Validity and Reliability of the Job Content Questionnaire

52 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in formal and informal jobs in Brazil by Tania Maria de Araujo, PhD,1 Robert Karasek, PhD 2 de Araujo TM, Karasek R. Validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in formal and informal jobs in Brazil. SJWEH Suppl. 2008;(6):52–59. Objectives This study evaluated the job content questionnaire (JCQ) in measuring work psychology aspects with respect to formal and informal jobs in Brazilian occupational groups.Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in a random sample of 1311 ? 15-year-old residents in the urban area of the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. The Portuguese JCQ version included the recommended 49-item of the original version. The JCQ performance evaluation included descriptive analysis, discriminant analysis, internal consistency, and construct validity. Results Averages of the JCQ scales were similar for the formal and informal workers, except for decision authority (formal job: c=31. ; informal jobs: c=34. 5). The averages of the Portuguese JCQ scales did not differ substantially from those obtained in other European, North American, and Japanese studies, albeit they were slightly lower in the Brazilian case. In general, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients revealed performance similar to other large-sample studies, showing acceptable internal consistency. The coefficients were relatively similar for formal and informal jobs. Factor analysis revealed high consistency with the theoretical model.Conclusions This is the first study to evaluate JCQ performance comparing formal and informal jobs in a developing country. The job content questionnaire presented a good global performance, and it did not differ substantially from those observed in other studies. These findings suggest that the job content questionnaire can be used in studies carried out in developing countries and in situations in which informal jobs are common. Key terms de cision latitude; demand–control model; occupational stress; psychological demand; psychological distress. Health Department, State University of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. 2 Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. Reprint requests to: Dr TM de Araujo, KM 03, BR 116 Campus Universitario, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil, 40110 180. [E-mail: araujo. [email  protected] br ] There is a significant amount of scientific literature on the psychosocial aspects of work in developed countries. However, research addressing the measurement of these aspects in developing countries is recent and scarce.In developing countries, work organization aspects are usually considered to be a less relevant problem than other crucial problems, such as unemployment, accidents, and other occupational hazards that threaten life and put worker’s physical health at risk. Moreover, there is an assumption that instruments used t o measure psychosocial aspects in developed countries are not applicable in developing countries because of different cultural contexts. However, these arguments have been criticized because f, at least, the following three factors: (i) the globalization process—many multinational companies have been operating in developing countries under job standards and technologies that are similar to those used in developed countries (1), (ii) social and economic structural heterogeneity in developing societies—which include, in the same region, areas with a high level of development (industrialized areas) and very poor areas, and (iii) the increasing rates of occupational diseases and disabilities related to work organization conditions shown by some developing countries.These three processes, acting together, reveal that psychosocial aspects at work are a relevant problem in different social and economic contexts. The impacts on mental and physical health are already visible in developing contexts (2, 3), and they indicate the importance of investigating work psychology aspects in both developed and developing countries. Some models have aimed at evaluating psychosocial characteristics at work and their effects on worker health.The demand–control model has worldwide use and is a strong influence on this research field (4, 5). It focuses on two crucial work dimensions, decision latitude and psychological demands. Decision latitude SJWEH Suppl 2008;(6):52–59 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 53 de Araujo & Karasek refers to the ability to make decisions about one’s work and the possibility of being creative and using or developing new skills. It includes two dimensions, skill discretion (opportunity to use skills) and decision authority (opportunity to make decisions).Psychological demand refers to workload, mental requirements, organizational constraints put on the worker, and conflicting demands. The job content questionnaire (JCQ) is a standard ized instrument proposed to measure the dimensions of the demand–control model (6). In the last two decades, the job content questionnaire has been intensively used in developed countries, and its performance has been tested in populations from these countries (7–15). However, performance on the job content questionnaire in developing countries remains a less studied issue.In our literature review we identified only three studies conducted in â€Å"developing† countries to evaluate performance on the job content questionnaire, carried out in Mexico (16), Taiwan (17) and China (18). Specific occupational groups were studied: in Taiwan, workers from four companies, including men and women; in Mexico only women from two maquiladora microelectronic plants; in China, male and female health care workers. In Brazil, the Swedish version of the job content questionnaire (17 questions) was tested in a sample of the technical and administrative staff of a Brazilian univers ity.The global performance of the scales for decision latitude, psychological demand, and social support was good (3). The main objective of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in measuring work psychosocial characteristics for workers in formal and informal jobs in Brazil. Study population and methods Study design A cross-sectional study was carried out in a random sample of workers 15 years or older from the city of Feira de Santana in 2002.It is the second largest city in the State of Bahia, in the northeast region of Brazil, with around half a million inhabitants. Definition of formal and informal jobs In Brazil, the Labor Ministry has adopted an instrument to define formal and informal jobs: the Job Card (â€Å"Carteira de Trabalho†). This card establishes the job contract between employees and employers. It is regulated by national laws and provides all kinds of benefits, including placing the worker in a social securit y system. The job card establishes a formal job for the worker.Informal jobs are not regulated by law; there is no social security system, nor any other kind of social or economic rights. Among different kinds of informal jobs, selling products in the street is the most common type. Another type that has increased, as a result of the unemployment situation, is the family store (stores that are constructed in the living room of a person’s own home). Study population The study areas were selected using random procedures, based on population data from the national census.The sampling procedures were conducted using the following steps: (i) selection of the sectors within each subdistrict, by a random procedure, (ii) random selection of streets within each selected sector, (iii) visitation of all houses on the selected streets, and (iv) interview of all people 15 years or older by well-trained interviewers using standard procedures. The use of a field manual helped to standardize procedures in the interview and avoid biases in the data collection. Up to three visits were made to a person’s residence, in an effort to perform an interview.We visited 1479 residences and interviewed 3190 people. To evaluate JCQ performance, we analyzed information only from people who were working at the time of the interview. Altogether 1311 workers were included in this study. Sixty-six percent of the target population worked in an informal job. The percentage of formal and informal jobs was similar according to gender (49. 1% for the women and 50. 4% for the men). No relevant differences were found across the age groups in the informal jobs.However, in the formal jobs, the proportion of workers increased from the beginning of worklife to the middle of it, but it decreased sharply after 40 years of age (from 46. 7% among the workers 26–34 years of age to 25. 5% among the workers ? 41 years of age). The workers in formal jobs had a higher education than those in informal jobs. Workers at the graduate level were 3. 1 times more likely to be in formal jobs than in informal jobs. Commercial activity (retail sales) employed the highest number of workers (38. 8%), followed by services in general (27. %), private household services (11. 2%), education (6. 9%), manufacturing (6. 6%), transportation (4. 3%), and construction (4. 1%). The composition according to formal and informal jobs showed clear job insecurity in some specific sectors. Among the workers employed in the construction sector, 87. 0% had an informal job; for private household services the proportion was 86. 5%; and it was 70% for commercial activity, 64. 2% for transportation workers, and 62% for the workers in general services. On the other hand, 67. % of the people working in education and 57. 1% of those in manufacturing had formal jobs. 54 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Job content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil Considering the place where people worked, we observed more variety for i nformal jobs. The highest proportion of informal workers was found for working on the street (23. 6%), followed by company (22. 8%), another person’s home (20. 8%), and in their own house (18. 3%). Among the formal workers, 66. 8% worked in companies (private enterprise), and 21. 9% were employed in public buildings.Portuguese translation process for the job content questionnaire The translation process took into account aspects like conceptual equivalence, item equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, measurement equivalence, and functional equivalence (19) . The recommended procedures to build a cross-cultural translation of the job content questionnaire were followed. First, the questionnaire was translated independently into Portuguese by two Brazilian translators. Specific instructions were clarified to guide the translation process.According to these instructions, the emphasis in the translation was given to the meaning of the terms rather than to lit eral translation, reinforcing the item meaning in the Brazilian occupational context. The translation, produced in this first step, was discussed in meetings with the research team and translators until a consensual version was drawn up. This consensual Portuguese version was translated back into English (back translation) by two other translators, who were native English speakers and also fluent in Portuguese. The Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire and the back translation ere sent to the JCQ Center to be evaluated by the Center researchers. After this evaluation, some modifications were suggested for the first translation, and they were promptly accounted for. A pretest was conducted to test the clarity of question formulation, problems found in answering specific questions, and conceptual equivalence between both languages (English and Portuguese). Based on the pretest results, a new version was clarified (including a new back translation). The JCQ Center approve d the final version in December 2001. Scales and subscales of the job content questionnaireThe Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire included the following recommended format (6): 49 questions (scales of decision latitude—skill discretion and decision authority, psychological demand, physical demand, social support—supervisor and coworker support, and job insecurity). In order to build indicators, for each scale of the questionnaire, a sum of the weighted item score was calculated according to the user’s guide of the job content questionnaire (6). Statistical analysis All of the analyses were conducted separately for the formal and informal workers.Mean values and standard deviations were calculated for each scale and subscale. The performance analysis included a discriminant analysis, internal consistency (reliability indicators), and construct validity (factor analysis). Discriminant analysis. This study included workers from different job sector s. Discriminant validity was analyzed by comparing the means of the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaires gathered from workers in each sector. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the observed differences. Internal consistency.Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency or homogeneity of the questions aimed at measuring the same construct. Alpha values above 0. 65 were considered acceptable (12, 14). Construct validity (factor analysis). The analysis was developed in three steps. First, an exploratory analysis using a correlation matrix for all of the variables was computed. In the second step, a principal component method was used to extract the factors (eigenvalues ? 1 criterion). A rotation varimax (orthogonal) was conducted to make the factors more interpretable (20).Factors loading values of >40 were considered indicators of significant factorial contribution (10). Measurement of mental health outco me. To evaluate performance on the job content questionnaire in identifying work conditions involving a risk to mental health, we evaluated the prevalence of psychological distress according to the demand–control model. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20), a structured instrument designed by the World Health Organization to measure psychological distress in developing countries, was used. The scales for decision latitude and psychological demand were dichotomized.The mean values were used to dichotomize both scales. Based on the combination between the levels of demand and control, four categories were established for the demand–control model. A multiple logistic regression was performed to adjust for potential confounders. Results The means and standard deviations of the scales of the job content questionnaire were similar for the formal and SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 55 de Araujo & Karasek informal jobs (table 1). The most important difference was observed for â₠¬Å"decision authority† in that there was a higher mean for informal jobs (34. 6) than for formal jobs (31. 99). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were relatively similar for the formal and informal jobs, even though the coefficients were higher for the formal jobs—the coefficients ranged from 0. 65 to 0. 79. The internal consistency for psychological demand was low for the informal jobs (0. 55). The subscale â€Å"conflicting demands† presented poor consistency with the other subscales; its correlation coefficient was lower than 0. 10. For skill discretion, the internal consistency was also relatively low for informal jobs (0. 6029).The subscale â€Å"variety† showed low consistency with the other subscales, the correlation coefficient with the other items being 0. 19. For the job insecurity scale, the performance was poor for both types of jobs (but better for informal jobs). The analysis of the means of the scales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of activity showed some significant differences. Table 2 shows the subscale means of the questionnaire according to sectors. The mean for skill discretion was lower for private household services (formal jobs: c=29. 18; informal jobs: c=32. 12) than for education (formal jobs: c=35. 3; informal jobs: c=34. 08). Similar differences were observed for decision authority (note the high means for education for both formal and informal jobs). Psychological demand revealed a similar pattern across all of the sectors. The means for physical demand were higher for construction (formal jobs: c=12. 50; informal jobs: c=14. 30) and manufacturing (formal jobs: c=13. 45; informal jobs: c=12. 66) and lower for education (formal jobs: c=11. 84; informal jobs: c=11. 71), as expected. The highest job insecurity means were observed for the construction sector (formal jobs: c=7. 0; informal jobs: c=9. 78). Correlation coefficient by sector No correlation was found between decision l atitude and psychological demand (formal workers: 0. 057; informal workers: 0. 010). This finding supports the hypothesis of relative independence between these two factors, as theoretically postulated. For almost all of the scales of the job content questionnaire, the correlation coefficients showed a similar pattern for the sectors. The pattern was similar by sector with respect to the formal and informal jobs, following the predicted direction, as proposed by Karasek’s demand–control model.Some small differences were observed in the coefficient magnitude, but not in the direction of the coefficients. However, a substantial difference was observed between the two dimensions of decision latitude. In the sectors of education, manufacturing, private household services, construction, and general services, a positive correlation between skill discretion (SD) and decision authority (DA) was observed—as expected. For the sectors of commercial activity and transportat ion, we observed no correlation between skill discretion and decision authority, 0. 068 and 0. 077, respectively.Construct validity The factor analysis loaded eight factors for formal and informal jobs (tables 3 and 4). Similar patterns were observed for both types of jobs. There was high Table 1. Means, standard deviations (SD), and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaire according to formal and informal jobs. Scales Range Formal jobs Informal jobs Mean SD a Mean SD a Decision latitude 24–96 64. 76 8. 44 0. 6576 65. 91 7. 84 0. 6211 Skill discretion 12–48 32. 76 4. 25 0. 6500 31. 39 4. 06 0. 6029 Decision authority 12–48 31. 9 6. 20 0. 6869 34. 46 6. 01 0. 7194 Psychological demand 12–48 30. 07 3. 63 0. 6627 29. 89 3. 29 0. 5588 Social support 8–32 23. 07 2. 09 0. 7103 23. 20 2. 01 0. 6588 Coworker support 4–16 11. 75 1. 16 0. 6901 11. 97 1. 25 0. 7009 Supervisory suppor t 4–16 11. 28 1. 47 0. 7900 11. 38 1. 30 0. 6515 Physical demand 5–20 12. 30 2. 14 0. 7584 12. 53 2. 25 0. 7615 Job insecurity a 3–12 5. 25 1. 15 0. 3613 5. 90 1. 83 0. 5540 Age 15–82 33. 93 11. 59 – 34. 94 13. 93 – a Means for job insecurity (4 items): formal jobs: 6. 47 (SD 1. 44); informal jobs: 7. 44 (SD 2. 47). Table 2.Means of the subscales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of activity for the formal and informal jobs. (SD = skill discretion, DA = decision authority, DL = decision latitude, PD = psychological demand, PhyD = physical demand, JI = job insecurity) Sector SD DA DL PD PhyD JI Formal jobs Construction 31. 67 33. 84 65. 71 28. 67 12. 50 7. 00 Manufacturing 33. 09 31. 91 65. 07 31. 45 13. 45 6. 32 Commerce (retail activity) 32. 80 31. 54 64. 28 30. 47 12. 45 6. 23 Transportation 31. 78 29. 68 61. 33 29. 28 12. 74 6. 20 Education 35. 06 35. 33 70. 56 30. 02 11. 4 4. 87 General services 32. 13 32. 44 64. 79 30 . 11 12. 29 5. 44 Private household services 30. 47 29. 18 59. 65 29. 50 12. 13 5. 50 Informal jobs Construction 31. 40 32. 41 63. 95 30. 78 14. 30 9. 78 Manufacturing 33. 10 33. 25 66. 26 31. 03 12. 66 7. 61 Commerce (retail activity) 31. 40 35. 66 67. 13 30. 01 12. 36 7. 00 Transportation 30. 94 36. 25 67. 25 31. 03 13. 35 6. 38 Education 35. 28 34. 08 69. 36 29. 44 11. 71 6. 30 General Services 31. 94 34. 60 66. 64 29. 66 12. 50 7. 07 Private household services 29. 12 32. 12 61. 34 28. 98 12. 07 6. 58 56 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6Job content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil consistency with the theoretical model for the scales for supervisory support, coworker support, skill discretion, decision authority, and physical demand. The subscales related to psychological demand loaded on different factors. The subscale â€Å"conflicting demands† did not load on the psychological demand scale, as expected. For both the formal and informal jobs, it loaded on one separate factor (factor 8). For the skill discretion scale, the subscale â€Å"variety† loaded on the factor related to the psychological demand Table 4.Factor (F) analysis using the principal component extraction method and varimax rotation with the informal jobs. Scale Informal job (N=780) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretion Learn new things  ·  ·  · 0. 661  ·  ·  ·  · Repetitive work a  ·  ·  · 0. 480  ·  ·  ·  · Requires creativity  ·  ·  · 0. 587  ·  ·  ·  · High skill level  ·  ·  · 0. 644  ·  ·  ·  · Variety  ·  ·  · b 0. 502 Develop own abilities 0. 724  ·  ·  ·  · Decision authority Allows own decisions  ·  · 0. 809  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Little decision freedom a  ·  · 0. 822  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Opinions influential  ·  · 0. 690  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Psychological demand Work fast  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 430  ·  ·Work hard  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 479  ·  · Excessive work a  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 686  ·  · Insufficient time a  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 599  ·  · Conflicting demands a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 774 Social support Supervisor is concerned  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 760  ·  ·  · Supervisor pays attention  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 718  ·  ·  · Helpful supervisor  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 417  ·  ·  · Supervisor good organizer  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 774  ·  ·  · Coworker support Coworkers competent 0. 722  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworker interest in me 0. 710  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Friendly coworkers 0. 652  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworkers helpful 0. 714  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Physical demand Much physical effort  · 0. 706  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Lift heavy loads  · 0. 59  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Rapid physical activity  · 0. 756  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Awkward body position  · b  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 874  · Awkward arm–head p osition  · b  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 855  · Variance explained (after rotation) (%) 12. 3 10. 3 7. 39 7. 06 6. 17 4. 90 4. 23 3. 89 Total variance explained (%) 56. 3  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · a Item formulated in a negative direction; the score was reversed before the factor analysis. b Item loaded on a different factor. Table 3. Factor (F) analysis using the principal component extraction method and varimax rotation with the formal jobs. Scale Formal job (N=403) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretionLearn new things  ·  · 0. 639  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Repetitive work a  ·  · b –0. 481 Requires creativity  ·  · 0. 687  ·  ·  ·  ·  · High skill level  ·  · 0. 650  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Variety  · 0. 577 b  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Develop own abilities 0. 653  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Decision authority Allows own decisions  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 780 Little decision freedom a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 674 Opinions i nfluential  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 737 Psychological demand Work fast  · 0. 477  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Work hard  · 0. 687  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Excessive work a  · 0. 614  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Insufficient time a  · 0. 673  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Conflicting demands a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 802 Social support Supervisor is concerned 0. 16  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Supervisor pays attention 0. 674  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Helpful supervisor 0. 744  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Supervisor good organizer 0. 717  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworker support Coworkers competent  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 432  ·  ·  · Coworker interest in me  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 757  ·  ·  · Friendly coworkers  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 746  ·  ·  · Coworkers helpful  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 730  ·  ·  · Physical demand Much physical effort  ·  ·  · 0. 747  ·  ·  ·  · Lift heavy loads  ·  ·  · 0. 482  ·  ·  ·  · Rapid physical activity  ·  ·  · 0. 837  ·  ·  ·  · Awkward body position  ·  ·  · b  · 0. 891  ·  · Awkward arm–head position  ·  ·  · b  · 0. 881  ·  · Variance explained (after rotation)(%) 8. 43 8. 19 7. 1 7. 79 7. 54 6. 96 6. 37 4. 48 Total variance explained (%) 62. 4  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · a Item formulated in a negative direction; the score was reversed before the factor analysis. b Item loaded on a different factor. SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 57 de Araujo & Karasek scale, and it was not related to the scale for skill discretion, as expected. Physical demand loaded on two different factors, revealing two different types of physical workloads, type 1 including â€Å"much physical effort†, â€Å"lift heavy loads†, and â€Å"rapid physical activity† and type 2 including â€Å"awkward body position† and â€Å"awkward arm and head positions†.Capability of the job content questionnaire to identify different work situations as risks to mental health Relevant differences in the prevalence of psychological distress were observed according to the job strain quadrants. The high-strain quadrant had the highest psychological distress prevalence (table 5). Similar results were found for the formal and informal jobs. The low-strain situation had the lowest psychological distress prevalence. A difference was found in the quadrants of diagonal B (passive and active). In formal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher for the active job quadrant.For the informal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher in the passive job quadrant (1. 