Current Events in Business Research Essay Example for Free

Current Events in Business Research Essay INTRODUCTION There are six basic stages to the research process. Stage 1 is clarifying the research question. This would be the process in identifying the problem that is prompting the research. Stage 2 is proposing research, which would be the act of identifying the resources necessary to do the research. The third stage is designing the research project, or deciding which method to use to gather the information. Stage 4 involves data collection and preparation, which is gathering the data and making it ready to be evaluated. Stage 5 would be the data analysis and interpretation stage. Stage 5 is defining what the data is saying about the problem. The final stage, stage 6 is reporting the results. This is breaking down the interpretation into a presentation that shows the meaning of the data collected. (Cooper Schindler, 2014) This is the process used by Paramount Pictures recently when it was in contract negotiations with the DVD rental company, Redbox. THE DILEMMA As the major Hollywood studios took sides for and against Redbox, Paramount Pictures was staying neutral. The studio had signed a first-of-its-kind trial deal guaranteeing that its titles will be available from the fast-growing $1-a-night DVD rental company through the end of the year. During that time, Paramount would study the effect of Redbox rentals on its total home-entertainment revenue, examining whether there is any decrease in the sales of its DVDs at stores that house Redbox kiosks. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount would have the option at the end of the year to trigger a five-year deal with Redbox similar to ones recently struck with  competitors Sony Pictures and Lionsgate. The estimated value of the agreement was $575 million. Redbox President Mitch Lowe agreed because Paramount movies performed better at the box office that year. A Paramount agreement would give the studio a share of rental revenue, meaning it could earn more than $575 million if its movies prove popular. Sony and Lionsgate are selling their discs wholesale to Redbox. Though it doesnt have a formal deal with the company, Walt Disney Studios allows its wholesalers to sell discs to Redbox as well. (Fritz, 2009) There has been a lot of debate in the industry about the impact Redbox is having and will have, and we felt the best way to make a decision is by getting the information, said Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore. Then we can make an informed decision based on what we will have learned over the next four months. Guaranteed access to Paramount’s movies was important for Redbox. The studio released two of that summers biggest movies, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek.(Fritz, 2009) A movie that plays well in the theaters tends to do well when it is available to rent. Rental revenue could also provide a much-needed boost to the bottom line of Paramount. Lowe said he was confident that providing detailed data to Paramount would help resolve the heated disputes in Hollywood about his companys effect on the entertainment business. Lowe has previously said his companys research found that DVD sales dropped less than 1% in stores that installed a Redbox kiosk. Many studios do their own analysis that we know is not as reliable and is aimed at coming to the answer they want to hear, he said. We find that when we can form a relationship with a studio and share real data, it results in a positive step forward. Moore said he hadnt reached any definitive conclusions as to what steps he would take if the data showed that Redbox rentals do in fact reduce overall revenue. So, the dilemma that Paramount has is whether or not partnering with Redbox will reduce its sales income more than it will increase its rental revenue. THE PROCESS Paramount and Redbox did the research to determine whether or not rentals available the same day to buy decreased the sales revenue any more or less than those studios who decided to wait 28 days to make them available. Despite some content executives recently having touted the benefits of a  28-day window for DVD titles, Coinstar Inc.’s CEO Paul Davis said the companys own research showed Redbox Automated Retail LLC kiosks have a minimal impact on DVD sales. We did a major study, a little over a year ago, with a major studio and a major retailer and we found that the impact on new product sales as a result of our $1-a-night being out there, day and date, was less than 1%, Redbox worked closely with Paramount, and they did a lot of testing as well, and the fact that they decided to go with day and date (of release) I think speaks volumes.(James, 2010) CONCLUSION After reviewing the data collected by themselves and Redbox in 2009, Paramount Pictures made their decision. In June, 2010, Paramount exercised its option to extend its revenue-sharing license agreement with Redbox, which gives Redbox access to Paramount’s newly released DVDs and Blu-ray titles on the same day they are released in the sell-through market. Paramount’s extended agreement with Redbox runs until the end of 2014, though the studio will had the option to terminate the agreement early at the end of 2011. (James, 2010) As a result of the research, Davis thought that studios that have the 28-day window might opt to tweak their Redbox agreements to get certain DVD titles out for rental sooner. Especially as more and more data gets out there and as the studios that have opted for the 28-day window, as they have a year or so to look at the data, see how its impacted their new product sales it could move that we get some titles earlier, he said.(James, 2010) The process that Paramount and Redbox used, and the data they collected, could prove to be useful data to the other studios as to whether or not they should wait the 28 days. Reference Cooper, D. R., Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods (12th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Fritz, B. (2009, Aug 26). COMPANY TOWN; paramount to give redbox a spin. Los Angeles Times Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/422289074?accountid=458 James, S. B. (2010). Impact of day-and-date redbox rentals on DVD sales less than 1%. SNL Kagan Media Communications Report, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/869743836?accountid=458

Tourism: Vital To The Caribbean Region

Tourism: Vital To The Caribbean Region The impact of tourism on the physical environment has both negatively and positively affected the natural resources of Caribbean countries. Over the years more people are engaging in eco-tourism which forces the people of a county to preserve its wild life, flora and fauna, which are seen as tourism assets. When fees are charge to visit the preserved tourism assets of a country it assists to generate funds to aid in maintenance and protection of the tourism assets. Therefore tourist interest in ecotourism can be sustained for the country. Negatively, the tourists can have a destructive effect on a countrys ecological system. The Caribbean has coral reefs which are infamous for containing rare species of animal life. By tourist engaging in the water activities such as diving and snorkelling, they are directly affecting the endangered species which will seek to migrate when there habitat is being invaded. The endangered species may also die. In addition engaging in water sports will ca use physical damage to the coral reef which will destroy it. Economically tourism has significantly played a major role in the development of many Caribbean countries. Due to tourism, of jobs have an abundance been created in the Caribbean directly and indirectly. According to (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2012) In 2011 Travel and Tourism accounted for 614,000 jobs in the Caribbean directly from the Travel and tourism industry, this figure is expected to increase by 1.7% in 2012. The creation of jobs provides an income and the multiplier effect comes into play whereas those persons who are directly employed to the tourism industry will eventually spend their income for it to circulate in the countrys economy until it is leaked. The leakage concept states that money generated by one country is lost to another. Leakage occurs in Caribbean tourism in many forms, one of which includes chain hotels owned by foreign investors sending back profits to their home countries so the majority of the income does not remain in the Caribbean. Caribbean c ounties heavily depend on tourism for economic viability; this can be change within a day with natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes which can destroy roads, airports, hotels, because tourism is the main source of income for some Caribbean countries this would leave them helpless. Tourism encourages the public and private sectors of a country to build and improve tourism infrastructures (roads, hotels, airports etc.), leisure amenities (gyms, clubs, etc.). By doing this the local people benefits since they are able to use it for themselves even though it was intend for the tourist. Tourism inspires the local people to preserve their traditional customs, festivals, and cuisines since tourists are interested in culture. The culture of the Caribbean are often times sold by the local community members especially areas where the tourist resorts are found. This helps the community members to generate an income for themselves and their families, from which the government can increase tax revenues for the country. Though community tourist benefits the locals there are still negative impacts associated with community tourism. This includes, invasion of privacy by foreigners, drugs can be brought into the community or sold to tourist there which shows the country in a n egative light. The morals and values of local people can be lost through adaption of the foreigners culture. The relationship of tourism to the economy of Caribbean countries can be described as developing. The Caribbean is seen as the most tourism dependent region in the world, with the tourism sector contributing to 36% of the GDP (Caribbean Region: Tourism, n.d.). There are over 900,000 persons directly and indirectly employed to tourism industry according to the (Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), 2002). This figure contributes significantly to the growth of the GDP since employment will help to increase the standard of living for individuals. With tourism industry thriving for Caribbean countries others sectors that are linked to the tourism industry can benefit from the productivity such as the agriculture sector. There are however some challenges that the Caribbean tourism sector is facing. The tourism sectors of the Caribbean need to be more competitive in order to stay on top since more countries are turning to tourism as a feasible option to boosts their economy. Tourism is a c apital intensive activity which Caribbean countries rely heavily on, therefore it is essential to consider these keys variable of tourism as it relates to the Caribbean economies: the impact on GDP, Inter-sectoral impacts, balance of payments, Investment, Government revenue. Referances http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ Rita kennedy no date http://traveltips.usatoday.com/positive-negative-effects-tourism-63336.html

Factors for Motivation in Banking Employees

