Foreign Bonds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foreign Bonds - Essay Example Foreign Bonds Introduction to Foreign Bonds â€Å"Foreign bonds are a debt security issued by a borrower from outside the country in whose currency the bond is denominated and in which the bond is sold† (Scott 2003). Whatever country the bonds come from, they fall into either of two classes: government bonds and corporate bonds (Brigham & Eharhardt 2009). The former is supported by the issuing governments and their agencies. For example, a bond denominated in Philippine peso that is issued by the government of the United Sates is a foreign bond. Bonds that are partially backed by the U.S. government are called â€Å"Brady bonds† after Nicholas Brady, former treasury secretary under the administration of presidents Reagan and Bush (Brigham & Ehrhardt 2009). Corporate bonds, on the other are issued by foreign or multinational corporations (MNCs) (Madura 2006). For instance, Sharp Corporation (a Japanese firm) may need U.S. dollars to finance the operations of its holdings in the United States. If it decides to raise the needed capital in the United States, then the bond would be financed by a group of U.S. investment bankers, denominated in U.S. dollars, and sold to U.S. investors in accordance with SEC and applicable state regulations. The bond is no different from those issued by equivalent U.S. corporations except for its foreign origin, thus making it a foreign bond. Alternatively, if Sharp Corporation issued bonds in the Philippines that were denominated in pesos then they would also be considered as foreign bonds. â€Å"Foreign bond issues carry prefixes that indicate the country in which the offering is made† (Shailaja 2008). If Sharp Corporation would make a U.S. dollar denominated bond issue in the U.S. capital market, it is making an issue of Yankee bonds. Similarly a Samurai bond is a yen denominated bond issue made by a foreign borrower in the Japanese capital market to Japanese investors. A Bulldog bond is a pound sterling denomi nated bond issue made by a foreign borrower in the British capital market to British investors. Foreign bonds may be subject to withholding tax. â€Å"This is a tax levied by the country to which the foreign borrower belongs, on interest payments made to foreign bondholders† (Shailaja 2008). Suppose Sharp Corporation makes a Yankee bond issue and the Japanese tax law stipulates that a 15% withholding tax must be levied on interest payments made by Sharp Corporation to the bond holder. If the face value of each bond is $100 and the fixed coupon rate is 10%, the interest receivable by a bondholder is $10. But with the 15% withholding tax, he receives only $8.5—that is, $10 less 15%. The Reason Foreign Bonds Exist â€Å"Foreign bonds are designed to cater to the investment needs of the target market† (Shailaja 2008). They have certain attributes that appeal to investors in the capital market where they are tendered. Foreign firms or multinational corporations that aspire to expand their business portfolios choose to issue bonds in several foreign countries. This is also one strategy to obtain support from the government of each foreign country that they plan to do business with. Issuers understand that they may be able to attract a stronger demand by offering their bonds in a particular foreign country rather than in their home country (Madura 2008). Some countries have a limited investor base, so companies in those countries seek financing overseas (Madura 2008). Also

ELL Instructor Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ELL Instructor Interview - Essay Example In order for students to implement these strategies, it is crucial that they get exposed to real-life scenarios in which they can be able to compare and contrast their acquired skills set. For instance, increasing their proficiency would mean sitting down them individually or in small groups and explaining the concepts to them through real-life methodology. Collaborating is undoubtedly essential in order to thrive in any profession as the thoughts of ideas, knowledge, and practices are exchanged. Trimis, E (2009) Through my personal experience, I have felt that English should be taught in the simplest manner by implementing methodologies that are acquired in school initiates from giving students real life example. In order for students to implement these strategies, it is crucial that they get exposed to real-life scenarios in which they can be able to compare and contrast their acquired skills set. Collaborating is undoubtedly essential in order to thrive in any profession as the thoughts of ideas, knowledge, and practices are exchanged. Quite often, students struggle to socialize in a pre-dominant learning environment. Parents and teachers should play a symbiotic role and support while ensuring that everyone is in sync with the progress. Furthermore, collaboration is a key for the success of students, parents and teachers. The main proposition is to ensure that a learning environment offers multiple platforms, bridges the gap between teachers, parents and students and secure and confidentiality is of the highest quality. Parents can give feedback or allow children to ask questions. Underachievement can consist of many factors such as not being challenged enough, lack of motivation or interest. Students maybe bright but may not feel challenged enough. Ideally, every teacher wants their students to be independent thinkers for various reasons. First and foremost, independent thinking is needed to harness the society and express innovation. Secondly,

Personality and Organizational Commitment Relationship

Personality and Organizational Commitment Relationship ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between the personality traits and organizational commitment among non teaching employees in government schools in the Sultanate of Oman. Data was collected by using Big Five Inventory (BFI) and revised Organizational Commitment Scale (Meyer, Allen, Smith, 1993). Response was received from 95 non teaching employees with a response rate of 47.50%. The findings of this study suggest us the relationships between personality traits and organizational commitment among non teaching staff in the government schools. KEYWORDS Affective commitment, big five-factor model of personality, continuance commitment, normative commitment, organizational commitment. INTRODUCTION This study explored the relationship between personality traits and organizational commitment among non teaching employees in the government schools of Sultanate of Oman. Organizational Commitment is being considered as an underlying factor for organizational success. Shepherd and Mathews (2000) suggest that employers view Organizational Commitment with increasing interest and importance. Due to increasing interest of employers and researchers, organizational commitment has become highly researched job attitude. It is evident from the fact that commitment has been the subject of many meta-analyses (Cooper-Hakim Viswesvaran, 2005; Mathieu Zajac, 1990; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, Topolnytsky, 2002) studies. Theoretical reviews by Lawler (1992) and Reichers (1985) have also widely explored this attitude. This job attitude has become important for employers because employees with low levels of commitment are more likely to leave their organizations (Meyer et al., 2002). Research into Organizational Commitment has focused on the relationships between various antecedents and the components of Organizational Commitment. The primary antecedents to organizational commitment are like age; gender; education level; marital status; position and organization tenure; personality; and role states (Camilleri, 2002). Meyer and Allen, (1984); Grusky, (1966) and Mowday et al (1982) have thoroughly examined various relationships between antecedents and organizational commitment. This study was designed to contribute to the Organizational Commitment related literature by exploring the relationships between age, tenure, personality traits (using Big Five Model) and organizational commitment. THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL OF PERSONALITY The Big Five model of personality implies that personality consists of five relatively independent traits that provide a meaningful explanation for the study of individual differences (Kumar, Bakhshi Rani, 2009) and their responses. The five dimensions in Big Five model of personality are Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Each of the Big Five traits is a set of traits that tend to occur together in individuals (Kumar, Bakhshi Rani, 2009). Extraversion is the state of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside. The behavioral tendencies used to measure this factor are sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, and active (Barrick Mount, 1991). Conscientiousness refers to the tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully and be focused on the goals. It includes behavioral tendencies like being hard working, achievement- oriented, persevering, careful, and responsible (Barrick Mount, 1991). Openness to experience is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, imagination and variety of experience. The behavioral tendencies associated with Openness to Experience include being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad minded, intelligent (Digman, 1990). It also reflects need for variety, aesthetic sensitivity, and unconventional values (McCrae John, 1992). Agreeableness refers to a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative. This factor includes behavioral tendencies like being courteous, flexible, trusting, good-natured, cooperative, forgiving, soft-hearted, and tolerant (Barrick Mount, 1991). Neuroticism refers to the tendency to experience negative emotions like anger, anxiety, or depression in a person. It is also called emotional instability. Behavioral tendencies associated with this factor include being anxious, depressed, angry, embarrassed, emotional, worried, and insecure (Barrick Mount, 1991). ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Organizational Commitment refers to the degree to which an employee identifies with the goals and values of the organization and is willing to exert effort to help it succeed (Herscovitch Meyer, 2002). According to Allen and Meyer (1990) Organizational Commitment is made up of three components or dimensions. First component is affective commitment and it refers to the employees emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in, the organization. Second component is continuance component and it refers to commitment based on the costs that the employee associates with leaving the organization. Third component of organization commitment is normative component, which refers to the employees feeling of obligation to remain with the organization. DEMOGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT According to meta-analysis by Mathieu and Zajac (1990), age and organizational commitment yielded a medium positive correlation. Older employees tend to have a higher degree of organizational commitment because they view their past years of service to the organization as an investment (Camilleri, 2002). Therefore they would tend to be more committed to the organization. Thus, H 1: Non teaching employees commitment to the organization will positively relate to their age. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TENURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Various studies show a weak positive relationship between tenure and organizational commitment. In these studies, job tenure has been shown to be more positively related to attitudinal commitment, while organizational tenure was more positively related to calculative commitment (Clayton, Petzall, Lynch Margret, 2007). The given explanation is that years spent in a particular position tend to increase an employees psychological attachment to an organization, while extended tenure also increases their stake in terms of benefits such as pension plans (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990, p.8). Thus, H 2: Non teaching employees commitment to the organization will positively relate to their length of tenure. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT Affective commitment refers to an employees positive emotional response to the organization. An employee, who is affectively committed, strongly identifies with the goals of the organization and desires to remain in the organization. While extroverts exhibit positive emotionality (Watson Clark, 1997) and it is reasonable to assume that those high in Extraversion experience higher affective commitment than those who are less extraverted. Many studies have also found significant bivariate correlations between positive emotionality and affective commitment (Williams, Gavin, Williams, 1996). Thus, H3: Non teaching employees extraversion will positively relate to affective commitment. CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT Continuance commitment refers to an awareness of the costs (economic and social) associated with leaving the organization. It develops through an employees perceptions of employment alternatives. Employees who perceive that they have several viable alternatives will have weaker continuance commitment than those employees who perceive that they have few alternatives (Meyer Allen, 1997). Extrovert individuals tend to be more socially active and may develop more social contacts than introverts. More social contacts of extraverts may bring them more job opportunities. Therefore, H4: Non teaching employees extraversion will negatively relate to continuance commitment. Neuroticism refers to an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states by an individual. Neurotic individuals tend to experience more negative life events than other individuals (Magnus, Diener, Fujita, Pavot, 1993). Due to this tendency, person may prefer to stick to same job instead of facing new work environment. Thus, H5: Non teaching employees neuroticism will positively relate to continuance commitment. Conscientiousness refers to the traits like self-discipline, carefulness, thoroughness, organization,  deliberation  (the tendency to think carefully before acting), and need for  achievement. According to Organ and Lingl (1995), due to conscientiousness nature, employee gets more opportunities to obtain formal (e.g., pay, promotion) and informal work rewards (e.g., recognition, respect). To the extent that a conscientious employee earns such rewards, they should have high level of continuance commitment. Therefore, H6: Non teaching employees Conscientiousness will positively relate to continuance commitment. NORMATIVE COMMITMENT Normative commitment refers to employees perceptions of their obligation to their organization. It develops from the investments that an organization makes in its employees (Meyer Allen, 1991). This will make employees feel indebted to his or her organization and want to respond his or her organizations initiatives favorably. Extraverted employees seek out more social interactions within the workplace and exhibit positive emotions. Therefore extroverts tend to respond favorably towards the organization due to perception of obligation. Thus, H7: Non teaching employees extraversion will positively relate to normative commitment. METHOD SAMPLE A sample of 95 non teaching employees was obtained from government schools in the Sultanate of Oman. Questionnaires were bilingual (English and Arabic). Response rate of 47.50 % (95 filled questionnaires received out of 200) was obtained. The gender composition of the sample was 53.7% male (N=51) and 46.3% female (N=44). The average age of the respondents was 35.85 years (SD=4.3). On an average, the respondents had the present organizational tenure as 7.46 years (SD = 3.2) and total job tenure as 8.21 years (SD = 2.9). MEASUREMENTS THE BIG FIVE The Big Five Inventory (BFI) (John et al., 1991) (John et al., 2008) consisting of total 44 items was used to measure personality traits of school laboratory technicians on a five point Likert-type anchoring ranging from strongly disagree (1) to 5 (strongly agree). It contains five dimensions corresponding to big five personality traits (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness and Conscientiousness). The reliabilities (Cronbachs Alpha) for each facet were Extraversion (0.88), Neuroticism (.94), Agreeableness (.92), Openness (.91) and Conscientiousness (.91). AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT Affective Commitment was measured by revised version of Affective Commitment Scale (Meyer, Allen, Smith, 1993). Responses were collected on a seven-point Likert-type anchoring that ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The reliability (Cronbachs Alpha) of this six item scale was 0.82. CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT Continuance Commitment was measured by revised version of Continuance Commitment Scale (Meyer, Allen, Smith, 1993). Responses were collected on a seven-point Likert-type anchoring that ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The reliability (Cronbachs Alpha) of this six item scale was 0.88. NORMATIVE COMMITMENT Normative Commitment was measured by revised version of Normative Commitment Scale (Meyer, Allen, Smith, 1993). Responses were collected on a seven-point Likert-type anchoring that ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The reliability (Cronbachs Alpha) of this six item scale was 0.89. RESULTS A factor analysis, which is confirmatory in nature, was performed on the different variables such as Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness, Conscientiousness, Affective commitment, Continuance commitment, and Normative Commitment. The factor analysis was conducted using principal axis factoring with varimax rotation as an extraction method (see for details, e.g. Nummenmaa et al., 1996, p. 244; Hair et al., 1998, pp. 87-120). The identified factors were selected whose Eigen values are greater than 1.0 from the graph of scree plot. Graph 01: Scree Plot Showing Eigen Values of Factors These variables within factors are correlated, is confirmed by the Bartletts test of sphericity. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy indicated a practical level of common variance (KMO = 0.587), which implies that the results obtained from factor analysis are appropriate. The factors identified with loadings in appendix 01 exhibits 74.22 percent of the variance of the variables. The table 01 comprises the means, standard deviations, partial correlations, and reliability coefficients for the proposed variables. The partial correlations among proposed variables provided initial support of our hypotheses. In the support of hypothesis 01 age is positively correlated with affective commitment (r = 0.255, p The table 02 shows the results obtained after running multiple regressions. It is evident from the table 02 that the correlations among variables are low. The coefficient of determination of three dimensions of organizational commitment such as Affective commitment, Continuance commitment, and normative commitment are 35.8%, 24.6%, and 20% respectively. The coefficient of determination indicates the change in dependent variable is explained from a change in independent variables. It is evident that the relationship in a linear is medium for affective commitment and small for continuance commitment and normative commitment as the value of the coefficients of determination are very weak. The F-ratio for the three dimensions of organizational commitment such as Affective commitment, Continuance commitment, and normative commitment are 5.255 (p When exploring the beta values of three dimensions of organizational commitment, the magnitude of approximately all values is low. The 35.8% explained variance in the coefficient of determination for the affective commitment may be attributed to organization tenure, job tenure, extraversion, and openness to some extent. The 24.6% explained variance in the coefficient of determination for the continuance commitment may be attributed to organization tenure, extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness to some extent. The 20% explained variance in the coefficient of determination for the normative commitment may be attributed to organization tenure, job tenure, and extraversion to some extent. DISCUSSION The findings suggest that the studied model serves as the foundation in the exploration of the various dimensions of organizational commitment. In particular, Age and organizational tenure has played substantial role in all three forms of the organizational commitment. Moreover, Extraversion has played a role of the most consistent independent variable of the all dimensions of the organizational commitment. Extraversion was positively associated with affective commitment because the positive emotionality is important dimension of personality (Watson et al.,1988; J. Erdheim et al. 2006). Secondly, Extraversion was negatively associated with continuance commitment. In general, extraverts have better relations with peers than introverts which may result into better career options (Watson Clark, 1997). Finally, Extraversion was positively associated with normative commitment. Because extraverts believe that their extraordinary service by providing congenial social environment may enhanc e the psychological contract with the organization (Watson, 2000; J. Erdheim et al. 2006). Correlation between Neuroticism and Organizational Commitment varied for three components of organizational commitment. Correlation