4 higher than in the low-strain situation). Discussion This is the first study to evaluate performance of the job content questionnaire by comparing formal and informal jobs in a developing country. Performance of the questionnaire was tested in a poor region of northeast Brazil, where general living conditions are precarious and the educational level is low; the worker’s qualification levels were, in general, very low. Despite the cultural nd economic differences from developed country contexts, the job content questionnaire has good global performance. Our means and standard deviations were similar to results from the job stress absenteeism and coronary heart disease European cooperative study (the JACE study) (9), including eight samples from five European countries. Some differences occurred as expected, such as higher means for physical demand and job insecurity in our study (formal and informal jobs) and higher decision latitude for the JACE study. It is notable that, for decision authority, the means for the informal jobs and the JACE study were similar.This similarity indicates a significant freedom for the workers to decide how to do their own work in informal jobs but also pointed out that, among these workers, the possibility to make decis ions was not combined with the use or development of skills. For example, in the sectors of commercial activity and transportation, the workers seemed to be free to decide how to do their work, but the same did not apply to the development of new skills and abilities. The means for decision authority were higher than the means for skill discretion in these sectors.Within these sectors, the proportion of people working on the streets was high, a fact that could partially explain this result In general, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients revealed a performance similar to that found with other large-sample studies, conducted in developed countries, even though they were slightly lower in our study. The estimated coefficients indicated acceptable levels of internal consistency for almost all of the scales of the job content questionnaire. The psychological demand scale, with five questions, showed poor internal consistency.The reliability was acceptable for the formal jobs but low for the informal jobs. This finding has been observed also in other studies. For example, in the JACE study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was relatively low for the men (Netherlands 0. 57, Canada–Quebec 0. 59, Japan 0. 61) and for the women (Netherlands 0. 51 and US–QES 0. 62). These results revealed a general imprecision of the job content questionnaire in measuring psychological demand. Karasek et al (9) have argued that different meanings of psychological demand by population groups could explain part of these results.These differences in meaning are related to the actual stage of area development. Until now, there has been no agreement about the exact meaning of psychological Table 5. Prevalence rates for psychological distress—the prevalence ratio (PR) and the respective confidence intervals (95% CI) according to the job strain model for formal and informal jobs adjusted for age, educational level, gender, social support, time in this position ( results from the multiple logistic regression analysis). Job strain model a Prevalence PR b 95% CI (%) Formal jobs Low strain (^ decision latitude v psychological demand) 11. 5 – –Passive job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 15. 5 1. 35 0. 64–2. 84 Active job (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 23. 8 2. 07 1. 05–4. 08 High strain (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 26. 7 2. 32 1. 18–4. 56 Informal jobs Low strain (^ decision latitude v psychological demand) 20. 0 – Passive job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 24. 5 1. 23 0. 91–1. 66 Active job (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 24. 1 1. 20 0. 90–1. 61 High strain (v decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 33. 1 1. 65 1. 26–2. 18 a Reference group: decision latitude and psychological demand. The delta method was used to convert odds ratios to prevalence ratios. 58 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Job content questionnaire in job s in Brazil demand in our social and cultural contexts. It remains an important question for future studies. In addition, to make this concept and correspondent scale more reliable, a clear distinction between â€Å"qualitative† and â€Å"quantitative† psychological demands has been proposed. Suggestions to include emotional demand as a job dimension has also been noted in the literature (21). High internal consistency was observed for decision authority among the formal and informal workers.The items used to evaluate the measure of worker opportunity to make decisions in both highly structured and unstructured settings performed well, as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha. It is important to note that, when these two job-control subscales are taken as a single scale—decision latitude—the reliability is acceptable for both formal and informal jobs. The subscales for coworker support and supervisory support showed the highest consistency with the demandà ¢â‚¬â€œcontrol model theory. The high consistency of these scales had been observed earlier in other studies of the validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire (14, 17) .The physical demand scale also showed good reliability for groups in formal and informal jobs. This scale has also been observed to perform well in other studies (9, 12). The factor analysis showed a structure that is consistent with the theoretical presumptions of the job strain model. Our study produced eight factors, almost all of them in an expected way. The scales for decision authority, supervisory support, coworker support, physical demand, and skill discretion were consistent with the proposed scales of the job content questionnaire, as observed in other studies (22).However, some findings of our study need to be more carefully analyzed. For example, aspects related to the physical demand scale loaded on two types of factors, showing that the job content questionnaire measured two different phy sical workloads. Although the questionnaire establishes only a scale for physical demand, Karasek & Theorell (23) assumed that two specific types of physical demand were involved in job tasks (physical exertion and physical isometric load). In fact, it is acceptable that the questionnaire includes at least two different kinds of physical demands, as observed in our study.Indeed, this result reinforces the ability of the questionnaire to measure and identify specific characteristics of the work environment. With this perspective, future improvements in the questionnaire should consider the evaluation of these two dimensions separately, instead of only one, as currently suggested. One item of the skill discretion scale was also critical. The subscale â€Å"variety† (â€Å"I get to do a variety of different things in my job†), in both the formal and informal groups, was more related to psychological demand aspects than to the skill discretion scale, as expected.The data s uggested that doing different things was not related to job enrichment in the studied population in Brazil. In fact, it represents an increase in workload. Moreover, translation difficulties could be considered a potential explanation for these specific results (cultural differences). One item related to psychological demand, â€Å"conflicting demands†, loaded on a separate factor for both the formal and informal jobs. It revealed a low correlation of this subscale with other subscales related to psychological demand, which duplicated rather precisely a problem found in studies in other countries (8, 9, 12) for this question.Our results also showed relevant problems with this subscale, reinforcing the hypothesis that changes in this item structure are needed to improve the performance of the psychological demand measurement. For the formal jobs, the item â€Å"repetitive work† did not load on the skill discretion factor, as expected. Similar results were found in studi es in other countries (7, 12, 24, 25). The low consistency of this item with the skill discretion subscale could be related to a nonnormal distribution of this aspect. Usually, repetitive work is much more frequent for the lowest skill (9) . The Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire howed a high capability to identify risk to mental health. As predicted by the control–demand model, work with high strain consistently has the highest negative effect on mental health for both formal and informal jobs, albeit more strongly for formal jobs. It supports an association between psychological distress and job strain, as pointed out in other studies on mental health (25). In conclusion, the validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire is good, and it is performed similarly among workers with formal or informal jobs in Brazil. Future research should address a detailed evaluation f the decision-latitude dimensions in informal jobs, esp ecially in relation to skill discretion, which performed regularly among informal workers and in new investigations of psychological demand indicators and their performance. Gender differences form another important aspect to be explored in future studies. Acknowledgments This study was funded by CAPES—Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil, and partially supported by grant D43TW005749, â€Å"Work and Health in Brazil and Mexico† from the John E Fogarty Internationl Center of the US National Institutes of Health.SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 59 de Araujo & Karasek References 1. Siqueira E. Depend convergence—the struggle to control petrochemical hazards in Brazil and the United States. New York (NY): Baywood; 2003. 2. Araujo TM, Aquino E, Menezes G, Santos CO, Aguiar L. Work psychosocial aspects and psychological distress among nurses Rev Saude Publica. 2003;37:424–33. 3. Alves MGM, Chor D, Faerstein E, Lopes CS, Werneck GL. Short version of the â€Å"Job Stress Scale: Portuguese-language adaptation. Rev Saude Publica. 2004;38:164–71. 4. Karasek R. Job demand, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign.Adm Sci Q. 1979;24:285–308. 5. Rick J, Briner RB, Daniels K, Perryman S, Guppy A. A critical review of psychological hazard measures. Sudbury (United Kingdom): HSE Books; 2001. Contract research report 356. 6. Karasek RA. Job Content Questionnaire and User’s Guide. Lowell (MA): University of Massachusetts; 1985. 7. Kawakami N, Kobayashi F, Araki S, Haratani T, Furui H. Assessment of job stress dimensions based on the job demands- control model of employees of telecommunication and electric power companies in Japan: reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire. Int J Behav Med. 995;2:358–75. 8. Kawakami N, Fujigaki Y. Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire: replication and ex tension in computer company employees. Ind Health. 1996;34:295–306. 9. Karasek RA, Kawakami N, Brisson C, Houtman I, Bongers P, Amick B. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): an instrument for internationally comparative assessment of psychosocial job characteristics. J Occup Health Psychol. 1998;3:322–55. 10. Brisson B, Blanchette C, Guimont C, Dion G, Moisan J, Vezina M. Reliability and validity of the French version of the 18-item Karasek Job Content Questionnaire.Work Stress. 1998;12:322–36. 11. Ostry AS, Marion SA, Demers PA, Hershler R, Kelly S, Teschke K, Hertzman C. Measuring psychosocial job strain with the Job Content Questionnaire using experienced job evaluators. American J Ind Med 2001; 39: 397–401. 12. Niedhammer I. Psychometric properties of the French version of the Karasek Job Content Questionnaire: a study of the scales of decision latitude, psychological demands, social support, and physical demands in the GAZEL cohort. Int Arch Occup En viron Health. 2002,75:129–44. 13. Landsbergis P, Schnall PL, Pickering TG, Schwartz JE.Validity and reliability of a work history questionnaire derived from the Job Content Questionnaire. J Occup Environ Med. 2002;44:1037–47. 14. Pelfrene E, Clays E, Moreau M, Mak R, Vlerick P, Kornitzer M, et al. The Job Content Questionnaire: methodological considerations and challenges for future research. Arch Public Health. 2003;61:53–74. 15. Ferrario M, Fornari C, Borchini R, Merluzzi F, Cesana G. Job stress in the service industry—evaluation of the Italian version of the Job Content Questionnaire. Med Lav. 2005;96:191–9. 16. Cedillo BL.Psychosocial risk factors among women workers in the maquiladora industry in Mexico. Lowell (MA): University of Massachusetts; 1999. 17. Cheng Y, Luh W-M, Guo Y-L. Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire in Taiwanese workers. Int J Behav Med. 2003;10:15–30. 18. Li J, Yang W, Liu O, Xu Z, Cho SI. Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese (mainland) version of the Job Content Questionnaire: a study in university hospitals. Ind Health. 2004;42:260–7. 19. Herdman M, Fox-Rushby J, Badia X. A model of equivalence in the cultural adaptation of he HRQol instruments: the universalist approach.Qual Life Res. 1998;7:323–35. 20. Kline P. An easy guide to factors analysis. London, New York (NY): Routledge: Taylor and Francis; 1994. 21. Soderfeldt B, Soderfeldt M, Jones K, O’Campo P, Muntaner C, Ohlson C, et al. Does organization matter? : a multilevel analysis of the Demand-Control Model applied to human services. Soc Sci Med. 1997,44:527–34. 22. Pelfrene E, Vlerick P, Mak RP, Smets P, Kornitzer M, Backer G. Scale reliability of the Karasek’ Job Demand-Control-Support model in the Belstress. Work Stress. 2001;15(4):297–313. 23. Karasek RA, Theorell T.Healthy work-stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. New Yor k (NY): Basic Books; 1990. 24. Schreurs PJG, Taris TW. Construct validity of the demand-control: a double cross-validation approach. Work Stress. 1998;12:66–84. 25. De Jonge J, Reuvers MM, Houtman I, Bongers PM, Kompier MAJ. A critical examination of the demand-control-support model from a work psychological perspective. Int J Stress Manag. 1977;4:235–58. 26. Van der Doef M, Maes S. The Job Demand-Control (-Support) Model and psychological well-being: a review of 20 years of empirical research. Work Stress. 1999;13:87–114.

