The Man Who Was Almost a Man free essay sample

A review of the book The Man Who Was Almost a Man by Richard Wright, which is a story about the journey from boyhood to becoming a man. This paper examines the difficult transition of adolescents, as seen in the novel The Man Who Was Almost a Man by Richard Wright. It summarizes the story and the main characters gun use. The paper investigates what is masculinity and what makes a man a man. The theme of The Man Who Was Almost A Man is masculinity and what makes a man a man. In an essay about gender in literary works, Jehlen recognizes that masculinity is not something men have but something they construct (Jehlen 270). Daves construction of this masculinity is the theme of The Man Who Was Almost A Man. The first point that suggests that Dave is not really a man, is his means of attaining the gun. We will write a custom essay sample on The Man Who Was Almost a Man or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Molly Drug Usage in the American Society

Article summary James McKinley article in The New York Times discusses overdose of an ecstasy drug called Molly, and death resulting from the same. Molly is a new ecstasy drug sold to the youth in the United States. To be precise, Molly is a street name for a drug referred as MDMA (3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine). In most cases, the ecstasy drug is sold as a pill or powder.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Molly Drug Usage in the American Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Medical experts and psychologists allege that Molly is a typical stimulant and is used to help patients with mental disorders to open up during counseling sessions. From this perspective, the drug is essential in helping patients socialize and open up to people around them. The right dosage of the MDMA drug is recommended. However, an overdose of the drug is considered harmful and results to abuse. The article was written to provide in sightful information regarding abuse of Molly among the youth. In fact, the article uses an example to articulate on dangers of abusing the drug. The article discusses how two young individuals died as a result of abusing the ecstasy drug. McKinley’s article is based on evidence that the drug has previously affected the youth in similar occasions. For example, the drug seems to be sold among the youths attending electric music parties. From the article, it is evident that Molly is popular among the youths aged below 25 years. According to the author, the two individuals who died at the Electric Zoo festival during Labor Day of 2013 were aged 20 and 23 years old. Evidence showing how the drug is prominent among the youths indicates similar deaths in New York. Other indications showing dangers of the drug among the youths reveals that at least 4 people die of MDMA overdose every year in New York. In addition, statistics show that at least 43 young people died from MDMA overdose between 2000 and 2011. The reason why the youth are a target of the MDMA usage is because the drug is cheap and not physically addictive. Moreover, electric music parties where the drug is sold are attractive to young people. Prolonged usage and abuse of molly has negative physiological and psychological effects. From a physiological perspective, abusers of Molly lose appetite, experience exhaustion, insomnia, jaw soreness, dizziness and constipation. Psychological effects of abusing the drug include depression, impaired attention and paranoia. McKinley’s article is interesting since it focuses on current drug abuse in the United States. The article focus on a new drug abuse trend in the country raises fundamental issues about availability of the drug off the pharmaceutical shelves. MDMA drug is meant for psychiatry and is only licensed for sale in pharmaceuticals.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The article also suggests a possible mixing of Molly with methylone, making the drug fatal. The article is interesting as it associates abuse of the drug with Electric music parties. The connection between the drug and music parties is intriguing and forms a basis for further research on the same. I chose the article for its significance in research on drug abuse among the American youth. The article provides a new dimension about popular drugs abused in the country besides cocaine, heroine, marijuana and alcohol. For example, the article has information on how drugs are adulterated with dangerous substances that are fatal to users. Therefore, the article’s information can harness further research about drug abuse and required interventions. Works Cited McKinley, C. James. â€Å"Overdoses of ‘Molly’ led to Electric Zoo deaths†. The New York Times 12 Sept. 2013. Web. https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/overdoses-of -molly-led-to-electric-zoo-deaths/. This essay on Molly Drug Usage in the American Society was written and submitted by user Taryn Briggs to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition Essay on Passion

Definition Essay on Passion Live Not Only for YourselfDo we know what we want in life? Almost everyone wants happiness; a person wants to be successful in all of their endeavors. This is the main goal for just about everyone in this world because getting somewhere in life is the basis of life. We might ask ourselves: how we can achieve this tremendous task? The first step is to show passion. Yes, passion. Generally passion is defined* as a powerful emotion, such as love, and joy. To take that a step further passion means to have desire, to care, and most importantly to do whatever it takes to be successful and gain respect from our peers.If passion means to have desire, what does desire mean? Desire means to want something, to need something. There must be something in our life that we desire. It can be a personal goal; something that we want to accomplish one day.English: Curt Anderson interviews Muhammad AliIf we desire something we show passion towards it, no matter what it is. It is not a coincidence that w hich one desires most, he/she holds precious upon them. For example we would most likely treat a nice sports car much better than an old, rusty, and beat up station wagon. Why? Obviously because we would rather have a sports car that we would enjoy, instead of some old station wagon. We simply desire it more. In this world we have come to expect things from others, and taking those things for granted. Sometimes we judge others, without judging ourselves. As the future of this country and the world we have to be able to realize the true meaning of passion. Everyone has to encourage one another to do better, because everyone is capable of doing something great. We must desire more, we must strive to...

Faith Is Being Sure Of What We Hope Religion Essays

Faith Is Being Sure Of What We Hope Religion Essays Faith Is Being Sure Of What We Hope Religion Essay Faith Is Being Sure Of What We Hope Religion Essay Faith is being certain of what we hope for and certain of what we do non see. This is a large portion of believing in God and even life itself. We have faith in everything from a auto non halting in the center of the interstate, to the roof on are house non tumbling down on us as were sitting on our couch. We do nt personally travel and look into every bolt and prison guard on an aeroplane before we let a alien fly us through the air. This is because we have great religion in the aeroplane and the pilot. To hold faith in God is nt a wages we are given by how much clip we read the Bible or by how much we go to church. Faith is a gift from God. We are given religions by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the boy of God. Without religion it is impossible to delight God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seriously seek him. ( Hebrew 11:6 ) To hold religion we besides have to obey God. Our interior attitude does non specify religion entirely. ( James 2:17 ) In the same manner, religion by itself, if it is non accompanied by action, is dead. ( James 2:19-24 ) You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the devils believe that- and frisson. You foolish adult male, do you desire grounds that religion without workss is useless? Was non our ascendant Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his boy Isaac on the alter? And the Bible was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God s friend. You see that a individual is justified by what he does and non by faith alone. A individual is justified by workss merely by adult male ; because adult male can non see our religion. Our religion is justified by God. Our workss do non salvage us, but they are the grounds to our salvaging religion. If we could salvage ourselves by workss, Jesus has no n done any aid for us. Faith saves us and faith entirely. ( Ephesians 2:1-2 ) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this non from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by plants, so that no 1 can tout. For we are Gods craft, created in Christ Jesus to make good plants, which God prepared in progress for us to make. : The adherents had great religion and sometimes we desire to hold faith like them. Since we have non seen Jesus and still believe we have greater religion. Because you have seen me you have believed, blessed are those who have non yet seen but still believe. ( John 20: 29 ) Peoples that have seen Jesus and believe will non be punished, but that the people that have non seen Jesus and still believe are blessed. By holding religion and believing in God we will hold everlasting life. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the boy of God, and that by believing you may hold life in his name. ( John 20:31 ) HOW TO Get FAITH? To acquire religion we have to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and we will acquire the gift of religion and have life in his name. Faith can besides come through the message through the word of Christ. ( Romans 10:17 ) Consequently, religion comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Sometimes we will hold a job believing that Jesus is the Christ, the boy of God and that he died on the cross for our wickednesss. We should so, fill are egos with God s word and chew over it with our bosom. To make this we should read the Bible. We will shortly recognize that Jesus is the manner the truth and the life. ( John 14:6 ) Once we become a Christian and have great religion, we can compare our life to what it used to be without God and we can see that the battles were harder when we did non hold God taking us through them. We know that our religion will non ever remain at the same degree. ( 2 Thessalonians 1:3 ) aˆÂ ¦.because your religion is turning more and moreaˆÂ ¦ . We can pray, analyze the Bible, go to church, and serve God. These things will non give us faith, but they can assist us turn in our religion. We should ever go on to praise the Godhead as a forfeit! ( Hebrews 13:15 ) We should continually offer to God a forfeit of congratulations. This will besides assist us turn in Faith. Sometimes we get caught passing all of our clip shopping, cookery, and even work. This will devour all of our ideas and God will be easy pushed out of our lives, so when we have a job we will travel to God and utilize him to assist us with our jobs but we will neer believe to give thanks to him. You should pass most of your clip reading the bible, praying to God, and thanking him for everything he has given us. Jesus died on the cross for us and has given us some really great things ; the least we could make is thank him for the material he has given us and praise him with all we have. If we have done some truly bad things in our life and do nt believe that God would of all time forgive us or even love us any longer, believe once more! God will ever love us and forgive us, no affair what we have done. We could be the 1s non honouring our female parent and male parent or hold even murdered person, but they are both wickednesss, both holding effects. Everybody wickednesss and if we merely inquire for forgiveness and believe, we will hold everlasting life and your journey with the Lord will go on in the right way. When we accept God into your bosom, our life will non be perfect. It does hold great things that come with it though! If we have struggles in our life that you think will neer travel off, we can pray to God and he will assist us through it. When a job comes up and we have nil left, we can ever number on God to be at that place for us! God is the 1 that we will ever necessitate and the 1 that will ever love us! To cognize God will ever forgive and love us, should give us the bravery to love and forgive our enemies. If we are endeavoring to travel in the right way and want to populate our life praising, and functioning God, the door will ever be unfastened. To inquire Jesus Christ to be in our life is easy but it will be the biggest determination we will do in our whole full life. God has led me to make many things that will assist his land grow and they were things I neer thought of making, but through religion I did it and I was rewarded. Faith is a large thing in everyone s life, I encourage everyone to travel out and make the thing that God is naming you to make. This thing might be really difficult to understand or you might non swear that he will acquire you through it but God has a program for us and he will steer us through it and honor us for what we have done. We need to utilize religion and trust in God as we take these stairss into the right journey. Doubts Doubts are when we are disbelieving about something or have undecided feelings. Doubts can come running in our life at a bolting velocity, and will vie with everything for are attending. Sometimes we can be submerging in uncertainty until something reassures us of our religion. ( Proverbs 3:5 ) Trust in the Godhead with all your bosom and thin non on your ain apprehension ; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will do your waies directly. If we are a true Christians and human existences, we will see uncertainties. We have non seen Jesus therefore we will hold uncertainty. There will be a point when we hit something that will do us make up ones mind between religion and uncertainty. This will assist us turn in Faith. In the Bible there were people that had non believed in Jesus until they had seen him. Thomas did non believe the other 11 adherents when they had said ( John 20:25, 27 ) we have seen the Lord. Thomas said Unless I see the nail Markss in his custodies and set my finger where the nails were, and set my manus into his side, I will non believe it. Jesus so came in through the locked doors and said Peace be with you! Put your finger here ; see my custodies. Reach out your manus and set it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Doubts are nt ever a bad thing though. Doubts can assist steer us through our journey with God. When we have uncertainties we might non believe that we will still hold everlasting life in Heaven, but uncertainties can assist us hold greater religion in the long tally. When we doubt we will inquire more inquiries to happen out everything we want to cognize. We will larn why God is the reply and why the other theories have no manner of being possible. We will besides get down reading the Bible more and traveling to church more so we reassure are faith. Doubts do nt intend you re non a Christian or that you do nt hold faith, it merely means that you doubt because we believe in God and he is unobserved! Doubts are normal in life. Its difficult to construct so much religion up of something that we have non seen and non cognizing if it s traveling to be true until we see it, but we need to believe and swear in the Godhead. Have you of all time got caught believing Possibly God is nt existent. Or possibly Is it to good to be true? or How could God hold done this? But the truth it is a great thing that God made this Universe. If we think about it God Is REAL because who could hold made this Earth? Who could hold made us? It had to be person so great merely like God. Sometimes we even doubt because we have prayed and what we prayed did non travel are manner or we got hurt by a loved one death. God disciplines us because he treats us as sons- everyone has had subject. God disciplines us for our good, it is painful at the clip but subsequently you have a crop of righteousness and peace for us if we are trained by it. ( Hebrews 12:7-13 ) Endure adversity as subject ; God is handling you as boies. For what boy is non disciplined by his male parent? If you are non disciplined ( and everyone undergoes subject ) , so you are illicit kids and non true boies. Furthermore, we have all had human male parents who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we subject to the Father of our liquors and unrecorded! Our male parents disciplined us for a small while as they thought best ; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may portion in his sanctity no subject seems pleasant at the clip, but painful. Later on, nevertheless, it pro duces a crop of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, beef up your lame weaponries and weak articulatio genuss. Make degree waies for your pess so that the square may non be disabled. Sometimes we will pray to God, proving him so that we can believe. We will state him God if you let me acquire a occupation publicity or acquire on the high school hoops squad the following twenty-four hours so I will believe. When that does nt go on it does non intend God is non existent or does nt reply supplications, it merely means that we want the occupation publicity or the high school hoops squad more than we would love to believe in God. God is non a individual that will manus us things when we so want, but does reply our supplications. ( Jeremiah 33:3 ) Name to me and I will reply you and state you great and unsearchable things you do non cognize. He besides promises to reply are supplications. ( Isaiah 65:24 ) Before they call I will reply ; while they are still talking I will hear. Once we see beyond the image of God giving us what we wish for, his word promises we have assurance that we will have anything we ask for. ( 1 John 3:21-22 ) Dear friends, if our Black Ma rias do non reprobate us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his bids and make what pleases him. God is non a force that is merely someplace. God is everyplace and he is a God that is personal with us and he is the spirit. He cares for us and he knows us all and even the figure of hairs on our caputs. ( Luke 12:7 ) Indeed, the really hairs of your caput are all numbered. It is easier to recognize that God is existent when you know that he is non a fairy tale or a force ; he is the spirit. THE End Life is an experience of life. We have two lives. One is where we are born from a human being on Earth and the other is when we die we will be born once more and we will be sent to Heaven to be with God. Here on Earth we have problems mentally, physically, spiritually, and many other ways, but in Heaven it is perfect. ( Revelation 4:1-3 ) Heaven is where God lives. It is where God is on his throne and is the full and complete look of God s kingship. Heaven has no hurting, sorrow, deceases, shouting, or unhappiness. In the Bible there is non a batch of information on Heaven is traveling to look or be, we merely know that it will be a perfect topographic point! We can merely conceive of what Heaven will be like, but God has manner better programs so we could of all time come up with, or even conceive of. If we saw a sign of the zodiac we would consider that the houses in Heaven will be three times as large, but that is non what they will be like because it would non be superior plenty. Heaven is a wages for those who overcome everything in the life we are populating. ( Revelation 3:21 ) Heaven offers wagess for those who overcome in this life. To acquire to Heaven we do nt merely unrecorded life, we have to believe in God as were populating! ( John 3:16 ) For God so loved the universe that he gave his 1 and merely boy, that whoever believes in him shall non die but have everlasting life. One of the many huge things about Heaven is there is neer a clip when God runs out of suites. ( John 14:2 ) In my Father s house are many suites ; if it were non so, I would hold told you. God does non direct merely the best people, that have greater religion, or the 1s that have done better things, he will direct everyone to Heaven that believes in him.

Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address - Coursework Example In his inaugural address, Roosevelt directly blamed businessmen and bankers for being greedy and short-termed (Allswang, p. 89). Roosevelt believed that they were the villains that caused economic crunches and its moral dimensions.The first phase (1933-34) tried to deliver recuperation from the Great Depression. This was through programs that regulated business and agriculture, price stabilization, inflation, and public works. Getting-together in (1933) in special session, the Congress established several emergency organizations, remarkably the National Recovery Administration (NRA), the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Public Works Administration and Civilian Conservation Corporation among others (Allswang, 1978). The Congress also instituted farm relief, stiffened finance and banking regulations, and established the Tennessee Valley Authority. Afterward, Democratic Congresses dedicated themselves to intensifying and modifying these laws. In 1934, Congress established the Federal Communications Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission and passed the National Housing Act, Trade Agreements Act and currency acts business (Allswang, p. 17).The second phase of the New Deal (1935-41), continued with relief and recovery measures, providing for economic and social legislation to help the mass of working people. In 1935, the social security system was set up. In the same year, the Work Projects Administration and National Youth Administration were established (Allswang, 1978). The Fair Labor Standards Act was approved in 1938. The Revenue Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937 provided techniques to democratize the federal tax structure. In 1935, a number of New Deal methods were overturned by the Supreme Court, however; the National Recovery Administration was struck down and the subsequent year the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was annulled. President fruitlessly sought to reorganize the Su preme Court. Meanwhile, other laws were replaced for legislation that had been affirmed unconstitutional (Allswang, 1978).

Mathematics Curriculum in Education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mathematics Curriculum in Education - Assignment Example Teachers did not realize the importance of relating the lesson to the real life experience of the students. Later, educators and philosophers realized that the content of math education should be close to the students’ personal experience or to realia, hence math education geared towards a more practical approach in which learning concepts were discussed and examples from real life experiences were given. Today, efforts to improve mathematics teaching have grown immeasurably, thus allowing teachers to teach math effectively. This paper discusses some of the modern approaches useful for attaining goals in the upper primary math classrooms. In particular, the approaches mentioned are relevant to the teaching of Mathematics in the upper primary level in (name of school), which is located in Brunei Darussalam. The Mathematics curriculum in (name of school) adopts a modern approach to teaching. In particular, the curriculum emphasizes the teaching of math in relation to the real life setting. This means giving particular attention to how math is used in the real world, such as government, business, home, and school. In the curriculum for upper primary (Grades 4–6) students, the syllabus includes topics that relate to real life experiences of using numbers and math concepts. Specifically, the goals of instruction include the following: †¢ Communication of math ideas in oral and written form ... This denotes the use of modern approaches that promote communication among students, especially in spoken language. Such approaches include Cooperative Learning, Cooperative Learning entails class activities that allow students to interact with each other and perform tasks in groups. Murdoch and Wilson (n.d.) define cooperative learning as an approach that requires students to work together towards a common goal. Merely working in groups without specific goals and measurements cannot be considered cooperative learning. For activities to be considered as cooperative learning activities, they should have clearly set goals and rules, for instance, each student in the group plays an important role in the performance of a particular activity. One way of applying Cooperative Learning is asking students to solve math problems. For example, students will be asked to solve for the average of annual GDP growth of the country in 10 years. In the given problem, each member of the group will be a ssigned to solve the GDP growth for (a) particular year/s. Hence, in a group of four, one can be assigned to solve for the growth from 2002-2005, another for 2005-2008, still another for 2008-2012, then finally another member averages the total GDP growth from his/her classmates. This way, each member of the group contributes effort and knowledge to come up with the final answer. The answer to the problem cannot be obtained without the output of each individual. Thus, assigning each member a role will make the student collaborate with others. Without the contribution of each member, the group will not be able to arrive at the final answer. Brown and Ciuffetelli (2009) and Siltala (2010) identify five basic and

Secondary Quantitative Data Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Secondary Quantitative Data - Essay Example So we are concerned with research carried out by making effective use of existing quantitative data. That is, whereas in primary research both data collection and analysis is used, in secondary research, "creative analytic techniques [are applied] to data that have been amassed by others" (Kiecolt, 1985). Another important distinction to note given that this study examines the strengths and weaknesses of using secondary quantitative data is that secondary data is that which has been collected for another purpose but later reanalyzed for use in another piece of research. This of course brings to question the validity of doing this, the rationale for conducting secondary research, its advantages and limitations. Examples of the types of secondary quantitative data are the following: Official records relating to births, marriages and deaths; records relating to crime, divorce, voting patterns etc.; the census; records held by academic, business and other organizations. The census is a special type of secondary dataset due to it being obligatory. Other regular or ad hoc surveys also provide useful statistical information. Some sources for using secondary data include surveys conducted by organizations, economic data, university academia research, national and international statistics, and opinion polls. Secondary analysis can be used on a variety of quantitative data including cohort, time-series, trend, and so on. The widespread use of secondary data in social science research probably dates back to the 'secondary data movement' of the 1960s when there was "a growing emphasis upon the use of secondary data in research, with important developments in social indicators analysis, the rise of survey archives, and the overall development of quantitative social research all playing a part." (Sobal, 1982) Secondary quantitative data is used to a great extent in economics and geography amongst the social science disciplines. Uses of Secondary Data (Strengths) Often, the greatest advantages to using secondary quantitative data are the cost and time saving benefits, and the simpler process for obtaining it. It is simply quicker and cheaper to obtain quantitative data from secondary sources than it would be from primary sources through gathering data oneself. In contrast to secondary research, primary research, specifically data collection, is a more complex procedure, typically takes a lot of time, and usually costs more to carry out. It also requires appropriate skills, access to people or sites, special equipment and other resources etc. These requirements are not an issue for obtaining secondary data. There are also issues of "declining resources for research in the social sciences" (Kiecolt, 1985) and climatic constraints, which makes it expedient to rely on existing survey data. Moreover, in this Information Age, an abundance of quantitative data is available nowadays, particularly in libraries and on the Internet. As Kiecolt points ou t in 'Secondary Analysis of Survey Data': "With data already collected, the costs are only those of obtaining the data, preparing them for analysis (such as ensuring that all data are computer-ready and compatible with the system), and

International Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

International Banking - Essay Example Measuring bank liquidity risk incorporates the comparison of accumulated expected cash shortfalls for a given period of time with the stock available for funding the cash sources. In accounting, the stock or the asset available in an organization should always be sufficient to fund the financial sources. To measure this risk, the accountant is required to assign the anticipated cash flows to periods in the future that have financial products with unpredictable cash flow timings (Musakwa, 2013). It is important to note that there is no agreed criterion that can be used to assign the cash flows. In other words, there is no common consensus on how to carry out the procedures. The variations in measuring funding liquidity risk are normally caused by the considerations of solvency, immediacy, as well as the cost of obtaining liquidity. First, solvency can only be applied in firms that are solvent. It can be defined in terms of funding liquidity risk as the capability of a firm that is sol vent to make the payments agreed upon in a timely manner. It should be noted that not only solvent banks that are liquid (Musakwa, 2013). At times, even insolvent banks may be liquid and this makes it difficult to use solvent as the main base for measuring banks liquidity risk. Further, a solvent bank can at times be illiquid. Insolvent banks may for instance be liquid in the event of information asymmetry. Such a situation may arise where the bank is fully aware of its solvency status but the public has no clue regarding the same. The distinction between solvency and funding liquidity risk is easy especially in the events of crises capped with information asymmetry. But it should be noted that solvency is normally covered by capital while ion the other hand funding liquidity risk is covered by cash inflows (Ruozi & Ferrari, 2012). Cost of obtaining liquidity is also likely to cause variations in bank liquidity risk. In most cases, funding is obtained with the main objective of cove ring obligations (Matz & Neu, 2007). However, it has to be obtained at an additional cost. The additional cost happens to be the major concern of accountants. In fact, some definitions of funding liquidity risk are based on this cost. For instance, the term funding liquidity risk could be defined as â€Å"the risk that a financial firm, though solvent, either does not have enough financial resources to allow it to meet its obligations as they fall due or can obtain such funding only at excessive cost† (Musakwa, 2013). This definition describes the cost of liquidity in in subjective terms. The defect of the definition is that the costs differ from market to market as well as across various banks. Under this concept, the bank liquidity risk is measured basing in the additional cost for obtaining the funds (Davis, 2004). Finally, the immediacy is an important aspect of funding liquidity risk. It defines the speed with which a bank can be in apposition to meet its obligations. In measuring funding liquidity under this concept, the time frame within which the bank is likely to become unable to meet its obligations is estimated (Hlatshwayo, et al. 2013). As mentioned earlier, known regarding the distribution of run off profile in most financial products for banks. However, there is an increased need for establishing a reliable method of measuring bank liquidity risk so as to avoid bank crises. In essence, the measure of bank liquidity ri

Healthcare Financing in Italy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthcare Financing in Italy - Term Paper Example At present, Italy’s healthcare system is financed through different measures, although it is primarily financed through general tax revenues (Maio & Manzoli, 2002, p.304). The National Health Fund (NHF) provides the major financing for public health care. The NHF is yearly apportioned to Italy’s twenty regions, which, in turn, distribute resources to the Local Health Agencies (LHAs). Donatini et al. (2001) cited several public and private revenue sources of Italy’s healthcare system: a regional tax on economic activities, general taxation, other regional taxes, users’ co-payments and private financing (p.35). By 1999, private financing sources already made up 33% of the total health care expenditure (Donatini et al., 2001, p.35). This created a more privatized form of healthcare financing, with increasing dependence on private providers and more out-of-pocket payments. Healthcare Administration For Italy, the primary healthcare institution is the Ministry of Health, which oversees the National Health Fund (Donatini et al., 2001, p.21). The National Health Fund provides financing for the national healthcare system. The Ministry of Health, via its departments and services, accomplishes five various roles: health care planning; health care financing; framework regulation; monitoring; and general governance of the National Institutes for Scientific Research (IRCCS – Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) (Donatini et al., 2001, p.21). Furthermore, regional governments, through their related health departments, aim to follow the national objectives set by the National Health Plan at the regional level (Donatini et al., 2001, p.23). ... Regional health departments are mandated to deliver the healthcare benefit package to the population through a system of local health units and public and private accredited hospitals and clinics (Donatini et al., 2001, p.23). Local health units are geographically-oriented organizations that assess healthcare needs and provide comprehensive care to local target populations (Donatini et al., 2001, p.25). Access and Inequality Issues It is hard to determine access and inequality issues in Italy, because its law states comprehensive healthcare coverage for all their citizens. Mostly likely then, the uninsured ones in both countries are the illegal immigrants, who have to pay for their healthcare expenses through their pockets. Italy aims for a comprehensive public healthcare insurance system but recent deregulation efforts increase private funding and out-of-pocket expenses. Italy has comparable healthcare indicators with Iceland (World Health Organization, 2011). Italy’s regiona l division of average immunization rates shows that total coverage is â€Å"higher in the north than the south† (Donatini et al., 2001, p.61). Furthermore, coverage rates percentage for compulsory vaccinations are better than the recommended ones (Donatini et al., 2001, p.61). For instance, the immunization for measles is 75% for Italy and 100% for Iceland (Donatini et al., 2001, p.62). Conclusion In terms of financing, Italy has a government-financing-dominated healthcare system. Increasing deregulation and privatization, however, increases private financing of the healthcare system. Access problems are based on location and socio-economic status. References Donatini, A.,

Why Nomadic People Developed Complex Civilization Essay

Why Nomadic People Developed Complex Civilization - Essay Example They would move to a place that they considered economically better than their current situation (Goldin et al 120). There were three categories of Nomadic people, hunters and gatherers, pastoral, and wandering Nomads. Hunters and gatherers nomads were communities moving from one location to another in search of wild meat, fruits, and vegetables. Pastoral nomads’ movement were influenced by the availability of water and pastures for their cattle, they were settling in places with good pasture for their animals, and when pastures and water were exhausted in these locations, they would move to another location with greener pasture and water. On account of their movement and interaction with various communities, modern day civilization was born that led to the development of different economic empires and rise of military structure. Another of factors made nomadic people settle, build and develop complex civilization. Firstly, the development of new methods agriculture as time passes by made nomads to settle in one place because there was a way to control drought through irrigating their land. Also, through improved irrigation system, pastoralist were able to store enough water for their animals and at the same time irrigate land reserved for pasture so that they do not run animal feeds.

