Usefulness of Kants example of the promise in Contemporary Society Essay

Usefulness of Kants example of the promise in Contemporary Society - Essay Example This is the bases on which Immanuel Kant lays his theory of categorical imperative, which argues that all the people need to put into consideration that a person has the understanding of what it means to say â€Å"I must† as a promise. Through this theory, people are able to make proper distinctions between the different things, which happen in the world because of their understanding of their responsibilities towards each other. Kant argues that the categorical imperative requires a person to know their specific duties in a situation and follow them to accomplish their promises they made. In this respect, he exemplifies all the demands of making promises, which require the person who give them to bear all the responsibilities of fulfilling them according to what they said. In using the categorical imperative, Kant explains how a person can promise to fulfil a promise, which they know they will not fulfil because the basic maxim of a promise is that everyone who promises has to fulfil his or her duty. Arguing like this, it explains why people will not predict that a person is lying to them in making a promise they are not committed to fulfil but which other people think they will honour. This philosophy of Kant was relevant in the past and remains relevant in the contemporary world where people have different engagement to assure others that they will fulfil something and end up not doing it. According to Kant, the issues people have in their minds and which they do normally, form an important part of their explanations to different other things because they get some experience in them. Through these experiences of the mind, individuals form special expectations, which are the outcomes of different things they do in their lives and which other people exploit for their good or for their bad. In this respect, people are caught up in ethical issues, which require them to determine the various things according to the expectations of the society, deviation from which causes a person to be rendered immoral. The things that a person is expected to do in specific situation can be his or her duty and he or she is bound to fulfil it within the stipulated time according to the predetermined social requirement. According to some critics of the theory, there is no clear definition of whether the duty to keep a promise in a situation will be categorized as an ethical, in which a person can do it because they are convinced that it is the best thing to do or legal, where he or she fulfil the promises they have made in fear of the outcome of failure (Byrd and Hruschka, 2006, p49-50). According to Kant, a person bears a duty to talk the truth at the time of making a promise to other people and failure to fulfil them pre-exposes them to lying, which is unethical. This means that according to him, talking the truth in the context of making a promise is ethical and on the other hand, lying in the same context makes a person unethical. He argues that lying violates the duty one h as on himself or herself and therefore, ethical and can only be termed legal if it violates the right of another person who is affected by the lying of the people. For this reason, people who violate the duty of keeping a promise are termed unethical and lacking in moral values, which are unspoken rules that a person holds on himself or herself. Kant discredits lying as a legal duty arguing that all the people have their freedom to say whatever they can say regardless of the different implications they have on the other people in the

Country analysis of The Democratic Republic of Congo Essay Example for Free

Country analysis of The Democratic Republic of Congo Essay This location allows grief from neighboring countries on the other hand it is in an ideal location by way of trade routes to other countries and access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Congo River. The Democratic Republic of Congo is also dense with valuable minerals making it regarded as one of the richest countries as ar as natural recourses go. However, it is one of the poorest countries in the world In 1998, the second Congo war began, this war was also known as The African world war. It directly involved nine other African nations: Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and a few others. The war started because neighboring countries as well as citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo wanted to gain some of the minerals and natural resources from the nation originally creating a civil war which spread to other nations, sucking them in and starting a full out war between the countries. The war officially ended in 2003 however; battles and bitterness still resound and cause mass conflict between the African nations today. This war is said to be the worst conflict since World War II. Around five and a half million people have been killed so far due to this conflict. About 90% of the victims were not killed in battle. They passed on due to ravaging diseases such as malaria. They also died from pneumonia and malnutrition. These reasons for death were brought up by displaced populations living in unsanitary, heavily over populated conditions and were denied access to food, water, medicine, and shelter. This ongoing war has devastated a nation that in theory could be a rich, well off nation. The Democratic Republic of Congo has mass amounts of untapped raw mineral deposits. These deposits are worth 24 trillion dollars. This nation contains 30% of the worlds diamond reserves and 70% of the worlds coltan. There are also enormous reserves of gold, copper, and cobalt. The mineral extraction is done in a process known as artisanal and small scale mining. Mining has created severe problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There were many illegal organizations profiting off the mines. Because of this, the government shut down the eastern part of the country to mining. During the war, many of the commanders were making illegal trades with foreign countries with their minerals and natural resources. This trading was labeled as mass scale looting. When the mass scale looting died down soldiers were then encouraged to take part in small scale looting. This brought forth the active and extraction phase. Because of all this looting, there were large amounts of inflation. The Congolese government lost much of their profits from Uganda and Rwanda to transport their resources. They often exported diamonds and coltan out of the country. They would then repackage the diamonds and legally sell them as it they were from their own country. Rwandan soldiers made around 20 million dollars a month from smuggling resources out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. These large mining operations attract migrant workers. Many people migrate to The Democratic Republic of Congo as well to escape the violence in the Great Lakes region. The number of immigrants has been rapidly decreasing over the years. The mass amounts of immigrants have taken over the work force there. In recent years immigrants are starting to migrate to the European nations rather than other nations in Africa. Due to the dense population and poor living conditions, poverty runs rampant through this nation. This also means there are large amounts of crime even though there is a police force, the Congolese national police force. One of the most prevalent crimes in this area is of rape and sexual slavery. The Democratic Republic of Congo is known as the rape capital of the world. With the recent war, the numbers of rape victims have drastically increased. Although the Congolese law rohibits rape these laws are almost never enforced. Rape was a main weapon used in the Second Congo war, which started this ongoing epidemic of sexual violence. Prostitution and human trafficking are prohibited and have a penalty of twenty years in Jail according to the law. However, there will be years where there is not a single investigation of either of these. Proving that the laws are not as heavily enforced in these areas, as they should be. There are also no laws against spousal abuse. This lack of law enforcement is brought up by the lack of a stable and secure government rom the ongoing war. Left with an insecure government the nation is slowly starting to repair itself. The Lusaka Peace Accords set up a government system in 1999. A president was finally elected in 2006. The economy is starting to take a turn for the bright side but it is still wrought with poverty and a failing economy due to the war and mining conflicts. Due to the violence and unstable government, there are few markets and public services. This does not allow farmers to be able to sell their own goods. It forces civilians to fend for themselves. Due to the lack of public services, here are very few hospitals and medicals centers. Disease runs rampant through this nation. Since this nation is so heavily populates diseases spread easily through the communities. There are vast amounts of major health problems in this region including; HIV, aids, malaria, polio outbreaks, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, the Ebola virus, hemorrhagic fever, and tuberculosis. Many of the illnesses are from poor living conditions, living in filth and with bugs. Diseases are spread through bug bites. Diseases like HIV and Aids are easily spread through a multitude of ways. Diseases re spread through the movement of soldiers and refugees, few HIV testing sites, mass amounts of untreated sexual diseases, human trafficking, sexual abuse, prostitution, and diseased blood transfusions. Due to the ongoing wars and conflicts, it has made it difficult to set up an organization for stopping the spread of these diseases. Because of how poor the civilians are, they have no money for medical help, which is expensive and required to be paid in advance in full cash. The Democratic Republic of Congo is not only rich with minerals but is also a great agricultural location. The general temperature ranges between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a region covered with rainforest and savanna areas. The farming is done mainly in the open savanna areas. Some of the major cash crops include peanuts, beans, bananas, plantains, rice, yams, and sugarcane. Cottee is also a major crop grown here. It is one of the most exported natural resource. Most of the farming is done through the Feronia Arable Farming division. Smaller farmers often use the slash and burn method of farming nearer the rainforest. This method however, is destroying the environment and the rainforest. Using the slash and burn method it takes around fifteen years before the burned field can recover and be used again making the farmers cut down more and more of the rainforest to sustain products and and income. The Democratic Republic of Congo is an up and coming nation it requires vast amounts of revision with the nations government system, the conflicts with other countries need to be amended, and laws should be more strictly enforced to create a working nation. The DRC has the potential to be one of the richest nations in Africa by way of its large mineral reserves and demand on the natural resources cultivated here. Major reforms need to be made before this country thrives.

Fallacy Essay -- Fallacy Fallacies Social Issues Essays

Fallacy three logical fallacies that are used in this paper are Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, Far-Fetched Hypothesis, and False Dilemma. What is a fallacy? A fallacy is viewed as an error in reasoning. To be more exact, a fallacy is an "argument" in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support. A logical fallacy is an error in logical argument which is independent of the truth of the premises. When there is a fallacy in an argument it is said to be invalid. The presence of a logical fallacy in an argument does not necessarily imply anything about the argument's premises or its conclusion. Both may actually be true, but the argument is still invalid because the conclusion does not follow. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc is Latin means "after this therefore because of this". What this means is that a fallacy is committed when it is concluded that one event causes another simply because the proposed cause occurred before the proposed effect. There was an article in The Washington Times about a Florida woman who developed a brain tumor behind the ear where she had customarily placed her cell phone, her husband blamed radiation from the phone and sued its manufacturer. After his 1993 appearance on CNN's "Larry King Show," other similar lawsuits followed. None succeeded however, and within several months, the controversy was forgotten.† This kind of health scare is an example of the Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (believing that because two eve...