An Abundance of Katherines

The search for you Innerself In the novel An Abundance of Katherines by John Green we find how the need for social acceptance may often alter ones true Identity. Everyone may have different personalities in different situations. Most people can actually forget there true self because of all their other personalities, It really all depends on the social group they'd like to belong to. I myself can connect to Lindsey in real life, Just like her I have a few sides to myself and they all come out at different times in my life, epending on where I'm trying to fit in.People change thereselves for the people they'd like to connect with. Lindsey has a special side to her she uses when shes around her boyfriend T. O. C. , another one she uses around the elderly, and the side she begins to remember when she's around Colin. The personality she uses when shes with T. O. C. is her made-up side that she decided to make to make him like her and also fit in with him. It was important for her to have a boyfriend at the time so she had to hide her true self and fake emotions because her and T. O. C. idn't have too much and common. She hated his manners and jokes but she liked that he didn't change himself for a single person and presumed to act the same In front of anyone he'd came across, that was something she wasn't capable of. The side Lindsey uses when she's around te elderly was the polite, innocent one. She always shows a great amount of respect for them and no matter how boring they may be she would let them tell her stories for hours and hours at a time. without interrupting them once. or getting annoyed. They all love her. they loved her whole family, and they wanted her to always stay young so she could visit them forever, and they can't believe how fast she's grown since theyh. ‘e known her. You can tell they made her realize that she wasn't being her true self when they made her cry after all the compliments they gave her. she faded away trom them though becau se she spent a lot ot time with her boyfriend and her friends but visiting them was still a passion of hers. The last personality we see Lindsey use in the book is the one Collin reminds her of.Out of everyone she knows he is the first one that made her feel her true self. She didn't have to act, or pretend to be anything she wasn't. Somehow her and Collin just understood eachother, and didn't have to be nervous, she didn't feel the need to try and Impress him either. Collin Just began to like her for who she really was Inside. â€Å"The people who have been In your secret places† said Collin. â€Å"The people who you bite youre thumb in front of† said Lindsey. (pg. 208). He helped her realize her true colors by accepting who she really was. There are three different sides to myself as well. e one I use most is the quiet me. When I'm in school I tend to keep to myself and stay quiet. I basically do it to give me an edge with teachers so that way if I'm ever borderline the teacher will like ‘ Of2 me ana give me a second cnance, or pass me, at least tnat's wnat I nope Tor, altnougn I never wish to be in that sitution. I also use this side of me when I do things like go to church. I'm silent there because that's the respectful thing to do as I've been taught by god and my parents. Another personality I use is my true personility, my social side.I'm an energetic, loud, fun, outgoing teenager and I plan on always being like that at acceptable times, like parties and hanging out with my buddies. There the ones that understand me the best and I can always have fun with them, and I know in the end my buddies are always here for me as I am for them. It's the best feeling in the world having friends who I can Just be myself around and not have to worry about being misjudged and what not. The last side of me is basically both put together. This personality comes to use when I'm with family and family friends.I m very close to them but there are certai n boundaries I have with them that I don't have with friends. Family may be friends but I still have to keep in mind that there the parents and they can give me boundaries and responsibilities. There Just two different relationships. I know deep down that I have found my true identity and I have a great balance in life. Finding who you are is honestly not hard it Just happens. The best thing to do is just surround yourself by people who make you feel yourself and accept you. Understand that people have different ways of expressing themselves as well.

Li & Fung Case Study

Li & Fung is an export trading company from Southern China that was founded back in 1906 by Fung Pak-Liu and his partner Li To-Ming. Li & Fung grew from a traditional export trading company to global supply chain management company it is today. After the passing of Liu, To-Ming decided to sell his shares. After both graduating from Harvard, Fung’s sons, Victor and William took over the company in 1974 and moved it to Hong Kong. The Fung brothers were both highly intelligent individuals. They used new ideas and innovation to turn the company into a more professionally managed firm that went public in 1992 (MacFarlan, 2005). Li & Fung manages the global supply chain for high volume and time sensitive consumer goods for large companies such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Avon, The Limited and Warner Brothers (MacFarlan, 2005). The company operates in 40 economies and employs over 20,000 people worldwide (MacFarlan, 2005). I think part of the success of the company was that the brothers worked so well together. They each had their own strengths. While Victor was more of the strategic thinker and thought long-term, William focused on the operations and making money. As the CEO of the Group’s e-commerce stated a combination of both thought leadership and execution, with the unique relationship between Victor and William cementing the entire organization Although the company was spread out with different offices around the world they provided a centralized IT, financial and administrative support out of their Hong Kong office. However they had a decentralized corporate structure so that they were easily able to keep up with the up and coming fashions because as we know the styles are constantly changing. Li & Fung also had a very competitive compensation package and had bonuses that were based on profits which was different than other companies that had more restrictions. Along with the internet revolution, Victor and William were fast to understand and adapt to the changes brought on by new technology. By 2000 the company wanted to extend its supply chain via the Internet. Prior to this the only thing that was done was through an internal Intranet. This did expedite the orders but only with the manufacturing plants since they were able to track their orders. It also helped increase the speed of the orders because they did not need to send someone a sample to inspect via regular mail. They were now able to view the item online and approve it. Two years later they launched extranet sites so they were linked to their key customers and were personalized to meet the customer’s needs. This helped streamline all communications since their customers were able to track the progress of their orders. The only issue was all of the software development was outsourced and was not handled by Li & Fung’s employees. Management was aware of the success the extranets were having and finally started to consider looking at their online options. When looking at their options they wanted to make sure that they were doing it from within the company and not outsourcing. Michael Hsieh, president of LF International Inc. had met with John Suh, CEO of Castling Group which was an Internet start-up company. Suh was someone that Li & Fung needed in order to successfully start up their online side of the business. The confusing part with this is it was going against what Li & Fung had said about not outsourcing and keeping it within the company. They wound up working with the Castling Group and bringing them on board as part of their management team. John Suh stepped down as CEO of Castling and became CEO of lifung. com (MacFarlan, 2005). All in all they hired about 20% of Castling Group employees so it was not as bad as it first seemed. The good thing with hiring this outside company is the experience that they bring to the table. Since it was a new team they focused on team building to build the trust within the team especially with how fast they needed this project to move. This helped the employees work well together to get this project done. I feel that what helped them move along was the trust they had with the companies they were already dealing with because they had proved to them that they were more than capable and also focused on value and loyalty. The company put their customers first. They still believed in the old-economy know how. Another thing that made them stand above some of the others is when Li & Fung started to focus on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This was decided after they did some market research. These smaller companies want the same options as the larger companies when ordering their products. Lifung. com allowed the smaller companies to at least get some options for customization unlike other online companies. Usually the smaller companies are not able to compete because they do not have the options to customize their product as much. By lifung. com being flexible and innovative it allowed them to reach even more businesses. In addition to focusing on SMEs, Li & Fung should focus on acquiring or merging with competing firms. The company should try to get into markets in developing countries such as India. It would also be beneficial for the company to try to break through into new products that are complementary to clothing such as footwear. Overall, the company been successful with its online company. They made the customization options easy for the customers. The customers were able to complete their orders twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. We all know how important it is for customers to have the flexibility and easy access to the internet as well as the ability to have access to orders at their convenience. Throughout its growth, the company stayed focused on the understanding of information systems and technology which enabled them to stay ahead of their competition.