Exploring The Concept Of Empowerment Social Work Essay

Exploring The Concept Of Empowerment Social Work Essay Empowerment can be defined in general as the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities gain control of their circumstances and achieve their own goals, thereby being able to work towards helping themselves and others to maximise the quality of their lives. In health and social care empowerment means patients, carers and service users exercising choice and taking control of their lives. It is not that one is empowered means he or she become all powerful like God. Even if we are empowered still we have limitation. Actual meaning of empowerment is that one feels that he or she able and feels powerful enough in certain situations to take part in decision making. I also will explain how politics played a part in disempowering women in health and social care services. It is a greatest challenge in health and social care to achieve progress with the empowerment of carers and people who receive services. Beginnings of twentieth century women were disempowered because of politics played a part. Emancipation is a commonly used word in other western European countries to refer to what in the UK mean by empowerment. The word emancipation has is useful because it has overtones of the struggle for votes for women in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century, so it reminds us that empowerment  Ã‚  in the health and social services has a political aspect. When carers and people who use services experience being disempowered and excluded, this is a form of political disenfranchisement. In other words, it is as though they have no vote and are not treated as full members of society. In contrast, when people become empowered, they can exercise choices and have the possibility of maximising their potential and living full and active lives.   There is a tension between enabling people to take control of their lives and recognising that workers may need to intervene and take control sometimes, in order to protect other people. This applies to both empowerment and advocacy. Empowerment for people with learning disabilities is the process by which they develop increased skills to take control of their lives. This will help them achieve goals and aspirations, maximising their quality of life. A key feature in empowering people is giving them a voice and actively listening to what they have to say. Empowerment is, therefore, closely linked to the concept of advocacy. Empowerment in learning disability can be described as a social process, whereby people who are considered as belonging to a stigmatised social group can be assisted to develop increased skills to take control of their lives. This increased control will help them to achieve their goals and aspirations and thus potentially maximise the quality of their lives. The concept has connections with assertiveness and independence and is clearly linked to the various forms of advocacy. When considering the current climate it is somewhat an indictment on our times that the Government sees the need to name the White Paper regarding its vision for learning disability services as Valuing People. The title alone inversely suggests that as a society we are not valuing people. The content presents the evidence on levels of exclusion, disempowerment and lack of valued social roles facing those with a learning disability and how services should be planned to address this. (A similar Scottish Executive Review of Learning Disability has the title The Same As You.) For the individual with a learning disability, the subjective experience of empowerment is about rights, choice and control which can lead them to a more autonomous lifestyle. For the professional, it is about anti-oppressive practice, balancing rights and responsibilities and supporting choice and empowerment whilst maintaining safe and ethical practice. Education is often seen as the main engine of empowerment, equality and rights of access. Thus, as a group, people with a learning disability can be at a particular disadvantage. They may have to be enabled and supported to perhaps overcome social obstacles and can be dependent on others to make important information accessible to them, assist them with advocacy and help safeguard their rights. A key feature in empowering individuals is giving them a voice and then listening actively to what they have got to say. Person Centred Planning with its focus on placing the individual at the centre of the process and using techniques to obtain meaningful participation can be a major contribution to finding out what people have got to say. Empowerment will bring along with it rights and responsibilities plus also potential risks for people. It is often the fear of physical risk which can inhibit empowerment processes for people who see themselves as responsible for vulnerable people. They may fear a blame culture if things go wrong. Surprisingly, as recently as 1998, the Social Services Inspectorate noted there were no systematic approaches for risk assessment and management in the field of learning disability. The Foundation for People with a Learning Disability set out to identify good practice in how to reconcile the tension between ensuring the safety of an individual with a learning disability and empowering them to enjoy a full life in the community. A report was produced called Empowerment and Protection (Alaszewski et al, 1999) which suggested that organisations needed to develop risk policies which embrace both protection and empowerment issues at the same point. The definition of risk should look at consequences and probability. Procedures should also include, from the start, the wishes and needs of the person who has the learning disability and involve them  throughout, including the decision making stage. Such comments about organisations developing appropriate risk strategies show that empowerment is not there just  as a concept for front line staff, but should penetrate the strategic planning levels. Valuing People states (Section 4.27) that people with a learning disability should be consulted for their views on services and these views utilised at a corporate planning level. In Mrs Ali case she is empowered by Muslim religious faith to take of her bed-bound husband although in contrast her care taker Jean believes that Mrs Ali should be empowered. This indicates religion also empower some people to take care vulnerable people.