Affirmative Action Essay -- Politics, Public Policy

According to Newman, affirmative action is a â€Å"program designed to seek out members of minority groups for positions from which they had previously been excluded, thereby seeking to overcome some institutional racism† (Newman, 536). Affirmative action made its debut with a piece of legislature passed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and continues to this day. However, the concept of affirmative action is a controversial issue that continues to be hotly debated. Affirmative action policies are passionately debated by everyone from educators and politicians to ordinary citizens, all who hold differing opinions on both the necessity and validity of the policies. There is no doubt affirmative action is an emotional topic and deals with the sensitive subjective of race, therefore people’s reactions to it are going to be strongly influenced by their own race and person experiences. One group who may support affirmative action are educators. Especially, those who work with poorer minority students and see the obstacles they have to overcome in order to finally get ahead and attend college, unlike their parents. To these educators affirmative action may be seen as a sign of hope for bright, determined minorities. Politicians too may support affirmative action if it is in their political interest to do so. If a politician is running for office in an area with a large minority population that is not well off they would likely support affirmati ve action to gain the votes of the citizens. However, if a politician represented an area that is for the most part racist and unwilling to give opportunities to minorities, politicians will probably reject the idea of affirmative action. In the case of politicians it seems likely their decisions wo... ...uch as â€Å"socioeconomic status, first-generation college status, geographic residency,† or the hardships students have overcome (â€Å"UD.gov†). These factors while not race based would likely ensure a fair amount of minorities were represented. Until institutions and organizations in the United States can choose applicants without bias and minorities have overcome the socioeconomic disadvantages they face, it will be necessary to maintain some form of forced equality, which is what affirmative action provides. Works Cited "GUIDANCE ON THE VOLUNTARY USE OF RACE TO ACHIEVE DIVERSITY IN POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION." UD.gov. U.S. Department of Education, 02 Dec 2011. Web. . Newman, David M. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. 8 ed. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press, 2010. Print.

Impact of Employees Turnover

A Conceptual Model of Expatriate Turnover Author(s): Earl Naumann Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3 (3rd Qtr. , 1992), pp. 499-531 Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/155094 . Accessed: 09/10/2012 02:27 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive.We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email  protected] org. . Palgrave Macmillan Journals is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of International Business Studies. http://www. jstor. org A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER Earl Naumann* Boise State University Abstract. Many factorsmay contributeto the high rate of expatriate turnover experienced by U. S. ultinational corporations. The objective of this article is to present a comprehensive model of the expatriateturnoverprocessby identifyingthe key contributing factors and suggesting intermediate linkages and relationships. The model appears to have both managerial and theoretical implications. The majority of U. S. multinationalcorporations(MNCs) suffer from an abnormally igh turnover ateamongexpatriate anagers, articularly hen h r w m p t T compared o bothforeign-based NCsanddomesticoperations. he turnover M ate commonly falls in the 20%-50%range for expatriatetransfers[Black 1988; Black and Stephens 1989; Copelandand Griggs 1985; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985;Tung 1988;ZeiraandBanai 1985], althoughturnover ay m be as high as 70% for some firns, particularlyn less developed countries i [Desatnick and Bennett 1978; Lanier 1979]. The problem of expatriate i turnovers more evidentamongU. S. -basedMNCs thanamongforeign-based MNCs. Tung [1982] noted that turnoverrates among U. S. MNCs are two to three times higher than foreign MNCs. For example, Tung's research M ndicatedthatonly 3%of European NCs and 14%of JapaneseMNCs had turnoverrates greaterthan 10% of expatriatetransferswhile 76% of U. S. MNCs had turnoverrates exceeding that level. b t Althoughdirectcomparisons etweendomestic(U. S. ) andexpatriateurnover ratesaredifficult,expatriateurnover atesappear o be at leasttwice domestic t t r rates. â€Å"Expatriateturnover†or â€Å"expatriatefailure† typically includes all individualswho quit or transferback to the U. S. priorto the completionof theirexpectedforeignassignments. ome researchersontendthat†expatriate S c turnover†may also occur up to a year or more after repatriation[Adler 1986; Harvey 1989].Conversely,virtuallyall domestic studies of turnover refer to the separationof the emp loyee from the organizationwith the o o t T preponderancef the studiesconcentratingn voluntaryurnover. o illustrate, in McEvoy ndCascio's 1987]meta-analytic a reviewof turnoverndperformance, a [ *Earl Naumannis Professorof Marketingat Boise State University. He received his Ph. D. from ArizonaState University. The authorwould like to thankthe reviewersfor their effort and contributions hich helped signifiw cantly improvesome crudeideas. Received: September1990; Revised: February,June, September1991 & January1992; Accepted: February1992. 499 500JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 twenty-four studies involving 7,717 individuals were cited. External turnover rates varied from 3% to 106% annually with a median of 22%. However, the subjects in the studies were drawn from nineteen rather generic job s categories including aerospace employees, pharmaceutical cientists, engineers, navy enlisted personnel, nurses, bank tellers, and small business new hires, for examp le. None of the subjects are directly comparable to expatriate managers. If the assumption can be made that expatriate managers are more similar to individuals such as engineers, scientists, and exempt lectronic employees than to individuals such as nurses, enlisted personnel, or small business new hires, the â€Å"normal domestic† turnover rate is more likely to approximate 10% annually [McEvoy and Cascio 1987]. This figure is consistent with the average of 12% for 303 firms reported by Mercer [1988]. Further, turnover rates typically decline at higher organizational levels so managerial turnover rates are likely to be less than the overall average figure. Thus, while no empirical research exists that directly compares turnover, the expatriate turnover rate appears to be at least twice the domestic rate.The extreme expatriate turnover rate results in high direct and indirect costs to U. S. MNCs. The direct costs associated with each expatriate turnover are estimated to be be tween $55,000 and $150,000 [Copeland and Griggs 1985; Harvey 1985; Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987; Misa and Fabricatore 1979; Zeira and Banai 1985]. Therefore, the aggregate direct costs for expatriate turnover for U. S. MNCs are quite high [Copeland and Griggs 1985]. Additionally, the indirect costs associated with expatriate turnover are estimated to be even greater [Harvey 1985].The indirect costs include items such as reduced productivity and efficiencies, lost sales, market share, competitive position, unstable corporate image, and tarnished corporate reputation. While turnover is costly in domestic operations, turnover is apparently even more costly and troublesome in overseas operations. Due to the relatively high frequency of expatriateturnoverand the associated costs, the international business literature has been punctuated with efforts to isolate the factors causing difficulty in cross-cultural-adjustment.The three areas receiving the greatestinteresthave been the sele ction of the â€Å"ideal† expatriate manager [Abe and Wiseman 1983; Church 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987; Tung 1982, 1988; Zeira and Banai 1985], the underdeveloped state of expatriation and cross-cultural training programs [Black 1988; Black and Mendenhall 1990; Brislin 1979; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Kohls 1985; Schwind 1985; Torbiorn 1982; Tung 1982, 1984], and the difficulties encountered by the expatriate's spouse and/or family [Black 1988; Black and Stephens 1989; Grain and Cooper 1981; Harvey 1985; Tung 1982].While these factors are undoubtedly contributors to the turnover problem, study of these variables in isolation or jointly is likely to result in very little advancement of the understanding of the expatriate turnover problem. The reason for the low probability of significant improvements flowing from this stream of research is that there are CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 501 t t manyothervariableshatinfluence heturn over rocess. pecifically, onceptual p S c a models of the domesticturnover rocesshave pursued more comprehensive p pproachthan that found in the international usiness literature,and these b r i modelshavebeen generally alidated y subsequent esearchn organizational v b behaviorand appliedpsychology. While there have been numerousattemptsto model the domestic turnover process, two turnovermodels have received the strongestsupportbased on the frequency of citations in subsequentliteratureand on the number of attemptsto empiricallyvalidatethe constructsandrelationships. he model T of Mobley, Griffeth,Handand Meglino [1979] suggestedthatcharacteristics of the organization,he individual, ndthe environmenthapean individual's t s perceptionsand satisfactionleading to the formationof intentionsto stay or quit. The Steers and Mowday [1981] model addedadditionalconstructs of job performancelevel, efforts to change the situation, and non-work influences. In addition, he SteersandMowdaymodel exp andedthe affective t responsesto the job to includejob satisfaction,organizational ommitment, c andjob involvement. The satisfaction,commitment,and involvementof an w t individual ould lead to the formation f intentions o stay or quit. Together, o these models have guided or influencedturnoverresearchfor a decade.In thattime, both models have generallystood the test of empiricalvalidation. Thus,it appearsthatconstructs entralto these models may be generalizable c to the internationalnvironment ndhelp explainexpatriateurnover. y using e a t B theoretical odelsfromthe areaof appliedpsychology,this approach ttempts m a to address the criticisms of the internationalliteraturefrequentlyvoiced [BlackandMendenhall 990;Kyi 1988;Newmann, hattandGutteridge 978]. B 1 1 These authors ave notedthatthe internationalusinessliterature ften is not h b o integratedinto a theoreticalframeworkand appearspiecemeal and ad hoc.The purposeof this articleis to presenta model of expatriate urnover ased t b o n constructs entralto the Mobley,et al. [1979] andthe Steersand Mowday c [1981]models. Additionally,he expatriateurnover odelattemptso integrate t t m t concepts from the international usiness literature here possible. By purb w suing a more comprehensive heoreticalapproach nd recognizingthe comt a plex interactiveand longitudinaleffects, an improvedunderstanding f the o expatriateturnoverprocess may result. This improvedunderstanding ay m contributeto the developmentof retentionstrategiesthat would reduce the high turnoverrate.Lee and Mowday [1987] provided several reasons for the value of comprehensive odelsof turnover. irst,comprehensive odels m F m identify and categorizethe variousfactorsthatpreviousresearchhad found to be important. Second, models provide directionfor empiricalresearch, thus imposing discipline on researchers nd reducingthe occurrenceof an a ad hoc researchagenda. Finally, models help managersthink heuristically about a broaderrange of causes of turnoverrather than concentratingon one or two factors. Therefore,the model of expatriateturnovermay be of value to both researchers nd practicingmanagers. 502 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 THE MODEL The basic rationale that underlies this model is that the fundamentalconcepts associated with the turnover process in domestic situations can be adapted to model the expatriate turnover process. Thus, the discussion of major constructs will summarize the existent body of research where possible although there is an absence of empirical studies of a variety of unique international factors. Also, the model of expatriate turnover is implicitly oriented toward middle to upper level managers.These organizational levels appear to be most commonly represented among expatriates [Tung 1981]. While many of the constructs will also apply to operatives, the propositions and discussions adopt a managerial orientation. The discussion of the model (Figure 1) will flow from the predicto rvariables through intermediate linkages to the turnover decision. The sequence of discussion is intended to follow the direction of predominant causality in this turnover model. Three categories of predictor variables have received general empirical support domestically as being important elements of the o mployee turnoverprocess:job/task characteristics, rganizationcharacteristics, three groups of variables collectively and worker characteristics. These influence an expatriate's degree of job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and involvement in the achievement of the organization's goals. These attitudes are formed with respect to the parent organization, and, since most expatriates are initially transfers from domestic positions, the attitudes have probably been formulated predominantly in a domestic environment.The expatriate's general satisfaction with, commitment to, and involvement in the organization may be moderated by perceptions of the career path resulting fr om the international assignment or by the overall level of cross-culturaladjustment. The expatriate's satisfaction, commitment, and involvement may also be moderated by the employee's family situation and the family's overall satisfaction with the international experience or by o the characteristics f the countryto which the expatriateis assigned.Collectively these factors will lead to the modification of satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. Due to the developmental state of the international business literature and the small percentage of international human resource articles appearing in leading business journals [Black and Mendenhall 1990; Boyacigiller and Adler 1991; Rosenzweig and Singh 1991], the specific international variables influencing expatriateattitudes are largely unknown.However, these attitudes toward the organization in the foreign assignment may result in the expatriate clarifying the intent to change employers, stay with the same employer but transfer â€Å"home,† or stay in the international assignment. The expatriate's intentions may be modified by perceptions of both external and internal employment alternatives. The intentionsmay result in explicit search behavior, ultimately resulting in an initial turnover decision. The turnover decision, even if the choice is to stay, may result in changes in the employee's job CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 03 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0c U 0~~~~~~~0 0 .. 1 I=- I z0 LL †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ E 0 4) ll l la E L, k . ; ~~~~0 , 504 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and career expectations and influence subsequent performance. A decision to leave may not be manifested for an extended time period and may result in other withdrawal cognitions. To assist in clarifying the expected relationships in the model, research propositions are presented after each discussion. The degree of detail in each propos ition is largely a reflection of the existent body of research.If research is available that suggests specific relationships and the direction of influence, the propositions are relatively detailed. If research is lacking and the expected relationships are based instead on intuitive reasoning, the propositions are stated very generally. Also, although this is a model of expatriate turnover, only a few of the propositions deal explicitly with turnover. The reason for this is that turnover is the behavioral outcome of a complex process and the propositions address the specific antecedent relationships among variables. Each of these variables will be addressed individually.However, clarifying the relatively ambiguous concept of â€Å"turnover† may be useful first. Turnover Turnover among domestic operations typically refers to the separation of the individual employee from the firm. This definition is too narrow for the international environment and must be broadened to include several other dimensions of turnover since expatriate turnover often involves transfers internal to the organization. Turnover may be categorized as external or internal, voluntary or involuntary, and functional or dysfunctional. External turnover occurs when an individual leaves an organization to seek employment elsewhere.While this type of turnoveris most common domestically, there is no research indicating the frequency of external turnover as a component of total expatriate turnover. By any measure, external turnover is costly and results in reduced short-term efficiency, at the very least. Internal turnover occurs when an individual changes positions but remains in the same firm. This situation is apparently more common in international operations than in domestic situations [Tung 1984]. Essentially this occurs when an expatriate manager is transferred back to the U. S. or another internationallocation.Research has indicated that many expatriate managers find the repatriation process much more stressful and frustrating than the initial expatriationand repatriationexperiences may be a cause of subsequent