between Neuroticism and Affective Commitment was found significantly negative and significantly positive with continuance commitment. While with normative commitment it was found negative (nonsignificant). Neurotics tend to be prone to negative experiences and negative affect. This tendency makes them low on affective commitment. Neurotic individuals used to be conscious of the costs associated with leaving the jobs so continuance commitment used to be high among neurotics. Conscientiousness displayed positive significant relationship with continuance commitment while nonsignificant relations with affective and normative commitments. Since conscientious individuals tend to be highly involved in to their jobs (Organ Lingl, 1995) and it increases their chances of workplace rewards. These rewards will have impact on the continuity of individuals in the organizations. THEORETICAL AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS The results of the present study reflect that the role of personality is vital in the development of organizational commitment. It gives a scope of relationship between personality job attitudes and organizational commitment. This theoretical implication gives further scope of study pertaining to the factors of other dimensions of the job attitudes such as job involvement, job embeddedness etc. Managerial implications of the study are primarily in the personnel selection. Since different components of organizational commitment are correlated with personality traits, organizations need to judge personality traits at the time of selection and foresee the impact on the candidates commitment. It has been found in meta-analysis that employees with low level of commitment are more likely to leave their organizations (Meyer et al., 2002). LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Furthermore, this study suffers from three limitations whereas the results are statistically in most parts. The first limitation is related to the sample size which is relatively small in comparison to similar other studies. The second limitation pertains to the coefficients of regression model which are relatively low and may affect the reliability and validity of findings. The third limitation which is prominent in nature is that the proposed model was tested using correlation and regression analysis among variables. However, this technique can only examine a single relationship at a time (Hair, at el, 1998). An area of upcoming research is to test the proposed model using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) which may provide better results. SEM is a multivariate statistical technique used to estimate a number of interrelated dependence relationship simultaneously. The present study will give additions in the literature of the factors pertaining to the organizational commitment in various dimensions. There are evidences of outcomes of the study that the application of the five-factor model of personality assisting the prediction of three forms of the organizational commitment. This model paves the way to a new dimension of the research which may explore the extensive relationship between the unexplored dimensions of personality and organizational commitments. Our findings have various practical implications in the selection procedure of the organization. Further research may be extended to explore the utility of using personality tests to predict organizational citizenship behavior in a selection setting. REFERENCES Allen, N.J., and Meyer, J.P. (1990) The Measurement and Antecedents of Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment to the Organization, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 63:1-18. Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A Meta-Analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-26. Camilleri, E. (2002). Some Antecedents of Organizational Commitment: Results from an Information Systems Public Sector Organization. Bank of Valletta Review, 25. Clayton, B., Petzall, S., Lynch, B. Margret, J. (2007). An Examination of the Organizational Commitment Of Financial Planners. International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol.3, No.1. Pp. 60 72 Cooper-Hakim, A., Viswesvaran, C. (2005). The construct of work commitment: Testing an integrative framework. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 241-259. Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 21, 417-440. Erdheim,J., Wang, M. Zickar, M.J. (2006). Linking the Big Five personality constructs to organizational commitment. Personality and Individual Differences 41, 959-970 Grusky, D. (1966) Career Mobility and Organisational Commitment, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 10, 488-503. Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., Black, W.C. (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, . Herscovitch, L. and Meyer, J. P., 2002. Commitment to organizational Change: Extension of a three-component model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 474-487. John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., Kentle, R. L. (1991). The Big Five InventoryVersions 4a and 54. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social Research. John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 114-158). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Kumar K., et al (2009). Linking the Big Five Personality Domains to Organizational Citizenship Behavior. International Journal of Psychological Studies. Vol. 1, No 2 Lawler, E. J. (1992). Affective attachment to nested groups: A choice process theory. American Sociological Review, 57, 327-339. Magnus, K., Diener, E., Fujita, F., Pavot, W. (1993). Extraversion and neuroticism as predictors of objective life events: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1046-1053. McCrae, R. R., John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 2, 175-215. Mathieu, J. E., Zajac, D. M. (1990). A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 171-194. Meyer, J.P. and Allen, N.J. (1984) Testing the Side-Bet Theory of Organisational Commitment: Some Methodological Considerations, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 69: 372-378. Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1, 61-89. Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., Smith, C. A. (1993). Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 538-551. Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application. California: Sage Publishers Inc. Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J., Herscovitch, L., Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 20-52. Mowday, R., Porter, L.W. and Steers, R.M. (1982) Employee-Organisation Linkages: The Psychology of Commitment, Absenteeism, and Turnover. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Nummenmaa, T., Konttinen, R., Kuusinen, J., Leskinen, E. (1996), Tutkimusaineiston Analyysi , Analysis of Research Data WSOY, Helsinki, . Organ, D. W., Lingl, A. (1995). Personality, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 135, 339-350. Reichers, A. (1985). A review and reconceptualization of organizational commitment. Academy of Management Journal, 10, 465-476. Shepherd, J. L. Mathews, B. P. (2000). Employee commitment: Academic vs practitioner perspectives. Employee Relations, 22(6): 555-575. Watson, D., Clark, L. A. (1997). Extraversion and its positive emotional core. In S. R. Briggs, W. H. Jones, R. Hogan (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology. New York: Academic Press. Watson, D., Clark, L. A., Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063-1070. Watson, D. (2000). Mood and temperament. New York: Guilford Press. Williams, L. J., Gavin, M. B., Williams, M. L. (1996). Measurement and nonmeasurement processes with negative affectivity and employee attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 88-101. Personality and Organizational Commitment Relationship Personality and Organizational Commitment Relationship CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter Overview This study will focus on the relationship between personality and organizational commitment. This chapter includes background of the study, problem statement, research question, research objectives, significant of the study and the scope of study as well. In addition, the conceptual and operational definitions of terms are discussed to provide an understanding on their usage in this study. Lastly, this chapter concludes with a summary. Background of the Study Organizational commitment is a positive psychological state of attachment that pushes the employee’s performance upward to successfully turn the firm’s strategic vision into a reality (Hawass, 2012) 8964-35144-1-PB (2). Although there are many kind of definitions by different researchers, all of them unanimously attempted to place emphasis on the relationship between employees and organization (Ekmekci, 2011) Darbanyan. Over the past two decades, there has been a huge increase in the research efforts trying to explore and understand the nature, antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment (2-4) Kumar. Many of research reviews and meta-analysis have done on organizational commitment because it plays an important role in predicting work behavior (kumar, 2010) kumar. According to Klein, Backer, Meyer (2009) Hackney, organizational commitment is so well studied due to the impact of organizational commitment is associated with work outcomes such as turnover intention, absenteeism, job performance, motivation and job withdrawal behaviors. Organizational commitment is a multidimensional framework that can bring effect to many factors in organization and draw out various positive implication for organization and its workers (Darbanyan et al. 2014) Darbanyan. For example, there is an inverse relationship between organizational commitment and absenteeism, turnover intention and dysfunctional job behavior (Amiri, 2009) Darbanyan. Moreover, meta-analyses also indicate that organizational commitment is positively related to job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and job performance (Vandenberghe and Bentein, 2009; Su et al. 2009) 09593841211204335. A study conducted by Sjoberg and Sverke (2000) Darbanyan in Sweden found out that organizational commitment has multiple effects on absenteeism. Researchers have identified different factors that can be affected for organizational commitment. Personal characteristic, work experience, role related characteristics are considered as common antecedences of organizational commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1993). Personality characteristics are one of the antecedents of commitment and studies of personality as it relates to commitment are few (Klein rt al., 2009) Hackney. Personality is another variable that examined in this study as well as addressed by many theorists. Different researchers possess different approaches and came up with various definitions of personality in line with their approaches (Darbanyan, 2014). According to Peryin John (2009) 8964-35144-1-PB (2), each level of these personality traits has special contribution to the understanding of individual differences in behavior and experience. Individual’s personality can define how he or she views the world around him, react to situations and interacts with others in the organization (Michaud, 2013) 8964-35144-1-PB (2). Understanding employee’s personality is very important due to its usefulness on placing people into jobs and gives clues to managers about how an employee is likely to act and feel in a variety of situation. According to Kumar and Bakhshi (2010) SSRN-id2220719, individual’s personality is a good predictor of work attitudes and work outcomes. The dispositional factors are always referring to the Five-factor model of personality (Kumar and Bakhshi, 2010). Big Five personality is one of the most prominent models in contemporary psychology to describe the most salient aspects of personality (Goldberg, 1990; John Srivastava, 1999) SSRN-id2220719. Most of the studies on organizational commitment focus on identifying the environmental factors such as low salary, highly stress environment and low motivation (Hoffmann, Ineson.., 2004) 109_327_3rdICBER2012_Proceeding_PG1583_1592. However, employee dispositional sources mainly known as personalities are being ignored. A study done by Kumar †¦ (2010) stated that there is little attention given in investigating the relationship between personalities, using the Big Five personality model with organizational commitment. This study proposes to investigate the relationship between Big Five personality and organizational commitment among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers Sdn Bhd, Bangsar. Problem Statement Research Questions Research questions of this study are: What are the personality traits among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. What is the level of organizational commitment of employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd? Is there any relationship between Big Five personality and organizational commitment among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd? What is the effect of Big Five personality to organizational commitment among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd? Research Objectives The research objectives of this study are: To identify the personality traits among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. To determine the level of organizational commitment of employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. To investigate the relationship between Big Five personality and organizational commitment among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. To determine the effect of Big Five personality to organizational commitment among employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. Scope of the Study This study is to identify the relationship between personality and organizational commitment among the employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. The study will be conducted by having the Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd’s employees as respondents to identify the personality traits and organizational commitment of them. There are around 110 employees who work in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd and there will be a total number of 86 employees been chosen randomly as research sample to participate in this study. The employees will be chosen based on random sampling and the data will be collected via questionnaire from the employees in Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd. The independent variable will be measured by Big Five Inventory (BFI). The dimensions of the Big Five personality are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. For the dependent variable, Three Dimensional Commitment Scale questionnaire will be used to measure the organizational commitment of employees. There are three dimensions of organizational commitment that will be measured: affective organizational commitment, continuance organizational commitment and normative organizational commitment. Total of 24 items will be used to measure organizational commitment by using 5 point Likert Scale. Significant of the Study Many researchers have widely discussed the study on organizational commitment (Lin, Lin and Lin, 2010; and Judge, Klinger, Simon and Yang, 2008) 109_327_3rdICBER2012_Proceeding_PG1583_1592. However, there is not much attention given on the study of relationship between Big Five personality and organizational commitment especially in Malaysia. Thus, this study will contribute in adding more literatures on personality and organizational commitment specifically in Malaysia context. The study brings attention to the importance of talking personality into consideration while measuring employees’ organizational commitment. Additionally, this study will help managers to understand more about employees’ personality and how they react toward organizational processes. Understanding employees’ personality is very useful to managers because managers can predict how the employees are likely to act and feel in different kind of situation. Moreover, findings of this study could help managers to increase employees’ loyalty in particular company. Job satisfaction will also increase and followed by decrease in turnover rate in that company. Conceptual Definition 1.8.1Personality: Big Five Model Personality is a subfield of psychology (Friedman Schustack, 2008). Personality is basically not studied in terms of non-psychological concepts. These non-psychological concepts included profits and losses, souls and spirits, or molecules and electromagnetism. According to the founder of personality psychology, Gordon Allport, personality is defined as the inner organization of psycho physiological system of a person to create a person’s unique behavior, feeling and thoughts (Lin, 2010). For this research, Big Five personality approach will be used to identify employees’ personality traits. The Big Five personality factors include extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. Big Five personality is also known as OCEAN, NEOAC or CANOE (Feldman, 2011). 1.8.2Organizational Commitment As Meyer and Allen (1991) suggest, organizational commitment is defined as the psychological state that links an employee to the organization where the employee has strong involvement and desire to exert effort in achieving organization’s goals. There are three types of commitment, which are affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Brown (1996) and Brickman (1987) 1-s2.0-S105348220000053X-main who provided general definitions of commitment noted that commitment is different from motivation or general attitudes. They suggested that commitment influences behavior independently of other motives and attitudes and, in fact, might lead to persistence in a course of action even in the face of conflicting motives or attitudes (†¦,2001). Operational Definition Big Five Personality Big Five personality is the five basic factor develop by the researcher Norman through measure of the factor analysis of peer’s personality trait. The factor that concludes from Norman’s Big Five factor is extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and culture (Lin 2010) yuchuan. However, the Big Five Model that we going to used in this study is the Big Five model which modified by researcher McCrae where the â€Å"culture† dimension is changed to â€Å"openness† dimension (Lin, 2010). Individual who high in extraversion tend to be energetic, talkative, enthusiastic, sociable and dominant. Individual low in this dimension tend to be introvert, quiet, shy, submissive and retiring (Friedman Schustack, 2011) ting. For agreeableness, individual high in this dimension is friendly, warm, cooperative and trusting whereas individual low in this dimension are unkind, cold and quarrelsome (F.., 2011). Neuroticism also known as emotional instability. Individual who has this personality dimension tend to be moody, nervous, tense, high-strung and worrying. Individual low on this dimension is emotionally stable, calm, contented and stable. Conscientiousness also known as lack of impulsivity. Early research in personality psychology mentioned this dimension as Will. Conscientious individual are generally responsible, cautious, organized, dependable and persevering. Individual low on this dimension is impulsive, undependable, careless, disorderly (F†¦, 2011). Besides that, openness also known as culture or intellect. Individual who has this personality dimension tend to be artistic, imaginative, original creativity and witty. Individual low in this dimension are shallow, simple and plain (F, 2011). Organizational Commitment Meyer and Allen’s Three-Component Model of commitment (1991) is used to measure the level of organizational commitment of employees in this study. Organizational commitment refers to the level to which the employees’ emotional connection and their identification with the company where they currently working in. Three dimensions of organizational commitment proposed by Meyer and Allen (1991) is investigated in this study, namely affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. According to Meyer and Allen (1997), affective commitment is the employee’s emotional attachment and participation of the employee in the organization. In this study, it refers to the employees’ emotional commitment towards their company, their identification and the desire to remain in the company. The second dimension proposed by Meyer and Allen is continuance commitment, which refers to the awareness of the cost of leaving associated with leaving the organization. In this study, continuance commitment means the consciousness of the employees on the perceived prices associate with quitting from their company, such as limited job opportunities. Lastly, normative commitment is the feelings of employee’s obligation to remain in an organization and it also used to describe the degree to which the employee believes him or herself should committed to their organization. Summary In conclusion, this chapter outlines the background, problem statement, research questions, research objectives, study scope as well as significance of study. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between employees’ personality and their organizational commitment. The conceptual and operational definitions of research variables such as personality and organizational commitment are also being discussed. The relevant literatures, previous empirical research, models and theories related to this research will be explained and discussed in chapter 2.

UFOs Essay -- essays research papers

UFOs "Little Green Men", "Martians", "Outer Limits" ! That is what people think about when aliens and UFOs come to mind. Aliens have been around, as far as we can see, since 1561. The question is now asked, How come because they [UFOs] have been sighted, encountered, and taken hostage; Why have we been kept in the dark by our governments? "Since UFOs were considered a security risk, the report on these sightings was originally classified as secret (Kadrey 22)." The name 'flying saucer' was 'coined' by a Air Force pilot in 1947, when he stated that he had saw something that looked like a 'flying saucer'. "The government knew about UFOs and have been tracking them since 1947, which is to be believed when the 'Age of UFOs' started (Stacey 55). So, through the next pages the theory that UFOs are real because of evidence the government has covered up, the number of sightings, and the uncountable number of abductions, will become a reality. The first reason that is going to be addressed, is the secrecy and Government coverup of UFOs. "National Security Agency, or NSA, an acronym often assumed by insiders to mean 'NEVER SAY ANYTHING' , (Stacey 40) " has been blamed for millions of UFO governmental cover-ups around the nation. "Our problem is with government secrecy, because it widens the gap between citizens and the government, making it much more difficult to participate in the democratic process (Stacey 40)," says Steven Aftergood while addressing UFO secrecy. The UFO enigma, or as it is formerly know as the "'Cosmic Watergate' : the ongoing cover-up of the government's knowledge about extraterrestrial UFOs and their terrestrial activities (Stacey 36)" is believed to be started during the Nixon administration, which is still under alot of scrutiny. The Nixon Administration also established the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] in the 1970s', it opened the door to alot of truth and more coverups. " I don't think they would do a 300-page report on everything they detect," says Joe Stefula who is a UFO researcher. The "military would far rather have people blame such things on flying saucers than them (Brookesmith 14). " Several secret UFO Projects ... ...ng taken back aboard the UFO and flown (with her car also aboard) back to the site of the abduction. (Brookesmith 108) " In conclusion, I believe that UFOs, Aliens, EBEs, or whatever you call them; do have the key to our future in the existence of mankind. Although, secret pacts with our governments may not exactly get what we want, we can fight back. Lets jump back for a second and ask ourselves a question now: What if we were in the same predicament, wouldn't we want ourselves to be healthy too, and take what we need? If we look at the aliens actions from their perspective, what they are doing is exactly what we are doing to ourselves by destroying the o- zone layer. So why can't they do the same to us? I feel that the thesis to prove the existence of UFOs as stated that Government coverups do pose a threat to the truth and national security of our country, UFO sightings and abductions do pose a threat at this time and we must be ready at all odds to expose the Government and The aliens. The End.

Strategic Plan of Shangri-La Hotel

Table of Contents 1. 0Introduction2 2. 0Strategic Plan3 3. 0Describe mission statement, strategic goals and corporate strategies for a hotel4 3. 1Mission Statement4 3. 2Strategic Goals6 3. 3Corporate Strategies7 3. 3. 1Shangri-La Care 1: Shangri-La Hospitality from Caring People9 3. 3. 2Shangri-La Care 2: Delighting Customers9 3. 3. 3Shangri-La Care 3: Recover to Gain Loyalty9 3. 3. 4Shangri-La Care 4:  Take Ownership10 4. 0SWOT chart for the Shangri-La Hotel11 5. 0Conclusion14 6. 0Reference15 1. 0 Introduction Our group have chosen Shangri La as our topic of discussion for our report writing.Shangri La is a cooperation that has a lot of hotels and resorts in the whole wide world. The name of ‘Shangri La’ was actually from a novel published in 1933 named, ‘Lost Horizon’ written by James Hilton. In present days, the name ‘Shangri La’ has become famous in the worldwide. In 1971, Shangri La has its own deluxe hotel in Singapore. After that, Shang ri La had grew into a huge cooperation which own 72 hotels and resorts in different countries, such as, Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East, Europe and yet Shangri La is planning to develop more hotels in different countries.Besides that, Shangri La has two Asia’s most prestigious recreational clubs, that is, the Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong, and the Xili Golf and Country Club in Shenzhen. Furthermore, Shangri La’s always follow Asian Hospitality as their unique hospitality to treat their customer. In order to compete with other hotels and resorts, Shangri La had emphasized on hospitality towards their customer. The main thing that makes Shangri La being successful and being different from the other hotels and resorts is offering high level of Asian standards of hospitality and caring for people.Therefore, Shangri La hotels and resorts will care for each and every customer. They will make sure that every customer will satisfied with their services. Shangr i La search for trendsetters and professionals to serve their customer and to achieve the goal, that is, to make sure every customer has great experience once they stay in the hotels and resorts. Strategic planning is critical to business success. Different from classic business planning, the strategic variety involves vision, mission and outside-of-the-box thinking.Strategic planning describes where you want your company to go, not necessarily how you're going to get there. However, like all other â€Å"travel plans,† without knowing where you want to go, creating details on how to arrive are meaningless. Strategic planning defines the â€Å"where† that your company is heading. In order for a business to be successful, there needs to be a roadmap for success. A strategic plan helps to provide direction and focus for all employees. It points to specific results that are to be achieved and establishes a course of action for achieving them.A strategic plan also helps the various work units within an organization to align themselves with common goals. Building a strategic plan is not difficult. It will take some thought and some feedback from customers and others, but businesses should be routinely garnering feedback from appropriate constituent groups on an on-going basis. The process of developing a strategic plan should be rewarding for all involved and usually helps develop stronger communications between members of the planning team. Once developed, the key to making the plan work is a commitment to seeing it through and sound implementation.Many businesses have developed strategic plans only to put them on a shelf to gather dust. Managers need a well-developed strategic plan in order to effectively establish expectations for their employees. Without a plan, expectations are developed in a void and there is little or no alignment with common goals. A good strategic plan looks out 2 to 5 years and describes clearly how the business will grow and prosper over that planning horizon. 2. 0 Strategic Plan 3. 0 Describe mission statement, strategic goals and corporate strategies for a hotel 4. Mission Statement In 2010, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts had more than seventy hotels and 40,000 employees, with a vision to double within five years, all while maintaining their unique culture of high quality caring and hospitality. In recent years, the hotel chain has won almost every global award, including Asia’s best hotel brand for business and vacation, best luxury hotel chain (Asia Money), best business hotel brand in Asia Pacific (Business Traveler) and top five best overseas hotel (Observer and Guardian) (Marquardt 2011).Shangri-La has a powerful vision for its employees as well as its guests. Employee learning and development is an integral role in Shangri-La and is part of the company’s mission, which states that its aim includes â€Å"enabling all employees to achieve their personal and professional growth. â₠¬  Eng Leong Tan, Director for HR notes, â€Å"We seek to be the first choice employer among hospitality workers. We are committed to providing an environment in which employees can learn and grow.It is not enough just to pay well and offer good benefits. Growth opportunities are equally important, especially to younger employees† (Marquardt 2011). Shangri-La’s hotel mission statement we envision a community of responsible and educated citizens who are environmentally conscious, practice social responsibility in their daily lives and inspire others to do the same. We commit to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner whilst balancing the interest of diverse stakeholders (Lincoln 2007).We strive to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, caring for our employees and customers, seeking to enrich the quality of life for the communities in which we do business and serving as good stewards of society and the en vironment (Shangri-La Asia Limited 2010). â€Å"To delight our guests every time by creating engaging experiences straight from our hearts†. Again the same, they want to delight their quests, but as there is a low traffic of guests, it is self explanatory that they are not fulfilling the needs of their guests.According to their mission they want to differentiate them with others by providing the guests a feeling of home and interacting but for that they need customers, without that they can’t do anything (Kumar Swain 2011). 4. 2 Strategic Goals Shangri-La Hotel is a facility of services which provide places to stay for customers around the world. It is known as a hotel or a resort for consumers to relax or  even have a  vacation at  the hotel. Shangri-La Hotel is a  much known hotel in Singapore  because it was founded there itself. Shangri-La Hotel has provided a hotel for business traveler.Therefore, it has made another target of business in its management. With these targets, the company has proven to be the world’s best finest hotel in management and services. This hotel has also been situated in Malaysia itself, which have also become a finest hotel for business travelers and also travelers around the world and locally. Therefore, with these achievements, we have decided to make a research about the company itself and prove of its facility that satisfies us as a customer (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012).Great hotels are made by great employees, not by crystal chandeliers or expensive carpets. This strongly held belief at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts translates to a firm commitment to employee development. Such dedication will be increasingly important as the group’s workforce grows from 37,000 to nearly 60,000 by 2013 (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). The process begins with careful selection staff are â€Å"hired for attitude, trained for skills† providing a fertile f oundation for the Shangri-La philosophies to be embraced.Shangri-La then invests heavily in training perhaps more than any other hotel group with intensive, ongoing coaching for all staff at 68 hotels and resorts. The group then retains its high caliber staff by creating an environment whereby employees may achieve their personal and career goals. Shangri-La has one of the lowest staff turnover rate in the industry (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). 4. 3 Corporate Strategies Shangri-La Care the group’s defining feature is its exceptional and warm hospitality, as defined by its philosophy Shangri-La hospitality from caring people.All staff undergoes the â€Å"Shangri-La Care† training programme within six months of joining the group. The programme is designed to develop a consistent Shangri-La style of service to deliver a superior guest experience and build brand loyalty. Respect, courtesy, sincerity, helpfulness and humility are all core values of the training. Under the umbrella theme â€Å"Shangri-La Care the Shangri-La Way† the programme is divided into four modules: Shangri-La Care 1 – â€Å"Shangri-La hospitality from caring people†, Shangri-La Care 2 – â€Å"Delighting customers†, Shangri-La Care 3 – â€Å"Recover to gain loyalty† and Shangri-La Care 4 – â€Å"Taking ownership. The four modules of Shangri-La Care focus on the group’s mission: Delighting customers each and every time, part of Shangri-La’s guiding principles (Mohd  Rizal 2007). Shangri-La Care is a living culture within the group, strongly supported by top management and continuously cascaded through the organization. All hotels are required to allocate a specific budget for people training and development and the hotels’ general managers are responsible for ensuring the all the allocated funds are spent year after year.Below is Shangri-La Care Modules that line out what servi ce personnel do and how to serve their customers should best (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). 4. 4. 1 Shangri-La Care 1: Shangri-La Hospitality from Caring People First of all, addresses how to make the guests feel special and important by focusing on the five core values of Shangri-La Hospitality: Respect, Humility, Courtesy, Helpfulness and Sincerity. It also imbues  the value of  Ã¢â‚¬ËœPride without Arrogance’ as the service  hallmark (Mohd  Rizal 2007). . 4. 2 Shangri-La Care 2: Delighting Customers Focuses on the importance of guest loyalty and how it can only be achieved by delighting the guests not just the first time but every single time. Employees must be guest obsessed, doing more for guests by ‘going the extra mile', being flexible and never  saying no, anticipating and responding quickly, and recognizing the guest's individual needs (Mohd  Rizal 2007). 4. 4. 3 Shangri-La Care 3: Recover to Gain Loyalty High lights the impo rtance of recovery when a mistake is made.When recovery is done well, it may be an opportunity to gain further commitment and loyalty but if there is no or poor recovery the lifetime value of the guest is lost in addition to at least 25 others who may hear of the incident through word of mouth. The module teaches the five steps to recovery – Listen, Apologize, Fix the Problem, Delight – the Extra Mile and Follow Up (Mohd  Rizal 2007). 4. 4. 4 Shangri-La Care 4:  Take Ownership Finally, addresses the importance of our employees taking ownership to show care for the customers, colleagues and company.The driver of ownership is  Ã¢â‚¬Å"SELF†, which means S (Show commitment), E (Eager to take initiative), L (Lead ourselves) and F (Filled with  passion). This module attempts to create in the employee’s the mind-set to live in an environment that is  filled with  Care for  guests, Compassion for colleagues and  Pride in the  company (Mohd  Riz al 2007). 4. 0 SWOT chart for the Shangri-La Hotel Strengths| Weaknesses| 1) Shangri-La Hotel is regarded as one of the world’s best management hotel.It includes Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotels. 2) Shangri-La Hotel manages to train well employees who are able to provide better quality services to customers. 3) Shangri-La owns strong capital and service that helps it earn good reputation and consumer loyalty. 4) Shangri-La Hotel the uniqueness of interior design of the hotel rooms, lobby, dining cafe and state of the art facilities has been able to attract customer’s intention. It also has been on the luxury of facilities, which can make customers feel comfortable. ) Improved the existing electronic Best Practice process to ensure company-wide benchmarking where ideas with potential for global implementation are highlighted. The most valuable Best Practice recognition was created and is awarded on an annual basis. | 1) Senior executives approaching retirement with n o clear recognizable successor. 2) Problems in recruiting employees to work at the resorts. 3) Shangri-La is very famous in Asia but not in the other continents. So it is hard to attract those customers. ) Losing market share to rivals and higher overall unit costs relative to rivals 5) Unattractive compensation packages. Thus, failure to understand culture differences. | Opportunities| Threats| 1) Relatively safe and peaceful business environment. No natural disaster around the Hotel location, no riots, no terrorist attack, without violent protest or demonstration. 2) The resort hotel is located in a unique island with beautiful beaches and clear water ideal for snorkeling and living activities. 3) Shangri-La has opportunities to attract more ustomers. And then it can improve its fame all around the world. 4) The income of residents continued to rise, according to Maslow’s theory of the level demand, when the people’s living standards up to a certain extent, they hope to meet spiritual needs. Hotel facilities will attract customers’ so the hotel consumption of the people will continue to increase. 5) Increase presences in Asia and also relaxed travel restrictions. | 1) Aggressive fishing activities have been carried out nearby the island lately and it has caused unduly pollution as a result. ) There are many existing and newly built island resorts in the Asia-Pacific region. 3) The competitors are strong. There are lots kinds of hotels, so Shangri-La does not have tremendous competitiveness. 4) Restrictions on travel. 5) Increase in the cost of labor and current economic situation. | SWOT analysis can be defined as â€Å"a critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and treats in relation to the internal and environment factors affecting an entity in order to establish its condition prior to the preparation of the long term plan. In addition, strengths and weaknesses analysis involves looking at the particular stre ngths and weaknesses of the organization itself and itself and its products/services range. It is an internal appraisal. An analysis of opportunities and threats is concerned with profit making opportunities in the business environment and with identified threats such as falling demand, government legislation and new competition etc. Therefore it is an external appraisal. 5. 0 Reference ) Online Business Advisor, 2006, (Why is Strategic Planning important), viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://www. onlinebusadv. com/? PAGE=171 2) David Ingram, D 2012 (Why is the Implementation of projects important to strategic Planning and the Project Manager) viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/implementation-projects-important-strategic-planning-project-manager-18215. html 3) Shangri-La 2012, (International Hotel Management Ltd. ) viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://www. shangri-la. com/en/corporate/aboutus/overview 4) Strategic Plan of Shangri-La Hotel Table of Contents 1. 0Introduction2 2. 0Strategic Plan3 3. 0Describe mission statement, strategic goals and corporate strategies for a hotel4 3. 1Mission Statement4 3. 2Strategic Goals6 3. 3Corporate Strategies7 3. 3. 1Shangri-La Care 1: Shangri-La Hospitality from Caring People9 3. 3. 2Shangri-La Care 2: Delighting Customers9 3. 3. 3Shangri-La Care 3: Recover to Gain Loyalty9 3. 3. 4Shangri-La Care 4:  Take Ownership10 4. 0SWOT chart for the Shangri-La Hotel11 5. 0Conclusion14 6. 0Reference15 1. 0 Introduction Our group have chosen Shangri La as our topic of discussion for our report writing.Shangri La is a cooperation that has a lot of hotels and resorts in the whole wide world. The name of ‘Shangri La’ was actually from a novel published in 1933 named, ‘Lost Horizon’ written by James Hilton. In present days, the name ‘Shangri La’ has become famous in the worldwide. In 1971, Shangri La has its own deluxe hotel in Singapore. After that, Shang ri La had grew into a huge cooperation which own 72 hotels and resorts in different countries, such as, Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East, Europe and yet Shangri La is planning to develop more hotels in different countries.Besides that, Shangri La has two Asia’s most prestigious recreational clubs, that is, the Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong, and the Xili Golf and Country Club in Shenzhen. Furthermore, Shangri La’s always follow Asian Hospitality as their unique hospitality to treat their customer. In order to compete with other hotels and resorts, Shangri La had emphasized on hospitality towards their customer. The main thing that makes Shangri La being successful and being different from the other hotels and resorts is offering high level of Asian standards of hospitality and caring for people.Therefore, Shangri La hotels and resorts will care for each and every customer. They will make sure that every customer will satisfied with their services. Shangr i La search for trendsetters and professionals to serve their customer and to achieve the goal, that is, to make sure every customer has great experience once they stay in the hotels and resorts. Strategic planning is critical to business success. Different from classic business planning, the strategic variety involves vision, mission and outside-of-the-box thinking.Strategic planning describes where you want your company to go, not necessarily how you're going to get there. However, like all other â€Å"travel plans,† without knowing where you want to go, creating details on how to arrive are meaningless. Strategic planning defines the â€Å"where† that your company is heading. In order for a business to be successful, there needs to be a roadmap for success. A strategic plan helps to provide direction and focus for all employees. It points to specific results that are to be achieved and establishes a course of action for achieving them.A strategic plan also helps the various work units within an organization to align themselves with common goals. Building a strategic plan is not difficult. It will take some thought and some feedback from customers and others, but businesses should be routinely garnering feedback from appropriate constituent groups on an on-going basis. The process of developing a strategic plan should be rewarding for all involved and usually helps develop stronger communications between members of the planning team. Once developed, the key to making the plan work is a commitment to seeing it through and sound implementation.Many businesses have developed strategic plans only to put them on a shelf to gather dust. Managers need a well-developed strategic plan in order to effectively establish expectations for their employees. Without a plan, expectations are developed in a void and there is little or no alignment with common goals. A good strategic plan looks out 2 to 5 years and describes clearly how the business will grow and prosper over that planning horizon. 2. 0 Strategic Plan 3. 0 Describe mission statement, strategic goals and corporate strategies for a hotel 4. Mission Statement In 2010, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts had more than seventy hotels and 40,000 employees, with a vision to double within five years, all while maintaining their unique culture of high quality caring and hospitality. In recent years, the hotel chain has won almost every global award, including Asia’s best hotel brand for business and vacation, best luxury hotel chain (Asia Money), best business hotel brand in Asia Pacific (Business Traveler) and top five best overseas hotel (Observer and Guardian) (Marquardt 2011).Shangri-La has a powerful vision for its employees as well as its guests. Employee learning and development is an integral role in Shangri-La and is part of the company’s mission, which states that its aim includes â€Å"enabling all employees to achieve their personal and professional growth. â₠¬  Eng Leong Tan, Director for HR notes, â€Å"We seek to be the first choice employer among hospitality workers. We are committed to providing an environment in which employees can learn and grow.It is not enough just to pay well and offer good benefits. Growth opportunities are equally important, especially to younger employees† (Marquardt 2011). Shangri-La’s hotel mission statement we envision a community of responsible and educated citizens who are environmentally conscious, practice social responsibility in their daily lives and inspire others to do the same. We commit to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner whilst balancing the interest of diverse stakeholders (Lincoln 2007).We strive to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, caring for our employees and customers, seeking to enrich the quality of life for the communities in which we do business and serving as good stewards of society and the en vironment (Shangri-La Asia Limited 2010). â€Å"To delight our guests every time by creating engaging experiences straight from our hearts†. Again the same, they want to delight their quests, but as there is a low traffic of guests, it is self explanatory that they are not fulfilling the needs of their guests.According to their mission they want to differentiate them with others by providing the guests a feeling of home and interacting but for that they need customers, without that they can’t do anything (Kumar Swain 2011). 4. 2 Strategic Goals Shangri-La Hotel is a facility of services which provide places to stay for customers around the world. It is known as a hotel or a resort for consumers to relax or  even have a  vacation at  the hotel. Shangri-La Hotel is a  much known hotel in Singapore  because it was founded there itself. Shangri-La Hotel has provided a hotel for business traveler.Therefore, it has made another target of business in its management. With these targets, the company has proven to be the world’s best finest hotel in management and services. This hotel has also been situated in Malaysia itself, which have also become a finest hotel for business travelers and also travelers around the world and locally. Therefore, with these achievements, we have decided to make a research about the company itself and prove of its facility that satisfies us as a customer (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012).Great hotels are made by great employees, not by crystal chandeliers or expensive carpets. This strongly held belief at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts translates to a firm commitment to employee development. Such dedication will be increasingly important as the group’s workforce grows from 37,000 to nearly 60,000 by 2013 (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). The process begins with careful selection staff are â€Å"hired for attitude, trained for skills† providing a fertile f oundation for the Shangri-La philosophies to be embraced.Shangri-La then invests heavily in training perhaps more than any other hotel group with intensive, ongoing coaching for all staff at 68 hotels and resorts. The group then retains its high caliber staff by creating an environment whereby employees may achieve their personal and career goals. Shangri-La has one of the lowest staff turnover rate in the industry (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). 4. 3 Corporate Strategies Shangri-La Care the group’s defining feature is its exceptional and warm hospitality, as defined by its philosophy Shangri-La hospitality from caring people.All staff undergoes the â€Å"Shangri-La Care† training programme within six months of joining the group. The programme is designed to develop a consistent Shangri-La style of service to deliver a superior guest experience and build brand loyalty. Respect, courtesy, sincerity, helpfulness and humility are all core values of the training. Under the umbrella theme â€Å"Shangri-La Care the Shangri-La Way† the programme is divided into four modules: Shangri-La Care 1 – â€Å"Shangri-La hospitality from caring people†, Shangri-La Care 2 – â€Å"Delighting customers†, Shangri-La Care 3 – â€Å"Recover to gain loyalty† and Shangri-La Care 4 – â€Å"Taking ownership. The four modules of Shangri-La Care focus on the group’s mission: Delighting customers each and every time, part of Shangri-La’s guiding principles (Mohd  Rizal 2007). Shangri-La Care is a living culture within the group, strongly supported by top management and continuously cascaded through the organization. All hotels are required to allocate a specific budget for people training and development and the hotels’ general managers are responsible for ensuring the all the allocated funds are spent year after year.Below is Shangri-La Care Modules that line out what servi ce personnel do and how to serve their customers should best (Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. 2012). 4. 4. 1 Shangri-La Care 1: Shangri-La Hospitality from Caring People First of all, addresses how to make the guests feel special and important by focusing on the five core values of Shangri-La Hospitality: Respect, Humility, Courtesy, Helpfulness and Sincerity. It also imbues  the value of  Ã¢â‚¬ËœPride without Arrogance’ as the service  hallmark (Mohd  Rizal 2007). . 4. 2 Shangri-La Care 2: Delighting Customers Focuses on the importance of guest loyalty and how it can only be achieved by delighting the guests not just the first time but every single time. Employees must be guest obsessed, doing more for guests by ‘going the extra mile', being flexible and never  saying no, anticipating and responding quickly, and recognizing the guest's individual needs (Mohd  Rizal 2007). 4. 4. 3 Shangri-La Care 3: Recover to Gain Loyalty High lights the impo rtance of recovery when a mistake is made.When recovery is done well, it may be an opportunity to gain further commitment and loyalty but if there is no or poor recovery the lifetime value of the guest is lost in addition to at least 25 others who may hear of the incident through word of mouth. The module teaches the five steps to recovery – Listen, Apologize, Fix the Problem, Delight – the Extra Mile and Follow Up (Mohd  Rizal 2007). 4. 4. 4 Shangri-La Care 4:  Take Ownership Finally, addresses the importance of our employees taking ownership to show care for the customers, colleagues and company.The driver of ownership is  Ã¢â‚¬Å"SELF†, which means S (Show commitment), E (Eager to take initiative), L (Lead ourselves) and F (Filled with  passion). This module attempts to create in the employee’s the mind-set to live in an environment that is  filled with  Care for  guests, Compassion for colleagues and  Pride in the  company (Mohd  Riz al 2007). 4. 0 SWOT chart for the Shangri-La Hotel Strengths| Weaknesses| 1) Shangri-La Hotel is regarded as one of the world’s best management hotel.It includes Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotels. 2) Shangri-La Hotel manages to train well employees who are able to provide better quality services to customers. 3) Shangri-La owns strong capital and service that helps it earn good reputation and consumer loyalty. 4) Shangri-La Hotel the uniqueness of interior design of the hotel rooms, lobby, dining cafe and state of the art facilities has been able to attract customer’s intention. It also has been on the luxury of facilities, which can make customers feel comfortable. ) Improved the existing electronic Best Practice process to ensure company-wide benchmarking where ideas with potential for global implementation are highlighted. The most valuable Best Practice recognition was created and is awarded on an annual basis. | 1) Senior executives approaching retirement with n o clear recognizable successor. 2) Problems in recruiting employees to work at the resorts. 3) Shangri-La is very famous in Asia but not in the other continents. So it is hard to attract those customers. ) Losing market share to rivals and higher overall unit costs relative to rivals 5) Unattractive compensation packages. Thus, failure to understand culture differences. | Opportunities| Threats| 1) Relatively safe and peaceful business environment. No natural disaster around the Hotel location, no riots, no terrorist attack, without violent protest or demonstration. 2) The resort hotel is located in a unique island with beautiful beaches and clear water ideal for snorkeling and living activities. 3) Shangri-La has opportunities to attract more ustomers. And then it can improve its fame all around the world. 4) The income of residents continued to rise, according to Maslow’s theory of the level demand, when the people’s living standards up to a certain extent, they hope to meet spiritual needs. Hotel facilities will attract customers’ so the hotel consumption of the people will continue to increase. 5) Increase presences in Asia and also relaxed travel restrictions. | 1) Aggressive fishing activities have been carried out nearby the island lately and it has caused unduly pollution as a result. ) There are many existing and newly built island resorts in the Asia-Pacific region. 3) The competitors are strong. There are lots kinds of hotels, so Shangri-La does not have tremendous competitiveness. 4) Restrictions on travel. 5) Increase in the cost of labor and current economic situation. | SWOT analysis can be defined as â€Å"a critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and treats in relation to the internal and environment factors affecting an entity in order to establish its condition prior to the preparation of the long term plan. In addition, strengths and weaknesses analysis involves looking at the particular stre ngths and weaknesses of the organization itself and itself and its products/services range. It is an internal appraisal. An analysis of opportunities and threats is concerned with profit making opportunities in the business environment and with identified threats such as falling demand, government legislation and new competition etc. Therefore it is an external appraisal. 5. 0 Reference ) Online Business Advisor, 2006, (Why is Strategic Planning important), viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://www. onlinebusadv. com/? PAGE=171 2) David Ingram, D 2012 (Why is the Implementation of projects important to strategic Planning and the Project Manager) viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/implementation-projects-important-strategic-planning-project-manager-18215. html 3) Shangri-La 2012, (International Hotel Management Ltd. ) viewed 23 February 2012, Available from: http://www. shangri-la. com/en/corporate/aboutus/overview 4)

Jerry Rice

Have you ever met an athlete with a god given talent for a sport? Or have you ever had to play a sport to go â€Å"pro† and provide for your family? Well Jerry Lee Rice born October 13, 1962 raised in Starkville, Mississippi had a hard childhood; Jerry grew up â€Å"Simon pure†, no street lights, no sidewalks, no sidewalks, no stadium or concerts. As a youngster Jerry saw a lot of poor events in his life but very little of luxury that later became a part of his life.His father, a brick mason built a home for his large family. When money was short, rice helped his father carry bricks and mix mortar. When money was rational, Jerry started to worry about sports. In high school jerry played every position, from quarterback to tackle. The coach started to see that jerry can play at a college level; from there jerry made a promise to a Crawford coach, Archie Cooley, to take a recruiting trip.A graceful, speedy, and nearly unstoppable wide receiver was born. Rice helped put Mi ssissippi State on the map, the caught more than 100 passes in each of his last two seasons. As a senior he had 28 touchdowns receptions. He was so good that since he was 18 years old he has been doubled teamed. After leading state to a 24-6-1 record, Jerry was going down the road of success, Bill Walsh a 49ers coach heard about the amazing and best wide receiver in the, he had to come and talk to him.Walsh came to the 1985 pro football draft determined to win jerry’s services for the 49ers. so sold was the coach on rice that he traded up in order to select the young man sixteenth pick in the first round. Instantaneously Walsh took some heat for the decision, because rice had not proven himself in the high-stakes. Rice’s rookie season had a rocky start. He dropped a record fifteen passes, Rice blamed his early failures on the complex offense that Walsh ran. He simply had to acquire the moves.He said he need to revision, so to the point he could run a play without think about the route, Rice recovered quickly. Even before his first season ended he had set a team record with 241 receiving yards in one game. He was a unanimous choice for the 1985-86, living the dream rice never forgot where he came from he gave back to the community took care of his mom and family and became the role model he wished to be. In one of jerry rice’s quotes he said â€Å"Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t†.