Creole linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Creole linguistics - Essay Example Further studies shows that they have some aspects of their source grammar, however. Caribbean writer Kamau Brathwaite introduced the term creolisation and since then, both Caribbean and non Caribbean researchers have begun a quest for further studies. Rex Nettleford, Sidney Mintz and Sally Price are some of the persons who have made contributions. Creole has become field of study in linguistics and in the region as well. The definition of creole varies. Its meaning can range from language type to cultural and racial identification. To arrive at a basic definition one has to examine the historical nature. Many writers have theorized the origin of the term creole. Some claim that it is connected to Spanish and or Portuguese language while others trace it back to Africa. There exists a common pattern, however, in creolisation. Creole has also a racial and cultural connotation. In the nineteenth century creole could mean a white person born outside of Europe in the colonies. It could also refer to a Jamaican, or also a person of mixed race. There were also negative attitudes towards creoles. Some whites born in Europe believed the creoles to be inferior. On the other hand the creole blacks thought themselves superior to the newly arrived Africans. The creole population was soon to be identified by new culture and attitudes. Creoles were also identified by their adaptation to the new environment outside of Africa. Eventually creole became synonymous with nationalism. Theorists disagree on the definition of creole culture. Some theorists point to Voodoo and Rastafarian religions as elements of creolisation while others parallel the afro Caribbean culture on a whole with creolisation. In order to arrive at a compromise one has to examine certain principles. One of the main principles involves moving away from the search for origin and focusing instead on the available

General Linear Model Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

General Linear Model - Coursework Example The research question was "What factors seem to be related to whether or not a child is classified as SEN" This author hypothesised that the main factor related to whether or not a child is classified as SEN would be test scores (APS). A search of relevant scholarly literature found that other factors, particularly low social economic status, and cultural-linguistic factors has been shown to increase the proportion of students classified as SEN. The model used was a GLM log one. The two main variables from the hypothesis - APS and SEN - was completed in R 2.7.0 to model the expected relationship. Further analysis including charts and tables was done to examine the correlation between SES factors (such as being eligible for free school meals), and whether or not a child is classified as SEN. Additional work was completed to discover the relationship between whether or not a child is classified as SEN and socio-linguistic factors (Mother tonge and ethnicity). An important issue for this statistical analysis is understanding the variables and the effect of other factors (both available in the dataset and ones not contained within the dataset). Blindly plugging variables into a copied statistical model and performing an analysis based on those is of little to no practical or even theoretical use. The following two sections (2.1 and 2.2) provided some context and background research on factors affecting the mis-identification of students needing special education services. Such factors help explain why a correlation between one or more explainatory variables (i.e. test scores or school grades) and the response variable (in receipt of special education services) is not as strong as one would expect. 2.1 Low Achievement vs Learning Disabilities. One of the frequently occurring reasons why students are referred for special education services is for having a learning disability. "Learning disability (LD) is a condition characterized by the occurrence within an otherwise adequate level of intellectual functioning of one or more specific deficits in the cognitive processes that undergird learning." (Blair, C. And K. G. Scott, 2002). The diagnosis of having a learning disability has increased in the past few decades. In the United States the rate of identification and placement in special education services, has doubled between 1982 and 2002 (Lewit & Baker, 1996).Much of this increase can be attributed to the increased awareness and acceptance of this invisible disability as a real special need requiring special education services. (Formally, students were told "If only you'd apply yourself and try harder."). However, as mentioned above some of the increase in referral and identification is likely due to other, non-LD factors cau sing a mis-identification. Statistical analysis published in 2002 by Clancy Blair and Keith G. Scott "indicated that 30% of LD placements among boys and 39% of LD placements among girls were attributable to what can be considered low-SES markers." This section discusses the situation where low achievement (LA) from resulting from low social economic status (SES), results in students being misidentified as having a learning

Answer essay question Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer question - Essay Example Loving one’s self is inherent in most people. It is a human tendency to always look out for oneself and be self-centered in terms of gaining advantages and avoiding negative consequences. However, the bible commands to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. This means that individuals should look out for each other the way they look out for their own selves. Husbands, should love their wives the way they love their own selves, and even put their welfare over their own. The New Testament advocates for mutual submission and mutual service among married couples Implying that one is not in a position higher than the other and are equal in all ways. However, traditional gender roles of men and women indicate that men are more superior than women and women should bow to their husbands’ wishes. Men go out to seek livelihood to sustain the family while women stay home to care for the home and render service to their husbands and children. In contemporary times, gender roles are shifting to be more equitable for both genders, as women are now more empowered to assert themselves as capable of doing men’s roles and doing even men’s jobs. Due to these changes, there is an going battle between keeping traditional roles or adopting more modern gender roles, and in both, it loses the biblical essence of mutual submission and service. Lawler depicts human marriage as one based on a strong foundation of loyalty, service and obedience to one’s spouse and not only based on deep affection for him or her. It goes deeper than mere emotions towards another human being, and goes on to enact the love by serving the other and being steadfastly faithful. One should emulate how Christ loves his Church or people, as he not only serves them but has an unwavering faithfulness for them. The New Testament teaches that love in a Christian marriage entails fidelity and faithfulness to each other. It should be exclusive and permanent, therefore, indissoluble. This implies that

Systems Thinking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Systems Thinking - Assignment Example Alman (2011) noted that â€Å"systems thinking have been described as an approach to problem-solving where "problems" are viewed as symptoms of an underlying system.† This means that in the context of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, applying systems thinking would mean that the hospital will focus on finding underlining causes of problems so that treating symptoms alone will not create a situation of problems reoccurring time and over again (Meadows, 2008). There are a number of ways in which the hospital has applied this key principle of systems thinking. First, the hospital has as part of its three main goals, the need to emphasis on research and teaching. Meanwhile, researching in pediatric care entails practices that bring system builders closer to the need to always dig beyond problems that are seen on the surface. Instead, they dig very deep to ensure that causes of problems that are seen on the surface are addressed from its root cause. Another important principl e of systems thinking is the fact that it incorporates the role that all stakeholders have to play in the solution of a given problem. This is also something that has been in practice at the hospital since 1994 when the management of the hospital decided to undertake a dramatic shift from the way it went about its business to focus on improvement of the hospital’s delivery system. Once systems thinking has been adequately applied at the hospital, there are several values that the leadership of the hospital will derive.

Analysis of Dunkin Donuts Company Research Paper - 1

Analysis of Dunkin Donuts Company - Research Paper Example The franchise system acted as a profitable cooperate management strategy for the company mainly due to benefits gained from the independent restaurants (Whetten and Cameron, 2011). The franchise system has remained operational since 1950 in all Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants and it encompasses small and large business associates. However, the franchise system has faced several complaints and court issues. Franchise systems that have existed in Dunkin’ Donuts Company have benefited various foreign business people in the United States. Most of the individuals in franchise system operational under Dunkin’ Donuts network consist of Asians. It is essential to note that nearly 90 percent of all newly established Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants results from the company’s franchisees (Sniegowski, 2014). Most importantly, the growth of Dunkin’ Donuts company remains attributed to the hardworking and determined entrepreneurs that have heavily invested in company restaurant chain. Despite the immeasurable success that the company has realized from its franchise system, various problems have arisen. Dunkin’ Donuts Company plans to out-compete Starbucks, its closest revival in restaurant service by establishing new stores through the United States. However, the fundamental problem remains that Dunkin’ Donuts depends on its franchisee to establish new restaurants. Consequently, the company has decided to form a corporate strategy that would foster its growth with an aim of being at a competitive advantage in the market. According to Gluck, 2008 the company’s adopted cooperate strategy involves eliminating single-store owners while constituting multiunit franchisees that have the potential of fast growth. The cooperate strategy has resulted in various court cases between the company and its franchisees. Apparently, the cooperate strategy aimed at fast expansion favors only the multiunit chain stores.  Ã‚  

AIDS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AIDS - Essay Example This essay would further point out the issue of ethics for the research that took place. The children included in the study of AIDS should not have been taken as subjects because it was unjust for them. These children were under the care of foster parents and no real parents would have allowed the research to take place on them considering the side effects of the drugs. Their rights were violated by the medical institutes because they did not appoint an advocate for the whole process. In a research like this it is necessary that a neutral advocate is kept in between so that he can watch over the children and find out if anything wrong goes around. Foster children were chosen as the subjects of the research although these children are not mature enough to decide about their good and bad. Children should never be asked for permission in this matter and the state should have taken up the matter to not allow the research on these children. The family of the children was informed about th e process and side effects that the drug may have on the children. The medical institutes also provided a helpline number along with the possible problems that the child may have to face to the family.