Organisational Change Management Effects On Employees Management Essay

Organisational Change Management Effects On Employees Management Essay This research is on the study of the effects of organisational change management on its employees. The importance of this research is to help management in different organisations to see the effect of organisational change management on their employees, how employees view management in handling organisational change and how management can be more effective in achieving their goals and objectives. The methodology applied in this research is carrying out a survey on employees views on organisational change management with the use of questionnaires. At the end of this research, I have been able to make management to see the effects of organisational change management on its employees and how to manage it effectively. Also employees have the opportunity to change some of their set minds about management for organisational goals and objectives to be achieved irrespective of the rapid organisational change in todays business environment. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In todays dynamic business world, change remains a constant factor in every organisation irrespective of their sizes or years of existence. Change means the alteration of status quo or making things different. The constant pace of change in the 21st century business environment is accelerating extremely very fast. It is easier for machines to easily adapt to change in command but human composition does not find the adjustment such easy that is why it becomes a very sensitive issue in the organization. Change can then be said to be a single important factor in the organization. Since change is a constant and sensitive factor in every organisation therefore it becomes imperative to understand what an organisational change is, what provokes an organisational change, reaction to organisational changes and how best it can be managed to achieve organisational goals and objectives efficiently. ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Organisational change was referred to by Van de Ven Poole, 1995, as an empirical observation of difference in form, quality of state over time in an organizational entity, (Van de Ven Poole, 1995, p. 512). An organizational entity can be an individuals job, a work group, a strategy for the organization, a product or service, or the overall organization. The Organisational entity goes through different processes in response to a strategic reorientation, restructure, change in management, merger or acquisition or the development of new goals and objectives of the organisation. Organisational change can also be referred to as the modification of the structure or process of a system within an organisation. Organisational change comes in place when aligning resources and employees to an organizational goals and objectives. These employees are human and they have their needs in hierarchy as described by Abraham Maslow. In satisfying their needs employees tends to influence organisational change. Organisational change influence by the employees is relative to the structure of the organisation. An organisational structure that is informal in nature will be more affected by employees influence than the organisation that has a strong formal structure. Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs showed in figure 1.1 shows that people needs differ. Irrespective of their of the organization goals and objectives employees like every other man in the society has hierarchal needs. They want their needs to be met by the organisation so they tend to influence change that will favour the satisfaction of their needs. Sometimes employees influence this change not considering the organisation limited resources and this lead to a reaction from the organisation either positively or negatively depending on the management view of the influence. This reaction by the organisation in response to the employee actions is also an organisational change. MORALITY, CREATIVITY, SPONTANEITY PROBLEM SOLVING LACK OF PREJUDICE SELF-ACTUALISATION ACCEPTANCE OF FACTS SELF-ESTEEM, CONFIDENCE, ACHIEVEMENT, ESTEEM RESPECT FOR OTHERS, RESPECT BY OTHERS LOVE/ BELONGING FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY, SEXUAL INTIMACY SECURITY OF BODY, OF EMPLOYMENT, OF RESOURCES SAFETY OF MORALITY, OF THE FAMILY, OF HEALTH, OF PROPERTY PHYSIOLOGY BREATHING, FOOD, WATER, SEX, SLEEP,. FIG1.1 Organisational change tends to occur when an organizational system is disturbed by some internal or external force. The result of this disturbance may be good or bad, which may affect the organization as a whole, or in parts. The degree or rate of disturbance varies based on the organisational structure of the organisation, which may affect people, structure, technology, and other elements of an organization. The changes caused by external forces on the organisation are known as reactive changes, these changes may take place in order to respond to new opportunities or to avoid threats to the organisation while those changes initiated by the management of an organisation in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation are known as proactive change. Every business organisation has three major stages of development which are survival, profitability and lastly growth and expansion. In each of this stages organisation tends to manage their available resources in such a way that it can survive each stage and move to the next stage. Every organisation desires to move from their present state to a desired state and this desired state is continual. The desired state becomes continual because every organisation needs to respond to the changing customer preferences and technologies. These factors make change to be a critical aspect of effective management. 1.2 ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT Organisational change is a constant critical factor in business environment. Both the employees and the employers in organisations go through this phase of change at one time or the other. Since organisational change is inevitable, then management in organisations need to constantly monitor and respond effectively to both the internal (owner, management and employees) and external( Investors, supplier, customers, pressure groups, government, media and the general public etc.) environments of their organisations in relation to their goals and objectives. This process is described as organisational change management. Five major factors should be understood by management in monitoring and responding to organisational change. People react to change differently based their fundamental needs People resist change based on uncertainty of results People will embrace change when proposed outcomes are favourable Proposed outcome should be well defined objectively Change may need to be enforced The more management can anticipate change and either control or manage it the better for the organisation in achieving their goals and objectives. Organisational change can influence the rate of performance of organisation; this makes it important for management to have effective knowledge about it. It is found out that in todays competitive business environment, some organisations have experienced fast development while other have experience downsizing or total collapse. These results are products of organisation change management. Organisations Change agents which are the factors that influence change should not be out of management control at every instance despite the competitive pressure on management. Since organisational change is constant and dynamic, then management needs to be proactive on change management for effective development of the organisation. Although every stakeholder within and outside the organisation feels the effect of organisational change management in different degrees, this study is concentrating on organisational change management and its effects employees. The effects of organisational change management on employees are considered very important in this research because it will show the reaction of employees to management during organisational change. Employees reaction to organisational change management either consciously or unconsciously influences their rate of performance in their jobs. Their level of confidence in management handling organisational change becomes a notable factor in their rate of performance. Management needs to know how to strike the balance between employees views and achieving their organisational goals and objective during on-going organisational change. Management cannot always attend to employees need but they should provide strategic means in reacting to their needs and not necessa rily manipulating them. Management should not only see employees just as their working tools in achieving their goals and objectives but they should see them as the most vital and delicate resources of their organisation. Definitely employees rate of performance have greater influence on the rate at which organisations achieve their goals and objectives. Improving their performance level during organisational change becomes a test of effective management. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Coetsee (1999) states managements ability to achieve maximum benefits from change depends in part on how effectively they create and maintain a climate that minimizes resistant behaviour and encourages acceptance and support (p. 205). In todays dynamic and competitive business environment, organisations are required to respond effectively to continuous change or collapse if not careful. That was why Coetsee 1999 was interested in describing management ability in achieving maximum benefit from change. Inability for management to effectively maximise benefits from changing market place as led many organisations that were listed among the fortune 500 in the 1980s and 1990s no longer in business (Beer Nohria, 2000). There are different reasons that generate organisational change; examples are government policy, technology, merger and acquisition, strategic refocusing and market volatility etc. Employees are aware that they mostly recipient of the effect of change when it goes wrong. This wrong feeling initiates fear, frustration, lack of concentration and resistance to any form of change. Therefore the effects of organisational change on employees need to be assessed objectively before initiating it. Literature reveals that, change is a source of feeling of threats, uncertainty, frustration, alienation and anxiety (Ashford 1998).Based on this, it is clearly seen that an organisation will be underperforming with such feelings from their employees. Employees best can never be achieved, they will be underproductive and it will negatively affect the organisation overall performance. How long will employees continue to work in this feeling of insecurity due to organisational change becomes a major question in this fast dynamic business environment we live in? They concentrate more on their own job security rather than the organisation goals and objectives. Meeting self needs becomes employees higher priority rather than organisational needs because they cannot be guaranteed by the organisation how long their individual needs can be met. Job security becomes a threat to them. In todays business environment, more organisations are involved in mergers while some go through the acquisition process. Greater numbers of employees become more insecure and uncertain about their jobs. This poses a serious threat to employees reliability to the organisation in achieving their goals and objectives. It is a natural response from the employee as defined by Abraham Maslow on mans hierarchy of needs. Security is a mans need not just a want, so employees job security is a vital need to them. That is the reason why permanent staffs are far more likely to be dedicated to their job than temporary staffs who feel their contribution to the organisation may be stopped at any time and with little or no pay off by the organisation. Effectiveness and efficiency of employees, becomes a challenge to the management in order to achieve their goals and objectives. Although job performance is not strongly linked with job satisfaction but there could be resistance and unwillingness from the employees when their working condition are poor and unattended to by the management of the organisation they work for. According to Gateway Information Services, a New York consulting firm, 70% of all change programs fail due to employee resistance. Employees seem to form an organisational culture that creates a serious resistance to change because of high level of uncertainty in their job. Zaltman and Duncan, 1974 define resistance to change as any conduct that serves to maintain the status quo in the face of pressure to alter the status quo. The act of resistance to change described by Zaltman and Duncan, 1974 now becomes vivid the more, as long as level of uncertainties increases for the employee before and during organisational change. (Dent Goldberg, 1999) also define resistance to change as employees are not wholeheartedly embracing a change that management wants to implement. The effect and counter effect of organisational change management on employees can be a test of effectiveness and efficiency of management. Management needs to effectively manage organisational change. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS 3.1 INTRODUCTION In previous chapters, it is described that organisational change remains constant in every organisation and the rate of this change in todays business environment is very rapid. Many factors have been attached to the rapid occurrence of organisational change ranging from customers needs, technology, government policy, market flexibility, acquisition and mergers etc. Every stake holder in the organisation is affected one way or the other by the effect of this change. This prompts for an effective organisational change management. Effective organisational change management can then be assessed by degree at which management maximise the benefits and minimise the demerits of organisational change in achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation. Understanding that employees are active part of any organisation stakeholders, this research in this chapter takes a critical analysis on the effect of organisational change management on its employees. 3.2 RESEARCH METHOD In carrying out this project on the effect of organisational change management on its employees, the descriptive research method is used. This method is used because descriptive method collates, test and validate data. Description emerges following creative exploration, and serves to organize the findings in order to fit them with explanations, and then test or validate those explanations (Krathwohl, 1993). Types of research that can be categorized as descriptive are Surveys (questionnaires, Delphi method, interviews, normative), case studies, job analyses, documentary analysis and developmental studies. The questionnaire was the type of descriptive method use in this project. It is used because of its response objectivity which base on the order of the systematised format of the questionnaire. It is also use because it gives opportunity to access information from people, who are free to express themselves and not time bound like interview or experiment. In guarding against sources error the four major potential errors were considered. These are sampling error, non-coverage error, non-response error, and measurement error Any one of these sources of error may make the survey results unacceptable (Groves, 1989; Salant and Dillman, 1994; Dillman, 1991, 1999).   Sampling error was defined as the degree to which the results from the sample deviate from those that would be obtained from the entire population, because of random error in the selection of respondent and the corresponding reduction in reliability (Alreck, 454). This was guarded against by making sure that the respondents are carefully chosen base on location which is their offices and dealing with the human resources department foe support. Respondents were given a good time before collection to guard against bias. Non-response error occurs when the survey fails to get a response to one, or possibly all, of the questions, (http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=1835).  This error was prevented by making the survey questions short and non confrontational. Respondents privacy was also assured to allow their views to be expressed freely without any restrictions or fear of personal details. Non coverage error which occurs from exclusion of some units or entire section from the survey was prevented by giving equal chance to both new and old employees, although employees years of experience were considered in the survey in range forms. Measurement error is the real variation from the true score, and includes both random error and systematic error, (http://changingminds.org/explanations/research/measurement/measurement_error.htm). This was prevented by proper collection and collation process to eliminate data loss. Computations of response were repeated at different times to reduce any error in the measurement process. For easy calibration likert scale was introduced with numerical value. 3.2.1 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN The questionnaire is designed to meet the aim of this research. Different standardised questionnaire in relation to employees view to organisational change and employee satisfaction were used. The questionnaire was also designed considering factors that influence the acceptance or resistance of organisational change by employees discussed in earlier chapters. The questionnaire is designed not concentrating on the sex of employees, either female or male, since the objective of the research was not concentrating on the effects of organisational change management on a particular gender. This was also done in the design to eliminate every form of bias perception from the respondents. The questionnaire is designed with equal representation for employees irrespective of their years of employment. The questionnaire consists of questions that directly address the aim of the research. That makes it short and prà ©cised in designed. It is designed in order to increase the response rate. The questions in the questionnaire are closed ended questions in likert scale Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Agree, and Strongly Agree. The proposed answers were also graded with Strongly Disagree 5, Disagree 4, Neither Agree nor Disagree 3, Agree 2, and Strongly Agree 1. This was done for easy computation of data results from respondents. The closed ended questionnaire was used because it is easy to answer, easy to decode and timely. The questions began with comfortable non-threatening questions in order to make them welcoming for the respondents. It is designed to be interesting to the respondents and still goal oriented. The printouts are clear enough for easy reading and questions were written in lower case and instructions in upper case. The questionnaires were pilot with colleagues at work, and project coordinator to assess its effectiveness in checking how long it takes to complete the questions, clarity of instructions, elimination of excessive vocabulary for easy understanding and elimination of non goal oriented questions. The average time to complete the questionnaire was five minutes. It specifically designed with such a little time frame because the respondents are suppose busy people and the value of their time if high importance to them and their employers. The questionnaire was divided into three parts, though not specified on it. The three parts are employees view about change, employees readiness towards change and lastly employees view about management effectiveness on organisational change management. The purpose of the first part is to understand better in employees accept not necessarily welcome change. The purpose of the second part is to have understanding about the extent employees may react to change and their readiness towards it. The purpose of the third part is to see if employees have confidence in the management of their organisations in making effective decision in respect to their welfare and organisational change management. The design of the questionnaire includes cover letters which gives concise details about the dissertation, its importance and effective guide in filling the questionnaire. The cover letter was written in simple vocabulary for easy reading purpose. On the cover letter, privacy of respondent was guaranteed and my contact address was also inclusive in case of any further question. Respondents were also informed that filling the questionnaire was optional and I would still be glad to share the result with them either they respond to the questionnaire or not if they are interested. 3.2.2 QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTION The distribution of the questionnaire was done systematically to achieve a good timely result. The distribution process was divided into two parts, individual contacts and cooperate contact. The distribution process considered employees busy hours so as not to disturb them at work therefore lunch hour was considered as a more convenient period for the distribution. Some were considered on individual bases at locations like train stations while waiting for their train, though the major distribution was during the lunch hour. The distribution to offices was done with the support of their human resources department. The employees were assured of their privacy despite the permission from their human resources department. All distribution was carried out with date of collection to facilitate the analysis of the questionnaire. Considering that response rates may be much lower than expected, follow up on the respondents was done through their contact or the human resources management department. The follow up were done by telephone calls and sending e-mails for reminder on the collection date of the distributed questionnaires. 3.2.3 QUESTIONNAIRE COLLECTION Collection of the questionnaire is an important process in this research in order to have a good result. Questionnaires were collected at specified collection date as it was noted on the covering letter from the day of distribution. The answered survey by the respondents was arranged for data input into the computer. Microsoft excel application worksheet was use for the computation of the result. QUESTIONNAIRE Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree, Disagree Strongly Disgree. Change is constant in every environment Rate of change is faster in todays business environment organisation adapts to changes quickly Employees are always comfortable for retraining Employees welcome organisational change Employees are victims of organisational change Employees concentrates more on their job than the security of their job Employees understand the organisational goals and objectives Management decisions on organisational change are effective Management respects employee view in making decision Management consider employees as co-partner in achieving organisational goals and objectives. Management communicate effectively with staff Management gives necessary training and support to enable staff to do their job more effectively Management consider employees welfare during organisational change TABLE 1.0 3.3 ANALYSIS After a successful collection of the survey from the respondents, examination of the survey was then carried out to check if the questions were answered as requested on the covering letter of the questionnaire. Two thousand five hundred and seventy five questionnaires were answered as requested out of three thousand copies that were distributed. Twenty five were answered partly so they were not considered for the analysis, they were discarded. At the end of data input, the result is shown in the table below Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree, Agree Strongly Agree. TOTAL Change is constant in every environment 0 0 40 80 2455 2575 Rate of change is faster in todays business environment 0 6 12 32 2525 2575 Organisation adapts to changes quickly 100 132 792 700 851 2575 Employees do welcome organisational change 632 1000 300 248 395 2575 Employees are always comfortable for retraining 233 355 638 549 800 2575 Employees are victims of organisational change 25 50 100 525 1875 2575 Employees concentrates more on their job than the security of their job 1235 800 320 200 20 2575 Employees understand the organisational goals and objectives 541 177 1000 325 532 2575 Management decisions on organisational change are effective 1239 800 500 30 6 2575 Management respects employee view in making decision 1555 600 325 50 45 2575 Management consider employees as co-partner in achieving organisational goals and objectives. 1234 800 400 100 41 2575 Management communicate effectively with staff 700 1235 200 600 340 2575 Management gives necessary training and support to enable staff to do their job more Effectively 532 600 500 600 343 2575 Management consider employees welfare during organisational change 1320 800 300 153 4 2575 TABLE 2.0 The analysis was divided into three parts based on the design of the questionnaire which are employees view about change, employees readiness to change and thirdly, employees view about management effectiveness on organisational change management. Percentages of response by respondents are shown below. 3.3.1 EMPLOYEES VIEW ABOUT CHANGE In the table 2.0 above, employees view on change were asked in different ways. The result collated in percentage are shown below QUESTION 1: CHANGE IS CONSTANT IN EVERY ENVIRONMENT Strongly agree = 2455/2575 *100 = 95.34% Agree = 80/2575*100 =3.11% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 40/2575 *100 = 1.55% Disagree = 0 = 0% Strongly Disagree = 0 % QUESTION 2: RATE OF CHANGE IS FASTER IN TODAYS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Strongly agree = 2525/2575 *100 = 98.06% Agree =32/2575*100 =1.24% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 12/2575 *100 = 0.47% Disagree = 6 = 6/2575 * 100 = 0.23% Strongly Disagree = 0 % QUESTION 3: ORGANISATIONS ADAPTS TO CHANGES QUICKLY Strongly agree = 851/2575 *100 = 33.05% Agree =792/2575*100 =30.76% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 700/2575 *100 = 27.18% Disagree = 132/2575 * 100 = 5.13% Strongly Disagree = 100 /2575*100 = 3.88% 3.3.2 EMPLOYEES READINESS TOWARDS CHANGE Analysis of employees readiness to change was accessed based on their response to the survey question that dealt with it. Their result is displayed in percentages below QUESTION 1: EMPLOYEES DO WELCOME ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Strongly agree = 395/2575 *100 = 15.34% Agree =248/2575*100 =9.63% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 300/2575 *100 = 11.65% Disagree = 1000/2575 * 100 = 38.83% Strongly Disagree = 632/2575*100 = 24.54% QUESTION 2: EMPLOYEES ARE ALWAYS COMFORTABLE FOR RETRAINING Strongly agree = 800/2575 *100 = 31.07% Agree =549/2575*100 =21.32% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 638/2575 *100 = 24.78% Disagree = 355/2575 * 100 = 13.79% Strongly Disagree = 233/2575*100 = 9.05 QUESTION 3 EMPLOYEES ARE VICTIMS OF ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Strongly agree = 1875/2575 *100 = 72.82% Agree =525/2575*100 =20.39% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 100/2575 *100 = 3.83% Disagree = 50/2575 * 100 = 1.94% Strongly Disagree = 25/2575*100 = 0.97 QUESTION 4: EMPLOYEES CONCENTRATES MORE ON THEIR JOB THAN THE SECURITY OF THEIR JOB Strongly agree = 20/2575 *100 = 0.78% Agree =200/2575*100 =7.77% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 320/2575 *100 = 12.43% Disagree = 800/2575 * 100 = 31.07% Strongly Disagree = 1235/2575*100 = 47.96% QUESTION 5: EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND THE ORGANISATIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Strongly agree = 532/2575 *100 = 20.66% Agree =325/2575*100 =12.62% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 1000/2575 *100 = 38.83% Disagree = 177/2575 * 100 = 6.87% Strongly Disagree = 541/2575*100 = 21.01% 3.3.3 EMPLOYEES VIEW ABOUT MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS ON ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE QUESTION 1: MANAGEMENT DECISIONS ON ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE ARE EFFECTIVE Strongly agree = 6/2575 *100 = 0.23% Agree =30/2575*100 =1.17% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 500/2575 *100 = 19.42% Disagree = 800/2575 * 100 = 31.07% Strongly Disagree = 1239/2575*100 = 48.12% QUESTION 2: MANAGEMENT RESPECTS EMPLOYEE VIEW IN MAKING DECISION Strongly agree = 45/2575 *100 = 1.75% Agree =50/2575*100 =1.94% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 325/2575 *100 = 12.62% Disagree = 600/2575 * 100 = 23.30% Strongly Disagree = 1555/2575*100 = 48.12% QUESTION 3: MANAGEMENT CONSIDER EMPLOYEES AS CO-PARTNER IN ACHIEVING ORGANISATIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. Strongly agree = 41/2575 *100 = 1.59% Agree =100/2575*100 =3.88% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 400/2575 *100 = 15.53% Disagree = 800/2575 * 100 = 31.07% Strongly Disagree = 1234/2575*100 = 47.92% QUESTION 4: MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH STAFF Strongly agree = 340/2575 *100 = 13.20% Agree =600/2575*100 =23.30% Neither Agree nor Disagree = 200/2575 *100 = 7.77% Disagree = 1235/2575 * 100 = 47.96% Strongly Disagree = 700/2575*100 = 27.18% QUESTION 5: MANAGEMENT GIVES NECESSARY TRAINING AND SUPPORT TO ENABLE STAFF TO DO THEIR JOB MORE EFFECTIVELY Strongly agree = 343/2575 *100 = 13.32%

