount stores. Nevertheless, according to Miller and Layton (2000), many stores can still be grouped into the following retail types; A department storecarries a wide variety of shopping and specialty goods, including apparel, cosmetics, house wares, and electronics products. Some departmental stores even attached a supermarket. A superstore or hypermarketis a very large store that aims at meeting consumers‘total needs for routinely purchased food and non-food items. It carries personal care products, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, stationary and sewing supplies, hardware items, garden products, some clothing some leisure-time products and offers household services such as dry cleaning, laundry and shoe repairs. A discount storeis a retailer that competes on the basis of low price, high turnover and high volume. Supermarketsare large, low cost, low margin, high volume, self-service stores that cater to serve the consumer‘s total needs for food and household products. In Malaysia, the supervision of the wholesale and retail sector falls under the supervision of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) through the Committee on Wholesale and Retail Trade. The Committee was set up in 1995 to regulate and supervise the industry, including foreign participation in the sector. 1.4.3 Hypermarkets In Malaysia, the hypermarket has grown rapidly since the 1990s. The emergence of hypermarkets has altered the structure of the distributive trade in Malaysia to some extent. The existence of hypermarkets has allowed the consumers to do their shopping easily with less hassle as they can purchase the grocery products and mass merchandise under one-roof. A research carried out by Euromonitor (2008) revealed that hypermarkets recorded sales of RM6,217 million in 2007, which represents a 263.2 percent increase since 2002. Euromonitor has forecasted that the sales in hypermarkets will reach RM11,199.5 million by 2012. The success of the hypermarket chains is largely due to their low price, wide range of offerings, customer service and strategic location (Seiders and Tigert, 2000; Carpenter, 2008). The hypermarket industry is dominated by the foreign retailers, namely, Carrefour, Giant, and Tesco. This is because multinational companies have a greater capability in terms of outlet expansion, development of private label products, and offer extensive ranges of products and value-added services. In 2007, the hypermarket market was led by Giant, followed by Carrefour and Tesco (Euromonitor, 2008). The dominance of Giant is largely due to the high number of outlets available in Malaysia. Despite there being only a few key players, the hypermarket environment is highly competitive. This is because the retailers employ similar positioning strategy in order to attract more consumers. Most of the hypermarket operators compete on pricing and promotion to attract more customers. Some retailers even reduce prices permanently in order to attract more people to the stores. Major promotions and advertisements are some of the key growth strategies utilized In the hypermarket segment, the main players are foreign owned retailers such as Carefour (France), Makro (Holland), Jaya Jusco (Japan), Tesco (United Kingdom) and Giant (Hong Kong) which account for 46 per cent of the hypermarket sector (Economic Report, 2005/2006). By 2005 there were around 400 foreign supermarkets and hypermarkets spread around the country including the sub-urban areas in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, and other states such as Perak, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Kedah, Sabah and Sarawak. This retail segment was the best performers among the retail sub-sector with 18.3 per cent growth during first month of 2006 (Economic Report, 2006/2007). This study was confined to the hypermarket in Kota Kinabalu area. According to Trading Licence Listing(Table 1.1) from Kota Kinabalu City Hall, there are only two hypermarket in Kota Kinabalu, namely Giant and Servey Hypermarket Parkwell. Giant Hypermarket, which is owned by Giant Capital Holdings (GCH), is one of the largest hypermarkets in Malaysia. It was founded in 1944 by the Teng family in Kuala Lumpur. Its headquarter is based at Shah Alam, Selangor, meanwhile Sabah-Sarawak-Brunei Regional headquarter is located in Kolombong Outlet, Kota Kinabalu. Giant Hypermarket currently has around 1,000 employee in Sabah itself, and 10,000 employees in total nationwide. There are about 14 outlet store of Giant Hypermarket around Kota Kinabalu; 4 hypermarket, 7 supermarket and 3 superstore. However, this study will only focus in Giant Hypermarket which is located either in Kolombong, 1Borneo, Putatan and City Mall. Furthermore, Servay Parkwell are the homegrown Sabah Sarawak proud success story, operating one of the leading hypermarket Sabah Sarawak. It is formed in 1979 under Evergreen Trading (1979) Sdn Bhd. Under the group of companies, it encompasses 5 major subsidiaries companies label, they are the retail brands of: Servay Hypermarket (Sabah) Sdn Bhd Servay Supermarket Sdn Bhd Servay Hypermarket (Sandakan) Sdn Bhd Servay Jaya Superstore Sdn Bhd Parkwell Departmental Stores Sdn Bhd Currently, Servay Hypermarket has 10 store outlet around Sabah; 4 hypermarkets, 5 supermarkets and 1 departmental store. However, this study will only focus in Servay Hypermarket in Kota Kinabalu which is located either in Penampang, Putatan, KK Plaza and Likas. 