Factors for Motivation in Banking Employees CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND Understanding human behavior in workplace has been one of the most prioritized tasks for any organization. This is due to major changes like globalization and technological advancement that change in the structure of the business done, the workforce behavior and management of employees. To keep up the business state of the art and become successful, the organizations should acclimatize with these changes (Vercueil, 2001). So, it has become important for employers to know what motivates their employees rather than emphasizing them to increase productivity. The environment, in which the employees work as a team, should be created and sustained so that they are themselves driven towards achieving the common goals. Hence, motivation is given more attention in the organization to know employees and their behavior. In any organization, every staff is unique and performs the task based on their mental abilities and the extent to which they are applied at work (Mullins, 2007). Some people te nd to work really harder than others. If a staff is appreciated for his/her hard work, he/she is more likely to be motivated to high performance. Herzberg et al 1999 explained that employees show different attitudes depending on the nature of jobs assigned to them at workplace. Furthermore, they argued these attitudes towards their jobs have a significant influence on the survival of the organization. there is a famous saying which is based on Herzbergs thought that if an organization wants its employees to do a good job, give them a good job to do (Giancola,2010). To illustrate this, during the hard times of the organization, the morality among the workforce determines its success or failure provided that they are made feel as the essential resources of the organization and are given appropriate chances to prove themselves. Thus, motivated employees are more likely to contribute for the success and survival of the organization. In earlier days, motivation was considered as only a force that drives individuals to become committed in the job of their choice. The early approaches of motivation emphasizes on the needs of the individuals explaining their tendency to be motivated and the efforts exerted in order to satisfy those needs. There were some other approaches which highlighted on the employees goal setting. Modern approaches of motivation draws attention towards the values and long term goals set by the employees. Simons and Enz (2006) says now the employees perform the task not only to fulfill the basic needs but also to increase their values, become successful and satisfied from their performance. Motivation has been one of those areas which gained lots of interests from organizational psychologists and many scholars since 1930s. Yet, the in-depth understanding of motivation has been considered as a tough task (Locke and Latham, 2004). Thus, this research work is aimed to identify what motivates employees of Bank of Kathmandu by applying the concept of existing theories. 1.2 Background of the organization The organization chosen for research work is Bank of Kathmandu BOK, one of the renowned commercial banks of Nepal. BOK commenced its operation in 1995 with an aim to contribute in the economic development of Nepal. BOK is in a position to become â€Å"Bank of Choice† through serving and supporting its customers financially. Considering this vision, the bank has a total of 39 branches, 6 extension counters and 50 ATMs across the country. It has helped not only in promoting economic development but also it reduces unemployment problem to some extent by providing opportunities to local people. The basic reason behind selecting this particular bank is due to its distinct uniqueness and growing success and secondly, the researcher had an easy access to this bank. The research is carried out based on the responses given by the staff working in two branches of the bank. 1.3 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM Employee commitment has been a matter of focus for companies to be successful and the committed employees are considered as the most important factors of organizational effectiveness (Robertson, et al. 2007). However, retaining committed employees within organization is not an easy task. The employees of modern era work to satisfy the needs as well as achieve their individual goals (Drake and Kossen, 2002). Gubman (2003) pointed out the increasing trend of employees doing many jobs at a time in their career and have become more mobile. Employees are no more working in organisations for a long term basis. Thus, it needs a proper understanding of what motivates and satisfies them at work to generate such commitments. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Motivation needs vary on individuals based on their level of needs, backgrounds, expectations and personal traits. In simple words, two different employees working in the same environment may have different level of satisfaction. Furthermore, human needs are always dynamic and change over time becoming sometimes stronger or weaker. According to Simons and Enz (2006), while attempting to motivate the employees, the managers make mistakes assuming wrongly that they understand the employees and their needs and expectations they want from their work. This research work, therefore, focuses on the factors motivating employees and helping managers to understand their employees. In this context, the questions related to the research are: What are the critical factors that motivate and satisfy employees in BOK? How do the factors of motivation influence staff satisfaction in BOK? What are the motivation strategy adopted by BOK for better management and performance of the staff? 1.5 Research aim The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that motivate workers and their impact on organizational performances in Bank of Kathmandu (BOK), Nepal. The study aims to analyse the factors that motivate employees to encourage them to give their best performances in order to increase the organizational effectiveness and achieve its goals. It also aims to know the extent to which BOK is successful in making its employees satisfied and committed. 1.6 Research objectives The study is an explanation about the employee motivation in Bank of Kathmandu BOK, one of the leading banks in Nepal. Hence, the objectives of this research can be listed as: To investigate factors of motivation and their impact on the performance of BOK. To critically analyse the factors of motivation and its effect on staff satisfaction in BOK. To develop motivation strategy for better management and performance for the staff in BOK. The research work would be significant to students, other researchers and the bank itself which can be taken as a source of reference. 1.7 Limitations of the research Motivation is a concept with a broad area of research. It contains a wide range of theories on factors that motivate people (content theories) along with theories that describe how behaviours are initiated, directed and endured (process theories). The research work focuses only content theories which identify the particular needs that drive the human behaviour to perform better or worse. The researcher has tried to present the impact of motivation and job satisfaction on employees mental health, social life, and family life in order to show the significance and scope of the research topic. However, they are only considered in the theory but not clearly shown on the observed part of the research. Apart from these limitations, there are some other limitations for the research as There was time constraint to complete this research work as the researcher has to complete the work within three months period. The budget allocated was less due to the researcher is a student. The data analysis is done based on the employees randomly selected from only two branches. 1.8 Outline of the study Chapter 1: introduction: The first chapter deals with the research topic, an overview of the company selected for research work followed by statement of problem, purpose of the study and limitations. Chapter 2: Literature Review: this chapter contains reviews of various theories of motivation and job satisfaction. The researcher has showed the relationship between motivation and variables like rewards, job satisfaction, job performance, trainings, behaviour and conflict. It also explained how positive motivation lead to Chapter 3: methodology: this chapter deals with the methods, different tools and techniques used in the research work for data collection, analysis and interpretation. Chapter 4: data analysis: the chapter covers the ways the collected data were compiled and analysed. The analysis is based on the literature review and survey done via questionnaires in order to best serve the purpose of the study. Chapter 5: conclusions and recommendations: this chapter contains three parts namely findings, recommendations and conclusion. 1.9 Conclusion In this chapter, the researchers has discussed about the introduction of employee motivation and its importance in organisations. The main reason behind conducting this research work, the problem area, and the limitations are clarified. A brief introduction of organisation is given on the basis of which this study is done. The basic knowledge of the contents of the research work is also discussed. Chapter 2 Literature review 2.1 Introduction This chapter explains about the facts, theories and models of motivation. Theories of motivation e.g. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, Pr. McGregors Theory X and Y, McClellands theory of needs, etc are discussed in depth to increase the understanding of the area under research. The introduction and importance of motivation, job satisfaction and opinions of various authors are elucidated by reviewing various academic books, magazines, journals and articles. The information presented below serves as foundation to the analysis of this research. this new era, every organisation treats its workforce as an important source of its competitive advantage. Employees are no more seen as only loyal members of the company but they like to be treated with respect and they want their companies to give them opportunities to prove themselves. Hence, Lawler (2003) says that it has become necessity for any company to treat people in a right way in order to success and survive in the business world. An organisation can increase productivity and improve performance only when it invests in employees (Gitman and McDaniel, 2008). For this reason, the company should be able to attract, retain and develop talented employees (Pittorino et al., 2005). Understanding the factors that motivate employees and maximize productivity has become a crucial job to be performed by managers. 2.2 Definitions of motivation Motivation is one of the highly complex but misunderstood concept. Mills and Forshaw (2006) supported this statement as though there are an abundance of motivational theories; the organisations are unable to apply the best theory of motivation due to human beings complexity and various factors influencing their behaviours. Nevertheless, the main concern of the study of motivation is with why people behave as they do (Mullins, 2007). Motivation is the drive to do something (Tileston, 2004); it can be defined as the direction and intensity of ones effort to satisfy his/her needs (Weinberg, et al, 2010). According to Jones and George, (2004), motivation is considered as the psychological force that shows a persons level of effort applied in order to persist with obstacles and achieve his/her target and the way he/she behaves in an organisation. Furthermore, Latham 2007) describes motivation as a process of cognitive resource allocation where a person allocates his/her efforts as per importance of motives or tasks. To support this statement, Robins (2005) says that individuals have various level of motivation varying times and situations. 2.2.1 Need and expectation at work No individuals are same and they perceive the same thing in different ways. Individuals have different needs and expectation which they strive to fulfil in different ways. If these needs and expectations are not fulfilled, it will make them dissatisfied and the consequences are turnover, absenteeism, etc. so motivating employees has been a tough task for managers provided that employees react in different ways in the jobs assigned (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007). Since managers are solely responsible for motivating employees, they should be capable of giving employees reasons to believe in themselves as well as organisation where they are working (Baldoni, 2005). Employees become dissatisfied and less motivated when managers fail to make employees know their driving forces. According to robins (2003), there are three relationships where employees are less motivated when their needs and expectations are not fulfilled. First relationship explains about the effort and performance of employees. Managers should make their employees believe that maximum effort exerted leads to the recognition in performance appraisals. This is not always correct as in some cases, employees do not believe that their effort will result in recognition and they are less motivated to perform. The second relationship is about the employees performance and organisational reward. The employees are made believe that they will be rewarded for their outstanding performance or performance appraisal. But there will be lack of motivation because employees know that they will not be rewarded by the organisation just for the performance. The last one is the relationship between reward received and reward expected. They are motivated only when they get what they desire for. If opposite happens, they become dissatisfied with the job. So It is managers who should know if the reward given matches with the one employees expect for. Hence, managers should keep these relationships as essential factors for employees to keep motivated and long lasting retention. Strengthening these relationships , the managers can motivate their employees and boost productivity. Sutherland and Canwell (2004) says it is the primary responsibility of managers to maintain motivation by creating such a work environment where employees will show positive attitude and become committed and loyal and where they believe that they are valued and the organisation gives crucial interest in them. 2.2.2 Sources of motivation Motivation is the driving force that comes within an individual to satisfy his/her unsatisfied needs. Needs and expectations are drivers that motivate an individual to achieve those needs. These motivators are often considered in terms of being internal or external. According to Mac and Sockel (2001), the internal motivators are related with intrinsic needs that satisfies an individual while external motivators are environmental factors brought up to individual by organisation. intrinsic motivation makes a person to be productive as it comes within him/her while extrinsic motivation results once the unmet needs have been achieved(Marquis and Huston, 2008). A person is intrinsically motivated when he/she engages in the activity that gives pleasure and satisfaction (Deci and Ryan, 2004). On the contrary, Deci and Ryan (2004) explained extrinsic motivation as an external control over a person who gets engaged in the activity, not for pleasure or satisfaction but for attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome. Hence, a manager should strive to stimulate an employees intrinsic motives to complete a task given. Intrinsic motives can be satisfied by the work itself. Since the task given to an individual provides interest, challenges and opportunities for personal growth and development, it has been considered as the main source of motivation (Molander, 1996). 