Confucius Essay -- Confucius Philosophy

As Confucius' philosophy still remains in the heart of many Chinese people, his images of the greatest professional teacher of all time, the greatest philosopher in Chinese history and his influence toward the future and the past 2000 years of Chinese civilization has made his thought the essence of the Chinese culture. He always said the importance of teaching could change the future of the civilization. And he also encouraged his students to explore the various things to learn, but be very selective and careful. The purpose of Confucius' teaching was practical and designed to help each person improve his character and conduct, and perhaps become prepared for an official position in the court. According to one passage in the Analects, Confucius taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and truthfulness.1 Culture consisted of literature and music. Confucius suggested the value of each: "Let a man be stimulated by poetry, established in character by the rules of propriety, and perfected by music. â€Å" These pursuits were means by which one may achieve the higher ideal of following the Way.†2 The gentleman extensively studies literature and restrains himself with the rules of propriety. Thus he will not violate the Way. "3 And also " Set your heart upon the Way. Support yourself by its virtue. Rely on goodness. Find recreation in the arts."4 Confucius put the moral duties before the arts as the essential activities of the gentleman. "A young man's duty is to behave well to his parents at home and to in love to all, and to cultivate the friendship of the good. If, when all that is done, he has any energy to spare, then let him study the cultural arts."5 Confucius taught many topics around these subjects, but the most importance of these is the propriety, ritual and the Way of being a Gentleman. From these to achieve the Jen. Confucius had one overwhelming message: if we are to achieve a state of orderliness and peace, we need to return to traditional values of virtue. These values are based entirely on one concept: Jen, which is best, translated as "humaneness." This humaneness is a relatively strange concept to Western people, because it is not primarily a practicable virtue. The rules of propriety offered a code of accepted behaviour that demonstrated to themselves and others tha... ...ragement of personality development will never be forget. As the Chinese people and the world stepping into the next millennium, Confucius will be in the minds of many people, as they think of the greatest teacher in Chinese history. Bibliography Notes 1. Analects 7.24 Cf. A. Waley, The Analects of Confucius (London, 1938) 2. 2. Analects 8.8 3. Analects 6.25 4. 4. Analects 7.6 5. 5. Analects 1.6 6. 6. Analects 1.12 7. 7. Analects 8.2 8. 8. Analects 3.4 9. Analects 6.16 10. Analects 3.18 11. Analects 13.5 12. Analects 13.13 13. Analects 15.32 14. Analects 8.13 15. Analects 12.19 16. Analects 14.8 17. Analects 1.5 18. Analects 17.23 19. Analects 2.15 20. Analects 9.24 21. Analects 16.4 22. Analects 16.5 23. Analects 3.3 Confucius, Raymond Dawson (Oxford University Press, 1981) 24. Analects 12.1 Confucius, Raymond Dawson (Oxford University Press, 1981) 25. Analects 17.9 26. Analects 3.23 27. Lin Yutang, Wisdom of Confucius, p.81-82 28. 28. Ibid. p.82 29. 29. Ibid. p.83 30. 30. Ibid. p.67-68 31. Hsu, Cho-Yun, Ancient China in Transition p.161,163 32. 32. Analects 12.4 33. 33. Analects 16.7 34. 34. Analects 16.10

catcher in the rye :: essays research papers

Holden’s True Love Children: spirited, loveable, cute, and something that a society could not live without. But when ones life is so rotated around children like JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye character, Holden, one loses all conscious and can only find happiness when with children or thinking about them. Holden can only find genuine love in children, for they have not learned the dreadful prerequisite of life, â€Å"phonieness.† He hates the artificiality that adults eventually acquire because all his good memories remain in his youth and his life with young children his age. This characteristic of Holden is shown throughout the book, particularly with his love for Phoebe, his helping the innocent children who are unable to help themselves, and his love for Jane at their age of serenity and ignorance! Holden shows his love for Phoebe by continuously thinking about her and requiring for her company. The only gift we have ever seen given by Holden was his record purchase for Phoebe. â€Å"Besides, I wanted to find a record store that was open on Sunday. There was this record I wanted to get for Phoebe, called ‘Little Shirely Beans.’ It was a very hard record to get (114).† This is one example of Holden’s thought and love for Phoebe. We can believe that he only views Phoebe as one who deserves gifts in all the people that he knows. A great example of his love for Phoebe is how he risks showing himself at his own home just to see his sister. â€Å"Anyway, I went into D.B’s room quiet as hell, and turned on the lamp on the desk. Old Phoebe didn’t even wake up†¦ My mother, she has ears like a goddam bloodhound (159).† Holden takes this risk, a risk that could cost him much more then a week of hell. His love for his sister’s com pany is obvious by this and there is no denying that he would have never taken this risk if he found himself having a phony and older sister. What separates Phoebe from all of the rest of the phony people is by how â€Å"straight-up† she is. She gets to the point and she doesn’t try to squiggle out of the situation. This is proven when she says, â€Å"’How come you’re not home Wednesday?’ ‘What?’†¦ ‘How come you’re not home Wednesday?’ She asked me, ‘You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?

Frederick Douglass Essay

Life has many ups and downs. It is like a roller coaster ride in that it takes many turns. All the way through the life of a person, there will be good times and celebrations along with bad times and grief. The most significant thing to remember is to think positive and always stay strong mentally even at your lowest points. Frederick Douglass is a name of struggle. Being born into slavery, he faced many hardships throughout his life that people of today will never know, but overcome all of them because of his relentlessness to never give up, his passion to learn, be his own man, and more significantly staying strong mentally and keeping faith in God. Mental stiffness is when all things seem to be going wrong and there are no signs of hope, but you continue to strive for what you believe in, and Douglass did a good job of that. Douglass never gives up even when there appears to be no hope, and in the end is rewarded for all of his commitment. After the whole thing Douglass goes through, in the end he is not granted his freedom, but instead takes it on his own and his dream of being free is no longer a dream but in fact reality. Douglass resided in Baltimore intermittently from his arrival in the city in 1826 at the age of eight until he escaped from slavery twelve years later. Reflecting the uncertainties of black life in antebellum Baltimore, Douglass could state that â€Å"a city slave is almost a free man compared with a slave on the plantation† and lament that while in Baltimore â€Å"I often found myself regretting my own existence and wishing myself dead† (Narrative 50, 56). Douglass’s conflicting impressions of his adolescence as a slave in Baltimore, impressions of comparative liberty and abject despair, reflected the larger paradox of African-American life in the city that claimed America’s largest black population at the time of the Civil War. Located on the border of slavery and freedom, Baltimore created space for African Americans to develop dynamic institutions that proved very important to their post-emancipation history. Yet these institutions developed under harsh restrictions on the freedom of non-slave African Americans that white Baltimoreans devised to replace the increasingly impractical bonds of slavery. Black agency amid the constraints and opportunities of an urban slave society gave Douglass with his first classroom in the limits of freedom for nineteenth-century African Americans. When Douglass’s mother Harriet Bailey died he was hardly affected by the news for the reason that he rarely seen her. Douglass’s father was a white man; slaveholders usually impregnated their female’s slaves to increase the number of slaves they owned. As a child Douglass didn’t work in the fields because children weren’t strong enough. Therefore, he had free time to do other things besides tasks. Sometimes he would go along wit the Colonel’s grandson, Daniel, as a servant when he went hunting. Daniel in time became close to Douglass which was an advantage. But, Douglass still suffered because slave children were only given a long linen shirt, therefore in the winter he would be really cold. When Douglass was eight years old he was selected to go to Baltimore to live with Hugh Auld. Douglass was not sad to leave the plantation because he had no family or any sense of home that children usually had. He believes that if he had not been removed that he would still be a slave today. Douglass was amazed how kind his new was; unlike other white women she did not punish him for looking her in the eye. But, after some time, her kindness turned to cruelty, and she completely changed as a person. When Douglass first moved in with the Aulds, Mrs. Auld began teaching him the alphabet and some small words. When her husband found out he ordered her to sop because â€Å"education ruins slaves, making them unmanageable and unhappy. † Douglass overhears this and comes up with the strategy of what white men use to enslave blacks. From that he now understands what he has to do to win his freedom. Douglass lived in the Auld’s household for seven years, he was able to learn how to read and write. Mrs. Auld became hardened and cruel and no longer tutored him. But, Douglass already learned the alphabet and was strong-minded to learn how to read. Auld rents Douglass for one year to Edward Covey, who was known for â€Å"breaking† slaves. For the first six months Covey worked and whipped everything out of Douglass to the point where he no longer cared about reading or freedom. This all changed when Douglass and Covey had a clash and after the fight Covey never touched Douglass yet again. Douglass was then rented to William Freeland, even though Freeland was milder and a fairer man, he was still going to escape. Frederick went on to become a famous orator, U. S. minister to Haiti, and a leader of his people. Douglass, like the other slaves is not born with this mental toughness, but acquires it mainly through his faith in God, hard work, and learning to read and write. Douglass’ faith in God is crucial because Douglass can turn to God at any point in his life. When Douglass is at his lowest, his faith in God is always there to lift him up. â€Å"O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! † (72). Their are times where Douglass questions God because of brutal conditions with Mr. Covey, but Douglass still stays strong mentally and spiritually, and that is key to taking his freedom. Douglass has a strong mind of his own, and does not let anyone or anything change what he believes is right. Conditions for slaves are pretty much severe everywhere they go. Slaves work long hard hours, for pretty much nothing, and to go along with that are poorly nourished. Douglass is lucky enough to be sent to Baltimore to live with the Auld’s because conditions are a slightly easier there, but most importantly because that is where he learns to read and write. Luckily for Douglass, Mrs. Auld teaches him the alphabet and small words before her heart turns to stone. â€Å"Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. † (45). Although reading lessons with Mrs. Auld eventually stop, this does not stop Douglass in trying to acquire as much knowledge as possible. This makes Douglass even hungrier for knowledge because he knows that being literate is key to being free. The poor white children of the neighborhood eventually teach Douglass how to read in return for some food. â€Å"As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. † (49). This is crucial for Douglass to gain his freedom, and help him believe in himself. Although brutal times are shortly ahead for Douglass at Mr. Covey’s, the slave tamer, this knowledge and insight is definitely one of the major factors that helps him get through it. Before going to Mr. Covey’s, Douglass’ been through a lot of mental and physical pain, but he does not know the worst is yet to come. Because of his disobedience and excessive curiosity in Baltimore, Douglass’ master sends him to Mr. Covey’s, who is one of the cruelest slave tamer’s around. Douglass states that the first six months with Mr. Covey are unbearable. Douglass’ first task is to guide the oxen, and when he fails he barely leaves with his life. Covey whips him repeatedly, and continues to do so for weeks. Covey’s extreme work and brutal punishments drain Douglass mentally and physically; he feels his hope for freedom is slipping away. This is where Douglass’ faith in God is crucial because he literally has no one else to turn to except God. It seems as if Douglass is about to let Mr. Covey win, and believe that all he is put on this earth to do is slave for others. But one day as Mr. Covey tries tying Douglass up for another brutal beating; Douglass defends himself and finds the courage within him to stand up to Mr. Covey by fighting back. Douglass injures Mr. Covey to the point where he is bleeding. Because of his courage to stand up for himself, Covey never lays a finger on Douglass again. This part of the autobiography is indeed a turning point because it restores Douglass’ confidence that he always had inside of him, and makes him believe that he will one day be a free man. â€Å"This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning- point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. † (78). This is indeed the turning point in his life because he stands up for what he believes in and actually wins. After this point Douglass is extremely confident in himself, and due to the knowledge he gains and his mental strength he is able to get through possibly his hardest obstacle in his life. â€Å"I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me. † (78). This is such a powerful line in that it shows Douglass’ relentlessness to never give up, and it shows that he is once again strong, not necessarily physically, but more importantly mentally. This turning point helps Douglass stay on track, and eventually helps him escape to New York City. After New York Douglass goes to Massachusetts were he meets abolitionist Garrison, and is eventually employed as an abolitionist. All in all, Frederick Douglass achieves his goals due to hard work and his passion to learn. After all, the struggle throughout his life, Douglass’ dream finally comes true, and it could not have happened to a more deserving man. One more Douglass’ master was Mr. Gore who was a key example of the many white people who let their power go to their heads. Frederick Douglass lived a hard life as a slave as pretty much all slaves did. He is pushed to the limit mentally and physically, and although there are times Douglass almost breaks down, he never lets that happen to him. By learning how to read and write he realizes that knowledge is power, just like it is today. Ignorance is ugly, and he does not want that to happen to him. Douglass’ knowledge helps open doors for him that he would never have opened if he was not educated. Frederick Douglass is an amazing man, and shows that if you are strong mentally you can accomplish anything you put your mind too. Douglass accounts in his thrilling and morbid firsthand account of slavery in the south. Douglass lets the reader look at slavery in a style that reflects the desperation of slave life. Points covered range from the exploitation of slave women by their white masters to the violent treatment, and in some cases murder of slaves, to the back-breaking labor and lack of personal time. The biography includes chilling accounts of his mother. She walked twelve miles every night to see him, in infancy, and when she died, Douglass was not even allowed to witness her burial. This was common practice in those times, but to the modern reader, this is quite appalling. Douglass’ life was only made more complicated by the accusation that his master, Captain Anthony, was also his father. The treatment of these ‘mixed’ children was often worse than that of regular slave children due to the fact that the mistress of the house felt animosity towards them. As a result, Frederick had to face the wrath of Captain Anthony’s wife. What made Douglass’ experiences truly unique was the fact that he learned how to read and write. Most slaves were killed if they were caught doing so but in Douglass’ case, he was very lucky. When he was sent to Baltimore, Sophia Auld, his new mistress, taught him how to read a few simple words. From that point, he taught himself new words everyday through The Columbian Orator, a collection of speeches and essays dealing with liberty, democracy, and courage. Douglass saw this as his ticket to freedom. Douglass sheds some light on several areas such as the reason behind the slave songs and what it feels like to watch a family member be beaten and abused. His narrative does a very thorough job of conveying the slave experience to an audience that has no idea. The image conjured of slave owners and all of southern society in the 18th and 19th century is a negative one. This caricature holds shockingly true in Douglass’ narrative. However, there is a lot more complexity to Southern society show in Douglass’ well-crafted words. There are different kinds of slave owners in different parts of the south. People like Captain Anthony and Thomas Auld, who reside in the deep south, are cruel to the slaves they own, as they are property. Like the cotton gin, they are there to turn a profit. As long as they can work and do work, nothing else really matters. In Baltimore, a different type of slave owner is known. Sophia and Hugh Auld live next to neighbors that do not own slaves and are therefore, conscious of how they treat their slaves in public. Sophia had not even owned slaves before Douglass, so in the beginning, she was very kind and treated Douglass as you would treat any child. The abolitionist movement is a larger concern in Baltimore, because it is in the very streets. In the deeper south, though they are concerned about slaves escaping and abolitionists, the threat is not as axiomatic. Douglass also exposes the false piety of slave owners. Though many of them are bible thumping, none of them truly understands the lessons they are preached. Douglass analyzes the moral woes of slavery and the unnatural state that all involved are subjected to. Douglass’ words give the reader a depiction of southern life and morality in an intricate and intriguing way, which is fair and abrasively honest. In modern times, people think of slavery and think that it was north against south. In reality, many Northerners were indifferent to the plight of slaves. When Fredrick Douglass first escapes to the north, he finds that there are many people who support slavery and many that oppose it, but most of them are indifferent. This is because most northerners have no idea what is going on in the south. Therefore, they are ignorantly blissful with their lives. Douglass addressed this issue in letter to an abolitionist associate. Douglass moved to New Bedford in the year 1838 and found work as a caulker for whaling ships. In New Bedford, he decided to drop the name â€Å"Bailey,† in order to defend himself from slave catchers, and became famous as Frederick Douglass. Between the time of 1790 and 1860, the institution of slavery declined in Baltimore but the boundaries of African-American freedom narrowed significantly. When free black people posed little threat to white people, as in the 1790s, whites imposed relatively few limitations on them. But as the free black population grew so did racial competition for jobs and social power. White privilege responded to the dynamism of free blacks by circumscribing their liberty. Douglass lived in Baltimore when free African Americans made considerable economic gains and expanded an already powerful network of black institutions. By the time of the Civil War whites rolled back many of the gains of the 1830s and pushed free blacks to the edge of slavery. Douglass first witnessed white racism towards free black people during this tightening of Baltimore’s restrictions on non-slave African Americans that coincided with slavery’s end. Work cited Browne, Gary Lawson. Baltimore in the Nation, 1789-1861. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980. Douglass, Frederick. Letter to an abolitionist associate. In Organizing for Social Change: A Mandate for Activity in the 1990s. Edited by K. Bobo, J. Kendall, and S. Max. Washington, D. C. : Seven Locks Press. [1849] (1991) Douglass, Frederick. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. 1892. New York: Collier, 1962. Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. 1855. New York: Dover, 1969. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. 1845. New York: Penguin, 1968. Fields, Barbara Jeanne. Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985. Frey, Sylvia. Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. Gardner, Bettye. â€Å"Ante-bellum Black Education in Baltimore. † Maryland Historical Magazine 71 (Fall 1976): 360-366. Gardner, Bettye. â€Å"Free Blacks in Baltimore, 1800-1860. † Diss. George Washington University, 1974. Garonzik, Joseph. â€Å"Urbanization and the Black Population of Baltimore, 1850-1870. † Diss. State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1974. Graham, Leroy. Baltimore: The Nineteenth-Century Black Capital. New York: University Press of America, 1982. Maryland. House of Delegates. â€Å"An Act Relating to Paupers, Beggars, Vagrants, Vagabonds and Disorderly Persons in the City of Baltimore. † The Laws of Maryland ch. 116. March 10, 1854. Muller, Edward K. and Paul A. Groves. â€Å"The Emergence of Industrial Districts in Mid-Nineteenth Century Baltimore. † Geographical Review 69 (1979): 159-177. Steffen, Charles G. The Mechanics of Baltimore: Workers and Politics in the Age of Revolution, 1763-1812. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. Wesley, Charles H. Richard Allen: Apostle of Freedom. 1935. Washington: Associated Publishers, 1969.

