Threats confronting the U.S. in 2030 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Threats confronting the U.S. in 2030 - Assignment Example According to the report, demand for these resources will likely grow by over 40% owing to the rapidly expanding global population, it is postulated that these demand will become difficult and in some places impossible to address. Shortages are likely to be caused by a variety of factors that are already in play today such as rapid negative climate change and the possibility of an energy crisis resulting from dying up of oil and other natural energy deposits. These changes are expected to affect the Middle East and Africa especially in regard to water, these regions already have water problems today and it is thus not difficult to predict that without drastic policy changes both therein and globally, the trend will continue to its logical conclusion; which is the water and food crisis. Another of the issues that are to be found in the report has to do with economic revolution in which the dominance of traditionally superior nations and blocks such as the US and EU may challenge. America may not necessarily be the economic super power it has been since the end of the cold war by the year 2030. The report suggests that China, owing to its rapid per-capita growth and industrialization, could overtake the USA to become the world’s leading financial powerhouse. The EU could also suffer from the possible withdrawal of Greece in the aftermath of the pre-2008 financial crisis from which it is still trying to recover, nevertheless, the report suggests that should Greece decide to withdraw, that could be disastrous for the bloc and may even result in a collapse. Recent history and current events have shown how the use of communication technology has enabled people to challenge governments, especially despotic ones and resulted in the toppling of several autocrats suc h as Egypt’s Mubarak and Gadaffi. While the reports predicts citizens may have more power to reach such ends in

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Essay Example for Free

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Essay Apple corporation bases its success on â€Å"creating innovative, high quality products and services and on demonstrating integrity in every business interaction.† According to Apple, four main principles contribute to integrity: honesty, respect, confidentiality, and compliance. To more thoroughly detail these principles, Apple has drafted a code of business conduct that applies to all its operations, including operations overseas. Apple disappointed socially responsible investors. Apple has come under fire since around 2006 as details emerged surrounding the workplace environment at Apples Chinese suppliers. An article in The New York Times publicized unsatisfactory worker conditions, which included grueling 24-hour shifts, overcrowded dorms, exposure to toxic chemicals, and horrific explosions. Foxconn Technology Group operates many of the plants in question in Chengdu, China. When it comes to customers, Apple is said to be a bold innovator that leads the industry into new directions and forces others to follow. However, when it comes to the management of its supply chain and treatment of workers in the Chinese factories that make its products, Apple hides behind the constraints of prevailing industry practices. What is even more disconcerting is the fact that these practices are in violation of not only local and national laws, but also of Apples own voluntary self-imposed code of conduct. Most of Apples worker-related problems were focused on Apples manufacturing partner Foxconn and its subsidiaries. Apples China operations first caught international attention in June 2006 with a long story in Britains Mail on Sunday.1 This was followed by a series of similar stories in other leading international news media, and has continued to this day.2 Because of Foxconns secrecy, it is well-nigh impossible to develop an accurate assessment of the problems in the factories owned and operated by Foxconn and its various subsidiaries. However, a brief description of extreme conditions prevailing in these factories and widely reported in the  media gave the readers some indication of the enormity of the problems that likely to existed in those plants. Apple has audited many of its suppliers and found violations of its Supplier Code of Conduct, but requesting its suppliers improve working conditions is not as powerful as changing suppliers to ones with more humane conditions. Part of the problem is that Apple has no legal liability for what happens in Chinese factories owned by separate manufacturers. Environmental organization Greenpeace had frequently campaigned against Apple, requesting elimination of non-recyclable hardware components, the removal of toxins from iPhone hardware, and a comprehensive take-back plan to prevent Apple products from ending up as waste. Greenpeace also began a protest in 2003 against Apples use of toxic PVC plastics and brominated flame retardants, or BFRs, in Apple’s products. Apple eliminated these chemicals in 2008, becoming the first laptop maker to do so (Corporate Responsibility Spotlight: Apple, September 14, 2012.) Workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside China’s plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors. The suppliers demonstrated disregard for workers health. In 2010, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after the workers were said to have been ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. In 2009 two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning (Duhigg, Charles and Barboza, David. In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, (The NewYork Times) January 25, 2 010.) The publications outlining the ethics and social responsibility violations of Apple caused more consumers to actually start to wonder where and how Apple products are manufactured. Consumers have focused on Apples remarkable products rather than how they are produced. The New York Times story on iPad working conditions, for example, generated 1,770 reader comments. Many, if not most, blasted Apple  or the overall system of cheap labor. And an online petition prompted by the This American Life piece that called for Apple to protect Chinese workers had garnered roughly 166,000 signatures—and counting. I determined that Apple’s customers would be willing to pay more for its products if Apple had to increase selling prices in order to provide better wages and benefits for suppliers’ workers. Apple seems to make people crazy, described as a cult because it has such a vociferous following.† The Secrecy Strategy† (Moltz, John., Why Apple Drives People Crazy. Macworld. Feb2013, Vol. 30 Issue 2, p100-100. 1p). Stock-market and financial analysts are known to always have had a hard time understanding Apple because Apple does not sell commodity products or chase market share at the cost of everything else. Its modus operand i is: Enter a market, stake out the high end, and scoop up all the profit. As copycats such as Samsung flood the low end, Apple continued to hold the high end by evolving and differentiating products, while looking for new markets. One key approach used is to never telegraph punches; that way, no would know which market would be remade next. Hence Apples famous veil of secrecy, which further frustrated analysts. The bottom line was that the appeal of Apples products and its business strategies were said to be inscrutable, which made the company a Rorschach test. People saw what they wanted to see, and the idea that Apples fortunes are plummeting is more appealing to many than the idea that it might continue to ride high. The appeal of Apples products and its business strategies are believed to be both inscrutable. Apple joined the FLA in 2012 following intense public attention over allegations of widespread problems at Foxconn, China’s largest private employer. The FLA said both Apple and Foxconn â€Å"have agreed to ongoing assessments by FLA in order to ensure that labor practices meet FLA standards and remain in compliance for the long term.† Current and former Apple executives, moreover, say the company had made significant strides in improving factories in recent years. Apple has a supplier code of conduct that details standards on labor issues, safety protections and other topics. The company has mounted a vigorous auditing campaign, and when abuses are discovered, Apple says, corrections are demanded. And Apple’s annual supplier responsibility reports, in many cases, are the first to report abuses. This month, for the first time, the company released a list identifying many of its suppliers. Apple has continued to be aggressive in  calling out suppliers who dont meet up to its code of conduct. In January, Apple said it had fired Pingzhou Electronics after it was found to be hiring underage workers. Apples Supplier Code of Conduct sets the minimum age for workers at 15. (Apples Labor Practices In China Scrutinized After Foxconn, Pegatron Reviews. Forbes.com. 12/12/2013, p2-2. 1p. 1 Chart). What made Steve different from other marketers, is that he understood that his job as a marketer was not to focus on making money or sales, and, unlike other marketers, Steve’s marketing skills was seem in the way he presented his products: Here are some of the quotes that reflect Steve’s focus in business: If it could save a person’s life, could you find a way to save ten seconds off the boot time? You‘ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward—not the other way around. Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying that they had done something wonderful is what mattered to Steve. Steve made the marketing process simple; if he gave people what they want, educated them on why they needed it, showed them how it will improve their lives, and why no other competitor’s products could compete with the convenience and ease of use of yours, customers would be willing to spend. References Apples Labor Practices In China scrutinized after Foxconn, pegatron reviews. Forbes.com. 12/12/2013, p2-2. 1p. 1 Chart. Apple’s Marketing Strategy – Sell On Value, Not Price. Retrieved from http://www.chrisnosal.com/apples-marketing-strategy-sell-products-on-value-not-price/ (Duhigg, Charles and Barboza, David.( January 25, 2010). In China, human costs are built into an iPad, (The NewYork Times). Frauenheim, Ed. February 6, 2012. Bad Apple: Could the era of exploitation outsourcing be near its end? Retrieved from http://www.workforce.com/blogs/2-work-in-progress/post/bad-apple-could-the-era-of-exploitation-outsourcing-be-near-its-end) Kannel, Charlie, The Motley Fool (September 14, 2012) Corporate responsibility spotlight: Apple. (Daily Finance). Ira Kalb, Marshall School of Business, USC . (September 13, 2013) Apples Cheap iPhone might not be that affordable, but it does protect the brand (Business Insider). Retrieved from

Feminine Hygiene Products Advertising Analysis

Feminine Hygiene Products Advertising Analysis Fulya Felicity Tà ¼rkmen Perceptions on the Idealized Image of Women in TV Ads Revisited:  The Example of Sanitary Napkin Advertisements Introduction and Methods This study has two parts: The first part gave me a perspective and understanding about how to read and evaluate an advertisement. In this way, I could determine some criteria to decode the linguistic and non linguistic components of the sanitary napkin advertisements. I watched 35 sanitary napkin advertisements but I did not choose to make a quantitative analysis since it would be too hard to examine the data manually. Instead of this, I chose the qualitative methods. I made certain groups based on the determining characteristics of the advertisements and I evaluated only one advertisement for each group such as one for blue liquid type and one for mini drama type advertisements. My first thesis was assuming that advertisements are a part of the reproduction of discourses on womanhood by supporting the idealized images of womanhood. But as I go on watching the advertisements I also noticed that they create some stigmas about the taboo on menstruation and feminine hygiene. This is why I also included the part menstruation as embarassment as a component of the perceptions on womanhood. In the presentation I used the expression of hidden messages by referring to the use of lingual and non linguistic components of the advertisements which are telling women something other than the features of the products and promising them things whch are not directly relevant with the product itself at first sight. While doing these, I also tried to track down the transformation of advertisements since it was legally allowed to do advertising on sanitary napkins to see what has changed since the beginning. Advertisements Now and Then Previously, advertisements were less complicated than they are today and there was only one goal to achieve with the simplest ways: to make people buy a certain product by explaining its specific or differentiating features. Thus, production or supply of the products was determined according to the demands of the societies. Today, we see the constant creation of new demands and increasement of the existing ones. In this new order, advertisement has become a tool to create consent for more consumption. In this way, social utility has also become the utility of the capital owners but these are presented as if they still accomodate social benefits. Media a great power of influencing and directing the society. In advertisements, this power manifests itself through the chain of product, production and consumption. In this way, products go beyond the production processes and factories and they become a part of the media culture. Although the basic motivation behind the advertisements is simply selling more products, there is no