The World Film joural Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The World Film joural - Essay Example The film’s characters  exist  in  reality  making it more  real  and  intense; in fact, some of the cast resided in Rio de Janeiro at the time of shooting this film. City of God focuses on the tagline that if one chooses to  run,  the  beast  catches up with  them and, if they choose to  stay, the  beast  eats them. This is a moral dilemma which faces the characters in the film, who have to  choose  to either leave the crime-infested suburb or stay put and become affected by the organized crime. The film has received much acclaim on different aspects ranging from receiving four Academy Award nominations, the best writing (adaptation), directing, editing and cinematography. The film opens by chickens  being prepared  for a meal, but one of the chickens manages to escape and  is chased  by a  gang  member who meet Rocket, a  youth  who seems to  believe  that the gang is out to kill him. The film’s  excellent  cine matography comes out when the chicken halts between the Rocket and the armed gang member showing the  confusion  being witnessed  in the area by most young persons, unsure of which side to  follow; either the  bunch  of criminals or the  ordinary  person. Suddenly, we  are taken  back to Rocket’s childhood days where he is playing  soccer; here, we learn how the City of God  was established  in the late 1960s. ... This, in turn, endears the trio to the citizens, who  protect  the  former  and some young men even  idolize  them as heroes and saviors of the community. However, such idolization has detrimental effects for some of the boys in the City of God as seen through Li’l Dice, who manages to talk his counterparts into raiding a motel and robbing its occupants off their valuables. Being too young, Li’l Dice  is tasked  to serve as a lookout for the police, a move that angers Li’l Dice, who subsequently uses his issued gun to kill all the motel occupants. In the City of God, induction into the life of crime and gangs takes place at a tender age as evident through Li’l Dice  being given  a gun to  warn  his  crew  of police’ arrival. The law enforcement agencies  are brought  into the limelight upon the occurrence of the motel massacre. In the story, the police have a laid back attitude towards  criminal  gangs, choosing t o wait until a crime as grave as the massacre occurs before they  act  ((Lins and Entrekin, p. 113). Cohesion among members of criminal gangs is minimal as they  turn  against one another upon the slightest provocation. Li’l Dice, who appears to have enjoyed the act of killing, shots down his friend Goose after stealing from him. The film leaps forward into the 1970s where we note that Rocket has since joined a group of  youthful  hippies, the â€Å"Groovies†, who take part in smoking marijuana. Rocket’s  infatuation  with a girl draws him further towards his interest in photography.  However, his efforts of getting closer to the girl  are squashed  by â€Å"the Runts†, a group of young trouble seekers under the leadership of Li’l Dice who now refers to himself as Li’l Ze. Li’l Dice’s  evolution  into a drug king results in his wanton

A PROBLEM IN LAND-USE PLANNING ABOUT THE STRIP MINING AND Term Paper

A PROBLEM IN LAND-USE PLANNING ABOUT THE STRIP MINING AND POWER-RELATED USE OF LIGNITE - Term Paper Example With the potential of generating acidic waters, because of exposure to oxidizing atmospheric conditions, it is therefore understandable on the part of environmentalists being cautious. In addition, is the ever-present nature of human health impacts and effects; especially based on their sources of drinking water. It is generally pre-supposed that aquifers and other water systems are inter-connected. Hence, in the case of such mining activities, there is a potential of such delicate systems being polluted. Drinking water (for human consumption as well as animal feeding) would be impacted upon. In addition would be the greater negative effect on the pre-present bio-diversity; affecting negatively on the existing flora and fauna. Air pollution would also be present, especially from the dust spewed and waste materials exposed in such mining processes. Fundamentally so is the fact that while reclamation is possible, it is the long-duration of time that is of concern; further worsened by t he fact that such land is never as fertile and productive as before the mining process itself. Great reasoning is essential before making such a decision that is likely to influence a greater population, as well as surrounding environmental eco-systems. Lignite, as a mineral resource, is also referred to as brown coal, a soft brown sedimentary rock which being combustible, is naturally formed from peat, which has undergone gradual compression. While considered the lowest in rank amongst the fossil fuel types because of its somewhat low heat content, it continues to enjoy considerable attention given the various regional areas in which it is mined. Mined in Europe and North America, as well as Australia and India, as Ghassemi (2001) portrays, lignite is exclusively utilized as a fossil fuel especially in various steam-electric power

Problem of assessment and analysis Essay Example for Free

Problem of assessment and analysis Essay In many countries there are gender differences and inequality among boys and girls. High self-esteem and low self-esteem continue to prevail in schools, colleges, communities and societies. Most of the places that carry gender differences are employment offices wherein most educated, intelligent and dynamic young professionals high moral and self-esteem standards in gender differences. This has become a natural self-concept and is not taught in a school classroom or by the inclusion of a subject on gender differences in educational curriculum. The problem of assessment and analysis of various countries adolescents in terms of gender differences and nature of self-concept is compared from one country to another. Whether in this era of globalisation, the cultural and gender differences continue to persist among young people as in the past or is there going to be any change in the mindset of young boys and girls. Multinational companies, global operations and global culture and environment have facilitated many young professionals to work in a diversified environment in which there is no sign of gender differences except to the fact that female employees are considered for maternity leave and to seek assistance for nursery care. However, in many parts of the world, inspite of tremendous potential of technology development, the basic of gender differences continue to exist in terms of superiority of masculine over feminine and this is by and large is acceptable with the fact that, men are more powerful and hard working than women in any part of the world, whether it is in United States, Japan, Europe, UK or Asia. Researchers have made an indepth research on the concept of gender and on the concept of self. 2. Literature Review Josephs et al (1992) researched that men are more individualistic than women and carry high self-esteem in every aspect and in terms of gaining respect and dignity is also greater than women. This describes that the outlook of men towards society and life is much different from what women search for in life. Men are considered as more superior for all good purposes than men. Kashima et al (1995) in an article conducted a research on gender and self from the view of collectivism and individualism on 1000 psychology students from 5 cultures. 2 collectivists from Korea and Japan, 1 from Hawaii, and 2 individualists from Australia 2 from Mainland USA. All the participants concluded that gender differences and self-concept are basically dependent on the emotional level and dependence. Cultural differences are also due to the response from respondents and those acting as independent agents. There was also another research conducted on gender differences that may not be same in various countries and there were two investigations conducted on this aspect. The first investigation based on the self-concept of 609 middle class adults from Lithuania, Hong Kong, USA (Watkins Yau, et al.. 1997) It was found that within the country, self-components were much smaller than between-country effects. The second investigation was conducted on 1580 social science undergraduates from 8 countries represented by 4 individuals, 5 collectivist cultures (Watkins Adait, et al 1996) and it was found that collectivism and individualism is not sufficient for explaining cultural differences in self-concept. Exploration of self-concept has been performed by TST as a powerful tool for assessment of cultural differences in the nature of self-concept. The Adult Sources of Self-esteem Inventory (ASSEI; Elovson Fleming, 1989) was designed to meet this function and this instrument contains two sections with 20 identical items. The first section describes subjects to identify as to how important each item is for self-esteem and the second section is about rating of self-satisfaction in various aspects. Markins Kitayama 1991 has aruged that in a cross cultural setting self-esteem is more appropriately seen in items of self-satisfaction instead of self-enhancement. 3. Research Design Importance of self and self satisfaction with 20 possible sources of self-esteem was collected from countries which were both western and non-western. By conducting varimax factor analysis, the results of average male and female values of each country are obtained from factor scores. This is called as ecological factor analysis. These factors are further used to examine correlations with another country level data such as in economic indicators and cultural indices (Hofstede’s 1983) Further Hofstede 1990; Chinese cultural connection 1987 it was argud that cultural instead of individual analysis is the most preferred factor for examining the differences among cultures. The overall saitsfaction for Turkish students was coefficient alpha of . 97 with internal consistency with ASSEI measurement. Further for US sample, the median test-retest reliabilities over a 2 week period indicated . 69 and . 67 respectively (Davis-Zinner, 1990) With the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) the ASSEI total satisfaction score in this research as . 37 and . 52. Social desirability was measured by the marlowe-crowne scale and had only minor influences on ASSEI satisfaction scores. The respective correlatios were . 28 and . 23. Cross cultural study validity evidence was performed on 139 Turkish undergraduate students (Inelman, 1996) and found that the coorelation was . 65 and . 55 between ASSEI unweight and unweighted satisfaction scores. General esteem as per Coopersmith self-esteem inventory from Swedish study (Watkins, Yau, Dahlin and Wondimu, 1997) which revealed a coorelation of . 45 with self-esteem as assessed by the TST. Factor scores were used in Individualism-Collectivitism by Gender Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and to correlate with culture level data such as Gross National Product (GNP) and Hofstede’s indices were available. 4. Realiability and Validity ASSEI is a 20 item inventory that requested each respondent to rate either on 1 for very low and 10 for very high rating scale for the importance on self on gender basis and gender satisfaction with different aspects of person’s self-concept in terms of physical, social, ethical, familial and intellectual. For the facility of non-western nation citzens, each item was translated into the local language by teams of bilingual social scientists by using the approved transation method (Brislin 1986) whereas for Nepal as the English was spoken language, reliability and rating was much easier. The total participants for the research study were 3604 in total and the participants were mostly undergraduate psychology and educational courses pursuing students. All the students were studying in reputed universities in urban areas including South Africa. The participants were from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U. S. A, White South Africans, and 10 samples from China, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Phillippines, Zimbabwe, and Black Africans according to study of Hofstede 1983. Appendices and collected survey and data revealed that most of the males and females were leading satisfactory relationships with families, appropriate discharge and delegation of responsibilities and were honest in relationships whereas in terms of earning capacity there was less satisfaction and particularly, south African males and females were leading low satisfactory lives in terms of self-esteem. 5. Statistical analysis Table 1 explains about Ecological Factor Analysis of Standardized Country Means of ASSEI importance which is based on the 4 factor analysis (Cattell, 1966) The four factor solution is categorized into Factor 1 – Intellectual achievements which is rated as 23. 6%, Factor II – Family values and personal success which is rated as 19. 1%, Factor III – Intelligence vs Group morality which is rated as 12. 1% and Factor IV – Social relationships vs physical abilities which is rated as 10. 3%. Table 2 details about factor scores on 4 ASSEI importance factors for 15 country Groups by gender which is based on Individual Collectivism x Gender ANOVAs. Satisfaction levels in family relationships, morality levels, personal satisfaction, cultural, physical appearance social relationships and group living styles were some of the factors that were included in the table. Table 3 details about Means of culture, Means for combined Individualist and Collectivist. Culture by gender for importance and satisfaction factor scores. Table 4 is the summary statistics from Individualist/Collectivist x gender analysis of variance of importance and satisfaction factor scores. Table 5. correlates of importance and satisfaction factor scores with cultural dimensions and Gross National Product (GNP) 6. Conclusion The ecological research conducted on 3604 undergraduate students proved to be very useful for findings on gender differences and nature of self-concept. It was revealed at various levels through factors that there is an overall satisfaction in family relationships and society relationships apart from physical appearance and cultural life style. Females are more careful in family relationships than males. The research and findings of Bond (1994), Schwartz (1994), Joseph (1992), Watkins Adair, (1996), Trompenaars and Williams (1995) were proved to be very beneficial in this research. The critical study on gender differences along with nature of concept is a very crucial study of human relationships particularly when it is researched on 14 countries wherein different cultures and traditions, languages are involved, this study result is absolutely benefitting and also stands as an example for further analysis of Individualism and collectivism. References Judith A. Howard Gendered situations, gendered selves Accessed 7 April 2009 http://books. google. co. in/books? id=vn345QTs6t4Cpg=PA73lpg=PA73dq=gender+and+nature+of+self-conceptsource=blots=uZGIycRv8fsig=O1gfY3ivjR9o9aC93njWvZ9qjowhl=enei=O8TZSfKNLqjo6gPjieiECwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4 Marieke K. de Mooij Global marketing and advertising Accessed 7 April 2009 http://books. google. co. in/books? id=SlRlGVYRBWcCpg=PA131lpg=PA131dq=gender+and+nature+of+self-concept+fourteen+countries+studysource=blots=xPKkCymhWBsig=DhVFdAO9fGvXrfXpX5ZOm3hSfqchl=enei=Y8TZSaDDE8mBkQXByZC9CQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=8 Susan S. Klein, Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity Through Education Accessed 7 April 2009 http://books. google. co. in/books? id=y0OCnSMf-foCpg=PA288lpg=PA288dq=gender+and+nature+of+self-concept+fourteen+countries+studysource=blots=RMQ2qSaVBxsig=RRJdn9sz-MEb09URNeHIEcwXp2Uhl=enei=Y8TZSaDDE8mBkQXByZC9CQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5