1.5 Significance of the Study This research will endeavor to make both a theoretical and practical contribution to the existing literature:- 1.5.1 Significance to Body of Knowledge This study will contribute additional knowledge to the construct of organizational commitment in relation to extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Thus far, there is evidence that these rewards are positively related to Organizational Commitment (Neeru Malhotra., et al (2007), Bunmi Omolayo, A.B. Owolabi (2007), Ian O. Williamson at el., (2009), However, it is hoped this study will add to the body of knowledge in terms multidimensional construct of Organizational Commitment among hypermarket employees in Malaysia, especially in Kota Kinabalu. 1.5.2 Significance to Human Resource Practitioners The significance of this research is aimed to produce some kind of practical guidance and benefits to the human resource managers in to help them better plan and move towards retaining their employees through designing a good and attractive rewards system. It is hoped that this study provides some valuable insights to any retail organization which seeks to create the appropriate work environment or establish the significant organizational rewards which encourage hypermarket employees to be committed to their current organization and continue their service with them. Additionally, this study might contribute to a better understanding of three dimensional of organizational commitment, and also its role in enhancing employees sense of attachment and membership to their organization. Therefore, the results of this research may guide human resource managers to incorporate organizational rewards to improve the work environment, motivational level, and retention, enhance O.C. and thereby reduce turnover, increase productivity, and enhance performance. Each committed employee is a vital ingredient to the success of any hypermarket organization. 1.6 Definition of Key Variable In order to have a sound understanding of this study, the following are the definitions of the key variables for this study. 1.6.1 Rewards Reward refers to all forms of financial returns, tangible services and benefits which an employee receives as part of an employment relationship (Bratton and Gold, 1994). According to Porter and Lawler (1968), rewards can be divided into two type; intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Katz and Van Maanan (1977) have further classified work rewards into three distinct categories of task, social and organizational rewards. Task rewards are intrinsic rewards, while social and organizational rewards are extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are those that resulting from extrinsic, non-job-related factors. Social rewards (friendly, helpful and supportive co-workers and considerate supervisors) are those that are derived from interaction with others on the job; while organizational rewards (working conditions, pay satisfaction, benefits, and promotional opportunities) are those that are provided by the organization and are aimed at motivating performance and maintaining membership. On the other hand, intrinsic rewards are inherent in the content of the job itself. They include motivational job characteristics such as feedback (Hackman and Oldham, 1976). Individuals at all levels of the organization recognize the importance of continually upgrading their skills, and regard access to training as a ‘key element in the overall reward package (Armstrong, 1993: 121). Training is regarded as an important non-financial motivator and thus can be considered as an intrinsic reward. 1.6.2 Organization Commitment The concept of organizational commitment has been defined in many ways. Zheng Wei Bo et al (2009) had concludes the evaluation of OC from 1960-2009 in different period to defined Organization Commitment. From side-bet thinking till affective dependence even multi-dimension period, commitment author have identified different theories to explain the correlations between the foci of OC and outcome. Commitment was initially defined and studied as one dimensional construct tied either to ones emotional attachment to an organizational (Porter et al., 1974), or to the costs associated with the exit (Becker, 1960). As work in this area progressed, this view of commitment converged and a new, multidimensional dimension framework was adopted base on three distinct but related form of commitment: affective, continuance and normative (Allen Meyer, 1990). The affective commitment refer to sn emotional attachment and the involvement with an organization while continuance commitment denotes the perceived costs of leaving an organization (Allen Meyer, 1991). Normative commitment ia newer addition to commitment to the commitment topology and its views as felt responsibility to support and remain a member of an organization (Allen Meyer, 1990). 1.7 Summary and Organization Of The Study This study present in three chapters. Chapter 1 concerned on the study overview, problem statement, research question and objectives, scope and significance of the study as well as definitions of key variables. Whereas Chapter 2 the Literature Review focus on the previous research and discusses the key variable such as extrinsic and intrinsic rewards as independent variables in this study as well as the dependant variable. In Chapter 3 represent the research methodology, in which explain how study is designed in terms of its sample size, data collection method, instrument and data analysis technique. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION Encouraging employees to work and be committed toward achieving organizations goals and objectives is one of the most significant challenges for any management. It involves active relationship with the organization in which employees are willing to give something of them in order to help the organization to succeed and prosper. According to March and Simeon (1958:52), real commitment often evolves into an exchange relationship in which individuals attach themselves to the organization in return for certain rewards or outcomes. Usually, employees will feel committed when their needs are met and fulfilled by their organizations. According to Maslow (1954), human needs are arranged in a hierarchical order, and once a need is satisfied, the individual move to the next unsatisfied need which now forms the basis for his/her behavior. These needs are the physiological needs (which include food, clothing, shelter, water, and sex), security needs (such as job security, protection of life and property), social needs (such as need for affection, friendship, and sense of belonging), esteem needs (which include need for recognition, accomplishment, achievement, and self respect), and self-actualization needs (which is the need for an employee to reach his/her highest potential at workplace in conquering his/her environment). Rewards are something given or obtained in return for work done or service rendered. Vroom (1964:134) asserts that the expectation (reward) of employees on task performed motivates and encourages them to be committed. Thus, the higher the expectation of workers, the greater the commitment. On the other hand, the lesser the expectation of workers, the lower the commitment. 2.1 Literature Review Conceptual Background 2.1.1 Organizational Commitment (OC) Research on OC spans over four decade and remains an area of interest to both researchers and practitioners. Commitment of an employee to his or her employing organization or known as Organizational commitment (OC), has received much attention in the literature but different definitions continue to be used. Zheng Wei Bo et al (2009) had concludes the evaluation of OC from 1960-2009 as illustrated in Table 2.1. From side-bet thinking till affective dependence even multi-dimension period, commitment author have identified different theories to explain the correlations between the foci of OC and outcomes. Table 2.1: Evaluation Of Organizational Commitment Commitment was initially defined and studied as one dimensional construct tied either to ones emotional attachment to an organizational (Porter et al., 1974), or to the costs associated with the exit (Becker, 1960). As work in this area progressed, this view of commitment converged and a new, multidimensional dimension framework was adopted base on three distinct but related form of commitment: affective, continuance and normative (Allen Meyer, 1990). The affective commitment refer to sn emotional attachment and the involvement with an organization while continuance commitment denotes the perceived costs of leaving an organization (Allen Meyer, 1991). Normative commitment ia newer addition to commitment to the commitment topology and its views as felt responsibility to support and remain a member of an organization (Allen Meyer, 1990). Furthermore, the concept of commitment in the workplace is still one of the most challenging and researched concepts in the fields of management, organizational behavior and Human Resource Management. A great deal of research has been devoted to studying the antecedents and outcomes of commitment in work setting. The conceptual and operational development of organizational commitment has affected the conceptualization and measurement of other commitment forms such as commitment to the occupation, the job, the workgroup, the union and the work itself (Cohen, 2003; Gordon, Philpot et al., 1980; Morrow, 1993). Blau and Boal (1987) discussed two approaches in defining commitment. The first one, referred as behavior approach where the individual viewed as committed to an organization if he/she is bound by past actions of â€Å"sunk cost† (fringe benefit, salary as a function of age or tenure) and the second one are referred as attitudinal approach where organizational commitment is viewed as a more positive individual orientation towards the organization; here, organizational commitment is defined as a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goal, and he/she wishes to maintain membership in the organization in order to facilitate its goals. Attitudinal commitment is affective in nature; employees are emotionally attached to the organization and view their goals and organizational goals are similar. In summary, OC can be defined as a psychological state characterize an employees relationship with the organization that has implication for the employees decision whether to remain or leave the organization. Commitment reflects the employees acceptance of the organizations goal and willingness to engage in the behavior that is specified in the job description. OC can be considered to be affective response or attitude which link or attach an employee to the organization. In the other words, OC can be defined as the degree to which an employees experiences a ‘sense of oneness with their organization. However, for the purpose of this study, the following definition of OC as provided by Allen and Meyer (1990) was used. It has become clear that during the last decade, OC was conceptualizing as multidimensional construct that involve three dimensions as mention before. 2.1.2 Allens and Meyers Model of Organization Commitment (OC) Meyer and Allen (1990) had defined OC as pychological state that bind the individu to the organization. For that extend, they have developed a three component conceptualization of organizational commitm

Gaelic League :: Essays Papers

Gaelic League What are the Irish known for? Most people would automatically think of some trivial fact about something like the potato famine, others the stereotypical views of the Irish drinking habits, and undoubtedly good old Irish American pubs would definitely come to mind. Although these are definitely interesting parts of the Irish history there are many other aspects to this unique heritage that truly capture the spirit of the Irish tradition. The Gaelic League was started with the founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association. This group founded in 1884 in attempts to promote and maintain Irish sports, helped to spawn the idea of Irish nationalism which eventually personified itself into organizations such as the Gaelic League. The Gaelic League was founded in 1893 by Douglas Hyde and Ed MacNeil to spread the Irish language (Hachey and McCaffery 14). Formed in Barnesmore where language classes were held in the national school; the support of both Catholics and Protestants made it poss ible to branch off to other areas (O’Connor 37). After the devastation of the potato famine and the implications of the home rule; both the Gaelic League and its predecessor the Gaelic Athletic Association had the common goal of bringing forth Irish nationalism in a country that desperately needed national pride. This movement for national pride had some success, but not before the failure that preceded it. There are a few reasons that this move, for national pride, produced failure one was the reputation of the Irish and another was the pressure of politics put on the different associations. The Irish language was considered to be a peasant’s language (O’Connor 87). Because of this the people of country that were poor and not educated in the language did not think it was worth spending money to learn. Tthe people in the country that had the money to learn the language normally did not want to learn the language for the mere fact it was considered to be a peasants language. Another reason for some of the failure that this movement attained is due to the political pressure created because of the nature of the movement itself. The two founders of the Gaelic League Hyde and McNeil never wanted the movement to become political (Gavin 56). However, this was inevitable. The mo vement caused a split in the people, those who were educated in the language and those who were not educated in the language (Hopkins 129).

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childrens needs February 2012 | | |Assignment 1: | |Explain what constitutes the physical and psychological needs of a three year old child. Explain how you would ensure that these physical and | |psychological needs can ideally be met in a setting/nursery which the 3 year old child attends from 8 am to 6 pm, 5 days a week. Reading for your assignment. Though we provide some recommended books and chapters, (see below) you need to read around the subject as much as possible and not limit yourself to just the recommended readings. Recommended reading from your prescribed text books:- Macleod-Brudenell, I,& Kay, J (2008, Second Ed) Advanced Early Years for Foundation Degrees & Level 4/5 Harlow: Heinemann Chapters 4, 5 and 9 Montessori Centre International (MCI) (undated a) Module 2 Child Development London: MCI Chapters 1 and 3 (pg 39 – 42) Montessori Centre International (MCI) (undated b) Module 4 Contemporary Issues London: MCIChapters 1, 3, 4 and 5 Montessori Centre Internat ional (MCI) (undated c) Module 5 Childcare and Health London: MCI Additional reading to consider for this assignment:- Montessori International (Issue 94, January – March) (Various articles in this issue of the magazine are relevant) Unicef (2008) Convention on the Rights of the Child, available from http://www. unicef. org/crc/ This assignment focuses on the importance of supporting the child’s well-being. Although, you will be given guidelines and additional reading material to assist you in the writing of this assignment, it is important for you to read as widely as you can.You will also need to consider the specific requirements within your own country. In these tutorial guidelines, the assignment question will be broken down into sections, giving you some pointers to consider when preparing your answer for submission. In order to enable you to focus on the different aspects of the questions, each has been given a weighting. These are the maximum marks that can be awarded for this part of the answer. The other 25% of the marks cover structure, expression and presentation (Take note of the marking table on the assessment sheet that you have received). WORKING ON THIS ASSIGNMENTBegin by:- †¢ Work through the recommended chapters listed above, making notes as you did for your Study Skills assignment. Please note that you are not limited to these chapters – You may also find it useful to do some independent research in your local library or on the internet. Be careful to limit your reading to academically sound sources – Wikipedia is not a safe site to use and should be avoided. (Remember to keep a record of the source document for later referencing and bibliography). †¢ Go through the extended guidelines below, and begin to gather information for your answer. Make note of any questions you have regarding this assignment and send them through to me. These questions and their answers will then form the second half of this f irst tutorial (the Q&A) which will be emailed to you so that you can take the information into consideration before finalising your essay for submission. Start to work on your answer:- 0 Study skills recap – †¢ Organise your information and thoughts into a logical, structured argument, addressing each of the important / main bullet points. Ensure that there is an overall flow to the information, and that each section links back to the question posed. Begin with an introduction that will state what you are going to cover in the main body of the essay. The introduction should be  ± 5-10% of the total length of the essay. Draw your argument to a conclusion at the end. †¢ Reference each time you paraphrase ideas you have read during your research for the essay, as well as the first time you include specific terminology in any one essay. In this essay you should ensure that you are quoting from academically sound sources. †¢ Find three or four relevant quotes that will support your argument.Use MCI protocol when referencing and quoting. CONTENT GUIDELINES FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT Identify and define the specific physical needs of a three year old child – including exercise and rest, diet, health and safety. (10) †¢ Briefly define what is meant by physical needs, including exercise and rest, diet, health and safety . †¢ Identify the specific physical needs of a three year old. Give a full explanation of how these physical needs should ideally be met by an early years setting/nursery which offers care from 8am to 6pm five days a week. (17. ) – Consider for example, how you could provide for gross and fine motor skills. Also think about safety issues (such as appropriate clothing for specific weather conditions), access to fresh air and ventilation in the classrooms, opportunities for rest, etc. – Give practical examples of what a setting would do to ensure the child’s well being as an essential pre-requisite to effective learning. Identify and define the psychological needs of a three year old child – focus on emotional and social needs. (10) †¢ Briefly define what is meant by psychological needs, focus on emotional and social needs.Your definition should briefly consider the needs for survival, participation and belonging. †¢ Identify the specific psychological needs of a three year old. Give a full explanation of how the psychological needs should ideally be met in an early years setting/nursery which offers care from 8am to 6pm five days a week. (17. 5) – Explain how the three year old’s emotional and social needs can be met. Here you should be looking at consistency, predictability and availability of care. – Explain how the children’s well-being and sense of belonging are promoted. Focus on settling in procedures and transitions, availability of a key person and liaison with parents. – Give practical examples of how you could make a three year old comfortable, settled, at ease and ready to actively participate in the daily life of the nursery. Having discussed the physical and psychological needs of a three year old relate these to relevant articles in the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) which inform the statutory requirements for best practice in early years settings/nurseries in your country (20) –Briefly explore the general underlying principles (especially that of survival, protection and participation) which underpin the relevant articles of the UNCRC. (supplied with this tutorial) – Link these principles to the child’s needs. 0 Study skills recap – †¢ Your conclusion should summarise what you have said, without adding or introducing anything new. †¢ The word count includes references and quotes, but excludes bibliography †¢ Remember to use double line spacing and to number the pages of your document Finalising your answer:- †¢ R ead through your essay, checking your spelling, grammar and referencing format. Make sure your argument has a logical flow, and that you have answered each aspect of the question fully, in your own words. †¢ Fill in the cover sheet, including all necessary details. Check that your word count is within the accepted limit. †¢ Compile or finalise your bibliography using the correct format. (Follow the MCI protocol as outlined in your Student Handbook. ) 0 Study skills recap – Your bibliography must include full entries for all sources that you have referred to in your essay, as well as other books, articles, websites etc that you have read or consulted in preparation for this assignment.Bibliography:- Macleod-Brudenell, I, & Kay, J (2008, Second Ed) Advanced Early Years for Foundation Degrees & Level 4/5 Harlow: Heinemann Montessori Centre International (MCI) (undated a) Module 2 Child Development London: MCI Montessori Centre International (MCI) (undated b) Module 4 C ontemporary Issues London: MCI Montessori Centre International (MCI) (undated c) Module 5 Childcare and Health London: MCI

Importance of International Finance

International Financial Management is unique primarily because the firm must deal in more than its own currency. [2] A multinational is a corporation that has operations in more than one country. [3] It is also called an International Corporation. It ordinarily consists of 1 parent company and about 6 foreign subsidiaries, typically with a high degree of strategic intervention between them. E. G. The Coca Cola Company is a multinational company, selling in more than 200 countries and having net sales of $7169 million in the 1st quarter of 2009. 4] Financial advantages of foreign operations An overseas market provides a larger market and thus, a potential increase in the sales of the firm's products. For some corporations, it might mean a fall in production costs if their opening a subsidiary in a country that offers cheap labor, raw materials or machinery. Also, instead of only exporting goods to other nations, once an NC starts operations in another country, the risk of detrimental laws restricting the sales of their products as well as an increase in the tax on their products, decreases considerably.Exchange rates and their effects An exchange rate is the expression of the value of one currency in terms of another amounts currency. [5] There are two ways of expressing this value: 1. Direct quotation: Domestic Currency / Foreign Currency 2. Indirect quotation: Foreign Currency/ Domestic currency The two methods are different ways of expressing the same thing. Throughout the project, ERE is quoted in direct quotation. Banks in most countries use a system of Foreign Exchange Market and its Fluctuations The volume of international transactions has grown considerably in the past 50-70 years.Trade and investment of this magnitude would be impossible without the ability to buy and sell currencies. The latter must be done for one currency is not the acceptable means of payment in all countries engaged in trade. The foreign exchange market is one of the largest in the world which facilitates the buying and selling of currencies, whose price is determined by the ERE. The market is over-the- counter, I. E. Trade is carried out using computer terminals, telephones, telecoms devices and SWIFT; an international banking communications network that electronically links brokers and traders.It is not confined to any one country but is dispersed throughout the leading financial centers of the world. Participants The major participants are large commercial banks that trade with one another, channeling most currency transactions through the worldwide interbrain market. Their transactions are conducted through foreign exchange brokers, who specialize in matching net supplier and demander banks. The brokers charge a brokerage fee and in return, offer anonymity to both parties and minimize the contact of banks with other traders.Small banks and local offices of major banks have lines of credit with large banks or with the home office. Customers deal with the b ank, which then makes use of the line of credit. Other players are brokers, international money centre banks, central banks of many countries, portfolio managers, foreign exchange brokers, hedgers, traders and speculators. Another actor in the market is the arbitrageur, who seeks to earn risk-free profit by taking advantage of difference in interest rates between countries and make use of forward contracts to eliminate ERE risk.If the value of home currency A decreases relative to the value of currency B, A is a weakening or depreciating currency and B is a strengthening or appreciating currency. ERE quoted indirectly will fall. For the importers of country A, ore of their home currency is required to purchase goods of country B. The vice versa is true for country B. Therefore, the attractiveness of a country's goods and services abroad is Judged by the relative values of the currencies of the importing and exporting countries. Types of Transactions 1 .