advertisement which only gives information about product to motivate people for buying it. Beyond this simple aim, each advertisement has a message that would be received by for potential consumers via different canals. Today we observe that the symbols and images take a precedence over the product itself most of the time. In the science of semiotics, it is claimed that signs are open to different interpretations and they can have different meanings in different contexts. Thus, we receive different messages via signs and attribute them to different meaning while we communicate. We receive these signs with our many senses such as audial or visual. Saussure argues that the sign dynamic has two components: A form of the sign and its meaning, respectively, the signifier and the signified. Thus, languages which enable us to communicate through different sounds or written symbols are arbitrary and they are subjected to change in time. They are only as important as their function in the communication rather than their historical importance or features. Therefore, language is in a constant state of change which includes its reconstruction and re-analyze through the changing social relations and discourses. According to Williamson, semiotics is composed of thing and meaning as well. The important thing here is not how a certain word or term is formed but how it is shared and found itself in the daily expressions. Williamson takes the issue of advertisement as a determinant of culture and everyday practices. These practices are mainly there to sell products but at the same time they make properties to mean something for us. They present and promote the idea of being a certain kind of person. The language of this promotion is not a singular one; it rather changes according to different times and cultures. For instance, I observed that many brands use different advertisements for the promotion of sanitary napkins in different countries according to these countries’ cultural norms and values. The portrayal of a certain ideal type is given in the advertisements but at the same time this ideal type is linked to the certain products through messages. For instance, â€Å"delikanlÄ ± kÄ ±zlar molped kullanÄ ±r.† The construction of these linkages occurs over long processes. Thus, connections are made between people and objects are made. So, we should take the sign for w hat it signifies, the thing becomes the symbol of a feeling. â€Å"Material things we need are made to represent the other non- material things we need. The point of exchange between two is where meaning is produced.† (Williamson, 2000) What an advertisement actually does is to show and give audiences an object of desire. When a product is used exclusively by women, female image and female sexuality is packed up with the product and presented to the women again. In our case, the object of desire could be manifested as youth, freedom, happiness, a good career, etc. In the advertisements, what is not shown or expressed, in other words absences are as important as what are present. For instance, advertisements can show what people actually want to be like in this way. According to Crook, there are two main dimensions which reflect the distinction between the linguistic and the non-linguistic components of commercials that should be taken into account. These are the product- claim dimension and reward dimension. (Crook, 2004) When product claim dimension is used, some information or claims of the producers are presented to the consumers in the form of physical outcomes and benefits. For instance, in our case of sanitary napkins, this could be dryness. There usually is a superimposed linguistic message and/ or a message which is given by a voiceover, a narrator or a mini drama with one or a few highlighted characters. The use of reward dimension targets the more emotional side of the audiences. The benefits and offers are emotional and more abstract. For instance, in our case, this could be the promise of intimacy or modernity. As it can be deducted from this example, the benefits may not seem such related with the product itself at the first sight. The tools of non-verbal communication such as colors and music are used in these types of advertisements. The Construction of Menstruation as Embarrassment Menstruation is accepted, portrayed and presented as an embarrassing hygienic trouble which needs to stay hidden and covered up in the public realm, specifically from men. It is also seen as an obstruct on the way of achieving to the standardized and ideal womanhood norms as Evans also points outs. Menstruation stood in the way, as a threat to a womans reaching the ideal of beautiful womanhood, (Evans, 1995, p. 25) All of these negative connotations helped the construction of menstruation as embarrassment for females. As an historical inheritance, this problem is limited to the one’s private sphere. Thus, offering solution to this hygienic problem can easily be considered as overruling one’s privacy. Advertisers observed that there might be negative reactions occurring, as viewers evaluate these advices as a violation of their liberties and privacy. In the specific type of commercial that we are trying to explore here, the producers of the advertisements could be accused of taking the liberty of talking about a private issue because these advertisements postulate the existence of a ‘problem’ and describe menstruation as a barrier with discomforting symptoms which put limits on one’s mental and physical actions. Therefore, there is a message of â€Å"You need these hygienic products to hide and relieve your embarrassment and stay pure and clean. Otherwise you would be stained and feel ashamed and dirty.† For instance, Kotex started a series of advertisement which are based on a simple question to women: â€Å"What weird things do you do on your special days?† In the series, a famous actress took part and filmed doing weird things such as carrying a awkwardly huge bag to hide her back, getting extremely angry out of little issues or taking photos of herself to check whether there is any stains caused by her period. The Myth of the Magical Youth and Beauty â€Å"With the rise of the youth culture, advertisers shifted even more from health and safety to youth and beauty. Youth and all things modern have been idealized.† (Del Saz-Rubio and Pennock-Speck, 2009) The advertisements that I watched were proving this statement since all women that took place in these advertisements were at the age of 17-25 or 30 at most. Moreover, the older women were portrayed as role models and advisers in the advertisements and they were not on the focus. Since all women are potential customers until they step into the menopause (age 45-50 on average), there should be another motive behind this choice. As another important point, there is a set of standardized beauty norms in these advertisements. For instance, there was no over weighted woman in any of the sanitary napkin advertisement I watched or analyzed. All of the women were conformed to the widely accepted body norms and standards. So, the modern woman is idealized at being young, free and nor matively beautiful and the message of â€Å"youth knows it better† is given. Although sanitary napkins are started to produce from mid-1980s, its advertisement was not legally and culturally possible until 1920s. First, sanitary napkin advertisements started to take place in women’s magazines such as Vogue in 1920s. Then, in 1970s it became legally possible for sanitary napkin brands to do advertising on television and radio. There were still a lot of written and unwritten rules: For instance, these advertisements are shown during daytime which is considered as ‘women’s TV time’, rather than prime time hours. Moreover, it still stayed as a controversial issue and many opposed to this new situation. We can evaluate this new era as a adoption phase in which ‘blue liquid’ advertisements appeared in the scene. For a long time, blue liquid tests in laboratory environment are used all around the world, as well as in Turkey. The Messages in the Sanitary Napkin Advertisements Although the first advertisements focused on the promotion of the product by comparing the diffferent brands such as Orkid vs. Sanitary Napkin with labaratory experiments, this method has been abandoned by many brands recently or they were started to support by some charachters and mini drama scripts. The technique of placing highly imposed linguistic message has also been abandoned for the purpose of decreasing the sense of intrusion to private life and decisions directly. Instead of that, a mini drama script and some famous actresses that became public figures and whose consumption habits become trends and followed by the consumers are used. When it comes to the spaces which are used in these advertisements are also important as one of the non-linguistic components. As I observed, the place is chosen as ones which are most far away from the main issue. One would expect that bathrooms are used in these advertisements but instead of this, broad and bright spaces are used in interior shootings and crowded and alive urban landscapes for external shootings. The message and intention of this choice is to decrease the possible uneasiness of the viewers with the presupposition that menstruation is a disturbing issue which needs not to be talked or displayed with direct references to it. It should be softened and hidden as much as possible. Another message about the places is the emphasis on the modern and urbanized woman who is a part of the dynamic city life. For instance, Molped and Orkid gave this message and Orkid even conducted a promotion campaign with its ‘à ¶zgà ¼r kÄ ±z’ Nil Karaibrahimgil. This ima ge is created exclusively for the campaign and she is portrayed as a free and strong woman who is capable of having a career and children at the same time. Thus, here we see that products promise modernization, urbanization and freedom to women according to new type of ideal woman. Therefore, we see that advertisement also impose a certain life style on women by using identification techniques.

Marxist Theory and Sport Essay -- essays research papers

This essay will be an attempt to bring together the ideas from our class readings about the Marxist sociological perspective as well as insight from other readings to further my understanding of Marxism and its applications to sport. I will lay the groundwork for the theory then proceed with how his theory is applied to accessibility issues in sport, distribution of power in sport and commercialization of sport. Basics of Marxist Theory The most widely used political and ideological system of thought is that of Karl Marx. Marxism is a set of ideas trying to provide an explanation for human society. Although a little over a hundred years old his theories and thoughts have led to coups, revolutions and new waves theories and academics. As well, it is this systemic theory that has led many academics to look at the way they teach, discuss, write and even look at the way the world acts and thinks, even within their own small worlds. Within the world of sport the ideological views have no real place however it is possible to equate the views of Marx to the idea of sport. Marxism is known as the interpretation of the thoughts of Karl Marx (1813 - 1883), a German social theorist and political revolutionary. Karl Marx wanted to understand the politics, culture and economics of the newly emerging nations within Europe. He emphasized the leading role of the economy in society as a whole as well as in societal parts, known as superstructures. These superstructures are non-economic aspects of society, i.e. culture, religion, social life, education, religion, politics and social institutions. Marx identified society as consisting of two classes: The so-called Bourgeoisie and the so-called Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie is a capitalistic, wealthy and powerful minority consisting of aristocracy and upper class members meanwhile the Proletariat, also known as working-class, holds the majority of societal members who are poor, semi- or unskilled workers. The Bourgeoisie owns the entire means of production and wealth, therefore they are powerful and hegemonic. Thei r hegemony is maintained because only they have access to the financial and productive means. Their ideologies, i.e. their thoughts and beliefs, are hegemonic and influencing as they have the power to establish them in society (Rigauer, 2000). In contrast, the Proletariat is alienated from and by the Bourgeoisie. Th... ... of sport in our society still cannot be ignored. Thus, giving his theory partial credibility in my opinion. While I struggled to understand how this information could be used directly in the field of sport administration, in the end, I have learned that simply being aware of different sociological theories can help to understand why society behaves the way it does in the sport context. This application is very indirect; however, it will allow me to approach future situations with a deeper understanding of sports in society. References Rigauer, B. (2000). Marxist Theories. In J, Coakley and E. Dunning (Eds.), Handbook of Sport Studies (pp. 28-47). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Giddens, A. (2001) Sociology 4th ed. Cambridge. Polity Press. Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. (2000) Sociology Themes and Perspectives 5th ed. London. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. Abercrombie, N. et al (2000) The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology 4th ed. London. Penguin Books. Manthorp, N. (2003) Guardian Unlimited Network. Feature Article. Accessed Online. Available : http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,10069,870038,00.html Safai, P. (2005). Lecture Notes - APA 5304. January 18, 2005.