2.5 classification of motivation theories The main concern of all theories of motivation is the understanding of human behaviour. Drafke and kossen (2002:273) explains that â€Å"these theories provide the basis for both managers and employees to understand how to motivate others; how others are trying to motivate and how that person can engage more in his/her own motivation effort and others efforts in trying to motivate him/her.† In late 1930s, the Hawthorne study carried out by Frederick Taylor drew attention towards the study of motivation. (Locke and Latham, 2004). The purpose of this study was to examine how working conditions affect productivity (Hindle,2008). The study concluded working condition had no effect on the employee productivity and it was employees who were concerned with their work (Hindle, 2008). This result of this study made many managers and researchers focus on employees needs and motivation. According Robbins (2005), the development of the concepts of motivation was mostly seen in 1950s. during that time, several new models, referred as content theories, were emerged that mainly focused on identifying the factors related to motivation. (steers, et al. 2004). Maslows hierarchy of needs, Model of Herzbergs two-factor theory and McClellands achievement motivation theory are the content theories. The main focus of these theories is on the needs of people for which they direct their behaviour to satisfy them (smit,2007). 2.5.1 Needs:maslows hierarchy of needs Abraham Maslow developed a motivational theory named hierarchy of needs (Pride, et al, 2009). A need is required by every person. An individual fulfils his/her needs to get satisfaction and motivation is an effort to satisfy a need (Aldag and Kuzuhara, 2002). Maslow postulated that humans always seek to fulfil a variety of needs which are in sequential order as per their importance (Pride, et al. 2009). when one need is satisfied, it drecreases in strength and the higher need then dominates behaviour. The underlying needs for all human motives can be organised on five general levels depicted as a pyramid (diagram) listed from the lowest to the highest level of needs. Physiological and safety needs are on the lowest level of the pyramid as they are satisfied externally. The other three needs are internal and are therefore considered as higher-order needs. Di Cesare and Sadri (2003) state that the need must be met from the lowest and then move upward to satisfy the peak of the hierarchy. While implying Maslows Needs Hierarchy in management practice of BOK, it has various opportunitites to motivate its staff depending upon the needs. Some of them are listed below: Physiological needs: provision of sufficient breaks for lunch and recovery and payment of salary for fulfilling the basic essentials of life. Safety needs: provision of job security, conductive safety environment and threats freedom Social needs: generating a feeling of acceptance, belonging and community by reinforcing team dynamics. Esteem needs: recognition of achievement, assignment of projects and providing status to make employees feel valued and appreciated. Self Actualisation: offering challenge and meaningful work assignment that enable innovation, creativity and progress. 2.5.2 Herzbergs two factor theory Herzberg put forward the view that productivity of an employee is based not only the job satisfaction but also on work motivation Pattanayak(200). Robbins(2003) elucidates that according to herzberg, an individuals relation and attitude towards work can determine success or failure. People have two sets of needs that are related to job satisfaction and others to job dissatisfaction (Nelson and Quick,200). Elements of the job that led to job satisfaction are labelled as motivators and elements to dissatisfaction are labelled as hygiene factors. Intrinsic factors or motivators such as achievement, recognition, advancement, the work itself and responsibility are related to job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction is the result of extrinsic factors or hygiene factors such as working conditions, job security, supervision, pay and organisation policies. Di Cesare and Sadri (2003) state that herzberg is interested in the extremes where employees either feel good or bad about the work, this lea ds to development of motivators and hygiene factors. Herzberg states that the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction and therefore, job dissatisfaction is not the opposite of job satisfaction. Herzberg(2003) suggests nine factors that motivate employees and they are reducing time spent at work, fringe benefit, sensitivity training, spiralling wages, two-way communication, job participation, human relation training, communication and employee counselling. He also compared motivation with that of internal self-charging battery suggesting that the energy or the positivity should come from within the employees to become motivated (Bassett-Jones and Lloyd, 2005). Herzberg argues that an employee is motivated to satisfy it growth needs; it is founded upon satisfaction innate of a sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility and personal growth. He further says that recognition is transformed into feedback, responsibility to self-regulation, authority to communicate, exercise control over resource and accountability and lastly, growth and advancement are transformed into the new expertise. Though hygiene theory is one of the popular theories of motivation, the findings done from past empirical studies show that pay, recognition and responsibility are classified as both a motivator and hygiene factors. 2.5.4 McClellands theory of needs (Richard L. Daft, Patricia G. Lane, 2007) put forward the theory stating that individual acquire certain type of needs during his/her lifetime. Individuals acquire these needs by learning and interacting with the environment (Montana and Charnov, 2000). theory focuses on three needs: Need for achievement: it drives to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed. Individuals with this drive desire to do something more efficiently overcoming challenges to achieve the objectives. Need of power: it is the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise. Individuals with this need are placed in competitive situations to be concerned with gaining influence over individual, group or organization. Need for affiliation: it is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationship. Individuals with this desire tend to have a strong desire to be liked or accepted by others and thus maintain harmonious relationship with others. Accoriding to smit (2007:340), these theories are based on needs of people and the factors that influence their behaviour. Process theory Process theory came into light in early 1960s. it was an approach that focused on how motivation actually occurs. (Smit 2007:347). These theories explained the way individual choose their behaviour to satisfy their needs (Lussier and Achua, 2009). it is more complex in compare to content theory. 2.5.3 Vrooms Expectation theory The expectancy theory, aimed at work motivation, is founded on the idea that an individuals motivation is based on his/her desire for an outcome and the probability that his/her effort will lead to required performance. Robbins (2003) defines expectation theory as, â€Å" the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outvome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual† (Robbins, 2003:173). Vrooms expectancy theory focuses on three relationships: Effort performance outcome Effort-performance relationships: the probability remarked by an individual that applying an extra effort will lead to performance. Performance-reward relationship: the degree to which the individual believes that extra effort exerted performance will lead to the accomplishment of desired outcome. Reward-personal goal relationship: the degree to which individuals goals are satisfied by organizational rewards and the degree to which individual is personally attracted to the rewards. Equity Theory J. Stacy Adams equity theory proposed that individuals are motivated when their inputs equal outputs (Lussier and Achua, 2009). This theory enables an individual to perceive a relationship between the reward he/she received and his/her performance.(Smit, 2007). individuals tend to make comparison of the inputs such as status, experience, effort, etc and outputs such as recognition, benefits, pay, etc with that of others which co-worker, a group of employees from different organisations, etc (Lussier and Achua, 2009:87). 2.5.6 Goal setting theory The goal setting theory proposed by Locke states that a person is likely to give a higher performance if the goals are specific and difficult. Besides these, there are also other factors along with feedbacks such as goal commitment, task complexity and national culture that influence the goal-performance relationship. Meyer,et al. (2004) elucidates that motivation comes from the goals an individual sets up based oh his/her needs, personal values and perception that shaped via experience at work. goals give people a sense of purpose to show the reason of working to achieve a task given (Lussier and Achua, 2009:90). Goals direct individuals attention to a specific target. If individuals have specific and difficult goals, then they optimise the performance (Huber,2006). Reinforcement theory Reinforcement theory is the relationship between the behaviour of individual and the consequences by modifying or changing it via use of rewards or punishments (Daft and Lane,2007). It consistently predicts job behaviour (Lusssier and Achua,2009). People learn behaviour through the experiences of positive and negative consequences. Behaviour is a function of its consequences (Griffin and Moorhead,2009). According to Daft and Lane (2007), managers use reinforcement to shape or modify employee behaviour in four ways: Positive reinforcement: employees are encouraged to continue their behaviour by offering consequences for desirable performance. If an employee receives positive reinforcement for certain behaviour, that employee is tend to be motivated to maintain or increase the frequency of that behaviour (Griffin and Moorhead, 2009). Avoidance reinforcement It is also known as negative reinforcement. The employees are given the opportunity to avoid an unpleasant circumstance once behaviour is improved. Extinction Motivating individuals and groups at work Theorists of motivation investigate the factors that direct and boost work related behaviour. They strive to understand activities that people enjoy and conditions that encourage them to apply efforts. As a result various motivation models were developed which main focus was on the needs and expectations of individuals. This models were best used in organisatons where understanding of behaviour of employees has been important. Due to change in structure of organisations, todays employees work in teams supporting each other sharing common interest to accomplish the common goals rather focusing on the achievement of personal goals. Ellemers, et al. (2004) employee motivation refers to the goals, needs and rewards of one whole team or the organisation where they work. this concludes that research on motivating group has been important for any organisation. The number of organisation, emphasising employees to work in teams, has steadily increased. Working in teams offers opportunities for job enrichment, decrease the workload of supervisors and enhance the performance. However, there may be some lazy members in team who exert less effort in performing the task. 2.5.5 Douglas McGregor Theory X and Y In this theory, Douglas McGregor assumes that the managers handle their employees based on their behaviours and nature. These assumptions are categorised as Theory X and Theory Y. theory X states that workers are lazy, incapable of taking responsibility , dislike work and need a constant supervision while theory Y assumes that people love work, complete task with less supervision and have responsibility ( Dzimbiri,2009). 