turnover [Adler 1980; Harvey 1989]. Also, many expatriates may develop an intention to quit while on foreign assignment and view the transfer â€Å"home† as simply an intermediate step to leaving the firm [Harvey 1989]. Turnover may also be voluntary or involuntary (from the employee's viewpoint). Voluntary turnover occurs when the employee quits or requests and receives a transfer.Involuntary turnover occurs when an employee is fired or transferred at the will of the organization. By integratingthese concepts, a four-celledmatrixcan be developed (Figure 2). The turnover models of Mobley, et al. [1979] and Steers and Mowday CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 505 r [1981] and much of the subsequentdomesticturnover esearchin organizational behavior and applied psychology concentrateon cell 1, voluntary external turnover,and to a lesser degree, on cell 2, involuntaryexternal f turnover. The international usiness literature ocuses primarilyon cells 3 b i a and4, voluntary ndinvoluntarynternal urnover, ith little or no distinction. t e Very little discussionin the international usiness literature xists of cell 2, b involuntaryexternal turnover,or cell 1, voluntaryexternal turnover. The model presentedhere will apply generally to all four types of turnover. f While the model is conceptuallymost appropriateor both types of voluntary turnover,the model also has implicationsfor both types of involuntary w turnover. he implicationsor the varioustypes of turnover ill be addressed T f in subsequentsections of this article.Turnovermay also be conceptualizedas functionalor dysfunctionalto the firm. Functionalumoveris typicallyviewed as beneficialto the organization. t An example might be when a low-performingexpatriatequits or is fired, t thus creatingan opportunity o staff the position with a more capable indit vidual. Anotherexampleo f functional urnover ightbe the internaltransfer m and/or promotionof a high-performing xpatriate. There appearsto be a e dark side of functional turnoverthat may be easily overlooked. When a t â€Å"low performing†expatriate eaves the organization, he departure ay be l m he organization s a resultof the individual'snability o effectively a t viewedby i o make the cross-cultural djustment r as a result of spouse or family proba lems [Tung 1982]. However, it appearslikely that the cause of â€Å"low performance† may be mistakes made by the organizationin many cases. To illustrate,the selection criteriafor expatriatemanagersmay be inappropriate, expatriation raininginadequate or nonexistent),the job may be poorly t ( designed, the performanceexpectationsunreasonable,or the performance W appraisal rocessinadequate. hilethe expatriate ay be a â€Å"low performer,† p m he low performance ay be due to the organization'smismanagednternam i tional efforts,not the expatr iate'sncompetence. ennings[1985] noted that i J companies are often the cause of their high turnoverrates due to poor managementdevelopment and misuse of talented people. Failure by the t organization o use the skills developedin the international nvironment y e b a the expatriates apparently commonsourceof dissatisfactionmongrecently i a repatriated anagers [Harvey 1989]. If an expatriateis viewed as a low m t t perforner,identifying he causesof low performancesppears o be important. a oViewing the departure f a low perfonneras a good thing may, indeed, be very simplistic. Dysfunctionalturnoverdamagesthe firm in some way by having a valued employee quit or requestan early transfer. Dysfunctionalturnoveris most as commonly onceptualized beinginitiated y theemployee lthoughnvoluntary c b a i internaltransfersare also undoubtedly ysfunctionalin the short tenn. d The functional/dysfunctionalonceptualization ould apply to all four types c c of turnoverin Figure 2. The point to be made h ere is that not all turnover 506 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992FIGURE 2 Types of Turnover Voluntary (For the Employee) External (To the Organization) Involuntary (For the Employee) I Quit! You're Fired! 12 34 Internal (To the Organization) Transfer Me! You're Transferred! is bad; some turnover may actually be beneficial and afford the organization an opportunityto improve. However, since a significant portion of expatriate managers are initially â€Å"internal transfers† from a domestic assignment rather than â€Å"new hires,† the expatriates are likely to be high performers in the domestic environmentdue to the expatriateselection process.Specifically, a manager's â€Å"domestic track record† is often a major factor in the expatriate selection process [Mendenhall and Oddou 1987; Tung 1981]. Thus, it may be hypothesizedthat dysfunctionalturnoveris more common among expatriates than among domestic managers (i. e. , losing valued empl oyees). A further complication to the traditional approach to turnover research also t appearsnecessary regardingthe appropriate ime horizon. Turnovermay occur significantly after repatriation but be caused by the international experience or the repatriationprocess.An expatriatemanager may become disenchanted while on the international assignment and actually formulate an intention to quit [Adler 1986]. However, the expatriate may simply â€Å"gut it out† until b transferred ack to the U. S. , and a new job is found. Alternatively, a expatriate may become disenchanted with the organization due to events occurring during the repatriation process and subsequently leave the organization. However, turnover after repatriation introduces many issues not addressed in the expatriate turnover model presented here.Therefore, the discussion in this article is limited to turnover that occurs while an expatriate is actually on the foreign assignment. The model does adopt a decidedly tempo ral dimension, however. Steers and Mowday [1981] contend that the intention to quit is usually manifested behaviorally within a year and that the relationship between intention and turnover subsequently weakens. The reason that an extended time horizon is necessary in turnover studies is the existence of gradual changes in worker attitudesleading to behavioralchanges, a phenomenareferredto as â€Å"progression theory† [Rusbult, Farell, Rogers and Mainous 1988].Specifically, declining CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 507 workerattitudesdo not instantlyresultin the formationof intentionsto quit. For example,an expatriate ay experiencelow levels of attitudes or several f m monthsbeforethinking boutquitting ndthenultimatelyormingthe intention a a f to quit. Likewise, an employee may have low levels of attitudes,but the t situationmay improve,resultingin an intention o stay with the organization. Since the expatriateturnover ate appearsto be roughlytwice the domestic r ate, a variety of unique internationalfactors apparentlycontributeto a gradualdeterioration f worker attitudesover a period of time for many o expatriates. anyexpatriates ay have positive attitudesinitiallybut graduM m ally develop more negative attitudes. Thus, a longitudinalperspective is t important o the model. t Regardlessof the type or timing of turnover, he ultimateturnoverdecision is precededby antecedent ariablesandintermediateinkages. The predictor v l variablesof job/task,organization, nd workercharacteristics re the initial a a startingpoint in many studies of employee turnover.Job/Task Characteristics Of the threebroadcategoriesof predictorvariables,job/taskcharacteristics have received the most researchattentiondomestically[Glisson and Durick 1988] while receiving very little attention internationally. eceiving the R strongest support as predictorsof employee attitudes are role ambiguity [Teely, French and Scott 1971; Lyons 1971; Abdel-Halim 1981; Bedeian and Armenakis 1981 ] and skill variety [Bartel 1982; Marsh and Manari 1977; Price and Mueller 1981; Dewar and Werbel 1979; Gerhart 1987; Glisson and Durick 1988; Blau and Boal 1989].Thus, the greaterthe role clarity and the more diverse the skills needed, the more likely the worker is to be satisfied,committed,and involved. Additionally,the characteristics of role conflict, task identity, and task significance have received support as predictor ariables. It appears,therefore, hatissues relatedto the specific v t task environmentcan influence the satisfaction,commitment,and involvement of workersat a variety of organizationalevels. l The uniquenessand dynamismof international nvironments ay lead both e m to more role ambiguity and task variety among expatriates.The volatile externalenvironment ay cause MNCs to have less clarityin theirposition m descriptionsas managersrequiremore flexibility to respond to changes. m Therefore, orerole ambiguity ay exist whichmay lead to reducedsatisfacm tion amongexpat riate anagers. owever,overseasassignments ftenrequire m H o managersto use a broaderrange of general managementskills than their domestic counterpartsCzinkota,Rivoli and Ronkainen1989; Edstromand [ Galbraith1977]. This implies that increasedtask varietywill contributeto a higher level of satisfaction among expatriatemanagers.Thus, job/task characteristics ay offset one anotherin theircontributiono an expatriate's m t workattitudes. Withone exception,these constructs enerallyhave not been g investigatedin the international nvironment. e 508 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 While most of the studies cited above utilized domestic U. S. subjects, Black [1988] found that role ambiguity, conflict, overload, and discretion were related to the cross-cultural adjustment of American expatriates in Japan. The direction of Black's findings was generally consistent with the domestic literature.A potentially importantconsideration in the international situation is the similarity of the domestic and foreign jobs performed by the expatriate [Dowling and Schuler 1990]. If the foreign job requirementsare quite similar to the domestic position previously held, the transition and work adjustment should be easier. If the domestic and foreign positions are highly divergent, the expatriate must adjust to both a new work environment as well as a new cultural and physical environment. Another job/task characteristic that may be of importance internationally is the concept of work grouphomogeneity. Althoughusing a domestic U.S. sample frame, O'Reilly, Caldwell, and Barnett [1989] found that aspects of work group homogeneity were related to the degree of social integration which was negatively related to turnover. Since foreign work groups in U. S. MNCs are often composed of U. S. expatriates, host country nationals, and third country nationals, a good deal of work group heterogeneity is likely to exist. This diversity is likely to inhibit the individual soci alization process and result in lower levels of cohesiveness. The lower level of social integration may contributeto reduced attitudesthat would ultimately lead to increasedturnover.Work group homogeneity may also be conceptualized on a broader, more macro level. In addition to the fit between the expatriate and other job associates, the degree of homogeneity between the foreign subsidiary and parent corporation may be important [Brittain and Freeman 1980; Lincoln, Olson and Hanada 1978]. The more similar the composition and functioning of the foreign work group to the parent, the more positive the expatriate's attitudes are likely to be. Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan [1991] contend that MNCs attempt to apply isomorphism to foreign subsidiaries as a mechanism of control and continuity.Based on the literature that addressed job/task characteristics, both domestically and internationally, the following propositions were developed. Proposition 1 There is a positive relationshipbetwee n skill variety, task identity, autonomy, and task significance and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. b Proposition 2 Thereis a negativerelationship etweenrole ambiguity and role conflict and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Proposition 3 The degree of similarity between the expatriate's domestic and foreign jobs is positively related to xpatriate atisfaction,commitment,and involvement. s CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 509 Proposition4 There is a positive relationship between work group homogeneity and expatriate satisfaction, commitment,and involvement. OrganizationCharacteristics Behavioral, structural,and demographiccharacteristicsof organizations have received researchattentionas predictorsof satisfaction,commitment, and involvement. Behavioralissues such as participationn decisionmaking i have received strong support [Gladstein 1984; Glisson and Durick 1988; Millerand Monge 1986].Leadership onsideration as also receivedsupport c h [Morrisand Sherman1981;Batemanand Strasser1984; Glisson andDurick 1988; Blau and Boal 1989]. Dimensions of organizationstructuresuch as centralization Child 1972; Hage and Aiken 1969], differentiation Redding [ [ and Hicks 1983; Bimbaum and Wong 1985], and formalization[Redding andHicks 1983;Child1972;HageandAiken 1969]havealso beenempirically validatedas predictors f attitudes. emographic rganizationalactorssuch o D o f as organization ge, workgroupsize, andtype of industry ave receivedweak a h upportas predictive variables. Cotton and Tuttle's [1986] meta analytic review providesa more comprehensive eview of these variables,and their r findings indicated U. S. studies differed from non-U. S. studies in several ways. In U. S. studies, an employee's genderhad less impacton satisfaction and unions had more influence on turnover. Satisfactionwas less reliably tled to turnoverin non-U. S. firms. In the internationalnvironment varietyof othervariables ppear otentially e a a p A import ant. s Dowling and Schuler[1990] noted, a firm's structure, ontrol c echanisms, and human resource policies are linked to the evolutionary P processof globalization. ucik[1985] also notedthatthe evolutionary rocess p is continuousas organizationscontinuallyadapt to dynamic international environments. Although there are several organizationchange models, the concept of organizationlife cycles (OLC)has been applied internationally Adler and [ Ghadar1989; Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan 1991]. As organizations progressfrom one stage to another fouror five stages are typicallyincluded) ( an MNC's strategy, structure,and human resource policies also need to change.Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan [1991] noted that change is needed so that MNCs can optimizetheir â€Å"fit. † There is a need to optimize the externalfit of the foreign subsidiaryto the local environmentand the parent ompanyto the domesticenvironment. hereis also a need to optimize c T the internalfit between the parent and foreign subsidiary. Complicatingthe optimizationof both externaland internalfit is the need for flexibility due to environmental ifferencesand changes. For example,Black, Mendenhall d and Oddou [1991] noted that flexibility in the work environmentis related to aspects of cross-cultural djustment. illustratethe importance f these T a o concepts, when an organization becomes more experienced internationally, 510 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 the amount of role conflict and role ambiguity may be reduced as the a s organization trategically daptsmore effectivelyto the foreignenvironment. ( c m Also, the adaptation ay lead to a differentstructural onfiguration foreign sales agent versus foreign sales office versus vertically integratedforeign operation)that could enhance satisfaction,commitment,and involvement though improvedjob design. t uThe open systems approach sed by manyorganizationalheoryresearchers [Lawrenceand Lorsch 1967; Pfeffer and Salancik 1978; Thompson 1967] d clearly implies that the natureof the environment ictates the appropriate e w S structure. ince most researchers ould agreethatinternationalnvironments a t relative o the U. S. , thenmoreflexible,decentralized,utonomous aredynamic, T foreign structureswould be appropriate. his view of more decentralized foreignsubsidiariesis also consistentwith the trendtowardflatterstructures in the U. S. and with the trend of workerempowerment. Specifically, as a rganizations ttemptto become more innovativeand responsive,decisionl making authorityis often forced to lower organization evels. While these variablesare intuitivelylogical predictorsof satisfaction,commitment,and e involvementand may be relatedto a firm's multinational volution in the been very little empiricalinvestigationor international ontext, there has c validationof these constructs. h training ave receiveda good deal of attention a Expatriationnd cross-cultural D business literature. espite the rapidincreas ein world in the international o e tradeflows in the pasttwentyyearsandtherelated mergence f multinational f e corporations, xpatriation rainingfor managersin U. S. multinationalirms is still in its infancy. Specifically, in multinationalcorporations,training a programs re generallysuperficialand incompleteor nonexistent. In Tung's [1981] study, only 32% of respondingfirms had formalizedtrainingprot t grams. Furthermore,he focus of the formaltrainingprograms endedto be t c on environmental oncerns. Country-level rainingin cultureand language was uncommon. DunbarandEhrlich[1986] and Schwind[1985] also found t that the majorityof firms had no formalexpatriation rainingfor managers. i thatthe stateof expatriation rainingn U. S. multinational Tung [1981]suggests corporationsis a major reason for expatriateturnoverrates in U. S. firms a being two to threetimes the level of those in European nd Japanesefirms. That is, the resultof underdeveloped xpatriationrainingprograms ay be m t e that expatriate anagers xperiencevery high levels of initialrole amtbiguity m e f P s and conflict which in turnreduces workattitudes. roviding upport or this t position is Black and Mendenhall's[1990] review of cross-culturalraining i research. They noted that cross-culturalraining s positivelyrelatedto skill t a development, djustment,ndperformance. t c An additionalfactorthatmay be an important ontributoro turnoveris the c t conceptof corporate ulture. Organizationsypicallydevelopa predominant, identifiableculturealthoughit is rarelystatedexplicitly [Wilkinsand Ouchi 1983]. Also, an organization'sculture can vary across functional areas, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 511 operatingdivisions, or geographicallocations [Gregory1983; Wilkins and Ouchi 1983]. Since most expatriatemanagersare internaltransfersrather than new hires, the assumptionprobably can be safely made that most i xpatriates ave been socially integrated nto the parentfirm's predominant h culture. If the work gro up at the foreign location has developed a unique and differentcorporateculture,the expatriatemay experience adjustment c difficultiesdue to the divergent otporate ulture. pecifically,the expatriate's c S w valuesandorganizationaleliefs may be incongruent ith the local operation, b hence decreasedwork attitudesmay result. While this issue is conceptually similar to work group homogeneity, subunit corporateculture is a more p b training rograms. pervasiveconceptandcouldbe influenced y cross-cultural bProposition5 There is a significantrelationship etween dimena sions of a foreign subsidiary'sstructure nd expatriatesatisfaction,commitment,and involvement. t The moredecentralizedndautonomoushe foreign a subsidiary,the more positive the work attitudes. b Proposition 6 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe quality of expatriationrainingand expatriate atisfaction, t s commitment,and involvement. b Proposition 7 Thereis a positive relationship etween an organization'sstageof multination al evolution, articipation p in decisionmaking,leadershipconsideration,and s a expatriateatisfaction,ommitment,ndinvolvement. Proposition8 There is a positive relationshipbetween the similarity of a firn's predominantcorporateculture and local foreign corporatecultureand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Worker Characteristics o Empiricalinvestigationdomesticallyof characteristics f the workerhave o a c yielded mixed resultsas predictors f satisfaction, ommitment, nd involvement. Personality[Staw and Ross 1985; Staw, Bell and Clausen 1986], age [Dewar and Werbel 1979], being female [McNeely 1984], and job tenure [Coverdaleand Terborg1980] have received weak supportas predictorsof satisfaction.However, personality [Hulin and Blood 1968; Steers and Spencer 1977], marital status [Porterand Steers 1973], age [Morris and Sherman1981], tenurein the organization Stevens,Beyer and Trice 1978], [ and education[Steers 1977] have received strong supportas predictorsof commitm ent. Age, tenure, and maritalstatus (being married)are usually y w positivelyassociatedwith commitment hile yearsof education, earsin the samejob, and alternative mployment pportunitiesre negativelyassociated o a e with commitment. Althoughmicro level contingencytheory models would contend that individual characteristicswould be importantpredictorsof 12 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 attitudes in different work contexts, there is apparently little research that provides consistent direction in this area [Glisson and Durick 1988]. The level of performance of the employee is also a possible predictor of satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Research has generally supported the contention that performance leads to satisfaction [Ivancevich 1978; Lawler and Porter 1967; Sheridanand Slocum 1975]. Therefore,an individual's performance level is generally thought to be positively associated with satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.In the international context, a variety of worker characteristics have been discussed or empirically investigated. Worker characteristics postulated as important to expatriates are technical competence [Hawes and Kealey 1981; Tung 1982], relational abilities [Tung 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou 1986], and stress reduction [Abe and Wiseman 1983; Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978; Barrettand Bass 1976; Ratiu 1983]. Other possibly important workercharacteristics re personality[Torbiom 1982; Dapsin 1985; Mendenhall a and Oddou 1986] and tolerance for ambiguity [Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978; Ratiu 1983].Another worker characteristicthat may be positively associated with intemational success is the individual's years of previous international experience [Black and Stephens 1989; Church 1982]. An individual who was unsuccessful in a previous international ssignmentwould likely limit subsequentinternational a assignments. Conversely, an individual who has experienced success internationally may be more re ceptive to subsequent international assignments. Thus, simple trial and errormay result in an expatriate's years of international experience being positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.Somewhat related to internationalexperience, particularlyin a specific country, is an expatriate's linguistic ability. The more fluent the expatriate in the language of the host country, the easier the social integration to both the work and general environment. Thus, linguistic ability should be positively related to work attitudes. Two other rather controversial types of worker characteristics exist, an expatriate's sex and marital status. The majority of expatriates are male, 97% in Adler's [1984] study, and most are married [Black 1988].Since most expatriatesare male, does the high turnoverrate caused by an expatriate's gender, coincidentally vary with it, or is it totally unrelated to it? Unfortunately, this topic has not been empirically investigated in an international environment. Thai and Cateora [1979] noted that being a woman expatriate can be a significant liability due to the culturalbias in some foreign countries (i. e. , in the Middle East, Latin America, and Japan). However, Adler [1984, 1986] and Adler and Izraeli [1988] contend that cultural bias against women in management often does not apply to expatriates.Cultural views of women are often restricted primarily to women of that country. A woman expatriateis usually viewed predominantlyas a foreigner,who also incidentally happens to be a woman. In some cases, being a woman was enough of a CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 513 novelty to be viewed as a positive asset. As Adler and lzraeli [1988] noted, the overwhelming conclusion about women expatriatesis their scarcity. While there are more U. S. women managersand expatriates(as a percentage of the total workforce) thanin most countries,the proportion f women o anagersin almost all countriesis low due to the same general reasons: culturalsanctions, educationalbarriers,legal restrictions,corporateobstacles, and women's disinterestin pursuingmanagerialcareers. Due largely to the scarcity of women expatriates,there is no data that suggests that women would have more, or less, positive work attitudesthan men. Maritalstatus has also received researchattention,but with mixed results. i Some authors ontendthatbeing marrieds a stabilizing actorfor expatriates, f c while otherscontendthatspouse and family problemsare the leading cause of expatriate ailure[Tung 1984].While some MNCs develop cross-cultural f f i trainingprograms or an expatriate's pouse, the assumption s usuallymade s thatthe expatriate s male andthe spouse is female [Adlerand Izraeli 1988]. i t o Unfortunately, he literature f the impact of maritalstatus is scarce so no directionof relationshipcan be inferred. SteersandMowday[1981]contended hatworker xpectations ay be related t e m to subsequentattitudes. Their discussion focused on â€Å"met expect ations,† or the extent to which pre-employmentexpectations were subsequently fulfilled by job expenrences. n arguingfor realismin pre-employmentnterI i iews, Steersand Mowdayfelt that â€Å"met expectations† nd workerattitudes a were positively related. The same concept may apply internationally. f a I manager's pre-international xpectations differ greatly from subsequent e experiences,an expatriate'sattitudeswould likely decline. While expatriation trainingmay provide an opportunity or a realisticjob preview, other f techniquessuch as preview trips, may also help clarify expectations. Proposition9 Thereis a positive relationship etween an expab triate's tenure, organizationlevel, performance, yearsof previousinternationalxperience, inguise l tic ability,age, andrelational bilityand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Proposition10 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe degree b to whichan expatriates9sre-intemational p expectaaremetin subsequentnterna tional tions i experiences and satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. a T t C Satisfaction, ommitmen4nd Involvement owardhe ParentOrganization a i l Satisfaction,commitment, nd involvementare importantntermediateinkages between predictorvariablesand employee tumoverdecisions. Because of theirimportance, hese constructs ave receivedextensiveconceptualand t h empiricalattention. Models of employee turnover ave explicitly addressed h heirrole [Blau and Boal 1987; Bluedom 1982; Mobley, et al. 1979; Steers 514 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and Mowday 1981; Price 1977]. Additionally, over one hundred empirical studies have validated these constructs and have indicated the strength and direction of intermediate linkages (see Miller and Monge [1986] and Cotton and Tuttle [1986] for meta analytic reviews). Therefore, only a brief definition and discussion of these variables will be presented here. Job satisfaction has been defined as â€Å"the positive emoti onal state resulting from the appraisalof one's job or job experiences† [Locke 1976].Organization commitment is defined as the worker's â€Å"strong belief in the organization's goals and values, a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a strong desire to remain a member of the organization† [Mowday, Porter and Steers 1982]. Job involvement is defined as â€Å"the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with her/her job† [Blau 1985]. Although these constructs are related, each is distinct due to measurement of attitudes about the individual (satisfaction), the job (involvement), or the organization (commitment) [Blau and Boal 1987; Morrow 1983].For example, employees with high job satisfaction may feel positive about their jobs due to fulfillment of personal needs and values [Miller and Monge 1986]. For individuals with high levels of job involvement, the job is important to the worker's self-image [Kanungo 19 82]. Workers with a high level of organizational commitment feel positive about their employer, identify with the organization,and wish to maintain membership in it [Porter, Crampton and Smith 1976]. While these constructs are conceptually distinct, interactive effects have been shown to exist between commitment and involvement [Blau and Boal 1989], nd satisfaction and commitment [Glisson and Durick 1988] and satisfaction, commitment, and involvement [Lee and Mowday 1987]. However, satisfaction, commitment, and involvement generally complement one another as intermediate linkages between predictor variables and turnover [Blau and Boal 1987]. Attempts have been made to identify a causal orderingbetween these attitudinal variables. The implicit assumptionof these attemptsis thatsince satisfactioncan be formulated quickly, satisfaction leads to commitment and involvement which are more long lasting and enduring [Steers 1977; Stevens, Beyer and Trice 1978].Attempting to test this conten tion, Williams and Hazer [1986] found strong interaction between satisfaction and commitment but could not infer causality due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, Farkas and Tetrick [1989] used a longitudinal design but were unable to identify causal direction. They did identify that satisfaction and commitment are differentially related over time, and the relationship may be cyclical or reciprocal. Therefore, the model presented here assumes that these variables are strongly and positively related to one another, but does not assume any causal relationship.Since the majority of expatriates are internal transfers ratherthan new hires, the workers have probably achieved some degree of social integration into CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 515 the organization. Accordingly,the argumentis made that expatriatesstart theirinternational ssignmentwith attitudesthatare reasonablywell formua lated. Also, as transfers,expatriates ay have reasonablypositive attitudes m initially. Althoughthereis no empiricalsupportfor this contention,it seems intuitivelylogical that a disgruntled mployee would be an unlikely candie t date for an internationalransfer.The situationfor new hires is more complex. While new hires apparently constitutea small portionof expatriates,new hires' attitudesare probably more formative than internaltransfers. Since new hires would have little i b t opportunityo achievesocial integrationntothe organization eforedeparting for the foreignassignment, he local foreignorganization ould be relatively t w i more importantn shapingworkattitudes. Also, pursuingthe logic of Steers and Mowday [1981], pre-employmentexpectations would be relatively more importantin shaping new hires' work attitudessince expectations w a regarding oththe organization ndthe foreignassignment ouldbe clarified. Whetherthe expatriateis an internaltransferor a new hire, the expatriate initially arrives in the foreign assignmentwith some level of satisfaction, b co mmitment nd involvement. dditionally, ased on the domesticresearch, a A these three attitudesare positively relatedto one another. Proposition 11 Thereis a positive elationshipmongan expatriate's r a satisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organization. Attitudestowardthe Organizationin the Foreign AssignmentThe traditionalturnovermodels of Mobley, et al. [1979] and Steers and Mowday [1981] postulatethat satisfaction,commitment,and involvement collectively result in an employee formulatingintentions to stay in the organization r to quit. In the international ontext,an expatriate anager's o c m a family situation,the careerpathingperceptions,countrycharacteristics, nd the degree of cross-cultural djustment ppearto be moderatingvariables. a a Thus, the employees' attitudetowardthe parentorganization ay be modim fied to resultin attitudestowardthe organization n the foreign assignment. These attitudeswould still conceptuallyinclude satisfaction,commitment, and involve ment,but the constructswould be more directlyinfluencedby the international xperience. e Supportfor the changes in an expatriate'sattitudestowardthe organization in the international ontext is providedby Gregersonand Black [1990a]. c Their researchindicatedthat expatriatesare often differentiallycommitted to the organization nd local foreignoperations. urthermore,on-jobfactors a F n were significantly related to local commitment. These findings appearto f t and c rovide upportorthecontentionhatcountry haractenrstics an expatriate's s family situationwill affect the expatriate'ssatisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organizationn the international ssignment. i a 516 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 Unfortunately,the concept of dual commitments, or dual attitudes in general, has received very little research attention internationally. Therefore, it is unknown whether attitudes toward the parent organization or attitudes toward the local f oreign organization would dominate in the formation of behavioral intentions.However, the model explicitly assumes that the expatriate's initial attitudes do not remain constant. As suggested by the high expatriate turnover rate, the expatriate's attitudes generally deteriorate due to a variety of unique internationalfactors. Some of the factors were discussed previously within the three categories of predictor variables. The remaining unique internationalfactors of family situation, country characteristics,career pathing, and cross-cultural adjustment appear quite important and will be addressed individually in the following sections.The assumption is made, however, that there is a â€Å"spill-over effect† between an expatriate's attitudes toward the parent organization (probably formulated domestically) and attitudes toward the international assignment. Expatriates with very positive attitudes toward the organization in general are also likely to have more positive attitude s internationally. Expatriates who possess lower levels of attitudes toward the organization in general are likely also to have lower levels of affective responses internationally.This explicitly assumes that each of the three attitudes can be formulated at a more macro level toward the organization in general or at a micro level that is more closely related to the foreign assignment. While the dual levels of commitment and satisfaction have been well identified in the domestic literature, it seems intuitively logical that the same could be said for job involvement. For some expatriates, attitudes toward the organization may remain positive while negative international attitudes may develop. Such a situation may result in an internal transfer.For other expatriates, initially positive attitudes toward the organization may deteriorate internationally leading to external turnover. Proposition 12 There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction,commitment,and involvement (with respect to the organization) and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment). Expatriate's Family While an employee's family situation may not be central to the domestic turnover process, the family situation is apparently a critically important oderatingvariable in the expatriateturnoverprocess. Harvey [1985] contends that the family situation may be the most important contributorto expatriate turnover. Supportfor Harvey's contentionis providedby Tung's [1982] research that indicated that two of three most frequently cited causes for expatriate failure were family related. Specifically, â€Å"the inability of the expatriate's family/spouse to adjust to a different physical or cultural environment† and CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 517 â€Å"otherfamilyrelatedproblems†receivedstrongsupport. espitethe apparent D mportanceof the family, less than half of MNCs interviewthe spouse in the expatriate election p rocess [Black and Stephens1989; Tung 1981] and s expatriation rainingfor the family is very rare [Black and Stephens 1989]. t If a spouse or family memberis undergoingcultureshock or experiencing t difficulty in makingthe cross-cultural djustment, he morale,performance a and work attitudesof the expatriatemanagermay be adversely affected [Harvey 1985; Mendenhall,Dunbarand Oddou 1987; Tung 1982]. Since the majority of expatriatemanagers are male [Adler 1984], the greatest impact of a foreign relocationmay be experiencedby the wife [Gaylord 1979].The wife may experiencehigh levels of stress due to a disruptionof i children'seducation,loss of self-worthand identity,particularlyf she was previouslyemployed, lack of contactwith friends and relatives, and social or culturalostracism in the foreign country [Harvey 1985]. Furthermore, children are often resistantto moving, even domestically. The problems faced by childrenregarding ducation,linguisticdifferences,social relatione ships, and c ulturalvalues also can be the sourceof stress and conflict. Thus, the greaterthe numberof children,the more likely adjustment roblemsare p o occur. Also, older children such as teenagers are more likely to have t developedstrongpeer social relationships nddisrupting hose relationships a for an internationalransfer ay have negativeresults. Despite the apparent t m importanceof these variables,there is apparentlyittle empiricalinvestigal on expatriateturnover. tion of the impactof the family situation However,as noted by Black and Stephens[1989], the family situationis an e t intuitivelyimportant lementof the expatriate urnover rocess. They noted p t hatthereappearso be botha positiveandnegative†spillovereffect†between expatriatesand their spouses' perceptionsof an international ssignment. a w Specifically, expatriateand spouse adjustment ere significantlyand positively correlated, nd were relatedto the expatriate'sintentionto stay in the a foreign assignment. Even if an e xpatriatemanageris very positive about the foreign assignment, a transfer â€Å"home† may be the result of family dissatisfaction. Conversely,a positive family situationis likely to enhance an expatriate's attitudes and cross-culturaladjustment,and increase the probabilityof a successful foreign experience.Theredoes appearto be a potentialproblemin evaluatingthe impactof the spouse or family situationon turnover. Attributingexpatriateturnoverto the failure of the spouse to adjustmay be simplistic [Dowling and Welch 1988]. Expatriatesmay use their spouses as scapegoats,ratherthan admit theirown failuresto adjust. This may reducethe negativecareerimplications of an early transferhome. Likewise, top level corporateexecutives may attributeexpatriatefailure to the expatriate'sfamily ratherthan critically evaluatetheir own firm's expatriation rogramswhich may be deficient. p There are many dimensions of an expatriate'sfamily situation that may w oderate orkattitudes. nfortunately, ost of these variables ave received h m U little or no researchattention. Therefore,the following propositionhas been 518 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 stated very generally as a global measure of â€Å"family satisfaction,† which is undoubtedly a multifaceted concept. Proposition 13 The expatriate's family satisfaction with the international experience has a positive moderating influence on the expatriate's job satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. The more ositive the expatriate's family attitudes, the more likely the expatriate is to develop positive work attitudes internationally. Proposition 14 The fewer the number of children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriate's work attitudes. Proposition 15 The younger the children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriate's work attitudes. CountryCharacteristics All foreign assignme nts are not created equal. Dramatic differences exist both between and within countries that can influence expatriates', and their families', cross-cultural adjustment and their subsequent attitudes.In many cultures, foreigners are viewed with distrust and skepticism. As a result, building social relationships with local nationals may be impossible. For example, few western women find the Arabic countries enjoyable due to the constrained role of women in those societies [Thai and Cateora 1979; Dowling and Schuler 1990]. As a result, some companies may prefer to select managers who are unmarried for foreign assignments in the belief that a single person will have fewer adjustments.However, many single male expatriates are socially ostracized, and they may have a more difficult social adjustment than a married couple who can provide each other mutual support. In addition to social and cultural factors, expatriates can experience dissatisfaction due to living conditions and health prob lems. A foreign oil company executive with extensive international experience expressed his preference for having Americans on international projects because they were always the first to get sick if a health problem existed. The Americans were his â€Å"miner's canary† that served as an early warning of potential health problems.Issues such as these have been referred to as â€Å"cultural toughness† and â€Å"cultural novelty† [Black and Stephens 1989; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Torbiorn 1982]. Cultural toughness describes the difficulty that a western expatriate would have adapting to certain cultures. For example, Torbiorn [1982] noted that western expatriates experienced higher levels of dissatisfaction with assignments in India, the Middle East, North Africa, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 519 East Africa, and Liberia. Thus, some cultures are very different from western cultures and are also very difficult to adjust to.Other countries may have a ve ry different culture, but are much easier to adapt to for expatriates and their families. The concept of culturaldifferences influencing the cross-cultural adjustment process is intuitively logical. However, there appears to be a lack of consensus regarding conceptualizations of this factor. For example, the terms â€Å"cultural toughness,† and â€Å"cultural novelty,† appearin the international business literature. Unfortunately, tightly developed definitions and consistent research operationalizations are generally lacking. Hofstede [1980] perationalized â€Å"cultural distance† along four indices of work-related values, but most researchershave used a broader,more macro level approach. Harbison and Myers [1959] conceptualized cultural differences in stages of economic development and the role of the firm in that process. Farmer and Richman [1980] conceptualizeddifferences along socio-cultural,legal-political, economic, and educational dimensions. Nath [1988] described behavioral differences that included cultural factors such as attitudes, beliefs, value systems, behavioral patterns, and management philosophies.Negandhi and Prasad [1971] evaluated differences in the task environment such as distributors, suppliers, employees, consumers, government, and community. Consensus regarding the appropriatedimensions to use in measuring cultural differences is lacking, but there is apparently strong support for the general concepts of cultural toughness, cultural novelty, and/or cultural distance. Each country presents the expatriate, and the expatriate's family, with a unique set of adjustmentproblems. The more divergent a foreign assignment and location from the home country environment, the greater the potential of experiencing culture shock.Indirectly supporting this contention was Beamish's [1985] finding that MNCs are more likely to be dissatisfied with the performance of operating units located in less developed countries that are likely to be â€Å"culturally tough. † The more â€Å"culturally tough† a foreign country, the more likely the expatriate's work attitudes will be negatively affected. Therefore, the following proposition was developed. Proposition 16 The culturaland environmentalsimilarity of home and host countries has a positive, moderating influence on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment).The more similar the foreign culture and environmentto the home environment, the more positive the impact on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. Career Pathing Research on the career value of foreign assignments in MNCs is inconsistent. The inconsistency may result from the fact that the human resources function constitutes the weakest link in the overall strategic planning process in 520 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 most U. S. MNCs [L orange and Murphy 1983; Tung 1984].Thus, many foreign assignments appear haphazard rather than part of a planned process to develop certain managerial skills. As a result, international assignments appear to be avoided by some high performing managers due to potential negative career consequences [Adler 1980]. For example, Edstrom and Galbraith [1977] suggested that expatriates often viewed the purpose of their overseas assignment as development for future executive responsibility. However, Gonzalez and Negandhi [1966] found that about half of former expatriates were in low level positions fifteen years later.Howard [1973] and Harvey [1989] found that a good deal of uncertainty and conflict surrounded the expatriation and repatriation process and skills developed by expatriates were seldom used after their return home. These results led Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou [1987] to note that the â€Å"overseas assignment is a haphazard, ill-planned affair that is usually accompanied with vertical advancement. † They concluded that the impetus for overseas staffing seems to be more to meet immediate manpower needs than to create an integrated career development strategy for future corporate executives.This lack of career path clarity may cause expatriate managers to reevaluate their own career goals and the congruity of those goals with the organization. Since career counseling is very rare regarding international transfers, many expatriates are probably unaware of some career issues until they are actually on foreign assignment.

Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay Essays

Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay Essays Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay Essay Assessing The Scope And Diversity Of Hilton Hotels Tourism Essay Essay There are 1.7 million employees engaged in the cordial reception industry in the UK, which is about 6 of the entire on the job category people. Annual turnover is ?55-?60b from the cordial reception industry, includes all sizes or types of cordial reception concerns or administrations. It is so hard to state that which is the biggest administration, as it is depends on so many factors. There are some top operators in the market specialised in ain sectors. By and large, they are based on their annual turnover, sizes, types, figure of employees, sectors, sub-sectors etc. Harmonizing to VisitBritain, 27.7m abroad visitants came to the UK in 2004. There is a 13 addition in footings of like for like gross revenues than the old twelvemonth. Visitors have spent an estimated value of ?13b in the twelvemonth 2004 increasing 10 than 2003, harmonizing to VisitBritain. On the other manus, domestic tourers spent 70.5 million on vacations of more than one dark within the UK. Domestic concern trips were besides made, estimated more than 22 million, in 2003. An estimated entire domestic spend was ?59 billion. In the instance of touristry, there are an estimated 1.4 million occupations in the UK, which is 5 of all working people. Scope: There are 14 industries included in the cordial reception sector ; from hotels and eating houses through to events, chancing, saloon, and nutrient contracts, school repasts, providing for parties, conferences, Night nines and travel services. Diverseness: There are many types of Hospitality services available in the market, such as Luxury hotels ( 5*-7* ) , Boutique hotel, Mid scope hotel, Budget hotel, guest house/B A ; B, residential serviced flats, finish resorts, Time portion, Unusual hotels, sail ships, Conference locales, Coffee shops, fast nutrients, Public house etc. There are many brands we can see in the local or planetary markets, such as Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Doncaster, and Sheraton etc. Services and monetary values may change harmonizing to size/type and locations. As we know Luxury and Boutique hotels are rather expensive. Hilton: Its history and development in the market Hilton Worldwide provides concern and leisure clients the finest in adjustments, service, comfortss and value in the UK and worldwide. In 1919, Cisco, Texas, Conrad Hilton bought his first of all time hotel, since so they have expended globally, kept original and travel constructs, and developed advanced engineerings to maximise the guest experience. Hilton is the planetary cordial reception administration, straddling the adjustment sector from epicurean full-service hotels and resort to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . There are more than 3,600 hotels in 81 states ; their dependable group of hotel trade names includes the Waldorf Astoria, Conrad Hilton Hotels A ; Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn A ; Suites, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . Hilton s committedness to making extraordinary invitee experiences remains unaffected and their more than 130,000 squad members continue to present the quality of service to the UK and the universe s visitants for 90 old ages of operations ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . The organizational construction of assorted cordial reception concerns Large full-service hotel: A well-run big full-service housing installation, this requires the undermentioned section caputs: General director Assistant general director Accountant Plant applied scientist Executive housekeeper Human resources director Diversion manager Sports manager Selling and gross revenues manager Gift store director Front office director Food and drink manager Garage director Mid-Size Hotel: Figure 1outlines the organisation of a slightly smaller lodging belongings. Figure 1 Medium size lodging belongings The section caputs required include: General Manager Maintenance/groundskeeper Front office director Accountant Restaurant director Housekeeper Small limited-service hotel: Organisation chart of a limited-service hotel much scaled down from that of a big hotel. Figure 2 Small Limited-service hotel construction The section caputs include: General Manager Front office director Housekeeper Care director Hilton s vision, mission and organizational development Vision: To make full the Earth with the visible radiation and heat of cordial reception ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . Mission: We will be the pre-eminent planetary cordial reception company the first pick of invitees, squad members and proprietors likewise ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . Valuess: Their values as follows: Hydrogen HOSPITALITY -A passionate about presenting exceeding invitee experiences. I INTEGRITY -A do the right thing, all the clip. Liter LEADERSHIP -A leaders in our industry and in our communities. Thymine TEAMWORK -A squad participants in everything we do. Oxygen OWNERSHIP -the proprietors of our actions and determinations. Nitrogen NOW -A operate with a sense of urgency and subject ( About us: Hilton Worldwide, 2010 ) . Puting the criterion: Sustainability is a trade name criterion. It s now a critical public presentation step of the concern merely like quality, service, or gross. They are the first major multi-brand cordial reception administration to do such an of import rise. Model for Action Measurement: LightStay, proprietary system, analyses and studies sustainability public presentation at each belongings. Figure 3 Model for Action Coverage: Use 3rd party to verify their system, procedures and consequence. Validate current public presentation while set uping benchmarks for uninterrupted hereafter betterment, merely like a fiscal statement. Learning: They understand the impact of belongings degree and corporate enterprises and portion best patterns across the planetary system. Continuous Improvement: Sustainability is non a plan. Alternatively, sustainable actions are incorporated into how they distribute hotel public presentation around the Earth and a better experience for their invitees. 2.1 The modern-day focal point of the managing cordial reception The importance of presenting uninterrupted quality service in hotels, as defined by the invitee. Successful extension of cordial reception starts with direction s committedness to a service direction plan. Fixing a service scheme statement will concentrate the planning attempts of the proprietors, direction, and employees. Principles of entire quality direction provide a director with an chance to affect frontline employees in analysing the constituents of bringing of service and methods to better bing services. The development of the service direction plan requires the engagement of frontline employees, treatment of the guest rhythm, minutes of truth, employee buy-in construct, showing of possible employees prior to engaging, authorization, preparation, rating of the service direction plan, follow-through, and interfacing with other sections in presenting cordial reception. A long-run committedness to a successful service direction plan is necessary. 2.2 Operational and managerial issues reflecting on developments Specific reappraisal of the function of the front office director revealed many related constructs. Success in supplying effectual supervising begins with a reappraisal of the resources available to the front office director, such as employees, equipment, room stock list, fundss, and gross revenues chances. After analysing these resources, the front office director can direct the section more efficaciously ; the aims of doing a net income and presenting cordial reception to the invitee can be achieved more easy. The functional function of the front office director can be understood by fixing a occupation analysis and occupation description. This procedure allows the future professional to see the major duties of the occupation and the assorted departmental relationships involved. The many places found on a front office staff have the common end of supplying cordial reception to the invitee. Training, authorization, and flexibleness are necessary to do the squad work. Prediction, programming, developing a supervisory manner, actuating forces, equilibrating staff personalities, deputing undertakings, preparation, and efficaciously pass oning are merely a few of the accomplishments a good supervisor must get the hang. It is a womb-to-tomb attempt developed through go oning instruction and test and mistake.

Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning and Mariana by Alfred Tennyso Essay Example

Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning and Mariana by Alfred Tennyso Essay Example Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning and Mariana by Alfred Tennyso Paper Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning and Mariana by Alfred Tennyso Paper Essay Topic: Poetry In Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning and Mariana by Alfred Tennyson, the poets use many different literary techniques to create a sense of mood and atmosphere. They choose their language and vocabulary carefully to make the reader use all of their senses, using techniques such as imagery, rhyme and rhythm. Porphyrias Lover begins with a description of the rain and the sullen wind which makes the mood seem dark and gloomy, though unlike in Mariana, this changes later in the poem. This is shown when he appears to be sulking when Porphyria calls and he does not respond. However, Porphyrias entrance into the cottage causes the atmosphere to become warmer by lighting the cheerless grate, which again could mirror her lovers feelings for her in the same way as the setting in Mariana reflects the main characters emotions. This change in atmosphere in Porphyrias Lover suggests that she is the most important thing in his world and his source of happiness. In Mariana, the building has fallen into disrepair, as the flowerpots were thickly crusted with moss and the shed was falling apart, which s similar to the feelings in her heart. In the same way that there is no one there to look after the garden, there is no one to love Mariana. The writers use rhythm, rhyme and repetition to give the poems movement and structure. For example, in Mariana, Tennyson returns to a similar pattern of five lines at the end of each verse, which gives the poem phrasing. In Porphyrias Lover, repetition is not used as much, but, as in Mariana there are patterns in the rhyme at the end of each line, which keeps the poem flowing and makes each line moves wiftly on to the next. The only repetition used in Porphyrias Lover is that of the word and at the start of lines 14-21 which makes the pace appear to speed up, as if the thoughts and events are moving faster until the break after he says, murmuring how she loved me-, which brings the poem to an abrupt stop. This causes the reader to stop and think about the events that took place before the pause, and makes the reader want to read on to find out what happens next. Throughout the poem the disjointed rhythms make the poem feel tense but still fairly fast moving. In Mariana, there are few surprises in the rhythm as the structure is quite rigid and rarely changes. However, Browning puts surprises both in the rhythm and the story in Porphyrias Lover by ending sentences in the middle of lines, such as Three times her little throat around, and strangled her. This break in the rhythm is designed to have an impact on the reader. While the monologue in Porphyrias Lover concentrates on the thoughts of the lover, the mood becomes increasingly more mysterious; particularly at the words while I debated what to do as Browning has lready told us that the love of Porphyria is all in vain though we do not know why. Those words suggest to us already that something may happen, as the lover knows that he can never keep Porphyria forever. However, this is followed by That moment she was mine, mine, fair, and this could be what causes him to kill Porphyria as he wants to keep her in this way forever. A similar mysterious atmosphere is used throughout Mariana, and the reader feels throughout the poem that something bad is going to happen. The story of the poem is simply Mariana plunging deeper and eeper into depression, so the mysterious atmosphere progresses into one of sadness as the poem goes on. As Porphyria is murdered, very little punctuation is used so the reader can almost imagine Porphyrias hair being wound three times her little throat around gently and softly. The flowing rhythm makes the mood eerily calm, and this feeling continues right to the end of the poem. The opposite effect is created in Mariana, as Tennyson uses punctuation such as commas and semi-colons to create breaks, which gives the poem a slow pulse and almost shows the passage of time hat Mariana has to put up with. The last three to four lines of each poem have many similarities. Both refer to God, showing the religious thoughts of the time, and, more importantly, the both leave the reader wondering what happens next, and leave many questions unanswered. Porphyrias Lover and Mariana are both examples of how poets can create depressing and eerie moods and atmosphere using clever vocabulary, imagery, rhyme and rhythm. I think that the poems are both quite romantic, but are both examples of how too much love can be a bad thing.

Verbs to Use in Your Research Paper

Verbs to Use in Your Research Paper When you conduct a research project, one part of your job is to assert your own original thesis with an effective argument. There are a few ways to enhance your research paper so it sounds more impressive. One method to sound convincing as an authority is to elevate your vocabulary by using great verbs. Remember, verbs are action words. The verbs you select for your writing should represent a specific action. This means you should avoid generic verbs like the following to keep your writing interesting and sharp. Dont bore your teacher or audience to tears! Stale and boring verbs to avoid: See  Is/wasLookedDidGo/wentSaidTurned Be the Authority No matter what your grade level, you must do your best to come across as an authority on your topic.  Think about the noticeable difference in these statements: I saw more mold on one piece of bread.I observed a distinct difference between the two pieces of bread. Most importantly, one piece of bread displayed a greater density of mold. The second statement sounds more mature, because we replaced saw with observed and had with displayed. In fact, the verb observe is more accurate. When carrying out a scientific experiment, after all, you use more than mere eyesight to scrutinize your results. You may smell, hear, or feel some results, and those are all part of observing. Now consider these statements when writing a history essay: Historian Robert Dulvany says there were three main causes for the war.Historian Robert Dulvany asserted that three events prompted the war. The second phrase just sounds more authoritative and direct. The verbs make all the difference! Also, make sure to use active rather than passive structure with your verbs. Active verbs make your writing clearer and engaging. Review these statements: The war on terror was launched by the United States.The United States launched the war on terror.   The subject-verb construction is a more active and powerful statement. How to Sound Like an Authority Each discipline (like history, science  or literature) has a distinct tone with certain verbs that appear frequently. As you read over your sources, observe the tone and language.   While reviewing the first draft of your research paper, conduct an inventory of your verbs. Are they tired and weak or strong and effective? This list of verbs may provide suggestions to make your research paper sound more authoritative. affirm ascertain assert cite claim clarify communicate concur contribute convey debate defend define detail determine develop differ discover discuss dispute dissect document elaborate emphasize employ engage enhance establish estimate evaluate examine explore express find focus highlight hold hypothesize identify illuminate illustrate imply incorporate infer inquire invest investigate involve judge justify limn observe ponder predict proclaim proffer promote provide question realize recap reconcile refer reflect regard relate relay remark report resolve respond reveal review sanction seek show simplify speculate submit support surmise survey tangle test theorize total transpose underestimate underline underscore understand undertake undervalue usurp validate value verify vex wander

Competition in Design School Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competition in Design School - Case Study Example in Amacher 30). However, whether competition is actually beneficial or deleterious to students remain controversial. This same argument exists in design schools. Jen Chei, a product designer who graduated from Art Center College of Design, is an important supporter of competition in schools. She says that competition in school is important to set standards of performance, hone the skills of students, and instill a sense of professional dignity between students. Some feel competition helps each person to hone their creative skills. For students who study in design schools, the nurturing of individual creativity is important because they must continually innovate. When competition is involved, students take risks they might not otherwise take to create something unique enough to be noteworthy. It means students summon their most creative talent. Many students like Elizabeth Young, a former student of the University of California, argue that students learn more about their natural talen t in competitive environment. It is considered as the "whetstone of talent." Competition also helps the students to work as teams and create success together. Nevertheless, talented advisers such as Michelle Fabio believe that even though competitions undeniably help elevate the criterion by which we measure performance, too much competition could negatively impact less capable students. Hence, even if some wholeheartedly believe that competition is the best way to hone creative skills, it is not without its disadvantages. One drawback of competition is that it may cause students to lose sight of their main goal. Educator Mary Pat Lynch shares that in excessive competition, winning becomes the focus, instead of learning. This has been supported by the interview regarding competition conducted by Bergins and Cooks wherein forty-one academically proficient students conveyed that "they focused on grade point average to help them improve their grades" (443). No mention was made about any desire for competence by augmenting their knowledge and skills. This means that in a competitive environment the students' center of attention has shifted to the endpoint, which is the grade, rather than on the main goal of education which is to make students actually understand the ideas being imparted. Among designers, this will cause many to focus on finishing only those ideas that have the greatest promise to make them win with very little attempt to bring out the life and emotion of their creations. Moreover, students might not be able to enjoy their lives the way they should if they think that they always need to perform better than others. Next, competition can affect the general welfare of a person and the society in several undesirable ways. First, competition, in its very nature, requires only a single or a very small number of people to win while the rest of the competitors will lose. If a person ends up losing most of the time, this will only undermine his/her self-confidence, foster feelings of inferiority and eventually lead to depression. In fact, up to 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. suffer from depression (Birmaher 1427). Since, the height of depression and low self-esteem in adolescents

Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse Research Paper

Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse - Research Paper Example At that time there was no agency to look into the welfare cause of abused children, therefore, the advocates for American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) took the case by arguing that laws securing animals from abuse should not be relatively effective than laws safeguarding children. In this particular case of Mary Ellen Wilson, the foster mother was sentenced to one year imprisonment. This sentence created awareness in the society leading to the formation of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1874. In 1974, the federal law was enacted to help the cause of child abuse through government funding (Find Law.com, 2012). The legislative record of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), the leading Federal legislation for child abuse and neglect started in P.L. 93-247; the   Act was further amended very recently and reauthorized on December 20, 2010, by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320). All function s related to child abuse are covered under CAPTA by arranging funds for the state agencies and welfare organizations (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). It could be pertaining to any one of the issues faced by the government, for example, in the case of abuse of drugs by the parents or caretakers having negative repercussions on the overall growth of children. Considering the loss of health and well being of children, about 47 states, the districts of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are governed by the law under the child protection statutes but policy since May 2009 does not cover states such as American Samoa, Connecticut, New Jersey, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Vermont for exposure to illegal drug activity (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2009). It has implicit meaning for the NASW, as federal funding for drug abuse would not be forthcoming for these specified states, not covered by the state law.