Perception of Various Performance Criteria by Stakeholders in the Construction Sector in Hong Kong

Construction Management and Economics (April 2010) 28, 377–391 Perception of various performance criteria by stakeholders in the construction sector in Hong Kong IVAN K. W. LAI1* and FRANKIE K. S. LAM2 1 2 Faculty of Management and Administration, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau International Graduate School of Business, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Taylor and Francis Received 8 March 2009; accepted 1 December 2009 10. 1080/01446190903521515 All construction projects in Hong Kong have in common a cast of key contract participants, consisting of clients, consultants (designers) and contractors. The aim of this research is to examine, from different points of view, these practitioners in regard to the importance of perceived performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project. A research model is structured based on nine performance criteria and their respective performances. The data were collected from 324 practitioners who have participated in construction projects in Hong Kong. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures ANOVA are used to analyse the data. The relative importance of nine performance criteria and their performances are measured. Timely completion of the project is the most important performance criterion, followed by profit, environmental protection and quality. There are differences in the importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance. The differences in the perceptions of performance that are identified are: (i) among different practitioners in a construction project; (ii) due to different project types; and (iii) between different functional roles in the partnering organizations. In order to further understand the importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance, the status quo of roject partnering and congeniality problems in the construction industry is reviewed. It is intended to stimulate interest in the further exploration of solutions to improve the overall performance of the construction industry in Hong Kong. Keywords: Performance improvement, performance evaluation, partnering, supplier relationship, performance criteria. Introduction At the beginning of con struction projects, various targets are set as ‘performance criteria’ to be achieved among the key contract participants, consisting of clients, consultants (designers) and contractors. However, different participants have their own perceptions of various performance criteria, and they perform differently according to their perceptions. The aim of this study is to examine, from different points of view, these participants in regard to the importance of the perceived performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project. The differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes represent areas for the improvement of performance, which these participants should address. Author for correspondence. E-mail: [email  protected] edu. mo In the present study, nine specific performance criteria are used; they are: (1) profit; (2) time; (3) no claims or contractual disputes; (4) job satisfaction; (5) quality; (6) safety; (7) environment; (8) generation of innovative ideas; and (9) effectiveness. A research model was formulated to test the significant difference between these perfo rmance criteria with respect to their performance. There are also tests available to assess the performance of these performance criteria from the perspective of the respondents in different roles (i. . clients, consultants and main contractors); the types of construction projects (i. e. government, public/private utility and private development); and different functional roles of the staff within the organization (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff). This research was conducted through a questionnaire survey with construction practitioners in Construction Management and Economics ISSN 0144-6193 print/ISSN 1466-433X online  © 2010 Taylor & Francis http://www. informaworld. com DOI: 10. 1080/01446190903521515 378 Hong Kong. The overall discussion that follows is based on the results of the statistical analysis of the performance criteria and their respective performances as well as the major differences between the different perspectives of the participants. There are significant differences between the performance criteria with respect to performance, and conclusions are drawn from patterns noted in these results. This study indicates some areas for the improvement of performance. The limitations of this research and further research opportunities will be identified. Lai and Lam eam considers to be relevant in the pursuit of successful project delivery (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Construction delays not only result in cost overruns and poor quality, but lead to increased disputes (Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly, 1999). Odeh and Battaineh (2002) observed that most claims cases are related to the time of the project delivery. No claims or contractual disputes. It has been observed that the adaptive ability to man age changes without unnecessary claims is often critical in the routine assessment of subcontractors’ performance (Mbachu, 2008). The absence of claims or contractual disputes is a fair indicator of project success (Chan and Chan, 2004). Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction refers to the extent to which persons gain enjoyment or satisfaction from their efforts at work (Fogarty, 1994). It is a ‘soft’ measure, and has often been benchmarked with a company’s performance (Beatham et al. , 2004). Pinto and Pinto (1991) advocated that measures for project success should include project psychosocial outcomes, which refer to the satisfaction of interpersonal relations among project team members. Quality. Quality is defined as the degree to which general conditions promote meeting the project’s established requirements for materials and workmanship (Bubshait and Almohawis, 1994). The improvement of quality can reduce the resources and costs that must be devoted to reworking, which, when reduced, increases profitability (Ling et al. , 2009). The costs of rectifying defects and reworking have been estimated to be as high as 6. 2% and 12%, respectively, of the profit for a construction project (Thomas et al. 2002). Safety. Safety is defined as the degree to which general conditions promote the completion of a project without major accidents or injuries (Bubshait and Almohawis, 1994). Accidents during a project can be detrimental to the project in terms of time, costs and the reputation of the company (Chan and Chan, 2004). Environment. Environmental issues, such as waste management and public nuisance, have been regarded as negative environmental impacts on construction ( Shen et al. , 2000). Considerable attention has been directed towards finding out how to minimize construction waste and restrict environmental nuisance (Wong and Chan, 2000). Companies invest in the improvement of environmental protection because of cost factors (Tam et al. , 2001; Shen (3) Theoretical background Definition of performance criteria ‘Performance criteria’ are commonly shared mechanisms for monitoring and demonstrating project success (Krima et al. , 2007). Their use allows practitioners to understand their competitive position better and potentially to improve their performance (ElMashaleh et al. 2001). By looking at the deviations between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and performance outcomes, practitioners can review whether certain criteria underperform or overperform (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Ideally, performance outcomes of the performance criteria should be on a par with their normal performance, or, even better, their so-called ‘optimum per formance’, which are satisfactory to practitioners. Performance criteria of a construction project Atkinson (1999) stated that time, cost and quality make up the ‘iron triangle’ for project success. Loosemore et al. (2003) highlighted the importance of job satisfaction for the well-being of the construction industry. Fenn (2006) listed the typical performance criteria of commercial projects: time, cost, quality, project delays, delay claims, scheduling, monitoring and control. Lam and Wong (2009) argued that safety is a measure of project performance, as well as time, cost and quality. After reviewing the literature, nine performance criteria were selected: (1) Profit. Norris (1990) measured profit as the increment by which revenues exceed cost. Profit in terms of cost benefits has been identified as a key performance indicator (KPI) (Beatham et al. , 2004). Cost benefits can typically be achieved by savings and the early completion of projects (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Time. Time refers to the duration for completing a project (Chan and Chan, 2004). Time, cost and quality are the key factors a project (4) (5) (6) (7) (2) Performance criteria and Tam, 2002). For example, energy-efficient design allows both environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness across the project life cycle (Yao et al. , 2006). Generation of innovative ideas. Innovation is the actual novel use of a non-trivial change and improvement in a process, product or system (Slaughter, 1998). Innovation in construction leads to the improvement of working conditions, lowering construction costs, and decreasing construction time (Eaton et al. , 2006) so as to improve efficiency in the industry (Egbu, 2004). Effectiveness. Effectiveness is a characteristic of the overall performance of a project, in terms of whether it is being carried out within the budget, performed on schedule, and maintaining quality (Love et al. , 2004). Project effectiveness is dependent on conceptual level, skills and communicative abilities (Goodwin, 1993), which are important factors that affect project success (Krima et al. , 2007). Practitioners always intend to continually improve the effectiveness of the work process (Naoum, 2003). 379 importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes in a construction project in Hong Kong (as shown in Figure 1). In this study, three questions were addressed about the life of a construction project: Figure 1 A research model of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes 8) (1) (2) (3) (9) What are the relative levels of importance of the performance criteria from the practitioners’ perspectives? What are the differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance? What are the differences in the perception of performance from the practitioners’ perspectives? Research hypot heses The following hypotheses are formulated based on two variables: the importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance outcomes. Owing to the different dimensions of business-driven benefits and the degree of objective alignment (Thompson and Sanders, 1998), the levels of importance of the performance criteria may be different. H1: There are significant differences within the importance of the performance criteria. Research method Research model and research questions A research model is developed to examine, from different practitioners’ points of view, the levels of There are always levels of difference in the performance elements for construction (Soetanto et al. , 2001). The levels of importance of the erformance criteria may vary with respect to their performance outcomes. Figure 1 A research model of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes 380 H2: There are significant differences between the importance of the performance criteria and their performance. Lai and Lam such as Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited; and a private development project may include somethin g like a residential development project. The respondents include a staff of clients, architectural and engineering consultants who represent clients, and main contractors. The respondents are also classified into three functional roles (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff). This study only focuses on the performance of the key contract participants—neither suppliers nor subcontractors are included in this survey. Questionnaire development and administration A questionnaire is designed to gather information from people engaged in partnering projects in Hong Kong. A pre-test of the questionnaire was conducted in July 2006 with academics and construction practitioners in order to confirm the general validity and reliability. After the initial pre-test, a further pilot test was undertaken to check the suitability and appropriateness. The final questionnaire consists of two sections. Section 1 is about the background of the respondents and Section 2 is concerned with the views of the respondents on the levels of importance of the performance criteria of the project and on their performance outcomes. Respondents are asked to pick a rating using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from ‘1’ (the least important, or very unsatisfied) to ‘5’ (the most important, or very satisfied) in respect of the criteria and the outcomes. A total of 850 questionnaires were distributed in person to the respondents in August 2006. From the 209 questionnaires that were collected, 71. 8% were from the main contractors during the first three months. Thereafter, another 100 questionnaires were distributed only to accessible clients and consultants in October 2006. Statistical analyses are conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 12. 00 software package. Different stakeholders have different views and expectations of performance in a construction project (Newcombe, 2003). Different roles (i. e. clients, consultants, and main contractors) in a construction project may have different views on the same performance. H3: There are significant differences among incumbents in different roles in a construction project in the perception of performance among partners. There are differences between government and private projects in the respective business procurement and the relationship with contractors (Burnes and Coram, 1999). Different types of construction projects (i. e. overnment projects, public/private utility and private development) may require different types of performances. H4: There are significant differences in the perception of performance due to different types of construction projects. Partnering involves teamwork and collaborative activities for achieving goals and resolving problems (Pheng and Hong, 2005; Ingirige and Sexton, 2006). Staff in different functional roles (i. e. managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy staff) may have different views on performance. H5: There are significant differences among staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations in the perception of performance. Sampling method In Hong Kong, more than 500 construction companies are certificated with ISO 9001 (HKQAA, 2007). Because of the large number and different types of construction firms, the different sizes and types of construction works that are undertaken and the constraints of time and resources for the research, purposive sampling (Sekaran, 1996) is used to focus on the respondents who have participated in a partnering project. Contractors, consulting firms, government departments and private developers who are active participants in the construction market in Hong Kong are selected. Government departments and private developers are classified as clients of the construction projects. There are three types of project: a government project is a public project that is initiated from a government department such as the Housing Authority; a public/private utility project is usually an infrastructure project, for example, one initiated by a mass transportation services provider, Performance criteria of the construction project Research samples Over the six months prior to March 2007, 950 sets of questionnaires were distributed, from which a total of 324 were collected. The response rate is 34. 1%. The backgrounds of the respondents are shown in Table 1. Statistical analysis Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) can be used when sample members have been matched Performance criteria Table 1 The background of the respondents Numbers of response Role in a construction project Clients Consultants Main contractors Others Total Type of construction project Government projects Public/private utilities Private development Others Total Functional role in the organization Managerial Frontline supervisory Consultancy Others Total Percentage Table 2 The rating of performance criteria Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Performance criteria Timely completion of project Profit to all involved parties Improvement of environmental protection Improvement of quality Improvement of safety Effectiveness of the construction process No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Mean 4. 2778 4. 2037 4. 1265 4. 1173 4. 1019 3. 9105 3. 8920 3. 8395 3. 7747 381 Std. deviation 0. 65127 0. 69174 0. 60904 0. 61846 0. 60350 0. 72634 0. 74903 0. 68068 0. 74350 123 51 149 1 324 112 121 87 4 324 131 157 21 15 324 38. 0 15. 7 46 . 0 0. 3 100 34. 6 37. 3 26. 9 1. 2 100 40. 4 48. 5 6. 5 4. 6 100 ccording to some important characteristic (ACITS, 1997). In this study, sample members are matched, and measurements across conditions are treated like repeated measures. Therefore, repeated measures ANOVA is used to find the rating among the performance criteria. Table A1 in the Appendix shows Mauchly’s test of sphericity. This is a test of compound symmetry or the homogeneity of covariance, an important assumption for this statistical test. If the test of sphericity is significant (i. e. , p-value < 0. 05), then the assumption H0 is met. Consequently, the univariate (more powerful) output (Tests of Within-Subject Effects) can be used. In this test, the p-value is less than 0. 5 and H1 is therefore accepted. This means that there are significant differences in the performance criteria. In order to elucidate the differences between them, Bonferroni’s test (see Table A2 in Appendix) is applied. The relati ve rating of the performance criteria is shown in Table 2 where time has the highest mean score, followed by profit, environment, quality, safety, effectiveness, no claims, job satisfaction, and the generation of innovative ideas. An individual paired-samples T-test is used to determine whether there are significant differences among the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performances. The mean scores and standard deviations of the importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes are reported in Table 3. It shows that all of the factors have significant differences. The p-value is less than 0. 05. Therefore, H2 is accepted. Time has the highest positive paired mean difference, suggesting that the timely completion of a project, among the other performance criteria, seriously underperforms. One-way ANOVA is used to determine whether, among partners in different roles in a construction project (i. e. clients, consultants and main contractors), there are significant differences in the perception of performance. Table 4 indicates that there are significant differences in the perception of performance— with the exception of quality—among the three groups. The p-values for all of the factors (except for quality) are less than 0. 05. Therefore, H3 is accepted. The comparisons of the different groups are made using post hoc tests, after an overall significant difference has been obtained. The Tukey HSD table (Table 5) compares each group with every other group to determine the significance of the difference. Table 6 indicates that there is no significant difference (p-value > 0. 05) in the perception of performance due to the types of projects and between staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. Therefore, H4 and H5 are rejected. Discussion The levels of importance of the performance criteria The relative ratings for the highest levels of importance of the performance criteria are: (1) time; (2) profit; (3) environment; (4) quality; (5) safety; (6) effectiveness; (7) no claims or contractual disputes; (8) job satisfaction; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. Time, cost 382 Table 3 Mean scores and paired-samples t-test for the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes Mean scores and standard deviations (N = 324) Mean Mean 4. 2037 3. 4568 4. 2778 3. 4568 3. 8920 3. 3117 0. 6173 0. 6574 0. 6636 0. 6698 0. 74903 0. 72870 0. 04161 0. 04048 0. 5803 0. 90221 0. 65127 0. 81091 0. 03618 0. 04505 0. 8210 0. 91024 0. 69174 0. 70028 0. 03843 0. 03890 0. 7469 0. 94631 Std. deviation Std. rror mean Paired differences Std. deviation Std. error mean 0. 05257 14. 207 0. 000 t Paired-samples t-test (df = 323) Sig. (2-tailed) 0. 05057 16. 235 0. 000 0. 05012 11. 577 0. 000 0. 81500 0. 81201 0. 77 566 0. 82841 0. 04528 0. 04511 0. 04309 0. 04602 13. 633 14. 573 15. 399 14. 553 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 3. 8395 3. 2222 4. 1173 3. 4599 4. 1019 3. 4383 4. 1265 3. 4568 3. 7747 3. 2130 3. 9105 3. 2901 0. 71755 0. 72634 0. 76843 0. 74350 0. 04131 0. 03986 0. 04035 0. 04269 0. 68068 0. 69049 0. 61846 0. 65003 0. 60350 0. 65781 0. 60904 0. 72204 0. 03782 0. 03836 0. 03436 0. 03611 0. 03353 0. 03654 0. 03384 0. 04011 0. 5617 0. 94388 0. 05244 10. 712 0. 000 Pair 1 Profit to all involved parties Profit to all involved parties with good performance Pair 2 Timely completion of project Timely completion of project with good performance Pair 3 No claims or contractual disputes No claims or contractual disputes with good performance Pair 4 Job satisfaction of staff Job satisfaction of staff with good performance Pair 5 Improvement of quality Improvement of quality with good performance Pair 6 Improvement of safety Improvement of safety with good performance Pair 7 Improvement of environmental protection Improvement of environmental protection with good performance Pair 8 Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method with good performance Pair 9 Effectiveness of the construction process Effectiveness of the construction process with good performance 0. 6204 0. 93157 0. 05175 11. 987 0. 000 Lai and Lam Performance criteria 383 Table 4 One-way ANOVA on signi? a nt differences in perception of performance among participants in different roles in a construction project Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties Timely completion of project No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Improvement of quality Improvement of safety Improvement of environmental protection Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Effectiveness of the construction process Total 3. 4582 3. 4551 3. 3127 3. 2198 3. 4582 3. 4365 3. 4551 3. 2105 3. 2879 Client 3. 5772 3. 6423 3. 4715 3. 4228 3. 5203 3. 5691 3. 6098 3. 3415 3. 4797 Consultant 3. 5098 3. 4706 3. 4510 3. 0588 3. 3137 3. 0980 3. 1961 2. 9216 3. 0000 Main contractor 3. 423 3. 2953 3. 1342 3. 1074 3. 4564 3. 4430 3. 4161 3. 2013 3. 2282 F-statistic 4. 024 6. 374 8. 684 9. 120 1. 830 9. 752 6. 529 6. 408 8. 208 p-value 0. 019 0. 002 0. 000 0. 000 0. 162 0. 000 0. 002 0. 002 0. 000 Table 5 The Tukey HSD table of the post hoc tests on the performance among partici pants in different roles in a construction project Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties Timely completion of project No claims or contractual disputes Job satisfaction of staff Improvement of safety Improvement of environmental protection Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method Effectiveness of the construction rocess (I) Your role in the construction project Client Client Client Consultant Client Client Client Consultant Client Client Consultant Client Client (J) Your role in the construction project Main contractor Main contractor Main contractor Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Consultant Consultant Main contractor Consultant Main contractor Mean difference (I – J) 0. 23495* 0. 34697* 0. 33732* 0. 31675* 0. 36394* 0. 31538* 0. 47107* ? 0. 34491* 0. 41368* 0. 41989* ? 0. 27977* 0. 47967* 0. 25149* Sig. 0. 016 0. 001 0. 000 0. 018 0. 004 0. 000 0. 000 0. 003 0. 002 0. 001 0. 040 0. 000 0. 018 Note: * The mean difference is signi? cant at the 0. 05 level. and quality are always described as the ‘holy trinity’ (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Krima et al. 2007) also noted that the importance of time performance is widely accepted. Most construction projects in Hong Kong are developed on a fast track schedule, completed in two to three years (Chan, 1999). The top concern in the construction industry in Hong Kong is always time. Profit generated from partnering normally derives from cost savings and incentives (Soetanto et al. , 2001). Incentives are normally introduced by offering a bonus to contractors achieving the KPIs set for the project (Swan and Khalfan, 2007). Moreover, profit sharing is very popular in construction projects. It is surprising that the improvement of environmental performance is the third most important performance criterion. Zhang and Shen (2000) observed that clients are often concerned with immediate or short-term results and care little about the potential benefits of improving environmental performance. This finding directly contradicts a previous study performed by Swan and Khalfan (2007), who found that time, cost and quality are the key elements for a successful project. Although the improvement of environmental performance is an important performance criterion, compared with the improvement of quality, this finding still needs to be clarified by further studies. The improvement of quality is always referred to in terms of less re-working or no abortive work (Thomas et al. 2002). Quality is also defined as conformity and client satisfaction (Soetanto et al. , 2001). It is always among the top priorities in construction. Safety has always been an issue in construction because of the routinely high accident rate involving deaths and property damage. The creation of the built environment in 384 Table 6 One-way ANOVA on signi? cant differences of performance due to the types of project and between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations Due to the types of project Sum of squares df 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 2 317 319 1. 021 161. 666 162. 688 0. 595 185. 93 186. 388 Between groups Within groups Total 2 317 319 2 317 319 1. 049 0. 415 0. 909 0. 426 0. 728 0. 518 0. 511 0. 510 0. 297 0. 586 0. 527 0. 471 1. 118 0. 087 0. 537 0. 162 0. 851 0. 080 0. 648 0. 124 0. 883 0. 697 201. 872 202. 570 1. 234 162. 403 163. 638 0. 328 1. 972 143. 064 145. 036 2. 528 0. 081 0. 254 129. 889 130. 142 2. 133 0. 120 1. 522 129. 623 131. 146 1. 407 0. 246 0. 309 159. 710 160. 019 1. 001 0. 369 1. 166 158. 989 160. 155 0. 507 0. 603 1. 295 182. 770 184. 065 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 2 306 308 0. 056 0. 472 0. 119 0. 887 1. 560 145. 333 146. 893 2 306 308 Mean square F Sig. Sum of squares df Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total 1. 456 164. 094 165. 550 1. 819 135. 169 136. 987 2. 098 131. 524 133. 622 1. 053 149. 294 150. 347 0. 174 170. 198 170. 372 0. 161 205. 389 205. 550 0. 113 149. 634 149. 747 Mean square 0. 78 0. 475 0. 349 0. 660 0. 617 0. 531 0. 986 0. 468 0. 127 0. 424 0. 761 0. 424 0. 155 0. 522 0. 583 0. 520 0. 648 0. 597 1. 084 0. 339 1. 122 0. 327 Between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations F 1. 642 Sig. 0. 195 Performance criteria Profit to all involved parties with good performance Timely completion of project with good performance 0. 529 0. 590 No claims or contractual disputes with good performance 1. 163 . 314 Job satisfaction of staff with good performance 2 . 109 0. 123 Improvement of quality with good performance 0. 299 0. 742 Improvement of safety with good performance 1. 797 0. 168 Improvement of environmental protection with good performance 0. 296 0. 744 Generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method with good performance Effectiveness of the construction process with good performance Lai and Lam Performance criteria 2003 in Hong Kong involved 18% of the total injuries of employees among all industries (OSHC, 2003). Policy makers and the general public always pay great heed to construction safety (Teo et al. , 2005). Effectiveness in construction has received negative commentary (CIRC, 2001). A rating solely on effectiveness itself is taken ordinarily to be insufficient and does not usually prevail. Claims in a project can involve extension of time (EOT), for example, because of inclement weather, or a variation order (VO), for example because of changes of design (Yeo and Ning, 2002). Contractors lose out from not being granted a claim. Although some previous studies suggest that job satisfaction is a measure of project success (Beatham et al. , 2004; Swan and Khalfan, 2007), an analysis of the data fails to find evidence suggesting job satisfaction is a priority in a construction project. Innovative ideas can contribute to cost savings and process expediting, and generating them should be encouraged through reimbursement or benefits sharing (Naoum, 2003). Nevertheless, innovative ideas about construction design and method are very rarely implemented in a construction project because of the relatively short timeline for completion. The differences of performance outcomes with respect to importance The relative ratings for the highest difference in performance with respect to the importance of the performance criteria are: (1) time; (2) safety; (3) quality; (4) environment; (5) profit; (6) job satisfaction; (7) effectiveness; (8) no claims or contractual disputes; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. All of the performance criteria clearly underperform. Timely completion of the project displays the highest difference. To a project owner, delay means loss of revenue due to slackened production and rentable space. To a consultant, delay means either the failure of progress monitoring of contractors or faulty design, or both. To a contractor, delay means penalties and higher overhead costs. It is thus very worthwhile to investigate the cause of delay, the parties who are responsible, and the preventive measures for avoiding it (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). Owing to stringent legal and contractual requirements in Hong Kong, there are ever-increasing demands, expectations and emphasis on safety, quality and environmental protection. Naoum (2003) has argued that there should be a comprehensive incentive scheme to simulate the overall site performance in these categories. Profit is a basic goal for running a business, but in a project, it is always governed by the traditional re-measured contract at a fixed price. 385 Participants in a construction project can only benefit from cost savings or bonuses awarded by accelerating the process for early completion (Tam, 2002). Job satisfaction is among the performance criteria displaying a low performance outcome. Not only are staff members not happy about job satisfaction, but this variable is also in fact rated as the second least important performance criterion (see Table 2). The effectiveness of a construction process needs both good planning and coordination. Given the inherently fragmented nature of construction, work is always accomplished in sequential and unique stages handled by different contractors. Since the design and building processes are normally divided between consultants and contractors (Naoum, 2003), the original designers would thus not help the performance outcome or effectiveness of the construction process once it is underway. No claims or contractual disputes are part of the second-lowest performance outcome. Claims or contractual disputes in a project are very often raised among clients and contractors (Yeo and Ning, 2002). The generation of innovative ideas for construction design and method received the lowest rating concerning performance outcome. In fact, adopting new ideas in construction is always inhibited by the fact that there are always prior specifications governing construction activities (Naoum, 2003). Winch (2003) noted that construction is commonly characterized as a ‘backward industry’, that is, one that fails to innovate in comparison to other sectors. The strong categorical division of responsibility for design and building worsens this situation. The performance perceived by practitioners in different roles in a construction project Profit There are significant differences between clients and the main contractors in the perception of the performance of profit. Clients are more satisfied than are the main contractors (see Table 5). Clients typically set out the budget for a project at the beginning of project planning, whereas contractors concentrate on cost savings (e. g. reducing the opportunity for claims). Time There are significant differences between clients and main contractors in the perception of performance for the timely completion of projects. Clients are more satisfied than are main contractors (see Table 5). They are normally proactive and generally push for timely completion. Main contractors prefer a contract designed with a reasonable duration for the construction 386 time and fair treatment of claims for EOT (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). Any completion delay for a project will be the subject of a penalty for liquidated damages to a contractor (PAH, 2008). In general, clients would consider an incentive bonus for the contractor who completes the project on time or ahead of schedule (Naoum, 2003). Contractors prefer these bonuses as an incentive for finishing on time or early. No claims or contractual disputes There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of no claims or contractual disputes. Clients and consultants are more satisfied than are main contractors (see Table 5). When initiating a contract, clients normally would have a contingency plan to provide additional money for any claim, for a delay in the project or for a change of design. In general, clients and main contractors take a different stand on claims. Clients suffer from claims, while the main contractors benefit. Traditionally, clients are perceived as distrustful and suspicious, while the main contractors are perceived as opportunistic and greedy (Kadefors, 2004). Consultants tend to have a passive attitude to claims, and do not like to see any claims or contractual disputes, as they might be taken to reveal their own faulty design or their failure to perform their duty of supervising the main contractors’ performance. Job satisfaction There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of the job satisfaction of staff. Staff members, as consultants and main contractors, are less satisfied than are clients (see Table 5). Staff from clients may participate in the partnering projects more than do the staff from consultants and main contractors. Since the levels of participation for different parties are different, they show differences in regard to this issue. Quality There is no significant difference between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of quality. This seems to illustrate that all partners in the construction project hold consistent views on the performance of quality. Safety There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the performance of safety. Consultants are less satisfied than are clients and main contractors (see Table 5). Clients simply do not like to see any accidents. The Environment Lai and Lam responsibility for onsite safety is therefore ascribed to the consultants and the contractors (Teo et al. , 2005). Consultants take a passive role in safety during the operations (Teo et al. , 2005); they like to have sufficient planning and budgets for the design of safety at the beginning of a project (Wong and Chan, 2000). The main contractors bear most of the legal liability for safety performance (Chan and Chan, 2004); they commit to ensuring safety under a contractual requirement. There are significant differences between clients and consultants in the perception of the accomplishment of environmental performance. Consultants are generally less satisfied than are clients (see Table 5), who showed less concern in improving environmental performance. This empirical finding agrees with Yao et al. ’s (2006) basic argument. The design of environmentally friendly projects involves reduced use of natural resources, recycling of construction waste, and the avoidance of being a nuisance in the neighbourhood (Tam et al. , 2004). The green construction concept demands that, at the inception of a project, approval is sought from the client. Although consultants are reactive on this specific issue, they can propose some guidelines for administering a contract’s environmental requirements (e. g. contractors should prepare a comprehensive onsite waste management plan). Clients should consider covering all of the costs incurred in those contract specifications satisfying these environmental requirements. On the other hand, contractors do not totally disagree with this concept and are usually willing to follow some guidelines, such as avoiding environmental hazards and following safety procedures. Indeed, clients should regularly take the initiative to monitor and closely inspect contractors’ performance of environmental management. Generation of innovative ideas There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in how they perceive the accomplishment of innovative ideas about the construction design and method. Consultants are less satisfied than are clients and main contractors (see Table 5). In general, consultants play a significant role in generating new ideas about the construction method and the design (Bresnen and Marshall, 2000). The main contractors usually do not put too much effort into promoting innovative ideas unless it is a designand-build project. However, consultants are reluctant to accept a contractor’s design proposal (Bresnen and Marshall, 2000). In fact, the best innovative ideas for construction design and method should be developed by consultants during the planning phase. However, Performance criteria given the zero-growth budgets and tight schedules for construction projects, consultants seldom take the initiative to generate innovative ideas even though they should. Effectiveness There are significant differences between clients, consultants and main contractors in the perception of the relative effectiveness of a construction process. Clients are more satisfied than are consultants and main contractors (see Table 5). Consultants, as designers, play an important role by providing good, reliable and complete designs that are buildable. Main contractors play an active role in the construction process (Arobos, 2002; Errasti et al. , 2007), dealing with most of the problems raised during the construction stage along with the consultants. Most of the problems generated at the site level and the effective solutions do not involve the clients. The performance of important aspects of different types of construction project There is no significant difference between the three groups in the perception of the performance of government project, public/private utility and private development. This means that there appears to be no relationship between performance outcomes and the types of projects. The performance perceived among staff in different functional roles in partnering organizations There is no significant difference between the three staff groups: managerial, frontline supervisory and consultancy, in terms of the perception of performance. This means that there is no relationship between the performance outcomes and the staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. 387 and management of, a project, exacerbate the adverse effects of the fragmented nature of construction. There are many methods for trying and overcoming the barriers to optimum performance. For example, the ideas of the public–private partnership (PPP) and the private finance initiative (PFI) projects, which create a favourable partnering atmosphere between clients and the main contractors (Li et al. , 2005), could help diminish the abovementioned problems. PPP and PFI embrace all of the elements in a successful construction project of design, build and finance, which means a longer project timeframe and a contract sum sufficiently large so as to sustain the partnering atmosphere. Other methods, such as awarding contracts based on quality bids, as well as prices and partnering frameworks, are also recommended. Limitations Owing to the large numbers of the sample size and frame and the limited time and resources available, the selection of questionnaire respondents was based on the rationale of purposive sampling, aiming to select some specific categories in the populations. This may cause bias and error. The collected data were mainly from the main contractors and clients (84% of the total respondents) and may have led to biases that render the result inaccurate. A holistic supply chain must be expansive, embracing the vertical networks of subcontractors and suppliers for better partnering. There were also geographical limitations in this study. The survey was only carried out in Hong Kong. It would be beneficial to have the opportunity to test the theory elsewhere. Further research opportunities The results indicate that timely completion of a project is both the most important performance criterion and the highest in terms of the difference in the outcome of the performance with respect to importance. Future studies should seek to elaborate on this factor, exploring how to improve the time actor in a construction project. A new research tradition can be built on a more detailed model that specifies not only the relationships between the independent and dependent variables, but also the relationships between the independent variables. This means an investigation of the correlation between the factors of two variables as well as within the factors. In such a study, there should be a deeper focus on the correlation among the performance criteria. Regarding the significant difference from the perspectives of clients, consultants and main contractors about the performance outcomes, further additional research is necessary in order to elaborate on the Implications, limitations and further research Implications The present results reveal that, in order to achieve optimum performance, a company should improve its operations by managing the presence of the nine performance criteria. The differences in the perceptions of performance among the key contract participants in a construction project reveal the congeniality problems in the construction industry. The rule of the contract game, or that the lowest price wins, still very much dominates the final decision on the selection of contractors. The division of roles between designing and building, and the distinct roles of consultants for 388 more subtle rationale of these differences. A more qualitative data collection method through intensive interviews with participants would provide richer and more in-depth data. Lai and Lam more fairly when claims are made. Practitioners have less concern about the generation of innovative ideas for a construction method and design that make least deviations from performance. Finally, there is no difference in the perception of performance due to the types of projects, or between those staff in different functional roles in the partnering organizations. This study in Hong Kong examined, from the points of view of practitioners, the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their respective performance in construction projects. The research reviews the status quo of partnering and the congeniality problems in the industry, and it is intended to stimulate interest in Hong Kong for further exploration of solutions for improving the overall performance of the construction industry. Conclusions Here, we rate the performance criteria in a construction project in Hong Kong. The order of importance of the performance criteria is: (1) time; (2) profit; (3) environment; (4) quality; (5) safety; (6) effectiveness; (7) no claims or contractual disputes; (8) job satisfaction; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. There are differences among the levels of importance of the performance criteria with respect to performance. The positive differences between the levels of importance of the performance criteria and their performance outcomes indicate a common pattern: all of the performance criteria underperform. The results of the greatest differences are, in order, (1) time; (2) safety; (3) quality; (4) environment; (5) profit; (6) job satisfaction; (7) effectiveness; (8) no claims or contractual disputes; and (9) generation of innovative ideas. Timely completion of the project is the most important performance criterion, but it displays the highest deviation of its performance when compared with its importance. This implies that time management is the most critical factor for the performance of a construction project. In Hong Kong, events pertaining to quality, safety and environmental issues during construction always generate a great deal of publicity. In fact, there are quite regular incidents regarding substandard work, serious accidents on construction sites, and complaints regarding pollution and nuisance generated from construction activities. The performance of these three performance criteria can be improved by providing a greater budget during the planning of the project, or by allowing a larger budget for design and incentives to achieve good performance. Most clients are satisfied with the performance of profit, although the main contractors are less happy, reflecting the fact that, with the prevailing lowest-pricewins and the procurement practice in construction, the main contractor still stands to lose. In general, most respondents are not satisfied with job satisfaction. The job satisfaction of staff should be enhanced through personal development, job security and encouragement from colleagues and superiors. Most clients are satisfied with the performance of the effectiveness of the construction process. 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(2000) Promoting urbanization towards sustainable development in China. Journal Tsinghua University, 40(1), 2–6. Appendix Table A1 Mauchly’s test of sphericityb Within Subjects Effect Mauchly’s W Approx. chi-square df Sig. Epsilon a Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Factor 0. 049 966. 660 35 0. 000 0. 682 0. 695 Lower-bound 0. 125 Notes: Test the null hypothesis that the error covariance matrix of the orthonormalized transformed dependent variables is proportional to an identity matrix. a May be used to adjust the degrees of freedom for the averaged tests of signi? cance. b Design: Intercept Within Subjects Design: factor. Performance criteria Table A2 Bonferroni test on rating of performance criteria (pairwise comparisons) (I) factor (J) factor Mean difference (I – J) Std. error Sig. a 391 5% confidence interval for differencea Lower bound Upper bound 0. 033 0. 474 0. 507 0. 227 0. 243 0. 219 0. 583 0. 441 0. 534 0. 576 0. 281 0. 300 0. 278 0. 661 0. 502 0. 206 ? 0. 070 ? 0. 052 ? 0. 073 0. 279 0. 140 ? 0. 146 ? 0. 125 ? 0. 145 0. 198 0. 069 0. 073 0. 061 0. 481 0. 337 0. 020 0. 470 0 . 330 0. 498 0. 355 ? 0. 012 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4 5 6 7 8 9 5 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 8 9 9 ?0. 074 0. 312* 0. 364* 0. 086 0. 102 0. 077 0. 429* 0. 293* 0. 386* 0. 438* 0. 160* 0. 176* 0. 151* 0. 503* 0. 367* 0. 052 ? 0. 225* ? 0. 210* ? 0. 235* 0. 117 ? 0. 019 ? 0. 278* ? 0. 262* ? 0. 287* 0. 065 ? 0. 071 0. 015 ? 0. 009 0. 343* 0. 207* ? 0. 25 0. 327* 0. 191* 0. 352* 0. 216* ? 0. 136* 0. 033 0. 050 0. 044 0. 044 0. 044 0. 044 0. 048 0. 046 0. 046 0. 043 0. 037 0. 038 0. 039 0. 049 0. 042 0. 048 0. 048 0. 049 0. 050 0. 050 0. 049 0. 041 0. 042 0. 044 0. 041 0. 043 0. 018 0. 022 0. 043 0. 040 0. 014 0. 044 0. 043 0. 045 0. 043 0. 038 0. 969 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 0. 731 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 001 0. 000 0. 005 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 0. 000 0. 001 0. 000 0. 705 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 10. 000 10. 000 10. 000 10. 000 0. 000 0. 000 1. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 017 ?0. 182 0. 150 0. 221 ? 0. 054 ? 0. 039 ? 0. 065 0. 275 0. 145 0. 238 0. 300 0. 040 0. 052 0. 25 0. 345 0. 232 ? 0. 101 ? 0. 381 ? 0. 368 ? 0. 396 ? 0. 044 ? 0. 177 ? 0. 410 ? 0. 399 ? 0. 430 ? 0. 069 ? 0. 211 ? 0. 042 ? 0. 079 0. 204 0. 076 ? 0. 069 0. 184 0. 053 0. 206 0. 077 ? 0. 260 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Notes: Based on estimated marginal means. * The mean difference is signi? cant at the 0. 05 level. a Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Bonferroni. 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