Dissertation: Fast Food Restaurants

ABSTRACT Organizational behaviour in fast food industry is an important area to analyze as fast food sector is growing rapidly. It has direct positive relation with organizational productivity. Around the globe, the penetration of fast food sector is enormous. A field study was conducted in order to evaluate the employees’ perception of various dynamics of organizational behaviour.The context selected was the fast food restaurants of Pakistan. A sample of 100 fast food restaurants’ employee was selected and data was collected using pre-printed structured questionnaires. The main data collection technique employed was factor loading using principle component analysis. It was performed on various constructs which were used to understand the organizational behaviour.The findings of this dissertation exerts organizational decision markers to focus on acceptance of change by managers and employees, being more responsive to customers’ suggestions, employees awareness a bout organizational mission, non-monetary appreciation by the colleagues and seniors, task prioritization, intra-team dynamics, workload adjustment, resource sufficiency, organizational justice in the form of fairness, imparting training to the employees, job relevant training to employees, provision of congenial work environment to employee, security at work place, coordination with employees, ensuring transparency while promoting people and elimination of biasness among employees. The accomplishment of these would have important bearings on overall organizational behaviour and will ultimately improve the productivity of the organization. Like many researches, this research also has some limitations. Future research should take in to account these short comings. Table of Contents ABSTRACT1 You can read also Classifications of RestaurantsCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF DISSERTATION: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF DISSERTATION5 1-1: A Brief Account of the Area of Interest:5 1-2: Choice Rationale of the Thesis Research:6 1-3: Aim of the Dissertation Research:7 1-4: Fast Food Industry of Pakistan – the Context:7 1-5: Research Questions of Dissertation:8 1-6: Research Objectives of Dissertation:9 1-7: Nature of Research Output and Final Outcome of Dissertation:10 1-8: Structure of the Thesis:11 1-9: Chapter Summary:12 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF ACADEMIC AND SCHOLARLY LITERATURE13 2-1: Organizational Behaviour– An Imperative issue for Businesses:13 2-2-1: Culture:15 2-2-2: Change:16 2-2-3: Customer Orientation:17 2-2-4: Rewards and Recognition:18 2-2-5: Leadership/Supervision:19 -2-6: Fair Treatment of Employees:19 2-2-7: Job Characteristics:20 2-2-8: Training:20 2-2-9: Work Environment:21 2-3: Summary:22 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DISSERTATION23 3-1: Theoretical Und erpinnings – Rationale:23 3-2: Research Aims and Objectives:24 6. 1. 13-2-1: Background Discussion:24 6. 1. 23-2-2: Research Aims:25 6. 1. 33-2-3: Research Objectives:26 3-4: Summary:32 CHAPTER 4: DESIGN, METHODOLOGY AND METHOD(S) OF DISSERTATION RESEARCH33 4. 1: Nature of Research Endeavours:33 4. 2: Type of Research:34 4. 3: Reference to Sampling Frame:35 4. 4: Population Attributes and Sampling Design:35 4. 5: Decision on Sample Size:36 4. : Characteristics of Data Collection Instrument:36 4. 7 Pre-Testing the Data Collection Instrument:37 4. 8: Field Survey and Data Collection – Primary and Secondary Research:37 4. 9: Data Analysis and Report Writing:38 4-10: Summary of the Chapter:39 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND ASSOCIATED DISCUSSION40 5. 1: The Pakistani Fast Food Sector – Context of Dissertation:40 5-2: Reliability Analysis:42 5 – 3: Review of Dissertation’s Aim and Associated Objectives:43 5 – 4: Demographic Profile of the Employees:44 5 – 5: Primary Data Analysis:46 5 – 6: Research Objective 1: To explore the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 9 5 – 7: Research Objective 2: To explore the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 52 5 – 8: Research Objective 3: To explore the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan56 5 – 9: Research Objective 4: To explore the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 61 5 – 10: Research Objective 5: To explore the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 64 5 – 11: Research Objective 6: To explore the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7 5 – 12: Research Objective 7: To explore the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employ ees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan72 5 – 13: Research Objective 8: To explore the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan75 Table 5 – 37 gives the rotated component matrix of training. It shows that two factor were extracted when factor loading was applied. The first was â€Å"number of trainings given to employees in last six months† (0. 959) and â€Å"number of trainings† given in last one month’ (0. 956). The factor could be termed as â€Å"recent training offered to employees†. The second factor extracted was loaded on two variables i. e. , â€Å"employees training on assessed needs† (0. 63) and â€Å"employees are trained to meet changes in job† (0. 873). The factor extracted could be named as â€Å"job relevant training†. 78 5 – 14: Research Objective 9: To explore the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7 8 5 – 13: Summary:82 6-1: Conclusion of the Dissertation:84 6-2: Recommendations:85 6-2-1: Recommendation 1: Change Dynamics:86 6-2-2: Recommendation 2: Customer Orientation:87 6-2-3: Recommendation 3: Leadership Dynamics:87 6-2-4: Recommendation 4: Rewards and Recognition:87 6-2-5: Recommendation 5: Job Characteristics:88 6-2-6: Recommendation 6: Fair Treatment with Employees:88 6-2-7: Recommendation 7: Training:89 -2-8: Recommendation 8: Work Environment:89 6-2-9: Recommendation 9: Culture:90 6-3: Limitations of Research:90 6-3: Future Research Opportunities:91 REFERENCES92 APPENDIX101 QUESTIONNAIRE102 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF DISSERTATION: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF DISSERTATION This is the first chapter of the dissertation. It will contribute a brief overview of the dissertation topic. It will also contribute the aims and objectives of the dissertation research. Further to this, this chapter will underscore the final outcome of the dissertation along with dissertation struc ture. In addition to this, the chapter will also contribute the structure of the dissertation.The chapter will end with the summary of the chapter. 1-1: A Brief Account of the Area of Interest: The world is at the verge of transition (Adler and Gundersen, 2008). This exerts enormous pressures on managers to sharpen their skills with reference to dynamic issues. Priem et al. (1995) suggested that environmental dynamism dictates the decision making process and firm performance. Thompson (1967) highlighted that organizations are open systems situated within an independent external environment. Garg et al. (2003) suggested that these environmental concerns are also closely related to the selection of senior managers in the organisation. Businesses are growing day by day. Increase in he size changes the ownership pattern and separated the ownership form the management of organization. There are different managers who work on the behalf of their owners and managers have other people who w ork for their managers. These managers assume responsibility of manipulating resources as well as day-to-day running of the enterprise so as to ensure the accomplishment of short-range and long-range plans. An organization is a group of people arranged in different teams and department in a particular manner. These people generally belong to the society where the organization is located. This collection of people generally holds for an extended period of time and work together towards accomplishment of organization’s long-term mission.According to Cartwright (1965), an organization can be regarded as a collection of related people arranged on the bases of their interdependence on each other yet with an emphasis on the whole. The behaviour of people within organization is controlled and can be forecasted quite often. The contribution of people or parts of the system would lead to the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. Organizational behaviour involves study of activities of people and their behaviour that influences organizational performance. The core areas of OB include motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process, job and work design and work stress (Bigelow et al. , 1999).Research in the domain of organizational behaviour corroborates an association between behaviour of an organization and its productivity level. The work of Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. The study of organizational behaviour draws attention to lot of areas which might be advantageous or cumbersome for the organization. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. The insights arising out of OB enables managers to harness the workers’ efficiency. This is generally accomplished through empowering employees.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 1-2: Choice Rationale of the Thesis Research: Organizational behaviour in fast food industry is an important area to analyze as fast food sector is growing rapidly. Fast food items can be cooked rapidly and thus can be obtained in no time. Around the globe, the penetration of fast food sector is enormous. It gives convenience for busy lifestyle yet it is high in calories, sugar and fat (Glanz et al. , 1998). Many people don’t have their eating schedule in terms of breakfast, lunch and dinner.It is generally defined as immediate consumption food available at premises or in specific eating areas (Data Monitor, 2005). Bender and Bender (2000) highlighted that fast food items do not have large variety of goods and generally adopts a unique production processes. Hamburgers, pizzas chicken and sandwi ches are specialized fast food products. Fast food industry is regarded as a basis for obesity. Many US fast food producing firms faced court trial because of public concerns on obesity (Adams, 2005). Importance of nutritional values of fast food was also analyzed by researchers (Nayga Jr, 1997, O Dougherty et al. , 2006). Further to this, Brown et al (2000) also emphasized the importance of understanding nutritional requirements and fast food for youngsters.The above discussion asserts the importance of understanding or studying the fast food organization. This dissertation will use the context of fast food industry and will analyze dynamics of organizational behaviour in the said context. 1-3: Aim of the Dissertation Research: This research focuses on analysis of the â€Å"perception of employees about various dynamics of organizational behaviour in fast food industry of Pakistan†. The fast food industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan. It incorporates mushroom growth of bot h international and national fast food chains in various parts of the country. This phenomenal growth gained prominence in 1993 and since then it has been unmatched. The various imensions of organizational behaviour envisaged for this dissertation research include organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment. 1-4: Fast Food Industry of Pakistan – the Context: In contrast to past, where the hotels and restaurants were serving traditional and local food, the trend is now shifting towards Western meals especially fast food. The fast and busy life of residents of Pakistan is leading to more and more people dining out. Now-a-days, one can find fast food and fast food restaurants in all parts of the country. People can find fast-food literally every where. Hospitals are serving fast-food. One can stop at a nearby shopping centre.Gas Stations added separ ate sections which serve fast food. University, college and school cafeterias are offering fast food. One may find huge crowds of people in fast food restaurants on weekends. The Pakistan’s fast food market comprises of global giants like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Hardees, etc. In addition to these, Hilal Fried Chicken (HFC), Al-Najam Fried Chicken (AFC), Fried Chicks, Italian Pizza and many other small firms are also gaining popularity. People from all walks of life and from all ages are visiting these restaurants. Despite its nutritional value, the fast food is also becoming a status symbol.According to Health and Integrated Survey (2009), the average spending of a household on food and related is around 44 percent of the total spending. Moreover, the population of Pakistan has exceeded 170 million. This large size of population spending huge sum of money on their food and related item makes fast food sector really a lucrative area for investment. Pingali (2007) also reported that in Asian people are increasingly using western food and this trend is also influencing the food management system in this country. One of the trends out of this westernization of food in Asia is the outburst of fast-food restaurants in Asian countries. 1-5: Research Questions of Dissertation:The achievement of above stated research aim requires answering number of research questions. These research questions are given hereunder: 1) What is the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 2) What is the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 3) What is the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 4) What is the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 5) What is the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 6) What is the em ployees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan? ) What is the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 8) What is the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? 9) What is the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan? For each of the above mentioned research question, research objectives are developed which are give in the next section. 1-6: Research Objectives of Dissertation: In order to achieve research aim and answering research questions, various research objectives were developed. These are based on selection of nine constructs that have been identified from the literature. It is envisaged that the disseration would encompass following research objectives: ) To analyze the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 2) To analyze the employees’ percep tion of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 3) To analyze the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan 4) To analyze the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 5) To analyze the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 6) To analyze the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 7) To analyze the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan ) To analyze the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan 9) To analyze the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. 1-7: Nature of Research Output and Final Outcome of Dissertation: The accomplishment of this dissertation will facilitate organizational decision makers, particularly the sen ior management, in developing an understanding of various factors which are perceived to be important dimensions of organizational behaviour. This understanding could serve as a basis for various insights about evaluating their (senior management) current endeavours and subsequent decision making.By working on various dimensions of organizational behaviour, an organization can improve employees’ comfort level with the organization which has direct link organizational performance and profitability. The final outcome of the dissertation is a reduced list of factors which will be regarded as more important by the employees. The dissertation research involves identification of a number of factors from literature which are perceived to be the determinants of organization behaviour. These variables are reduced to few factors by using factor analysis. 1-8: Structure of the Thesis: This dissertation comprises of six chapters. At the outset of each chapter, the introduction of the cha pter is given.Similarly, each chapter ends with conclusion of the chapter. This section reveals a brief snapshot of each chapter. Chapter 1- Introduction of Dissertation: Aims and Objectives of Dissertation: This was the first chapter of the dissertation. This chapter emphasized the importance of studying organizational behaviour and importance of fast food industry. It also put forth the research aims and objectives. This chapter ended while elaborating the final outcome of the dissertation research and overall structure of the dissertation. Chapter 2 – Review of Academic and Scholarly Literature: This chapter will contribute the literature on importance of studying organizational behaviour.It will elaborate all the constructs (organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment) and related variables. It would also contribute an overview of global fast food industry with a particular emphasis on why it should be studied. This chapter will extract variables that will serve as the basis of development of theoretical framework. Chapter 3 – Theoretical Framework: This chapter will be linked with previous chapter (Review of Academic and Scholarly Literature) and will present the theoretical framework developed for this dissertation. It would dictate the methodology and associated areas of research.Chapter 4 – Methodology: This chapter will contribute the details of various research techniques which will be used for accomplishment of the dissertation research. Various sections that will be presented in this chapter will include population selection and sampling design, questionnaire development, pre-testing and piloting, overview of statistical techniques and other connected issues. Chapter 5 – Findings and Discussion: This chapter will present findings based on the dissertation research. These findings will be lin ked with the dissertation research objectives. Chapter 6 – Conclusion, Limitations and Future Research Areas: This will be the last chapter of the dissertation and would contribute conclusion, limitations and future research areas. 1-9: Chapter Summary:This chapter highlighted the overall aim of the dissertation and associated research objectives. It exerted the importance of understanding of organizational behaviour and identified various constructs which will be studied during the course of research. This chapter also contributed a snapshot of final outcome of the dissertation research and overall structure of the dissertation. The next chapter will contribute literature review on organizational behaviour and associated constructs. CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF ACADEMIC AND SCHOLARLY LITERATURE The last chapter gave the introduction of the dissertation. This chapter presents review of literature on various constructs which are subject of discussion of this dissertation.These include culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, leadership/supervision, fair treatment of employees, job characteristics, training and work environment. The chapter starts with the importance of understanding and studying organizational behaviour and ends with the conclusion. 2-1: Organizational Behaviour– An Imperative issue for Businesses: Adler and Gundersen (2008) suggested that present era is observing a high level of transition from one type of general and business practices to others. Kaplan and Norton (2001) suggested that in such hostile and dynamic environment, organizations attempt to perform better strategies as compared to their rivals. The key to perform better than rivals is to formulate better strategies as compared to the competitors firms.The organizations, in an attempt to compete in the industrial age, attempt to formulate and apply knowledge based strategies yet it has lot of challenges. In contrast to the previous century, where the envi ronmental change is incremental, the current era is characterized by a rapid change in organization’s environment. Saint-Onge (1999) commented on organizations’ abilities and suggested that in the wake of such speedy change, the key to shine out of the crowd is to be better informed as compared to your counter-parts. Further to this, Kennerley and Neely (2003) supported this idea and suggested that the dynamism of environment requires organizations to continuously change the course of action so as to match with the situation.Katz and Kahn (1978), long ago, referred to organizations as open systems. They further exerted that being an open system the organizations interact with the external environment and takes influence from the happenings in the external environment. Earlier, Thompson (1967) contributed similar idea. The work of Garg et al. (2003) suggested that these environmental concerns are in issue of primitive importance for the organization decision makers spec ially top management. Consequently, the changes in the external environment are closely monitored and their possible influence on the organization is also gauged. In the present times, the size of businesses is increasing.This brings additional challenges for the organizations as it also results in change in ownership and management pattern of the organization. Increasingly, the ownership and management of the organization is getting distinct. Organizations, being governed by the managers, instead of owners exerted that managers and employees are important stakeholders of the enterprise. They are the one who make important decision making about the enterprise’s resources. Moreover, they are the one who directs the working of the organization in certain directions so as to enable its ultimate purpose, the mission. Mintzberg (1980) regarded that organizations are coordinated units where people tend to synchronize their work with each other so as to make necessary mutual adjustm ent.Further to this, the work of Cartwright (1965) also highlighted the features of organizations as a collection of related people who are put together in such a way that they have certain level of dependence on each other. All of these people, if taken together, results in the full organization. The behaviour of the people in the form of their contribution towards attainment of organization goal is important. Such behaviour is often controlled and forecasted by the organizational decision makers. The working of people, their behaviour and the influence of behaviour on the organizational performance constitute organizational behaviour (OB). The study of organizational behaviour encompasses variety of areas that has to be studied.These include work stress, motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design (Bigelow et al. , 1999). A number of management studies revealed strong positive association between OB and organizational product ivity. Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. OB highlights both problems and new advantageous vistas for enterprises. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. OB has been quite influential in increasing the level of employees’ performance.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 2-2:Construct Definitions: The general understanding of the constructs and their various dimensions studied are given under each construct definition. 2-2-1: Culture: It refers to a widespread understanding of organizational value system by the people who form organization (Becker, 1982). As a concept, it has roots in social anthropology and has been extensively used to understand the behaviour of primitive societies (Kotter, 1992). It is concerned about the shared traditions and customs of an organization and organizational members’ feeling about these. Organizations should hire those persons that match with the organizational culture.If hiring is not aligned with organizational culture, it would lead to decrease in motivation and commitment of the hired (Reilly et al. , 1991). Misfit employees have more turnover than individuals who perceive a good fit (Sheridan, 1992). It has been widely used as â€Å"corporate† or â€Å"organizational culture†. The work of Denison (1984) and Furnham (1993) suggested that organizational culture can be used to achieved economic success. For this organization need to have a work force commitment towards various dimensions of organization culture including core values, beliefs and assumptions. This idea was furthered by Hofstede (1980). Moreover, Deal (1982) suggest ed that strong organizational culture is an important determinant of organizational performance.For the dissertation, the construct culture is broken down into various variables including â€Å"inter-group work coordination†, â€Å"intra-Group work coordination†, â€Å"biasness†, â€Å"people orientation†, and â€Å"innovation and risk-taking† (O'Reilly Iii et al. , 1991, Chatman and Jehn, 1994). Tjosvold et al. (1992) suggested that creating a culture in which people at same management level coordinates with each other is a difficult task however, it is critical for the organization. This issue becomes more important if the environment is turbulent. Beer et al. (1994) also highlighted that in the wake of changing external environment, the success of a change management program depends on the extent of coordination between various functional departments as well between various management levels.Similarly, Lemons and Jones (2001) and Meyer and Smith (2000) suggested that if any organization ensures transparency in its systems specially promotion, it would increase the commitment of employees with the organization. They suggested that despite the fact that every year companies spend lot of money in ensuring fair treatment with its employees; the biasness in promotion is still an imperative issue. Kaplan and Ferris (2001) suggested that if employees find problem in organization’s promotion system, it would evoke perceived organizational injustice. Koys (1991)suggested that organizations must maintain transparency in promotion as it is a legal requirement. 