Differences Between Good And Bad Leaders

Differences Between Good And Bad Leaders A leader is a person from a group of people who is prominent because of his/her skills and personality and these qualities of make others follow him. Great leaders are visionary as they can predict about the future changes in accordance to that particular goal or objective. A major sign of a leader is that he/she has ability and skills of motivating a group of people to achieve a common goal. In business the leaders have the same job to perform. They have to interlink companys goals by merging the peoples wishes because a group of people cannot achieve anything unless or until they have a common objective. In order to fulfill those objectives they would be requiring someone to motivate them and boost their energy level. A common direction has to be set by the leader for other to follow. He has to be organized and provide justice to his employees. Even organizations/companies are likely to fall apart in seek of its goals or objectives without a sufficient help of a leader. Infect role of a leader is one of the most important roles in the organization. He bears heavy responsibility to keep the company on track in terms of its objectives. Employees of certain level always want to follow someones footsteps in order to achieve their goals. A great leader can provide them this opportunity by setting an example by him. A good visionary leader can be very beneficial for the company as he/she can warn the company for upcoming hazards. He can also build a strategy against the upcoming challenges since he has sensed them ahead of time. It would allow company to have enough time to rethink on the strategy and prepare them for the hard times. If we refer to the previous history of the World, we will see the examples of a few of Good Leaders and a lot of Bad Leaders. A few Good Leaders because we are declining rapidly to over fall due to our overall Human Behavior in the Society and we do not have such qualities to deliver Good Leader to in abundant, to the World A lot of bad Leaders because greed of men and low tolerance with others in this rapidly falling Society in our overall Human Behavior is bound to produce Bad Leaders. But still we are manage to produce one or two or may be dozen good Leaders in the last century. Lets see why they were good leaders and why millions of us followed them in terms of their exceptional Leadership qualities Effective Leader A good leader is a person who has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good leader walks the talk and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads. Like the Prophets, they were a true symbol of exemplary character. Life before the claim was neat and spotless because they spend their lives according to the rules of purity, honesty and Truthfulness. Moreover Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose. Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a cool head and in the times when nations pass through difficult hours, these exceptional leadership qualities helps the nation pass that difficult time with great courage, steadfastness calmness. There are three main things that make a good leader. The first is that a leader must practice what he preaches. The second is that he has to look after and protect those around him. The third is that he must be able to develop other good leaders. I will go into more detail about how to implement all three of these characteristics, so that you too can become a good leader. A good leader is excellent at practicing what he preaches. I love the quote that states, Your actions speak so loud that I cant hear what you are saying. The greatest leader of all time was Jesus Christ and he was the best at practicing what he preached. This goes back to the old proverb that says, Live by the sword, die by the sword. This is the same with leadership and how much a leader abides by what he says. As a good leader, how can you expect people do what you say, when you dont even do what you say? Personal example My personal example for good leader is my Dad. He owns a hardware store in Toronto and I had learned a lot from him. He is always very organized, patience and a good example for me. He is open hearted in its action and always response in kind to difficult situation. He is very reasonable for his employees and this why I learned a lot from him Poor Leader This society has been very generous in producing bad leaders in abundant if we see the examples of our current political so called leader. Their negative approach to pass through the time of crises and their destructive thinking has brought this world at the brink of destruction. It is with their blessings that we as in a state of war for the last Hundred years. At this point, there rise a lot of questions that why they become bad leaders and why they have brought us at the state of War. Here are a few point which can solve all our questions that come into our vary minds. Very much the opposite of a good Leader, a bad leader is a person who does not possess the quality and guts to grab the hand of his nation in the time crises. And bad leaders do not have such vision and qualities to take the nation through difficult times because they lack in their innovative and analytical thinking to solve the problem their nation face at the time of crises. They spend their kingly life as they do not care about the needs and problem of their nation. At the times when a nation falls due to economic crises, they do not lower their standards of daily life and they do not care about the nation. A bad leader does not share the bad time with his nation and he continues to live comfortable life. Nothing makes him special, because he is not known for his virtues and good abilities. He is always known as a notorious person who does not care for the Needs of his nation. Unfortunately for us all, bad leaders occupy positions of power in business and government. There are seven major traits of bad leader. And leaders fully loaded with such traits can make the life of their nation a living Hell and these traits with little definitions are as follows:- Incompetent Leaders: Someone who is not competent to take effective action. Rigid Leaders: The leader and at least some followers are stiff and unyielding Intemperate Leaders: The leaders who cannot stand the theology of his neighbor and want to impose his own thoughts by force. Callous Leaders: A callous Leader is the one who is indifferent to the suffering of others. Corrupt Leaders: Leaders who misuse the power and position and utilize the resources and wealth in his possession in an ugly manner. Insular Leaders: The Insular Leaders do not have knowledge and awareness of his surroundings. He is unaware of the happenings around the world. Like he is living in the cave for centuries. Evil Leaders: Evil Leaders use their thinking in an Evil manner; they possess destructive thinking, and utilize the powers and resources in criminal activities. Personal example Bad leader was my boss Mr Anthoney. He was very lazy. He use to steal pizzas from work place and thats what created a bad example for rest of employees and this also cost company too much money even he wasnt a good example for a company because he never thinks about the whole team or a company he just think about himself. Who is the best leader from articles and why? I would like to choose Mr. Jim Goodnight as the best CEO through all the articles we studied because he was a great leader with great vision for the company. His strategies were extremely positive and influential for employees. He wanted to create an environment where employees would like to work and be more productive for the company. He was very motivated and supportive to his employees. According to him When I joined SAS, I wanted to be in and help grow a company that was as much fun for the employees as it was for the ownership (Pfeffer 1998) and this is the perfect example of great CEO. He wanted to make SAS instuite a perfect place to work. He uses to believe in intrinsic motivation of employees. He treats his employees with respect because he knew that they are the future of the company. Even for his employees he introduced so many benefits such as provided onsite medical facility for employees so they dont have to go and search for doctors. Even doctor fee was covered till fi rst dollar by the company or onsite child care centre for employee children so they can see them during their lunch breaks. Even junior high school onsite so they can drop of their children to work easily. Theses all facilities were very essential because beside them he also provided onsite gym and many other facilities. For employees it was more like fun place to work they use to bring their family during weekends to SAS ground for BBQ and stuff. Even he uses to motivate his employees. He wanted them to work at their best and this is why SAS employees turnover rate was lower than 4%. He wanted to create more convenient work environment for employees such he eliminated commission based culture for SAS because he wanted his employees to be more customer oriented then just making numbers. This is he inspired me so much. There were many other good leaders as well such as Jack Welch from General Electric who introduces strategies to eliminated bureaucratic strategies to make his employe es more productive or Wolfgang Schmitt from Rubber Maid article who created an positive structure so company and be more efficient but they all worked majorly to increased the revenue of the company and solely My Jim Goodnight was the one who worked for his employees. What changes was he able to affect at GE? Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric for almost two decades. In 1981 when he came on board the company was struggling through many issues but with his calm and steady nature he was able to save General Electric and uphold it to the position where the company is at now. He was one of the great leaders like Charli Eitel at Simmons Corporation, a leader who supports his company and adopts strategies to save company from any difficult situation. He adopted many strategies to bring change as General Electric. Structural Changes His focus was to come up with strategies to save the company and the best strategies he can adopt was first changing the organizational structure. There were about 10 groups of sub companies with 46 divisions, and 190 departments with 43 strategic business units. This structure was creating massive work load for Welch therefore he decided to introduce more effective structure like Rubber Maid company did in 1980s. He removed barriers between CEO and business by eliminating Sector position from SBU Structure. According to him there should be more direct communication between corporate executives and business. He didnt want to create a huge distance between management and employees unlike Nut Island where employers had no connection with employees. Welch wanted to eliminate all the sectors so he can be more close to the business. Cultural Changes Cultural changes were the second most import changes what Welch bought in General Electric. He tried to introduce cultural change where there was more freedom for employees so they can express their opinion and be more productive for the company. Therefore the first thing he did was eliminated bureaucracy in the organization. He wanted to create flexible rules for employees like SAS Institute had for their employees. Their employees were working in an open environment