2.6 Ways of motivating employee to ensure better performance The employees experiences at work show their feeling towards their jobs either positively or negatively. Employee motivation is taken into account by every organisation as one of the major challenging tasks. Motivation can be classified as positive or negative. The managers should encourage positive motivation to enhance performance. On the contrary, when the performance is demotivating, the approach adopted would be determined by persisting situation. Communication Communication is always an effective way to improve motivation and enhance productivity. There should be two-way communication between managers and staff that generate feedbacks on the performance. Job participation scheme Participation scheme enables staff to become a member of decision making team and express their views on organisational decisions. This leads staff to be responsible to increase their efficiency and productivity at work. Fringe benefit If an organization can retain the employees by providing them with the fringe benefit. This prevents turnover if effectively use and increase the productivity. Research methodology Introduction This research work is carried out to examine the factors that motivate and influence employees of Bank of Kathmandu and strategies adopted by the bank to enhance productivity by providing employees with optimum satisfaction. It highlights the procedures applied to understand research problem area and evaluate the result. The Research Process Customised research procedures are used by the researcher determining the exceptions of research regarding how vast the topic is. It starts with problem formulation along with the process that the researcher undertakes to get the result as solution to that problem. The problem of identifying what factors motivate employees in a particular bank namely, Bank Of Kathmandu. In this modern era, the way the employees behave at workplace has been changed. Job satisfaction has become more important than any other variables. For the success and survival of company in the competitive market, the most prioritised work of managers is to retain the skilled employees and motivate them to give their best performance. Nevertheless, employees are more interested in doing different jobs at the same time and are not willing to keep long term relationships with organisations. To add up, they are unlikely to be motivated as they use to be before. Once the research problem is defined, the objectives are formulated to achieve the solutions to the targeted problem. The hypothese Qualitative and quantitative research Survey questionnaire Questionnaires include open- ended questions, closed-ended or the combination of both. In open-ended questions, the respondents are allowed to give their own answers while the closed-ended questions provide the respondents with a set of alternatives and choose answer from that set (Saunders, et al. 2007). researchers use close-ended questions for they provide the greater control, make respondents easy to answer and short answers lead to quick results (Arthur,2006). The researcher, in this study, has used closed-ended questions using Factors for Motivation in Banking Employees Factors for Motivation in Banking Employees CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND Understanding human behavior in workplace has been one of the most prioritized tasks for any organization. This is due to major changes like globalization and technological advancement that change in the structure of the business done, the workforce behavior and management of employees. To keep up the business state of the art and become successful, the organizations should acclimatize with these changes (Vercueil, 2001). So, it has become important for employers to know what motivates their employees rather than emphasizing them to increase productivity. The environment, in which the employees work as a team, should be created and sustained so that they are themselves driven towards achieving the common goals. Hence, motivation is given more attention in the organization to know employees and their behavior. In any organization, every staff is unique and performs the task based on their mental abilities and the extent to which they are applied at work (Mullins, 2007). Some people te nd to work really harder than others. If a staff is appreciated for his/her hard work, he/she is more likely to be motivated to high performance. Herzberg et al 1999 explained that employees show different attitudes depending on the nature of jobs assigned to them at workplace. Furthermore, they argued these attitudes towards their jobs have a significant influence on the survival of the organization. there is a famous saying which is based on Herzbergs thought that if an organization wants its employees to do a good job, give them a good job to do (Giancola,2010). To illustrate this, during the hard times of the organization, the morality among the workforce determines its success or failure provided that they are made feel as the essential resources of the organization and are given appropriate chances to prove themselves. Thus, motivated employees are more likely to contribute for the success and survival of the organization. In earlier days, motivation was considered as only a force that drives individuals to become committed in the job of their choice. The early approaches of motivation emphasizes on the needs of the individuals explaining their tendency to be motivated and the efforts exerted in order to satisfy those needs. There were some other approaches which highlighted on the employees goal setting. Modern approaches of motivation draws attention towards the values and long term goals set by the employees. Simons and Enz (2006) says now the employees perform the task not only to fulfill the basic needs but also to increase their values, become successful and satisfied from their performance. Motivation has been one of those areas which gained lots of interests from organizational psychologists and many scholars since 1930s. Yet, the in-depth understanding of motivation has been considered as a tough task (Locke and Latham, 2004). Thus, this research work is aimed to identify what motivates employees of Bank of Kathmandu by applying the concept of existing theories. 1.2 Background of the organization The organization chosen for research work is Bank of Kathmandu BOK, one of the renowned commercial banks of Nepal. BOK commenced its operation in 1995 with an aim to contribute in the economic development of Nepal. BOK is in a position to become â€Å"Bank of Choice† through serving and supporting its customers financially. Considering this vision, the bank has a total of 39 branches, 6 extension counters and 50 ATMs across the country. It has helped not only in promoting economic development but also it reduces unemployment problem to some extent by providing opportunities to local people. The basic reason behind selecting this particular bank is due to its distinct uniqueness and growing success and secondly, the researcher had an easy access to this bank. The research is carried out based on the responses given by the staff working in two branches of the bank. 1.3 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM Employee commitment has been a matter of focus for companies to be successful and the committed employees are considered as the most important factors of organizational effectiveness (Robertson, et al. 2007). However, retaining committed employees within organization is not an easy task. The employees of modern era work to satisfy the needs as well as achieve their individual goals (Drake and Kossen, 2002). Gubman (2003) pointed out the increasing trend of employees doing many jobs at a time in their career and have become more mobile. Employees are no more working in organisations for a long term basis. Thus, it needs a proper understanding of what motivates and satisfies them at work to generate such commitments. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Motivation needs vary on individuals based on their level of needs, backgrounds, expectations and personal traits. In simple words, two different employees working in the same environment may have different level of satisfaction. Furthermore, human needs are always dynamic and change over time becoming sometimes stronger or weaker. According to Simons and Enz (2006), while attempting to motivate the employees, the managers make mistakes assuming wrongly that they understand the employees and their needs and expectations they want from their work. This research work, therefore, focuses on the factors motivating employees and helping managers to understand their employees. In this context, the questions related to the research are: What are the critical factors that motivate and satisfy employees in BOK? How do the factors of motivation influence staff satisfaction in BOK? What are the motivation strategy adopted by BOK for better management and performance of the staff? 1.5 Research aim The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that motivate workers and their impact on organizational performances in Bank of Kathmandu (BOK), Nepal. The study aims to analyse the factors that motivate employees to encourage them to give their best performances in order to increase the organizational effectiveness and achieve its goals. It also aims to know the extent to which BOK is successful in making its employees satisfied and committed. 1.6 Research objectives The study is an explanation about the employee motivation in Bank of Kathmandu BOK, one of the leading banks in Nepal. Hence, the objectives of this research can be listed as: To investigate factors of motivation and their impact on the performance of BOK. To critically analyse the factors of motivation and its effect on staff satisfaction in BOK. To develop motivation strategy for better management and performance for the staff in BOK. The research work would be significant to students, other researchers and the bank itself which can be taken as a source of reference. 1.7 Limitations of the research Motivation is a concept with a broad area of research. It contains a wide range of theories on factors that motivate people (content theories) along with theories that describe how behaviours are initiated, directed and endured (process theories). The research work focuses only content theories which identify the particular needs that drive the human behaviour to perform better or worse. The researcher has tried to present the impact of motivation and job satisfaction on employees mental health, social life, and family life in order to show the significance and scope of the research topic. However, they are only considered in the theory but not clearly shown on the observed part of the research. Apart from these limitations, there are some other limitations for the research as There was time constraint to complete this research work as the researcher has to complete the work within three months period. The budget allocated was less due to the researcher is a student. The data analysis is done based on the employees randomly selected from only two branches. 1.8 Outline of the study Chapter 1: introduction: The first chapter deals with the research topic, an overview of the company selected for research work followed by statement of problem, purpose of the study and limitations. Chapter 2: Literature Review: this chapter contains reviews of various theories of motivation and job satisfaction. The researcher has showed the relationship between motivation and variables like rewards, job satisfaction, job performance, trainings, behaviour and conflict. It also explained how positive motivation lead to Chapter 3: methodology: this chapter deals with the methods, different tools and techniques used in the research work for data collection, analysis and interpretation. Chapter 4: data analysis: the chapter covers the ways the collected data were compiled and analysed. The analysis is based on the literature review and survey done via questionnaires in order to best serve the purpose of the study. Chapter 5: conclusions and recommendations: this chapter contains three parts namely findings, recommendations and conclusion. 1.9 Conclusion In this chapter, the researchers has discussed about the introduction of employee motivation and its importance in organisations. The main reason behind conducting this research work, the problem area, and the limitations are clarified. A brief introduction of organisation is given on the basis of which this study is done. The basic knowledge of the contents of the research work is also discussed. Chapter 2 Literature review 2.1 Introduction This chapter explains about the facts, theories and models of motivation. Theories of motivation e.g. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, Pr. McGregors Theory X and Y, McClellands theory of needs, etc are discussed in depth to increase the understanding of the area under research. The introduction and importance of motivation, job satisfaction and opinions of various authors are elucidated by reviewing various academic books, magazines, journals and articles. The information presented below serves as foundation to the analysis of this research. this new era, every organisation treats its workforce as an important source of its competitive advantage. Employees are no more seen as only loyal members of the company but they like to be treated with respect and they want their companies to give them opportunities to prove themselves. Hence, Lawler (2003) says that it has become necessity for any company to treat people in a right way in order to success and survive in the business world. An organisation can increase productivity and improve performance only when it invests in employees (Gitman and McDaniel, 2008). For this reason, the company should be able to attract, retain and develop talented employees (Pittorino et al., 2005). Understanding the factors that motivate employees and maximize productivity has become a crucial job to be performed by managers. 2.2 Definitions of motivation Motivation is one of the highly complex but misunderstood concept. Mills and Forshaw (2006) supported this statement as though there are an abundance of motivational theories; the organisations are unable to apply the best theory of motivation due to human beings complexity and various factors influencing their behaviours. Nevertheless, the main concern of the study of motivation is with why people behave as they do (Mullins, 2007). Motivation is the drive to do something (Tileston, 2004); it can be defined as the direction and intensity of ones effort to satisfy his/her needs (Weinberg, et al, 2010). According to Jones and George, (2004), motivation is considered as the psychological force that shows a persons level of effort applied in order to persist with obstacles and achieve his/her target and the way he/she behaves in an organisation. Furthermore, Latham 2007) describes motivation as a process of cognitive resource allocation where a person allocates his/her efforts as per importance of motives or tasks. To support this statement, Robins (2005) says that individuals have various level of motivation varying times and situations. 2.2.1 Need and expectation at work No individuals are same and they perceive the same thing in different ways. Individuals have different needs and expectation which they strive to fulfil in different ways. If these needs and expectations are not fulfilled, it will make them dissatisfied and the consequences are turnover, absenteeism, etc. so motivating employees has been a tough task for managers provided that employees react in different ways in the jobs assigned (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007). Since managers are solely responsible for motivating employees, they should be capable of giving employees reasons to believe in themselves as well as organisation where they are working (Baldoni, 2005). Employees become dissatisfied and less motivated when managers fail to make employees know their driving forces. According to robins (2003), there are three relationships where employees are less motivated when their needs and expectations are not fulfilled. First relationship explains about the effort and performance of employees. Managers should make their employees believe that maximum effort exerted leads to the recognition in performance appraisals. This is not always correct as in some cases, employees do not believe that their effort will result in recognition and they are less motivated to perform. The second relationship is about the employees performance and organisational reward. The employees are made believe that they will be rewarded for their outstanding performance or performance appraisal. But there will be lack of motivation because employees know that they will not be rewarded by the organisation just for the performance. The last one is the relationship between reward received and reward expected. They are motivated only when they get what they desire for. If opposite happens, they become dissatisfied with the job. So It is managers who should know if the reward given matches with the one employees expect for. Hence, managers should keep these relationships as essential factors for employees to keep motivated and long lasting retention. Strengthening these relationships , the managers can motivate their employees and boost productivity. Sutherland and Canwell (2004) says it is the primary responsibility of managers to maintain motivation by creating such a work environment where employees will show positive attitude and become committed and loyal and where they believe that they are valued and the organisation gives crucial interest in them. 2.2.2 Sources of motivation Motivation is the driving force that comes within an individual to satisfy his/her unsatisfied needs. Needs and expectations are drivers that motivate an individual to achieve those needs. These motivators are often considered in terms of being internal or external. According to Mac and Sockel (2001), the internal motivators are related with intrinsic needs that satisfies an individual while external motivators are environmental factors brought up to individual by organisation. intrinsic motivation makes a person to be productive as it comes within him/her while extrinsic motivation results once the unmet needs have been achieved(Marquis and Huston, 2008). A person is intrinsically motivated when he/she engages in the activity that gives pleasure and satisfaction (Deci and Ryan, 2004). On the contrary, Deci and Ryan (2004) explained extrinsic motivation as an external control over a person who gets engaged in the activity, not for pleasure or satisfaction but for attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome. Hence, a manager should strive to stimulate an employees intrinsic motives to complete a task given. Intrinsic motives can be satisfied by the work itself. Since the task given to an individual provides interest, challenges and opportunities for personal growth and development, it has been considered as the main source of motivation (Molander, 1996). 2.5 classification of motivation theories The main concern of all theories of motivation is the understanding of human behaviour. Drafke and kossen (2002:273) explains that â€Å"these theories provide the basis for both managers and employees to understand how to motivate others; how others are trying to motivate and how that person can engage more in his/her own motivation effort and others efforts in trying to motivate him/her.† In late 1930s, the Hawthorne study carried out by Frederick Taylor drew attention towards the study of motivation. (Locke and Latham, 2004). The purpose of this study was to examine how working conditions affect productivity (Hindle,2008). The study concluded working condition had no effect on the employee productivity and it was employees who were concerned with their work (Hindle, 2008). This result of this study made many managers and researchers focus on employees needs and motivation. According Robbins (2005), the development of the concepts of motivation was mostly seen in 1950s. during that time, several new models, referred as content theories, were emerged that mainly focused on identifying the factors related to motivation. (steers, et al. 2004). Maslows hierarchy of needs, Model of Herzbergs two-factor theory and McClellands achievement motivation theory are the content theories. The main focus of these theories is on the needs of people for which they direct their behaviour to satisfy them (smit,2007). 2.5.1 Needs:maslows hierarchy of needs Abraham Maslow developed a motivational theory named hierarchy of needs (Pride, et al, 2009). A need is required by every person. An individual fulfils his/her needs to get satisfaction and motivation is an effort to satisfy a need (Aldag and Kuzuhara, 2002). Maslow postulated that humans always seek to fulfil a variety of needs which are in sequential order as per their importance (Pride, et al. 2009). when one need is satisfied, it drecreases in strength and the higher need then dominates behaviour. The underlying needs for all human motives can be organised on five general levels depicted as a pyramid (diagram) listed from the lowest to the highest level of needs. Physiological and safety needs are on the lowest level of the pyramid as they are satisfied externally. The other three needs are internal and are therefore considered as higher-order needs. Di Cesare and Sadri (2003) state that the need must be met from the lowest and then move upward to satisfy the peak of the hierarchy. While implying Maslows Needs Hierarchy in management practice of BOK, it has various opportunitites to motivate its staff depending upon the needs. Some of them are listed below: Physiological needs: provision of sufficient breaks for lunch and recovery and payment of salary for fulfilling the basic essentials of life. Safety needs: provision of job security, conductive safety environment and threats freedom Social needs: generating a feeling of acceptance, belonging and community by reinforcing team dynamics. Esteem needs: recognition of achievement, assignment of projects and providing status to make employees feel valued and appreciated. Self Actualisation: offering challenge and meaningful work assignment that enable innovation, creativity and progress. 2.5.2 Herzbergs two factor theory Herzberg put forward the view that productivity of an employee is based not only the job satisfaction but also on work motivation Pattanayak(200). Robbins(2003) elucidates that according to herzberg, an individuals relation and attitude towards work can determine success or failure. People have two sets of needs that are related to job satisfaction and others to job dissatisfaction (Nelson and Quick,200). Elements of the job that led to job satisfaction are labelled as motivators and elements to dissatisfaction are labelled as hygiene factors. Intrinsic factors or motivators such as achievement, recognition, advancement, the work itself and responsibility are related to job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction is the result of extrinsic factors or hygiene factors such as working conditions, job security, supervision, pay and organisation policies. Di Cesare and Sadri (2003) state that herzberg is interested in the extremes where employees either feel good or bad about the work, this lea ds to development of motivators and hygiene factors. Herzberg states that the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction and therefore, job dissatisfaction is not the opposite of job satisfaction. Herzberg(2003) suggests nine factors that motivate employees and they are reducing time spent at work, fringe benefit, sensitivity training, spiralling wages, two-way communication, job participation, human relation training, communication and employee counselling. He also compared motivation with that of internal self-charging battery suggesting that the energy or the positivity should come from within the employees to become motivated (Bassett-Jones and Lloyd, 2005). Herzberg argues that an employee is motivated to satisfy it growth needs; it is founded upon satisfaction innate of a sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility and personal growth. He further says that recognition is transformed into feedback, responsibility to self-regulation, authority to communicate, exercise control over resource and accountability and lastly, growth and advancement are transformed into the new expertise. Though hygiene theory is one of the popular theories of motivation, the findings done from past empirical studies show that pay, recognition and responsibility are classified as both a motivator and hygiene factors. 2.5.4 McClellands theory of needs (Richard L. Daft, Patricia G. Lane, 2007) put forward the theory stating that individual acquire certain type of needs during his/her lifetime. Individuals acquire these needs by learning and interacting with the environment (Montana and Charnov, 2000). theory focuses on three needs: Need for achievement: it drives to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed. Individuals with this drive desire to do something more efficiently overcoming challenges to achieve the objectives. Need of power: it is the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise. Individuals with this need are placed in competitive situations to be concerned with gaining influence over individual, group or organization. Need for affiliation: it is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationship. Individuals with this desire tend to have a strong desire to be liked or accepted by others and thus maintain harmonious relationship with others. Accoriding to smit (2007:340), these theories are based on needs of people and the factors that influence their behaviour. Process theory Process theory came into light in early 1960s. it was an approach that focused on how motivation actually occurs. (Smit 2007:347). These theories explained the way individual choose their behaviour to satisfy their needs (Lussier and Achua, 2009). it is more complex in compare to content theory. 2.5.3 Vrooms Expectation theory The expectancy theory, aimed at work motivation, is founded on the idea that an individuals motivation is based on his/her desire for an outcome and the probability that his/her effort will lead to required performance. Robbins (2003) defines expectation theory as, â€Å" the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outvome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual† (Robbins, 2003:173). Vrooms expectancy theory focuses on three relationships: Effort performance outcome Effort-performance relationships: the probability remarked by an individual that applying an extra effort will lead to performance. Performance-reward relationship: the degree to which the individual believes that extra effort exerted performance will lead to the accomplishment of desired outcome. Reward-personal goal relationship: the degree to which individuals goals are satisfied by organizational rewards and the degree to which individual is personally attracted to the rewards. Equity Theory J. Stacy Adams equity theory proposed that individuals are motivated when their inputs equal outputs (Lussier and Achua, 2009). This theory enables an individual to perceive a relationship between the reward he/she received and his/her performance.(Smit, 2007). individuals tend to make comparison of the inputs such as status, experience, effort, etc and outputs such as recognition, benefits, pay, etc with that of others which co-worker, a group of employees from different organisations, etc (Lussier and Achua, 2009:87). 2.5.6 Goal setting theory The goal setting theory proposed by Locke states that a person is likely to give a higher performance if the goals are specific and difficult. Besides these, there are also other factors along with feedbacks such as goal commitment, task complexity and national culture that influence the goal-performance relationship. Meyer,et al. (2004) elucidates that motivation comes from the goals an individual sets up based oh his/her needs, personal values and perception that shaped via experience at work. goals give people a sense of purpose to show the reason of working to achieve a task given (Lussier and Achua, 2009:90). Goals direct individuals attention to a specific target. If individuals have specific and difficult goals, then they optimise the performance (Huber,2006). Reinforcement theory Reinforcement theory is the relationship between the behaviour of individual and the consequences by modifying or changing it via use of rewards or punishments (Daft and Lane,2007). It consistently predicts job behaviour (Lusssier and Achua,2009). People learn behaviour through the experiences of positive and negative consequences. Behaviour is a function of its consequences (Griffin and Moorhead,2009). According to Daft and Lane (2007), managers use reinforcement to shape or modify employee behaviour in four ways: Positive reinforcement: employees are encouraged to continue their behaviour by offering consequences for desirable performance. If an employee receives positive reinforcement for certain behaviour, that employee is tend to be motivated to maintain or increase the frequency of that behaviour (Griffin and Moorhead, 2009). Avoidance reinforcement It is also known as negative reinforcement. The employees are given the opportunity to avoid an unpleasant circumstance once behaviour is improved. Extinction Motivating individuals and groups at work Theorists of motivation investigate the factors that direct and boost work related behaviour. They strive to understand activities that people enjoy and conditions that encourage them to apply efforts. As a result various motivation models were developed which main focus was on the needs and expectations of individuals. This models were best used in organisatons where understanding of behaviour of employees has been important. Due to change in structure of organisations, todays employees work in teams supporting each other sharing common interest to accomplish the common goals rather focusing on the achievement of personal goals. Ellemers, et al. (2004) employee motivation refers to the goals, needs and rewards of one whole team or the organisation where they work. this concludes that research on motivating group has been important for any organisation. The number of organisation, emphasising employees to work in teams, has steadily increased. Working in teams offers opportunities for job enrichment, decrease the workload of supervisors and enhance the performance. However, there may be some lazy members in team who exert less effort in performing the task. 2.5.5 Douglas McGregor Theory X and Y In this theory, Douglas McGregor assumes that the managers handle their employees based on their behaviours and nature. These assumptions are categorised as Theory X and Theory Y. theory X states that workers are lazy, incapable of taking responsibility , dislike work and need a constant supervision while theory Y assumes that people love work, complete task with less supervision and have responsibility ( Dzimbiri,2009). 2.6 Ways of motivating employee to ensure better performance The employees experiences at work show their feeling towards their jobs either positively or negatively. Employee motivation is taken into account by every organisation as one of the major challenging tasks. Motivation can be classified as positive or negative. The managers should encourage positive motivation to enhance performance. On the contrary, when the performance is demotivating, the approach adopted would be determined by persisting situation. Communication Communication is always an effective way to improve motivation and enhance productivity. There should be two-way communication between managers and staff that generate feedbacks on the performance. Job participation scheme Participation scheme enables staff to become a member of decision making team and express their views on organisational decisions. This leads staff to be responsible to increase their efficiency and productivity at work. Fringe benefit If an organization can retain the employees by providing them with the fringe benefit. This prevents turnover if effectively use and increase the productivity. Research methodology Introduction This research work is carried out to examine the factors that motivate and influence employees of Bank of Kathmandu and strategies adopted by the bank to enhance productivity by providing employees with optimum satisfaction. It highlights the procedures applied to understand research problem area and evaluate the result. The Research Process Customised research procedures are used by the researcher determining the exceptions of research regarding how vast the topic is. It starts with problem formulation along with the process that the researcher undertakes to get the result as solution to that problem. The problem of identifying what factors motivate employees in a particular bank namely, Bank Of Kathmandu. In this modern era, the way the employees behave at workplace has been changed. Job satisfaction has become more important than any other variables. For the success and survival of company in the competitive market, the most prioritised work of managers is to retain the skilled employees and motivate them to give their best performance. Nevertheless, employees are more interested in doing different jobs at the same time and are not willing to keep long term relationships with organisations. To add up, they are unlikely to be motivated as they use to be before. Once the research problem is defined, the objectives are formulated to achieve the solutions to the targeted problem. The hypothese Qualitative and quantitative research Survey questionnaire Questionnaires include open- ended questions, closed-ended or the combination of both. In open-ended questions, the respondents are allowed to give their own answers while the closed-ended questions provide the respondents with a set of alternatives and choose answer from that set (Saunders, et al. 2007). researchers use close-ended questions for they provide the greater control, make respondents easy to answer and short answers lead to quick results (Arthur,2006). The researcher, in this study, has used closed-ended questions using

The Overwhelming Essay -- Character Analysis, Jack, Dr. Gansana

In The Overwhelming, Mizinga says to Jack, "One is defined by what one is against. And who. To struggle against these people, to fight for what is yours. To suffer and yet to struggle on: This is what makes life precious. And brings understanding (p 76-77)". Within the three novels that will be discussed in this essay, the aforementioned quote highlights the dilemma that each protagonist faces on his way from innocence to maturation (word choice). In The Overwhelming, the protagonist, Jack travels to Rwanda during the onset of the Rwandan genocide. In search of his friend, Dr. Gansana, Jack learns that the workings of Rwanda is nothing like his home country, and experiences firsthand the brutality that would occur over the following weeks. He must make a decision between his son and his friend, and ultimately chooses his son, leading to the death of his friend. The Innocent, by Ian McEwan, Leonard, a sheltered adult, travels to a post World War 2 German for work. He encounters games of espionage, and what can be called love. This connection takes him from adolescence to maturation, to the point where he inadvertently commits murder. Lastly, Native Son, by Richard Wright, tells the story of Bigger, an African American youth, who faces external strife from his immediate environment. In a racially discriminating America, Bigger commits murder and is freed. He goes from being inhibited and beaten down by his environment, to attain a sense of freedom. With this said, all these men encounter murder, whether the decisions made were deliberate or inadvertent. While their reactions are different, it can be seen that murder transforms their innocence or contributes to the loss of it. In The Overwhelming, Jack Exley enters Rwanda with inte... ...k man in America. While he also kills Bessie, she has less of an effect because she is African American as well. Despite this, Bigger still commits murder. Fletcher states, "You are liable for murder if (1) you act (2) intentionally (3) to bring about the death of (4) a living human being, and you are not acting in (5) self-defense or while (6) insane (Fletcher, 97)†. In Bigger’s case, he is guilty for both murders. The murder of Mary was accidental but he disposed of her body in brutal fashion. This fashion however was out of fear of being caught. Because of the racial difference, it was very likely that Bigger would get in trouble for being caught with Mary, if not worse, lynched. His murder of Bessie revolved around the fact that she may have given him away to the police. With this said, it is clear these murders revolve around the fear of being caught.

Latino Actors and Resistance Cinema :: Movies Films

Latino Actors and Resistance Cinema During the second half of the twentieth century Latino actors began to resist the previously portrayed stereotypes in American films. "The beginning of this "coming to self"†¦was the desire to expose the terrible conditions under which Puerto Ricans of this generation had been raised; challenge the assumptions under which these conditions thrived; and re-create the institutions and society that had engendered them" (Jimenez, 188). For many years Latinos allowed themselves to be depicted under various stereotypes which they therefore represented in real life to audiences everywhere. By mid-century, Chicanos, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans began to form ways to deviate from the conventions of earlier American cinema. Documentaries were one creation that offset the false stereotypes put forth by many American filmmakers because they identified with the realism and actuality of Latino life. According to Cine-Aztlan, "in a class society, only those who control have the power to interpret the situation of the masses. That is why capitalist documentaries will never trace the source of the problem and the injustices that the world masses experience under a system of exploitation and human oppression (Cine-Aztlan, 278). When Latinos actually took the step towards self-representation and began producing and directing films and documentaries themselves, the truth started seeping through the lines. In "La Operacion", we see how the Puerto Rican government dealt with the issue of population control. The situation is portrayed realistically and the harsh truth is presented by real people who have real stories to share. This type of cinematography is directly political form of filmmaking that is more likely t o stir emotion in the audience. Luis Valdez could be labeled the originator of the resistance movement, stirring much emotion and discussion with his films. Notably, he directed Zoot Suit, a film portraying a young Chicano who must go through great difficulty to clear his name of a murder he did not commit. Joseph Vasquez directed Hangin' With the Homeboys, a movie directly addressing the stereotypes of minorities through comedy and exaggerated characteristics.

Crucible Belonging Essay

Individual Text Record Sheet for AOS: Belonging Title: Looking for Alibrandi Composer: Melina Marchetta Form and text type: Novel Publication date: 1992 Context: Set in 1992, Sydney, Australia, surrounding the secluded Italian community. Audience: Young adults Purpose: To educate young adults on the stresses and losses of life and how, through reflection, they can set you free. Brief synopsis of text: Looking for Alibrandi focuses on one girl and the shame her family’s indiscretions have brought on them. Throughout h HSC year, her father returns, she falls in love, loses a friend and discovers the truth of her identity. List four textual features that convey the concept of Belonging (techniques): 1. Humour: Humour is used in Looking for Alibrandi to convey Josie’s cultural connections to food such as pizza and pasta, as shown when Josie is having a conversation with her father who asks if she likes pizza to which she replies, â€Å"What a ridiculous question. I suppose you’re going to ask me if I like pasta next. The use of sarcasm by Josie, clearly demonstrates the humour in the novel by dismissing her father’s question as the answer should be obvious. This sets the foundation for the father-daughter relationship to develop. 2. Characterisation: In the novel the characters personalities are reflected through the use of stereotypes. This is best shown through Nonna and Jacob. Nonna is a stereotypical Italian grandmother, who strongly clings to her cultural herit age to the extent where all her furniture is Italian. Jacob, on the other hand, is the typical rebel. He is part of a gang, gets into trouble often and rides a motorcycle. The stereotyping of Nonna shows her strong connection to her Italian heritage whereas the characterisation of Jacob demonstrates his lack of connection to his Australian background. 3. Imagery: Imagery is used in Looking for Alibrandi after Josie’s friend John Barton commits suicide, where she starts to have hallucinations of seeing him, particularly at Central Station which was their meeting place. John’s death has had a huge impact on Josie as she begins to feel like she has no friends and thus isolated from people. She also experiences anger that he would kill himself instead of going to her for help. The imagery creates the connection that Josie feels to other people besides John Barton and begins to create relationships with other people. 4. Irony: In the novel, Nonna has a disapproving attitude towards her daughter due to Josie being born out of wedlock. This sets up the irony in the novel as Nonna cheated on her husband resulting in the birth of Josie’s mother making her very hypocritical. This is evident when Josie finds out â€Å"You’re a liar†¦ You slept with him. You slept with Marcus Sandford. † The use of irony causes the strain in Nonna and Christina’s mother-daughter relationship and sees Nonna taking special interest in Josie, forming a strong relationship between them as Nonna believes Josie will break the ‘curse’. Links to prescribed text in terms of ideas and techniques (synthesis): Humour is used in The Crucible to relieve the tension and convey the ridiculous situation at hand. The characters have a conversation with Parris, where he mentions the faction against him to which Proctor retorts, â€Å"Why, then I must find it and join it. This is similar to Looking for Alibrandi where the main character, Josie, hides behind humorous sarcastic remarks to deal with troublesome situation. Through the use of humour, both John Proctor and Josie Alibrandi are singled out and looked up to. The stereotypical characterisation of a theocratic society has been infracted by greed and dishonesty. This is unveiled in the sc ene where Putnam gets his daughter to accuse their neighbour of witchcraft so he can buy the land. However, the stereotypical characterisation in Looking for Alibrandi remains intact. This shows the conflicting of interests in religious communities and, how one mistake will have an impact on the entirety of the community. The use of imagery is accentuated in The Crucible through the only evidence received in the trials which is the girls’ word that the Devil has sent someone’s ‘spirit’ to harm them. When accusing Mary Warren, they shout, â€Å"Mary, please, don’t hurt me! † The use of imagery in The Crucible and Looking for Alibrandi, singles out certain characters as they feel weak and helpless, disconnecting them from their stronger friends and family. The irony in The Crucible demonstrates just how little the authoritative figures see as they allow good Christians to be hung on the words of manipulative children. This is indicted in Act One where Reverend Hale states that Rebecca Nurse looks, â€Å"as such a good soul should†, however, in Act Four, hangs her for the crime of witchcraft. Similarly, the situation with Nonna and Christina, Josie’s mother, is also ironic. This suggest a desire for the characters to believe in what they say and forget about how they act, wanting to be accepted for who they’ve become.

Autocratic and Democratic Leadership Essay

There are many pros and cons of both autocratic and democratic government, not to mention, many obvious differences. Surprisingly, there are also some similarities between these two unique governing styles. Autocracy as defined by the Merriam Webster online dictionary is, â€Å"A government in which one person possesses unlimited power.† Opposingly, democracy as defined by Danzinger, professor and former chair of the department of political science at the University of California is â€Å"A governance by leaders whose authority is based on a limited mandate from a universal electorate that selects among genuine alternatives and has some rights to political participation and opposition† (173). Most leadership characteristics can be categorized into these two groups further separating them into two distinct leadership styles. An autocratic leader tends to lead with an iron fist similar to the style of a totalitarian government, whereas a democratic leader tends to take a slightly softer approach governing with consent and compliance from the people. Throughout this paper I will provide an analysis of basic characteristics of both autocratic and democratic government and leaders, as well as a brief overview of the positive and negative aspects of both governing systems. Each governing style is made to work within its own environment, governing its people and doing what is best for its country. Autocracy requires a lack of separation of powers, so the absolute ruler cannot beopposed by any other powerful source. For example, a checks and balances’ system would deter an autocratic government because the leader would not have absolute power. Autocracies can take the form of a totalitarian/dictoral government, where a country is under the rule of one person. Many times, autocratic rulers work to better their countries only because it in turn provides great advantages for the rulers themselves. â€Å"An autocratic government is one that maximizes the net income the ruling clique extracts from the remainder of the population; this extraction, in turn, is the difference between the tax revenues the regime collects and the amounts it spends on public services, military activities, and interest.† (Niskanan, 182). Basically, out of the increase in output that results from the net income extracted from the population, the leader obtains more resources for his or her own purposes than for the general public. Also, since the public population is a source of tax-income for the leader, the leader then has  incentive to protect his or her people from warfare, terrorist attacks, etc. Hence, the monopolization of income tax can actually have a positive affect on the general public. The public is also benefitted because they obtain the income they have made that has not been taken in taxes. A commonly used phrase people use when talking about autocratic governments is, â€Å"An absolute ruler fails absolutely,† but is this necessarily the case in an autocratic government? Unlimited power of a ruler may only be considered dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. The term autocracy has become synonymous with the title of dictator, however, not all dictatorships are necessarily a negative form of government. For example, Hugo Chavez, leader of Venezuela has created the Bolivarian Revolution, â€Å"A close replica of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal-a progressive income tax, public works, social security, cheap electricity-makes him wildly popular with the poor. And most Venezuelans are poor† (Palast 42). On the other hand, many people argue that Chavez is in fact a bad leader. A common view of the American government portrays Chavez as a threat to global oil prices and regional economy. Just like there is a good and bad side to autocratic leaders, ther e are many pros and cons when closely examining an autocratic government. Many may argue that an autocratic style of government is corrupt and unjust. However, there are many positive aspects of autocracy. Decisions are made quickly without strenuous contemplation from other political powers. For example, if a dictator wanted to pass a law making it illegal to wear blue jeans in his or her country he could pass the law without consent from anyone else. If a president wanted to make the same law, it would have to be overseen and contemplated by numerous other parties before passing. Not only is an autocratic government quick to make decisions, it also defines a clear bottom line. Topics of controversy are not left up to the interpretation of the public, and differing opinions are not expressed because the public population of an autocratic government is generally discouraged from expressing individual opinions. Unfortunately there are also many negative aspects of autocracy. Mainly, it  has the potential to ignore the needs of the majority. Ultimately, all decisions are left up to the leader, creating a potentially skewed outcome as far as the needs of the public go. The views and norms of a whole state can be held solely in the hands of one person and needless to say may have quite a negative effect. Irrational decisions can also be made, with virtually no hope of being stopped. If an autocratic leader happens to be having a bad day and makes an irrational and harsh decision, it may have a negative impact on all of the country. One may wonder why the citizens of an autocratic government would tolerate such a harsh and extreme leader, why not just overthrow him?The same logic of collective action that ensured that there are no social contracts in the historical record whereby large groups agreed to obtain the advantages of government also implies that the masses shall not overthrow an autocrat simply because they would be better off to do so. Historical evidence from at least the first pharos through Saddam Hussein indicates that resolute autocrats can survive even when they impose heinous amounts of suffering upon their peoples. When they are replaced, it is for other reasons (Mancur 23). The opposite of autocracy could be thought of as democracy. Democracy is a widely accepted form of government that works for the people by allowing them to choose their own representation. Not only are the people represented by a leader of their choice, but are also able to give opinions as to the on goings of their country. â€Å"Democracy is a sign of the existence of a strong civil society that is based on various intermediary groups, from women’s associations and labor unions to cooperatives and trade councils. Such groups serve as probably the most effective tools for communicating social demands to decision makers.† (Gangi 41). Democracy is said to have originated in medieval Europe as a cause of three main points;First, late medieval Europe had numerous political characteristics that distinguished it from other major world civilizations. These characteristics the most important of which were representative assemblies constituted as a basis for liberal democracy which provided Europe with a predisposition toward democratic political institutions. Second, the ‘military revolution’ of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to the strengthing of monarchal power in countries relying on domestic resources to finance modern armies.  In these countries, medieval constitutionalism was done away with and expansive autocracies were built demolishing the predisposition. Third, in countries that avoided the military revolution, military modernization did not destroy constitutional government, and a liberal political outcome became more likely (Downing 3). Much like autocracy requires a lack of separation of powers, democracy needs a separation of powers. A democratic government is divided into three branches. The executive branch consists of the presidential party which in turn consists of the president, the vice president, and all the cabinet members. This branch assists in carrying out the law. The president is allowed to pass or veto a bill sent by the legislature. The legislative branch or â€Å"Bicameral Congress† consists of the Senate (100 seats, one-third are renewed every two years; 2 members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)† (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/us.html). The legislative branch writes laws on a bill so they can be sent to the senator, and then to the representatives, and then to the president. The judicial branch is in charge of the court systems consisting of the â€Å"Supreme Court (nine justices; nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate; appointed to serve for life); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts† (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/us.html). The judicial branch applies the law by hearing and making decisions on various legal cases. Just like any other government, democracy can vary from country to country. A democratic government may come in many different forms such as participatory democracy, representative democracy, electoral democracy, liberal democracy, etc, hence there are near endless positive and negative aspects. Singapore practices an electoral democracy where â€Å"All citizens periodically vote in order to select political leaders from among alternative contenders† (Danziger 173), meaning that the government picks the candidates that the citizens can vote for. In 2006 the Freedom House  described America as a liberal democracy which is a government where â€Å"Citizens enjoy not only electoral democracy but also these extensive political rights and civil liberties regarding participation, personal freedoms, and opposition† (173). However, I feel that America is better categorized as a representative democracy where â€Å"Citizens elect people to represent them in the political process and to allocate values on their behalf† (172). Because of all the different conditions in the many types of democracies one may wonder what exactly defines democracy. One of the key characteristics of American democracy is universal suffrage. Universal suffrage consists of the right to vote regardless of race, religion, gender, social status, economic status, etc. Suffrage has been a continually developing aspect of democracy for centuries. According to Wikipedia, African American suffrage began in 1866, and women’s suffrage began in 1920. A second democratic characteristic is equality of all people. Within the US Constitution it is implied that under a democratic government each person is entitled to equal protection under the law, freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, etc, along with various other economic, social, cultural, civil, political, and group-oriented rights. Democracy bases itself on providing fair and equal opportunities for all people regardless of their race, sex, religion, economic/social status, etc. The idea of American democracy fully supporting equality brought many immigrants here, with promises of equal opport unity. Along with all the rights and privileges citizens of a democratic government have, there are also some negative aspects. The larger democracies get, the more difficult voting and vote tallying becomes. For example, during the Gore vs. Bush presidential elections the vote counts in Florida were misinterpreted, and many people thought the outcome of the election was skewed due to vote fraud. Also, democracy is hailed as one of the most fair governments, but catering to the needs of only the majority actually excludes the minority. No matter how minuscule the minority may be, they are still be exploited by the majority. Lastly, the larger a democratic system becomes, the less peaceful and efficient it becomes. Mancur Olsen gives a good example of this negative aspect of  democracy in his essay Autocracy, Democracy, and History. If there are say five similar people, each of them will get about a fifth of the gains from the creation of a peaceful [democratic] order. †¦The advantages of such an order are so large that one fifth of the gains could eaisly exceed the total sacrifice. Moreover, when there are only a few people in a group it will be clear that the welfare of each person depends on whether each other individual acts in a group-oriented or anti-social way. Thus each person by making clear that the cooperation by others will bring forth cooperation from him but that non-cooperation will not, can increase the likelihood that others will match his behavior. This not only increases the probability of peaceful [democratic] interaction but even makes it easily possible that cooperation will reach an ideal or group optimal extent (Olsen 3). Hence, democracies work better for relatively small groups. Mancur argues that a democracy is better than raw anarchy, but democracy is still far from perfect. (2)In conclusion, both autocratic and democratic governments have many strong and weak points. Some negative aspects of autocracy such as income tax monopoly can have a positive affect on a whole country’s population, while some positive aspects of democracy such as majority ruling can have negative affects such as excluding the minority. The pros and cons of a government are what ultimately define that government’s basic structure. If a government has a disorganized electoral system, power could potentially fall into the wrong leaders hands. If a government has a very strict electoral policy, the people may be misrepresented due to the fact that they do not have full freedom to choose their leader. Each governmental style works for the betterment of their citizens whether it is by strict rule, or lax rule. All in all, governments working towards the betterment of their citizens, are truly working towards the betterment of the human population as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"Autocracy.† Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. 2004. . Danziger, James. Understanding the Political World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science. New York: Pearson Education Inc, 2007. Downing, Brian. The Military Revolution and Political Change: Origins of Democracy andAutocracy in Early Modern Europe. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992. Gangi, Akbar. â€Å"The Struggle Against Sultanism.† Journal of Democracy 2005: 16.4. ProjectMuse Scholarly Journals Online. Wayne State University Library. Wayne State University Library, Detroit, MI. 16 Apr 2007. Olsen, Mancur. â€Å"Autocracy, Democracy, and History.† Online working paper #22, 1991. 2 April 2007. Niskanan, William. Autocratic, Democratic and Optimal Government: Fiscal Choices and Economic Outcomes. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publications, 2004. Palast, Greg. â€Å"Hugo Chavez.† The Progressive. July 2006. 10 April 2007. â€Å"United States.† cia.gov. 2007. The World Fact Book. 4 April 2007. .