2-2-2: Change: Dynamic environment requires organizations to continuously update them as per the needs of the environment.Hall (1987) suggests that typically organizations do not prefer to change themselves and if they are posed to change, they show massive resistance. Organization’s survival depends on its ability to manage change. Similarly, an organization†™s success or failure depends on the things its employees do or fail to do. There are a number of changes that takes place in an organizational setting. This include change taking place in terms of social value system, educational change, political, technological, environmental, market, business, economical and religious, etc. For the purpose of the dissertation research, various dimensions of change that has been incorporated for study include â€Å"acceptance of change by individual†, â€Å"acceptance of change by senior management† and â€Å"rewarding of change†.Paterson and Cary (2002) highlighted that change management programs result in anxiety among employees. Iverson (1996) suggested that if an organization facilitates its employees during the times when a change is brought in, it would result in positive influence on organization. Kavanagh and Ashkanasy (2006) suggested that if senior management provides leadership in change management, it would facil itate change implementation and acceptance by employees. 2-2-3: Customer Orientation: Consumers/customers are at the heart of organizations. Traditional concept of customer’s satisfaction and customers being the profit centre is transforming into customer delight. Nowadays, the uyers are equipped with more information and are better aware in comparison to the past. They have variety of methods through which buyers can check organizational assertions and thus can make an informed decision (Urban, 2003). Customers always try to maximize their value commonly regarded as customers’ perceived value. It can be obtained by comparing a customers’ thinking about the benefits that he derives from a product and all associated costs that he incurred for obtaining that product. It also includes cost of foregoing related options. Those organizations which provide better value to its customers as compared to its rivals enjoy high level of customer loyalty.This idea was substan tiated by Hennig-Thurau (2004) who suggested that if an organization improves the customer orientation of its service employees, it would result in increased customer satisfaction. This would result in enhancement of customers’ commitment and organization would be better able to retain these customers. Brady and Cronin (2001) highlighted that if the employees maintain customer orientation, it would influence the perception of the customers towards quality of the products and services produced by the organization. So, that makes a strong point that organizations should focus on creation and provision of relatively better value to its customers (Learning, 1998).Shapiro (1988) suggested that customer orientation contends that customer related information should be transmitted at all levels across the organization. It should then be used in the strategic management and for tactical decision. Similarly, Kohli (1990) exerted that customer orientation deals with the extent to which information about the buyers is gathered and incorporated in decision making. similarly, Ruekert (1992) furthered this idea. The significance of customer orientation can be witnessed from its high recognition in management literature. Similarly, the work of Narver and Slater (1990) and Jaworski and Kohli (1993) substantiated that customer orientation brings economic benefits to an organization. employees’ empowerment to provide high value services†, customer feedback system† and â€Å"customer focused processes† were used to evaluate â€Å"customer orientation† construct for this dissertation research. 2-2-4: Rewards and Recognition: Despite the fact that in day to day life both recognition received from the management and the rewards given to an employee are used interchangeably yet both are not the same (Hansen et al. , 2002). The area has attracted a lot of discussion and had been topic of lot of research papers (Cooley and Lawrence, 2006, McDermo tt and O'Dell, 2001, Bessant and Francis, 1999, Johnson, 1996). However, it is regretful that despite a lot of attention in academic and scholarly literature, the traces of concept in business world are scarce.The evidence of use of rewards and recognition in developing employees’ motivation development is still not very evident. As a result of this, such organizational initiatives did not prove very fruitful. The work of Lewis (1998) and Parasuraman (1987) suggested that an organization can improve the quality of its service offering by linking the same with rewards that it offers to its employees. The same was also corroborated by Kotler (1999). Similar evidence arise from the work of Bowen (1999) who suggested that if employees were given rewards then they would have enhanced focus in managing the customers complaints. It’s a common phenomenon that one will feel dissatisfied if he/she is not rewarded or recognized for his/her good work.Monetary rewards are regarded as one of the top rated motivators (Locke et al. , 1980). Money is the mean which provides employees an opportunity of satisfying numerous desire. In addition to this, money can also act as a barometer through which an employee evaluate his worth in comparison with other employees who serve with them (Doyle, 1992). Moreover, money is not important to all employees. According to Maslow (1943), human beings have variety of needs categorized into various groups. He further exerted that high achievers are intrinsically motivated. For the purpose of this dissertation, the provision of â€Å"Monetary† and â€Å"Non-Monetary Rewards† were used.Where monetary rewards essentially takes the form of money, Govindarajulu and Daily (2004) suggested that non-monetary rewards takes various forms including appreciation, paid-vacation, preferred parking space, time-off from normal working in the office, etc. 2-2-5: Leadership/Supervision: Yukl (1994) highlighted that the concept of lea dership gained a lot of prominence through-out the century. Despite the fact that there a variety of leadership definitions are in place (Bass, 1990) yet the underlying meaning behind all of them is that it is meant to influence to influence organizational members towards attainment of goals and objectives of the enterprise.The leaders and founders of the organizations are also influential in setting the overall value systems and in shaping the culture of the enterprise (Schneider, 1987, Schein, 1990). Managers use formal strategic management process to identify and select appropriate goals and actions for the organization (Chandler, 1962). Determining the organization’s mission and goals is the first step of the planning process. Once the mission and goals are agreed upon and formally stated in the corporate plan, they guide the next steps by defining which strategies are appropriate and which are inappropriate (Pearce, 1992). The organization’s mission, objectives, s trategies and tactics must be communicated to everyone.Therefore, it is the responsibility of the supervisors that they should ensure that all efforts had been made in communicating targets, matters of importance and urgency, technical specifications, words of advice and motivation along with performance related feedback. Friendly and accommodating supervisors yield more satisfied and motivated employees. 2-2-6: Fair Treatment of Employees: People exert power and try to influence each other when they work in group. They try to find ways to influence others, earn rewards and advance careers (Culbert and McDonough, 1980). They exhibit or attempt to exhibit political behaviours to persuade the distributions of privileges and punishments (Mintzberg, 1984). Organizations protect the rights of all employees. It leads to respectful working relationships among employees, inculcates sense of ownership and provides a fair dispute resolution system.If a person is not treated fairly, he will fe el betrayed. It would possibly result in employee’s de-motivation and will adversely affect his/her performance. â€Å"Perception about fairness of disciplinary actions†, â€Å"proper allocation of training opportunities†, â€Å"fair dispute resolution† and â€Å"mutual trust† was included in this construct. Collier and Esteban (2007) suggested that if an organization treats its employee fairly, it would increase employee commitment with the organization and is an indicator that organization is fulfilling its corporate social responsibility. Engelbrecht et al. (2008) highlighted that in the present days the organizations have deputed a very diverse workforce.This diversity has lead to significant amount of conflicts in the organization. This demands that managers must treat all the employees fairly irrespective of their gender, age, ethnic background, etc. 2-2-7: Job Characteristics: Employees adopt attitudes and behaviours towards their jobs on th e basis of social information processing (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978). People have the ability to adjust their attitudes and behaviour on the basis of their perception about the changing nature of job. Moreover, employees develop psychological contracts about their jobs that set out what management expects from the employees, and vice versa (Robinsons et al. , 1994).These physiological contracts, being an important determinant of employees’ behaviour should be clearly communicated to employees (Schein, 1980). â€Å"Skill variety†, â€Å"task identity†, â€Å"task significance†, â€Å"autonomy† and â€Å"feedback† proposed by Hackman and Oldham (1976) were used to observe job characteristics for the purpose of this dissertation. According to Morris and Venkatesh (2010), the job characteristics are strongly associated with job satisfaction and organization performance so organization must focus on job design and characteristics. Similarly, Woo d (2008) suggested job characteristics are often ignored while looking at job satisfaction.He suggested that organization must not ignore it as it is strongly associated with job satisfaction. 2-2-8: Training: Organizations are inefficient because they are managed by inefficient persons. Inefficient employees yield lower productivity and hence lower efficiency. It results in lower profitability and hence lower investment in Human Resources. This results into a vicious circle of inefficiency (Fani, 2005). Similarly, the work of Bettencourt (1996), Lewis (1998) and Yavas (1998) out forth that organization must focus on training its lower level employees not only to improve their technical capacity but also in improving the interpersonal skills of the employees.These skills would held them in coping with changing requirements of the buyers of products and services, handled different and complex personalities and adjusting themselves according to the situation so as to enable them deliv er enhanced value to the buyers. Boshoff (2000) exerted the training of employees and highlighted that if the employees are not equipped with relevant technical and behavioural skills, they would be unable to deliver competitive service and it would result in high level of customers’ grievance. This was further corroborated by Bitner (1990) who reported that around 43 percent of the complaints from dissatisfied customers were the outcome of the incapable people handlings customers’ affairs.Even, competent and skilled employees don’t remain competent and skilled forever. Due to increasing competition, technological changes and quest for improved production process, job roles changes and so does the required skills. Organizations all over the world spend billions each year on employees’ training. The money is generally used to educate employees, provide them with opportunities to learn new things so that they can do their job better and enhance their future career. Individualization of training programs increases their effectiveness (Kolb, 1976). â€Å"Training Need Analysis†, and â€Å"Previously taken training† were used to measure this construct.According to Dysvik and Kuvaas (2008), if an organization gives an employee training opportunities, the employee would not learn new things but would also become loyal and committed to the organizations. Both of these things will positively influence the organizations’ performance. Similarly, Schmidt (2007) suggested that if the employees of an organization are satisfied are with the workplace learning and formal training provided to them, it would positively influence their job satisfaction. 2-2-9: Work Environment: Nature of Job, physical environment and work space and characteristics of job can influence an employee’s work behaviour. Evidence indicates that even relatively modest variations in temperature, noise, lighting, or air quality can exert appreciable effects on employee performance and attitudes (Bell et al. , 1990).For instance, an increase in temperature can adversely affect both physical (Bell et al. , 1982) and mental performance of a person (Fine and Kobrick, 1978). Similarly, unpredictable noise interferes with an employee’s ability to concentrate and pay attention (Baron, 1994). Loud and unpredictable noises also tend to increase excitation and led to reduced job satisfaction (Bell et al. , 1990). Furthermore, right intensity of light is related with task difficulty and required accuracy (Wineman, 1982). â€Å"Workplace Cleanliness†, â€Å"Temperature†, â€Å"Ergonomics†, â€Å"Lighting† and â€Å"Ventilation†, and â€Å"workplace safety† were used in the dissertation for this construct.Biswas and Varma (2007) suggested that the firms should provide safe and healthy working environment to its employees. It would give employees a comfort factor in the organization and they b ecome more productive employees. Peek-Asa et al. (2007) suggested that organization should ensure that it has a comprehensive workplace security program 2-3: Summary: This chapter put forth the review of academic and scholarly literature on the dissertation area. It suggests that organizations are in a constant state of flux. External environment triggers organizational change. Such change in the organizations exerts their continuous study so as to observe the related phenomena. OB involves studying influence of people and their behaviour on organizations.The research in the domain of organizational behaviour encompasses research into variety of associated areas. These include work stress, motivation, leader behaviour, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design. A number of management studies revealed that there is a strong relationship between organizational behaviour and organizational performance. This chapter offers review of literature of various cons tructs. These constructs includes culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, leadership, fair treatment, job characteristics, training and work environment. The next chapter will give the theoretical framework of the dissertation. CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DISSERTATIONThis chapter will contribute the theoretical framework for this dissertation research. It would use the literature contributed in the preceding chapter and will put forward the proposed model. 3-1: Theoretical Underpinnings – Rationale: Thompson (1967) and Katz and Kahn (1978) suggested that organizations are open systems. They further exerted that being an open system the organizations interact with the external environment and takes influence from the happenings in the external environment. Garg et al. (2003) argued that these environmental concerns are in issue of primitive importance for the organization decision makers specially top management. Presently, the size of busin esses is increasing.This brings additional challenges for the organizations as it may result in change in ownership and management pattern of the organization. Increasingly, the ownership and management of the organization is getting distinct. Organizations, being governed by the managers, instead of owners exerted that managers and employees are important stakeholders of the enterprise. They are the one who make important decision making about the enterprise’s resources. Moreover, they are the one who directs the working of the organization in certain directions so as to enable its ultimate purpose, the mission. Mintzberg (1980) regarded that organizations are coordinated units where people tend to synchronize their work with each other so as to make necessary mutual adjustment.Similarly, the work of Cartwright (1965) also highlighted the features of organizations as a collection of related people who are put together in such a way that they have certain level of dependence on each other. All of these people, if taken together, results in the full organization. The behavior of the people in the form of their contribution towards attainment of organization goal is important. Such behavior is often controlled and forecasted by the organizational decision makers. The working of people, their behavior and the influence of behavior on the organizational performance constitute organizational behavior (OB). The study of organizational behavior encompasses variety of areas that has to be studied.These include work stress, motivation, leader behavior, group structure and processes, change process and job and work design (Bigelow et al. , 1999). A number of management studies revealed strong positive association between OB and organizational productivity. Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) revealed that as compared to economic indicators of organizational performance, the factors associated with organizational behaviour have twice as much explanatory power as much the economic variables. OB highlights both problems and new advantageous vistas for enterprises. It identifies issues like workforce diversity and offers solutions to manage it. OB has been quite influential in increasing the level of employees’ performance.It also guides managers to design jobs and workplace in such a way as to facilitate achievement of organizational goals and objectives and reduce job stress (Robbins, 1998). 3-2: Research Aims and Objectives: 1 3-2-1: Background Discussion: The fast food industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan. It incorporates mushroom growth of both international and national fast food chains in various parts of the country. This phenomenal growth gained prominence in 1993 and since then it has been unmatched. According to Economic Review (1998), fast food restaurants are penetrating in Pakistan. This upsurge of fast food restaurants is the results of rapidly changing culture of Pakistan and ever high level of globalization which brought wes tern value system to Pakistan.The life style of Pakistani people is becoming busier and busier. This left with very less time for cooking at home. At lunch times, people are using instant or fast foods. Similarly, Pakistanis have now easier access to western food. A large number of national and international fast food chains are opening a number of outlets all over the Pakistan. Initially, these fast food outlets were restricted to large and/or major cities of Pakistan, including federal and provincial capitals yet presently there operations have also been extended to other cities. 2 3-2-2: Research Aims: This section deals with the presentation of dissertation aims and objectives.The main purpose of this research, as envisaged in chapter one of this dissertation, was the analysis of â€Å"the perception of employees about various dynamics of organizational behavior in Fast food industry of Pakistan†. The various dimensions of organizational behavior envisaged for this disser tation research include organizational culture, change dynamics, customer orientation, leadership dynamics, rewards and recognition, job characteristics, fair treatment, training and work environment. For each of these dimensions, research objectives were developed. The achievement of these research objectives would ensure the fulfillment of overall research aim. The research model is presented here under: [pic] Figure 3-1: The Dissertation Model Figure 3-1 gives the theoretical framework for dissertation research.It shows that culture, change, customer orientation, rewards and recognition, supervision and leadership, fair treatment, job characteristics, training and work design are the factors that influence organization behavior. 3 3-2-3: Research Objectives: The overall aim of the dissertation is broken down into various research objectives. The research objectives of this dissertation are linked to nine constructs. The selection of these nine constructs is the result of the revi ew of academic and scholarly literature which was given in the second chapter of this dissertation. This section highlights research objectives along with the various variables which would be used to capture the perception of employees about various organizational dynamics.The research objectives along with extracted variables in diagrammatic form are given here under: Research Objective 1: To explore the employees’ perception of culture of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-2: Variables of Culture Construct Figure 3-2 gives the operational definition of the Culture construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 2: To explore the employees’ perception of change dynamics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-3: Variables of Change Construct Figure 3-3 gives the operational definition of the Change construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research O bjective 3: To explore the employees’ perception of customer orientation of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-4: Variables of Customer Orientation Construct Figure 3-4 gives the operational definition of the Customer Orientation construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 4: To explore the employees’ perception of leadership dynamic of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-5: Variables of Supervision & Leadership Construct Figure 3-5 gives the operational definition of the Supervision and Leadership construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research Objective 5: To explore the employees’ perception of rewards and recognition of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-6: Variables of Rewards and Recognition Construct Figure 3-6 gives the operational definition of the Rewards and Recognition construct. These variables would be the s ubject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 6: To explore the employees’ perception of fair treatment with employees among fast food restaurants of Pakistan [pic] Figure 3-7: Variables of Fair Treatment Construct Figure 3-7 gives the operational definition of the Fair Treatment construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire.Research Objective 7: To explore the employees’ perception of job characteristics of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-8: Variables of Job Characteristics Construct Figure 3-8 gives the operational definition of the Job Characteristics construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 8: To explore the employees’ perception of training among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic] Figure 3-9: Variables of Training Construct Figure 3-9 gives the operational definition of the Training construct. These variables would be the subj ect of inquiry through questionnaire. Research Objective 9: To explore the employees’ perception of work environment among fast food restaurants of Pakistan. [pic]Figure 3-10: Variables of Work Environment Construct Figure 3-10 gives the operational definition of the Work environment construct. These variables would be the subject of inquiry through questionnaire. 3-4: Summary: This chapter gave the theoretical framework of the dissertation. This chapter linked the research aims and objectives with each other and also contributed the Dissertation model. Moreover, this chapter further linked each construct with the variables which have been deployed in order to operationalize each construct. The next chapter will give methodology of dissertation. CHAPTER 4: DESIGN, METHODOLOGY AND METHOD(S) OF DISSERTATION RESEARCHIn continuation to the previous chapter, which contributed the theoretical framework of the research, the current chapter will deal with the conduct of dissertation research. Major areas covered in the this chapter will be the selection of type of research, selection of population and sample size and sampling procedure, development of data collection instrument and actual conduct of research. 4. 1: Nature of Research Endeavours: In this section, the type of research will be highlighted. As it was suggested in the dissertation proposal, this research not only involves secondary research but also primary research. For secondary research, a detailed literature review was conducted using University’s library resources along with world-wide-web.Specifically, Google scholar and Emerald Insight ® were quite influential in identifying existing literature in the area of organizational behavior and related constructs. It enabled the dissertation candidate to be aware of the relevant domain of body of knowledge. Similarly, the primary research was conducted so as to capture the perceptions of employees about organizational behavior of fast food r estaurants. There are number of methods that can be engaged for the conduct of primary research including personal observation, interviewing, field survey, street ethonography, etc. The main method employed for the conduct of primary research was field survey.Primary research is advocated as compared to secondary research because primary research has more relevance to the issue as compared to secondary research. Further to this, the information generated can also be tailored in primary research and also provides direct and hands-on access to the issue. However, it generally entails more time and resources. It also requires specialized skills in designing the actual survey and subsequent analysis of the data. 4. 2: Type of Research: This section would describe the type of research engaged for this dissertation. For this, the typology suggested by Cooper and Schindler (2006) was engaged. They put forth a classification scheme for categorization of variety of research.This classificati on scheme include variables including data collection strategy, influence of the researchers in varying the research situation, respondents’ viewpoint about the research, points of time on which data was sorted from the respondents, prior crystallization of the research issue. On the basis of above mentioned criteria, the present dissertation is regarded as a descriptive research. This is advocated because of greater extent of crystallization of issue in hand. In primary research, a questionnaire was given to the fast food employee in order to tap their responses. This made this research as a communication sort. Moreover, the questionnaire was administered in the fast food restaurants and no deviation was made in the actual daily routine of the fast food employees.Consequently, the research design is ex post facto. Further to this, it is an inferential research as the insights originating from the survey will be generalized on fast food employees’ population. Moreover, it is a cross sectional research as the data was collected once. A field survey is a method of data collection in which the research goes into the actual place where the respondents, or items from which data is to be collected, are present. Cooper and Schindler (2006) advocated the use of survey for data collection. There are number of reasons for this. For instance, the field surveys are less risky as compared to laboratory experiments and stimulation.It is because the data is collected from actual field setting and is relatively reliable. In addition to this, in field surveys the surveyors reach respondents in their actual routines and own settings. In this situation, the respondents do not find any deviation and the response are highly valid. Further to this, in field surveys the surveyor has less control on the data collection whereas in simulation and laboratory experiments this is more. 4. 3: Reference to Sampling Frame: This section would cover issues related to sampling. Ex traction of sample refers to selection of a subset from the survey population. (Dr. Hani, 2010). Heckman (1979) and Emory (1980) advocated selection of such a subset on a number basis.For example, in lot of instances it is virtually impossible or very difficult to access all the members of population. Moreover, it would also be cumbersome to reach all members, attract lot of financial resources and time. On the contrary, selecting a sample would save lot of time and money. Studying a sample would be less cumbersome as compared to studying entire population. However, Heckman (1979) suggested that such sample should have the same attributes as that of population. 4. 4: Population Attributes and Sampling Design: This section would contribute the details about the population attributes. The population of this research encompasses all those people who are working in fast food chain.Fast food restaurants are those food manufacturers and sellers who serve food in last then 20 minutes. No r eference has been made to the age, gender or to some other demographic characteristics. The questionnaire employed in this research also collected demographic characteristics of the employees. It would be used for generating secondary insights so as to share the context in which research was carried out. The targeted population was employees of fast food restaurants of Pakistan. A convenience based, snow ball sampling technique was used to approach the sample. Goodman (1961), Frank and Snijders (1994) and Kaplan et al. (1987) advocated the use of snow ball sampling.This refers to a situation in which the desired characteristics of the population are scarce. In addition to getting information from sampling unit about themselves, they are requested to share information about other sampling units so that they can be accessed. Data was collected from three cities of Punjab which are Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. The data collection instrument also collected the designation of the resp ondents yet during the initial stages of the survey; respondents show that they were not very comfortable with revealing their identity. This is because of the particular nature of the research topic. It was decided not to emphasize on this question. So, the designation related data was taken out of the analysis.However, on a broad spectrum, the employees interviewed for this dissertation include people who were engaged in cooking food, in-house serving staff, delivery-men and counter staff. Majority of these respondents belong to the restaurants in the posh localities. This is because of the fact that these restaurants exist in the form of a cluster in selected cities. 4. 5: Decision on Sample Size: This section will share insights about sample selection. A sample of 100 fast-food retailers was taken for this research. In taking this decision, cost and time considerations were kept in mind. Both of these issues and geographical distance, constrain the selection of a larger sample s ize.However, the factor loading technique (the main data analysis technique) is not confined to any specific sample size. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy is a test that would be engaged to check the appropriateness of sample. Garson (2010) shared insights on deciding about the sample size for factor analysis. The sample size of this dissertation is consistent with his suggestions. 4. 6: Characteristics of Data Collection Instrument: A customized questionnaire was developed for this research. The questionnaire has two parts. First part captures responses of the fast food employees about their perception about organizational behavior.To facilitate the respondents, the questions were grouped on the basis of constructs. Part two of this questionnaire collects information about the demographic profile of the respondents. The questionnaire actually started with salutation and reveals the core aim of the research. It also introduced the dissertation candidate and his acad emic affiliation. The cover page of the questionnaire also shares the method of responding questionnaire by giving an illustration. The dissertation specifically revealed that the collected information would only be used for academic purpose and results will be disclosed in group. The respondents were thanked in anticipation for their support in accomplishing this research. 4. Pre-Testing the Data Collection Instrument: Before the actual start of the field survey, it was important to ensure that data collection instrument should bear certain characteristics. These include brevity, clarity and focus on the issue. Before the actual launch of survey, 3 questionnaires were given to actual respondents and were evaluated for desired characteristics. Certain insights related to use of words, questions sequence and length of questionnaire was adjusted. The questionnaire was improved and launched. The addition of survey filling instruction was an attempt to improve the conduct of the survey. 4. 8: Field Survey and Data Collection – Primary and Secondary Research:At the start of this research, it was envisaged that completion of this dissertation will require both secondary and primary research. Journals, magazine, online databases and library resources were quite influential. So far primary data was concerned; a soft copy of questionnaire was send to the managers of fast food restaurants. The managers of fast food chain were requested to support in accomplishment of dissertation by cooperating in collecting data. The managers were requested to arrange prints of them and share those with employees. The employees filled those questionnaires and retuned them to managers. The managers, on request of dissertation candidate, deputed an employee and get those entered in SPSS and emailed those back to dissertation candidate.As the questionnaires were to be returned to the organizational representative instead of dissertat

Galsworthy – to Let

Ga John Galsworthy (1867 — 1933) TO LET (1922) This novel is the last volume of the Forsyte Saga. It marks both the end of the first stage in the development of the Forsytes and the beginning of the second, post-war stage in the chronicles of their doings. That final stage is the subject of Galsworthy's second trilogy, the Modern Comedy, where the younger generation of the Forsytes are depicted against the background of England's post-war decay. In the following extract the novelist holds up to ridicule the decadence of modem art.He puts his ideas into the mouth of Soames Forsyte whom he formerly satirized as the â€Å"man of property†. Soames's scornful bewilderment at sight of Expressionist paintings renders to a certain degree the feelings of the novelist himself. CHAPTER I Encounter Arriving at the Gallery off Cork Street, however, he paid his shilling, picked up a catalogue, and entered. Some ten persons were prowling round. Soames took steps and came on what looke d to him like a lamp-post bent by collision with a motor omnibus. It was advanced some three paces from the wall, and was described in his catalogue as â€Å"Jupiter†.He examined it with curiosity, having recently turned some of his attention to sculpture. â€Å"If that's Jupiter,† he thought, â€Å"I wonder what Juno's like. † And suddenly he saw her, opposite. She appeared to him like nothing so much as a pump with two handles, lightly clad in snow. He was still gazing at her, when two of the prowlers halted on his left. â€Å"Epatant†[1] be heard one say. â€Å"Jargon! † growled Soames to himself. The other boyish voice replied: â€Å"Missed it,[2] old bean;[3] he's pulling your leg. When Jove and Juno created he them,[4] he was saying: â€Å"I’ll see how much these fools will swallow†.And they’ve lapped up a lot. †[5] â€Å"You young duffer[6]! Vospovitch is an innovator. Don’t you see that he’s brough t satire into sculpture? The future of plastic art, of music, painting, and even architecture, has set in satiric. It was bound to. People are tired – the bottom’s tumbled out of sentiment. † â€Å"Well, I’m quite equal to taking a little interest in beauty. I was through the war. You’ve dropped your handkerchief, sir. † Soames saw a handkerchief held out in front of him. He took it with some natural suspicion, and approached it to his nose.It had the right sent – of distant Eau de Cologne – and his initials in a corner. Slightly reassured, he raised his eyes to the young man’s face. It had rather fawn-like ears, a laughing mouth, with half a toothbrush growing out of it on each side, and small lively eyes above a normally dressed appearance. â€Å"Thank you,† he said; and moved by a sort of irritation, added: â€Å"Glad to hear you like beauty; that’s rare, nowadays. † â€Å"I dote on it,† sai d the young man; â€Å"but you and I are the last of the old guard, sir. † Soames smiled. If you really care for pictures,† he said, â€Å"here’s my card. I can show you some quite good ones any Sunday, if you’re down the river and care to look in. † â€Å"Awfully nice of you, sir. I’ll drop in like a bird[7]. My name’s Mont – Michael. † And he took off his hat. Soames, already regretting his impulse, raised his own slightly in response, with a downward look at the young man’s companion, who had a purple tie, dreadful little sluglike whiskers, and a scornful look – as if he were a poet! It was the first indiscretion he had committed for so long that he went and sat down in an alcove.What had possessed him to give his card to a rackety[8] young fellow, who went about with a thing like that? And Fleur, always at the back of his thoughts, started out like a filigree figure from a clock when the hour strikes. On the screen opposite the alcove was a large canvas with a great many square tomato-coloured blobs on it, and nothing else, so far as Soames could see from where he sat. He looked at his catalogue: â€Å"No. 32 — ‘The Future Town' — Paul Post. † â€Å"I suppose that's satiric too,† he thought. â€Å"What a thing! † But his second impulse was more cautious. It did not do to condemn hurriedly.There had been those stripey, streaky creations of Monet's[9], which had turned out such trumps; and then the stippled school,[10] and Gauguin* [11]. Why, even since the Post-Impressionists[12] there had been one or two painters not to be sneezed at. During the thirty-eight years of his connoisseur's life, indeed, he had marked so many â€Å"movements†, seen the tides of taste and technique so ebb and flow, that there was really no telling anything except that there was money to be made out of every change of fashion. This too might quite well be a c ase where one must subdue primordial instinct, or lose the market.He got up and stood before the picture, trying hard to see it with the eyes of other people. Above the tomato blobs was what he took to be a sunset, till some one passing said: â€Å"He's got the airplanes wonderfully, don't you think! † Below the tomato blobs was a band of white with vertical black stripes, to which he could assign no meaning whatever, till some one else came by, murmuring: â€Å"What expression he gets with his foreground! † Expression? Of what? Soames went back to his seat. The thing was â€Å"rich†, as his father would have said, and he wouldn't give a damn for it.Expression! Ah! they were all Expressionists[13] now, he had heard, on the Continent. So it was coming here too, was it? He remembered the first wave of influenza in 1887 — or 8 — hatched in China, so they said. He wondered where this —this Expressionism — had been hatched. The thing was a regular disease! , ? -, , ? . . ? -, , ? . ? ? â€Å"†. ? , ? . â€Å" , – , – † ? , , ? . ? , . ? , , ? , . – ! – . – ! – . : – , ! . , , , : â€Å", †. ? ? . – , ! – . , ? , , , – ? . . : . – . ? ? . ? . , . . ? ? ? ? . – , ? . . . ? , ? . ? . – , – ?, , : – , ; ? . – ? , – . – ? , , . . ? , . ? ? , , , . – ? , . . , . . , ? , ? . , , , ? – , ! ? ?, , ? . - , ? ? , , , ? . , ? -, , – ? , . ? : N 32, â€Å" † – . â€Å", , – . – ? ! † . ? . – ? – ; ? , ? - , . , , â€Å"†, ? ? ? , ? : . , ? , ? , . ? ? , . - , , - : â€Å" , † , , , - ? : â€Å" ! † ? ? ? . †, – ? . ! , , . , , ? . ? , , , . ? , , ! Analysis In this description of Soames's impressions of a gallery stocked with pieces of modern art Galsworthy's realism is displayed to great advantage.Within a very few pages the reader gets a vivid notion not only of the new school in painting, but also of the man who is so indignant with it. On the one hand his disgust and his perplexity throw light on the fictitious masterpieces and their false standards of beauty; on the other hand those masterpieces become an efficient means of characterizing Soames himself. The same end is served by the contrast between the soundness of his judgement and the flightiness, the restlessness of those of the new generation who delight in such works of art.Abundance of thought and feeling in a short passage where nothing much actually happens, dislike of emphasis and pathos is an important feature of Galsworthy's quiet and restrained art. His intense contempt for the mannerisms of modern painting is not poured out either in withering sarcasm or in grotesque exaggeration, but finds an outlet in a tone of matter-of-fact irony. The supposed statues of Jupiter and Juno are to Soames just â€Å"a lamp-post bent by collision with a motor omnibus† and â€Å"a pump with two handles† respectively.Seen through the eyes of hard common-sense, brought down to the crudest elements, these statues appear particularly ridiculous. The same process of reducing a complex whole — a pretentious picture of â€Å"The Future Town† — to a number of primitive daubs serves to expose the futility of Expressionist art. However hard Soames tries, he can see nothing but â€Å"a great man y square tomato-coloured blobs† and â€Å"a band of white with vertical black stripes†. The very sound of the word â€Å"blob†, imitating the dripping of some liquid, is derogatory here and suggests that the paint was dropped on the canvas anyhow.This plain sensible view is comically opposed to the enthusiasm of other and younger spectators who seem to observe a wonderful picture of airplanes in the red blobs and a peculiar â€Å"expression† in the black and white stripes. The false pretences of the picture bearing the pompous name of â€Å"The Future Town† are the more clearly revealed as Soames anxiously does his best to go abreast of the times and make his taste sufficiently up to date. The harder the beholder's efforts to appreciate, the clearer the painter's failure to succeed.Soames's business instincts are well expressed in his fear to misunderstand the exhibits and so miss an opportunity for profit. Thus, even when Galsworthy does make a mou thpiece of his hero, the latter's utterances, however close they come to the author's opinions, are appropriate to the personality of the speaker and come convincing from his lips. It is Galsworthy himself who has no respect for Expressionism, but Soames voices that feeling in a way peculiarly Forsytean: he is afraid to trust his eminently healthy taste, his own sense of beauty, for, as he reminds himself, â€Å"it did not do to condemn hurriedly.There had been those stripey, streaky creations of Monet’s†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These words make part of a prolonged inner monologue, which in the later volumes of the Forsyte Saga and in the whole of the Modern Comedy becomes Galsworthy’s favourite method of characterization. The inner speech of the hero is indissolubly linked with the author’s comments, so much so, really, that when speaking of Soames, for example, Galsworthy resorts to expressions entirely suitable to Soames (â€Å"His second impulse was more cautiousâ₠¬ , â€Å"He remembered the first wave of influenza in 1887 — or 8 — hatched in China, so they said†).With Galsworthy the inner monologue is different from what it is, say, in Meredith's books. For one thing, the author of the Forsyte Saga uses it much more often. For another thing, he interferes with his comments much less than his predecessor. Lastly, the language of the monologues (particularly when they are Soamse’s) is much more concise and laconic, utterly devoid of sentiment. It is quite free of abstract terms, and is exceedingly terse, practical and full of idiomatic constructions commonly used in everyday speech (â€Å"painters not to be sneezed at†, â€Å"they had turned out such trumps† etc. . Soames the businessman makes himself heard when in the meditations on art practical considerations come to the top: â€Å"there was money to be made out of every change of fashion†, â€Å"lose the market† and others. Even his metaphors, when they put in an appearance, are few and definitely â€Å"low† – as, for instance, the comparison of Expressionism to influenza hatched in China: â€Å"He wondered where this — this Expressionism — had been hatched. The thing was a regular disease! These metaphors are born out of Soames ‘s disgust for what he considers a corruption of art and are therefore significant of his attitude towards painting: they prove that Soames had esthetic criteria of his own and was capable of disinterested appreciation. Besides the inner monologue and characterization through surroundings, Galsworthy, ever resourceful in his search for the realistic approach, makes ample use of the dialogue as an efficient means to let his characters speak for themselves without the author's interference.In the present excerpt Soames unexpectedly finds himself involved in a talk with young strangers, one of whom is an advocate of â€Å"extreme† innovation of art . Their speech might be described as a curious combination of vulgar colloquialisms (â€Å"duffer†, â€Å"to lap up†, â€Å"the bottom's tumbled out of sentiment†) with bookish and learned phraseology (â€Å"innovator†, â€Å"plastic art†, â€Å"to bring satire into sculpture†), of English and French slang (â€Å"old bean†, â€Å"to pull somebody's leg†, â€Å"epatant†) with solemn parody of Biblical constructions (â€Å"Jove and Juno created he them†).Exaggeration (â€Å"awfully nice of you†, â€Å"I dole on it [beauty]†) goes hand in hand with understatement (â€Å"I'm quite equal to taking a little interest in beauty†). Galsworthy perfectly realized, — indeed, he was one of the first writers to do so — that the flippant manner and the crude speech of post-war young people was the result of a severe shock of disillusionment: they were so disappointed with those fine words that, used to go with a fine show of public feeling that for them â€Å"the bottom had tumbled out of sentiment†, and satire both in art and in mode of talk seemed to be the only possible alternative.Their manner of speaking, cynical, affectedly coarse, substituting descriptive slangy catchwords for the proper names of things, is strongly contrasted to Soames's formal, plain speech with his habit of giving things their common standard meanings and never saying more than is strictly necessary. The contrast in manner and speach habits is of great importance in lending vitality to both interlocutors, in stressing the immense difference between the younger men’s irresponsibility and rootlessness and Soames's resolute clinging to property, his dogged hold on life.As a follower of a realist tradition, Galsworthy never fails in attaching special significance to the tiniest details: Soames approaches his handkerchief, that Michael had picked up for him, to his nose to make sure it is really his — with that suspiciousness that is so characteristic of the Forsytes.He raises his hat only slightly in parting from young Mont and looks downward at his companion, for he is naturally distrustful of new acquaintances and inclined to be no more than coldly polite (raising his hat ever so little) and supercilious — in looking down upon anybody whom he does not recognize as his equals and half expects to be troublesome. All these little things are very suggestive of that fear of giving oneself away that Galsworthy elsewhere described as a feature by which it is as easy to tell a Forsyte as by his sense of property.Galsworthy's realism does not only lie in his capacity for making his hero part and parcel of his surroundings and convincing the reader of his typicality: he is a fine artist in reproducing the individual workings of his characters' minds. Soames, the man of property, is also a man of deep and lasting feelings. Such is his devotion to his daughte r Fleur, who was â€Å"always at the back of his thoughts† and â€Å"started out like a filigree figure from a clock when the hour strikes†.Incidentally, this dainty simile, so utterly unlike the matter-of-factness that characterizes the usual reproduction of Soames’s prosaic mind, is expressive of the poetic colouring that Galsworthy introduces to render the strength of the affection Soames has for Fieur, As a general rule, the novelist, though following in the tracks of classical realists, breaks away from the literary polish, the fine descriptive style that was kept up to the very end of the 19th century.At the same time as Shaw, Weils, Bennett, Galsworthy starts a new tradition of bringing the language of literature (m the author’s speech, no less than in that of the personages) close to the language of real life. He does away with the elaborate syntax of 19th century prose and cultivates short, somewhat abrupt sentences, true to the rhythm and the in tonation of the spoken language and full of low colloquialisms and even slang. Tasks I. Translate into English: ) ? ; 2) -; 3) ? ; 4) ? ; 5) ; 6) ? ? ? ? ; 7) ; 8) -; 9) ; 10) ? ; 11) , ? ; 12) – , ; 13) ? ; 14) ? ; 15) ? ; 16) ; 17) ; 18) , , ? ; 19) , ; 20) , ; 21) ? . II. Answer the questions: 1) What does the description under analysis present? 2) How do Soames’s portrayal and the paintings’ presentation characterise each other? 3) What are the features of Galsworthy’s style? ) How is Galsworthy’s contempt for the mannerisms in art brought home to the reader? 5) How are the statues brought to ridicule by the author? 6) What view is Soames’s approach opposed to? 7) How are Soames’s business instincts expressed? 8) Is Galsworthy’s own view rendered through Soames’s voice? Do the views of the writer and his character comp letely coincide? 9) What is Galsworthy’s favourite method of characterisation? 10) How is the language of the monologues to be characterised? 11) How is the businessman revealed in Soames? 12) What are the specificities of the young strangers? 13) How are the two different manners of speech contrasted? 14) How does Galsworthy treat details? 5) How does Galsworthy reproduce the individual working of Soames’s mind? 16) What literary tradition did Galsworthy participate in starting of? ———————– [1] I ¬c ¬o ¬Ã‚ ­!  ­+ ­Z ­l ­o ­?  ­Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ·Ã‚ ­e ­e ­i ­i ­n ­?  ­o ­  ®  ®Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ®5 ®A ®B ®eOAOAOAO «Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ «? p? p? p? [F[F[F[)h{[email  protected]? yyB*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{uh  ¬@? yyB*[pic]CJaJmHphsH%h{uhAJaB*[pic]CJaJmHphsH%h{uh  ¬B*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{[email  protected] yB*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{uh  ¬@ yB*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{[email  protected]? [2]B*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{ uh  ¬@? [3]B*[pic]CJaJmHphsH)h{uheEpatant (French) – thrilling, wonderful [4] Missed it – here: misunderstood it [5] Old bean – old man (sl. ) [6] when Jove and Juno created he thern — a paraphrase of the Biblic story of he origin of man: â€Å"male and female created he them† [7] they've lapped up the lot — here: they have taken everything seriously [8] Duffer – fool (sl. ) [9] Drop in like a bird – come with pleasure (sl. ) [10] Rackety – light-minded, flightly [11] Claude Monet (1840-1926) – a well-known French painter of the Impressionist school [12] Stippled school – painters who painted in dots [13] Paul Gauguin (1843-1903) – French painter and sculpter [14] Post-Impressionists – painters who succeeded the Impressionists in 20th century art [15] Expressionists – artists belonging to one og the schools in art very popular in the first decades of the 20th century