where every employee is allowed to make a suggestions and management will value their opinion. Even according to Welch he wanted to create a culture of a small company a place where all felt engaged and everyone had voice (Levy, Wonzy, 2005). This was a positive approach to the benefit the company for long term. HOW did he make those changes? Welch made numerous changes once he came to a board to work for General Electric. First 1981 to next five years he worked on organizing the organizational structure and for that he lay off almost half of the companys employees because he wanted to cut the size of employees so he can give company a proper direction. Due to his extensive employee lay off magazine names him a Neutron Jack, (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) which means that wherever he goes his employees were vanished from there in a large quantity. After being done with creating a proper structure he started to work on development of the company. Establishing a sense of importance He developed sense of urgencys for employees. Make them realize that this is the requirement of business and without them they wont be able to survive in the business. Such their first priority is restructuring of General Electric. He wanted his each business to be the number 1 competitor in industry or if they cant make it then they will sell that business. Forming effective leadership team: In late 1980s during the second stage of the Rocket, Welch convinced his employees to become better leader so they can be productive for the company. He initiated `Software called Work-Out and Best Practices. Work out: It was introducing a forum so employees and employers can input their opinion in that website so they can avoid unusual bureaucratic issues. Welch invited managers and employees into New England town meetings for three days where employees from can come up with particular analyses and recommendations regarding their department and then their bosses have to make instant responses. This process was introduce to clean up General Electric and, to make workers more productive by avoiding unusual bureaucratic style. Regarding his this approach Bloomberg article mentioned that Jack put his time and energy into developing people (Levy, Wonzy, 2005). Best practice: This was his second method of learning from other companies so General Electric managers can learn how to achieving higher productivity growth. He wanted to create an environment of small collaborative teams so that employers can focus on developing effective strategies rather than controlling individual activity. Besides they can also focus on treating suppliers as partner so they both can perform well also emphasize on constant development to increase their productivity. These two were important steps to overcome the existing bureaucratic style and adopt new productive ways to be successful in a business. Create a vision of what the organization will become Welch changed a company structure and culture by going global. He introduced how global market can influence the culture. Going Global: Going global was a major decision that took place in era of Welch because once they had solid base at home they really moved forwarded into competing with world market. This was changing of culture and adapting of new market structure. They decided to use same strategies for international market as they used for local such as either #1 or #2 competitor or disengaged. Developing Leadership: Leadership also had a huge influence on cultural structure of a company. He is the one who had to lead the company along with 290,000 employees. It is his job to maintain the smooth transitions at work. Usually Leaders working in a huge corporation does really work hard because it comes with a job security of lifetime. This is why its their duty to create an environment where people can perform their best. According to Welch leadership can be characterized in 4 ways, first who perform their duties- fulfill financial obligations and share values of the company. Second who does not fulfill their duties and does not share our values. Third who forget about commitments but does share values of a company. Fourth who does fulfill their duties, give significant profit to the company but never share values and they are the most difficult one but since they do perform very well its hard to find them. They also work on 360Â ° feedback process from employees and accordin g to Welch people are removed for having the wrong values, (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) he insisted. We dont even talk about the numbers. (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) He explains what he is looking for is productive managers not people who just value numbers. Creating a vision Boundary less Behavior: According to Welch he wanted to create a vision for the company a vision that state in the 1990s: The Third Wave of General Electric. Over here he initiated a boundary less behavior vision for his employees. He wanted to introduce open, anti-parochial environment. (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) This is basically having an open environment where every employee without regards to their salary or position can share their ideas. They want to be comfortable doing business all over the world such as they explained in the article. They want to be as comfortable doing business in Budapest as they do in Louisville USA. Stretch: This is basically striving to achieve impossible. Over here manager are liable to set higher and unrealistic goals for their department and then try to achieve them. If they fail to react they wont be accountable for it although if they meet that extra ordinary goal then they will be rewarded. Service Businesses: Welch really prioritizes this issue in 1980,s he showed interest in service related companies. Before that they were the last priority of the company. Once he showed some interest and invested money in it they came up with the software called In Site for CT scanners and MRI equipment. It was basically a sensor installed in those equipments so they can maintain the service standard of that product. This whole investment on GE turned the whole pyramid upside down. Empower other to take action This process is to communicate and improve the vision on the company so they can make it a better place to work and this procedure started in the last decade of Welch employment. Six Sigma Strategies: This strategy was used to empower employees so they can work up the standards of the company. This happened in 1994 when employees were facing problems due to poor quality of its products and processes so Welch introduced this strategy from Motorola Corporation. It was a performance scale which is used to eliminate the unnecessary actions from the working process. According to Grey Rainer, Vice president of Development process this happened to be (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) the biggest opportunity for growth, increased profitability, and individual employee satisfaction in the history of our company. (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) It was a well developed plan which helped General electric in eliminating operating at error of rates 10,000 times the 6 Sigma level. Inspire and celebrate small wins Once the company performing better and according to the requirement of Welch, he was pleased to see their performance and felt that he had assembled a first class of leaders. Keep interest and effort on further improvement This effort was for the continuous improvement of the company because he still wanted to progress more because he wanted to set standards for future employees and the employees who dont meet the standards so far. He introduced a scale for them a term called A player with 4 Es. According to him a player is someone who had a great vision of leadership, great energy to motivate employee and implement strategies and courage to change the culture. Four Es Four Es consist the following: Energy: Encourage new ideas and apply strategy to implement them Energize: Motivate others by his overwhelming enthusiasm to believe in new idea. Edge: it is basically making through all the difficulties Execution: it is a consistent ability to turn idea into results. Institutionalize changes; reduce leader dependencies As he was leaving the organization he made the final changes. Before leaving he introduced the e-business so that company can adopt this new business technology as well. This was his finally effort to change the culture because he believes in continuity and he knew it takes a decade to make any new strategy actually work. Was he successful or unsuccessful (or both) at making these changes-and why do you say that He was extremely successful in changing the organizational culture and structure of General Electric because he gave the company a whole new direction to work on. The company generated 23% annual profit and this shows he was a great leader. Changes he made for the company shows he was successful in making and implementing all his goals and strategies which he promised a decade ago with his employees. How did Welch change and leverage culture at GE to achieve his objectives while CEO? He introduced new cultures which eliminated the bureaucracy from the system so employees can work accordingly. He introduced Workout and Best Practice strategies so he can eliminate the distances between management and employers. This gave employees opportunity to argue on any fact especially if they can make any difference and this action saved millions of dollars of the company. He really supported his employees SAS Institute where he tried his best to come up with strategies to make the company more pleasant place to work. He even created a broader vision for a company by going global this way he gave his employees opportunity to compete with other nations and make work more challenging for them. Then he enforced his employees in developing appropriate leadership skills to be successful in business environment. It was his job to create a positive vision for the company and that is what he did. He worked all by his honesty and integrity to save the company by changing organizationa l culture and structure. He even introduce a Boundary less behaviors strategy and this was the key point of his success because it gave his employees opportunity to share ideas all across the company without the limitation or without distinct of origin. Everyone was free to participate in company decisions and that was a truly success of changing of environmental culture. Also he adopts Stretch Strategy to give his employees a new vision of success so they can think beyond the boundaries of facts and actual figures and try to achieve them. He adopted sig sigma and four Es strategies to show his employees how to improve themselves if they ever lose track and this all results in enormous success of the company. Citation: Nut Island: Levy, P.F. (2001). The nut island effect. When Good Teams Go Wrong, General Electric; (Levy, Wonzy, 2005) Levy, P.F, Wonzy, M. (2005). GEs two decade transformation: jack Welchs leadership. Hardware Business School, Hurley, R.F. (2006). Decision to trust. Harvard Business School, Eight ways to built collaborative teams Grattan, Erickson, 2007) Grattan, Erickson, 2007 Grattan, L, Erickson, T.J. (2007). Eight ways to build collaborative teams Harvard Business Review, SAS: ( Pfeiffer, 1998) Pfeiffer, J. (1998). SAS institute: GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS,