Damien Hirst Art Paper

Bailey Pennington Art October 30, 2012 Damien Hirst Damien Hirst was born in Bristol, England, on June 7, 1965. Hirst is a controversial and successful artist; He emerged as a leading figure in the Young British Artists movement in the late 1980s and 1990s. His works, which include dead animal displays and spin-art paintings, have sold for exceptionally high prices. Hirst is one of the wealthiest artists living today. Hirst and his American girlfriend live in Devon, England, with their three sons.Damien Hirst showed an interest in the grisly and gruesome aspects of life early on. His mother described him as a morbid child. As a teenager, Hirst liked to look at illustrated pathology books, fascinated by the images of disease and injury. He also showed an interest in drawing, a passion his mother supported. Hirst got into trouble as teenager, and was caught shoplifting twice. But despite his behavior he did end up graduating at Goldsmith's College at the University of London.In 1991, H irst had his first solo exhibition at the Woodstock Street Gallery in London. He also participated in the Young British Artists show at the Saatchi Gallery the following year. There he displayed â€Å"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,† a 14-foot-long glass tank with a shark preserved in formaldehyde. The shark had been bought from an Australian fisherman. Hirst continued to set the art world on fire with his work at the 1993 Venice Bienniale, a renowned international art exhibition.There he showed â€Å"Mother and Child Divided,† an installation piece that featured a bisected cow and her calf displayed in four vitrines, or glass cases, filled with formaldehyde. With his controversial and sometimes gruesome works, Hirst soon became one of the best known artists in Britain. He won the prestigious Turner Prize in 1995. â€Å"It's amazing what you can do with an E in A-Level art, a twisted imagination and a chainsaw,† Hirst said in h is acceptance speech.

Employee engagement - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 29 Words: 8567 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Structured Equation Modeling for testing the impact of Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement. ABSTRACT Communication Satisfaction plays a very critical role in achieving employee engagement in organizations. It becomes even more significant and relevant in the context of the recent global crisis wherein organizations focus on employee engagement was high and was aimed towards employee retention and motivation. While several researchers have studied the relationship between communication and employee involvement, very few studies have established a relationship between Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Employee engagement" essay for you Create order Using the second-generation analytical technique Structural Equation Modeling, the present study examines the relationship between various components of Organization Communication Satisfaction (Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality) and various components of Employee Engagement (Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition). A modified version of the Downs Hazens Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered on 235 personnel in the Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services industry in India. The scale was tested for reliability and validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The results indicate that Organization Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement. The study findings have strategic implications for organizations with regard to laying a greater emphasis on increasing communication satisfaction through various human re source interventions, both at macro and micro levels in the organization. Introduction Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. A global workforce study conducted by Towers Perrin in 2007-2008 revealed that only 21% of the employees were engaged. A more disturbing finding of the study was that 38% of the employees were partly to fully disengaged. The study also concluded that companies with the higher levels of employee engagement are able to retain their valued employees as also achieve better financial results. Similarly, Gallup has also conducted a study on employee engagement and found that 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 54% are not engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged. Many researchers have studied employee engagement and have found that employee engagement predicts employee outcomes, organizational success and financial performance (Bates, 2004; Harter et al., 2002,). Similarly, Hewitt Associates (LLC, 2005, p.1) have also established a strong relationship between employee engagem ent and profitability through higher productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and employee retention. Unfortunately though, a lot of literature available is only those from Consulting firms and there is very little theoretical or empirical research available on employee engagement. Today, as a result of continuous organizational restructuring (mergers, acquisitions, downturn imperatives), it is commonly observed that organizations are resorting to right sizing strategies. It certainly becomes the most critical priority of CEOs around the world to ensure that the employees who survive the layoffs are fully engaged. Research indicates that there is a decline in engagement levels and that there is deepening disengagement among employees today (Saks, 2006; Richman, 2006; Bates, 2004). It has also been reported that the majority of workers today, roughly half of all Americans in the workforce are not fully engaged or they are dis engaged leading to what has been referred to as an engagement gap that is costing US business $300 billion a year in lost productivity (Saks, 2006, Bates 2004, Johnson, 2004 Kowalski, 2003). Further, with the world becoming a global market place, where every thing is becoming a commodity, people and management of peoples talent are becoming very critical components of an organizations ability to service its customer. Managing dis-engaged employees or non- engaged employees in a customer facing role is therefore that much more critical to the success and profitability of the business. Lockwood explains, As organizations move forward into a boundaryless environment, the ability to attract, engage, develop and retain talent will hence, become increasingly important In addition to the various literatures available from consultants, there have been a few researches conducted on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement and also What is employee engagement. A very exhaustive analysis of employee engagement has bee done by Macey and Schneider (2008). In the study employee engagement has been explained as 3 facests viz., Psychological state engagement (Satisfaction, involvement, commitment, empowerment), Trait engagement (personality, conscientiousness) and Behavioural engagement (Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Personal initiative, role expansion). Another research indicates that employee engagement constitutes two aspects viz., job engagement and organization engagement (Saks, 2006). Saks (2006 further found that employee engagement was significantly positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour and negatively related to intention to quit. Organizational Communication plays a very critical part in ensuring employee engagement. It has been established that clear, consise and honest communication is an important tool for employee engagement (Lockwood). It is further established that lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism and unwanted employee turnover. Studies demonstrate that there is a significant influence of Interpersonal trust on individual, group and organizational achievements (Earley, 1986; Robinson, 1996), Job Satisfaction (Driscoll, 1978; Muchinsky, 1977), Job Involvement (Saks, 2006) and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (Konovsky Pugh, 1994; McAllister, 1995). Studies have also underlined the central role of communication in developing and maintaining Trust (Gail, Zolin, Hartman, 2009; Becerra Gupta, 2003; Muchinsky, 1977). With particular reerence to recession, downsizing has become a harsh reality over the past 2 decades. These downsizing strategies come with other negative consequences of attrition of employees who are not impacted by downsizing. The problem is more profound when the attriting employees are top performers or employees with skills critical to future growth plans of the organization. Various studies have proved that downsizing negatively affects attitudes of employees surviving the downsizing by reducing organizational commitment, morale, job satisfaction and also increasing intention to quit and job stress (Arnold and Feldman, 1982; Greenhalge, 1982; Kozlowski et. al, 1993). It is therefore, very important for organizations to find ways to retain the attriting employees afer downsizing. Managerial communication and Organizational support can be looked at as possible avenues to reduce the negative effects of downsizing. Communication becomes very critical because employees believe that their organization holds them in low regard and ignores their interest (Anderson, 1996; Mclean Parks and Kidder, 1994). They also suspect that management communication is not credible for tat information is being withheld (Noer 1993, ONeill and Lenn, 1995). Employees need to understand how they fit into the overall plans of the organization in terms of their roles and contribution to the growth plans of the organizations. Various surveys in this regard indicate that employees want more communication with their managers (Argenti, 1998). There are various studies that have established a positive relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction (Petit, Gori s and Vaught, 1997; Pincus 1996) and organization commitment (Varona, 1996). A communication ROI study by Watson Wyatt (2007-2008) revealed that firms that communicate effectively are 4 times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as firms that communicate less effectively. This study therefore, attempts to establish the impact of Organizational communication on mediating role of Trust in the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement in the Information Technology / Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) industry in India. We have selected the IT/ITES) industry because of the significance of the impact during the recent recessionary period. Literature Review and Research Hypothesis Organizational Communication Organisation communication constitutes many dimensions spanning from formal and informal means of internal communication and external communications. A review of literature in this area reveals that Organizational communication can be classified into four different levels (SHRM Magazine) (i) Overall Organizational communication (ii) Inter-organizational communication (iii) Group-level communication (iv) Interpersonal communication Further, review of the research in this area underlines the importance of organizational communication towards building commitment, satisfaction and retention of employees in an organization. A number of studies (Burhans 1971, Downs 1971, Jain 1970) studied the relevance and importance of satisfaction with organizational communication. Such examinations of the communication-satisfaction relationship have produced, a construct called communication satisfaction, which is becoming a common reference in organizational literature (Downs and Hazen, 1977). Downs and Hazen, introduced the Communications Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) and conducted a factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. This study established eight stable definitions of communication satisfaction, which has also been enumerated as follows in another study by Clampitt Downs, 1993: Communication Climate reflects communication on both the organizational and personal level. On one hand, it includes items such as the extent to which communication in the organization motivates and stimulates workers to meet organizational goals and the extent to which it makes them identify with the organization. On the other, it includes estimates of whether or not peoples attitudes toward communicating are healthy in the organization. Supervisory Communication includes both upward and downward aspects of communicating with superiors. Three of the principal items include the extent to which a superior is open to ideas, the extent to which the supervisor listens and pays attention, and the extent to which guidance is offered in solving job-related problems. Organizational Integration revolves around the degree to which individuals receive information about the immediate work environment. Items include the degree of satisfaction with information about departmental plans, the requirements of their jobs, and some personnel news. Media Quality deals with the extent to which meetings are well organized, written directives are short and clear, and the degree to which the amount of communication is about right. Co-worker Communication concerns the extent to which horizontal and informal communication is accurate and free flowing. This factor also includes satisfaction with the activeness of the grapevine. Corporate Information deals with broadest kind of information about the organization as a whole. It includes items on notification about changes, information about the organizations financial standing, and information about the overall policies and goals of the organization. Personal Feedback is concerned with the workers need to know how they are being judged and how their performance is being appraised. Subordinate Communication focuses on upward and downward communication with subordinates. Only workers in a supervisory capacity respond to these items, which include subordinate responsiveness to downward communication and the extent to which subordinates initiate upward communication. Crino White (1981) investigated Communication Satisfaction with 137 supervisors from textile mills. Similarly, Pincus (1986) used the CSQ in a study of nurses and their supervisors to investigate the relationship between communication and job satisfaction and job performance. These findings had resulted in the CSQ being the most widely used scale when measuring communication satisfaction. The notable aspect though is, that the studies by Downs Hazens (1977) and Crino White (1981) exploratory factor analysis rather than confirmator factor analysis for assessing the validity of the CSQ. Theerefore, the convergent and discriminant validity of the CSQ was under question. Further, until the introduction of CSQ, Communication was considered as an unidimensional construct. The underlying belief was that employees are either satisfied or dis-satisfied with communication. However, with the introduction of the CSQ changed it communication satisfaction to be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct wherein, employees could be satisfied or dis-sastisfied with one or more aspects of communication and be dis-satisfied. Gary and Laidlaw (2004) assessed the CSQ using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Their study used a series of congeneric measurement models to study the validity and reliability of the CSQ. Based on the study, Gary Laidlaw concluded, the results substantiate CSQ as a valid instrument for measuring communication satisfaction and supports the multi-dimensional aspects of the communication satisfacation construct. This study therefore, proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the CSQ for the purpose of IT/ITES sector in India. The study also proposes to establish the relationships between the individual dimensions of Organizational Communication Satisfaction using First order and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. H1 : Dimensions of Organisation Communication Satisfaction are inter-related H2 : Organisational Communication Satisfaction is explained by Organisational Integration, Supervisory communication, Personal Feedback, Corporate Information, Communication Climate and Media Quality. Employee Engagement Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. There have been few research works on employee engagement (Robinson et al, 200) and most of understanding comes from Consulting firms and Independent Research agencies. There have been various definitions of employee engagement. Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values (Vazirani, 2007). Engagement is the willingness and ability to contribute to company success, the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, brainpower and energy (Towers Perrin, 2007). Often used as a synonym for motivation or motivation and retention; engagement is really more fundamental. Engagement is an employees decision to apply his discretionary effort to the goals of the enterprise, to accept those goals as his own and wholeheartedly commit himself to achieving them. (Fineman Carter 2007) Though employee engagement as a concept has been drawing a lot of importance, it is still a term widely referred among consulting firms and independent research agencies. There have been very few empirical research initiatives in the academic world to establish the definition of the construct employee engagement. Mickey and Schneider (2008) have done a detailed study on the meaning of employee engagement and have established a series of propositions covering 3 facets : a) Psychological stage engagement b) Behavioural engagement c) Trait engagement. This research though will focus on the psychological state engagement facet since this has received maximum attention and is central to the engagement issue. Further, the scope of the research is focussed towards examining the impact of Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement. Past researches on similar subjects have all focussed on studying the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on individual aspects of State Engagement viz., Satisfaction, Commitment and Involvement. Mickey and Schneider (2008), while explaining the psychological state engagement have studied 4 different aspects viz., Job satisfaction, Organizational commitment, Psychological empowerment and Job involvement. They have further referred to various related research in each of the above aspects and thereby analyse each of the aboe aspects as a facet or antecedent or consequence of employee engagement. Their study and analysis is as follows : Engagement as Job Satisfaction In defining Job Satisfaction as a facet of employee engagement, the views of Erickson (2005) are noteworthy; Engagement is above or beyond simple satisfaction with the employment arrangement or basic loyalty to the employer. Engagement in contrast is about passion and commitment, the willingness to invest oneself and expand ones discretionary effort to help the employer succeed Therefore, it is beyond basic loyalty and is about the emotional aspect of Job satisfaction that triggers emotions and feelings of energy, enthusiasm and thereby constitutes a very important aspect of Engagement. Engagement as Organization Commitment In defining Organizational commitment as an important facet of employee engagement, the views from various contributions are noteworthy (Wellins and Concelman, 2005; OReilly Chatman, 1986; Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982; Meyer and Allens, 1997; Meyer, Becker Vanderberghe, 2004). These significant contributions lead to definitions; employees exert extra energy in support of the organization, feel proud as a key contrinbutor to the organization and its success and enjoy a personal identity with the organization. This leads to organization commitment being defined as a key facet of engagement (Mickey Schneider, 2008). While analysing organization commitment, there is also an analysis around organization / job withdrawal thereby suggesting that commitment as a state of engagement also relates to how long an employee stays as a result of commitment (The Corporate Executive Board, 2006) Engagement as Job Involvement The next aspect analysed by Mickey and Schneider (2008) is Job Involvement. Job Involvement has been defined as the degree to which an employee psychologically relates to his or her job and the work performed therein and specifically equated job involvement and job commitment (Cooper-Hakim and Visweswaran, 2005). Brown (1996), Mathieu and Zajacs (1990) have also come up the conclusion that job involvement is an antecedent to organizational commitment. Brown further concluded that organizational withdrawal decisions are less related to job involvement than to organizational commitment. Erickson (2005) described job involvement as a key antecedent of the state of engagement. Based on the analysis and significant well researched contributions, we identify Job Satisfaction, Organizational commitment and withdrawal as key facets of employee engagement. Further, Saks (2006) has conducted a good study on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. The research conceptualized engagement as being reflective of the extent to which an individual is psychologically present in a particular organizational role (Kahn, 1990; Rothbard, 2001). It was further conceptualized that there are two dominant roles attributable to most organizational members viz., their work role and their role as a member of the organization. These two roles led to the two components of employee engagement: Job and Organization engagement. Saks (2006) further found that that Job and Organization engagement were significantly positively related to Job satisfaction, organizational commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and negatively related to intention to quit. In summary, employee engagement is about ones emotional commitment towards the organization, being psychologically involved and willingness ability to walk that extra mile in achieving the Organizational goals and objectives. Based on the above review, it is understood that employee engagement mainly constitutes three aspects viz., Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intention to stay. This study aims at establishing a relationship between the facets / components of Employee Engagement using 2nd order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. This study further proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the various facets of employee engagement using First and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis H3 : Dimensions of Employee Engagement are interrelated H4 : Employee engagement is explained by Organisational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawl Cognition Organization Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement The next dimension studied was the relationship between Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement in organizations. Employees see managers as trustworthy when their communication is accurate and forthcoming. In addition, adequate explanations and timely feedback on decisions lead to higher levels of trust (Folger Konovsky, 1989; Konovsky Cropanzano, 1991; Sapienza Korsgaard, 1996). Evidently, managers who take the time to explain their decisions thoroughly are likely to be perceived as trustworthy. Finally, open communication, in which managers exchange thoughts and ideas freely with employees, enhances perceptions of trust (Butler, 1991; Farris, Senner, Butterfield, 1973; Gabarro, 1978; Hart, Capps, Cangemi, Caillouet, 1986). Lockwood states that lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism, cynicism and unwanted turnover. This is even more relevant in times of crisis as observed by Meyers in 1986 ; When a crisis occurs, employees are affected on a personal level, in ways and to an extent unlike in any other audience. Their immediate reaction is often to be stunned and lose a sense of common purpose and cohesiveness Gripped by fear, employees may stray from their sense of reality and turn inward, focusing exclusively on their personal needs and ignoring the organizations needs. Pincus Acharya, 1998 observed that Employees who are uncertain about their jobs, health, or safety may deny, misinterpret, selectively perceive, or tune out information from management about the crisis situation because they may be blinded by their own sense of a personal crisis. These studies lead us the understanding that clear, consice, timely and honest communication is a very important management tool towards building employee engagement in Organizations (Lockwood). As discussed earlier, there have been many consultants and independent research organizations, which have established communication as a very critical component in enabling employee engagement in organizations. Further, there have been individual studies relating organizational communication and the individual facets and antecedents of employee engagement. This study proposes to study the relationship of Organization Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement using second-generation analysis tecnique, Structural Equation Modelling. H5 : Organisation Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement.. Research Methodology Questionnaire Design The Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs and Hazens, 1977) was selected for the Organization Communication construct of the study. We have used on seven factors of the CSQ beause the eighth factor, subordinate communication since this study was not aimed at personnel in their role as employees and not supervisors. For the Employee Engagement construct, each of the individual facets was measured on borrowed scales. Job Satisfaction was measured on 5 items taken from the scale developed by Price and Muellar (1986). Organization Commitment was measured on 6 items taken from the scale developed by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1997) while Withdrawal Cognition was measured on 3-item scale developed by De Conninck and Bachmann (2005). Since we are using borrowed scales for each of the constructs, it is important to first establish the validity and reliability of the scale. In other words, the items must reflect what they are intended to measure (face validity) and represent a proper sample of the domain of each construct (content valididty), and pass other tests of validity (discriminant, convergent and predictive validity) in order for a measure to have construct validity (Hardesty and Bearden, 2003). As a first step, we carried out a face validity of the constructs of the study. Based on the approaches discussed by Hardesty and Bearden, we identified a panel of 7 judges to assess the face validity. The judges were exposed to the definition of each construct, overall scope and objective of the study and the individual items under each construct (Total number of items was 49). Each judge was requested to rate the importance and relevance of the item to the constructs conceptual definition on a scale of 1-10 (1-Lea st important to 10-Most Important). (eg. How would items like I find real enjoyment in my job or I am seldom bored with my job). Additional remarks were also sought from the judges on whether multiple items under a construct mean the same and also which among the items was a better representative of the constructs conceptual definition. These results were summarized by Judge for each item and the items which were given a weightage of less than 8 were considered for reduction. During the content validity stage, the judges unanimously felt that co-worker communication, as a dimension was not too relevant from an engagement perspective since a lot of it was not largely under the control of the organization. However, one item in the co-worker communication was felt necessary to be included viz., Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies and hence, the same was retained and included in the dimension Communication climate. Similarly, the item viz., Information a bout changes in our organization and Information about company goals and policies were the only 2 items left under the dimenstion Corporate Information. Since it is required to have atleast 3 items under each dimension / factor for Structured Equation Modelling, these 2 items were grouped under the dimension Organizational Integration. Therefore, in the final questionnaire (total number of items 29), Organizational Communication Satisfaction was reduced to 5 factors viz., Organizational Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality. The factors under Employee Engagement were all retained viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawl cognition. In addition to the 2 sections representing the main constructs of the study, the questionnaire also covered a brief write up covering the purpose of the study as well as explicit statements of assurance to the respondents about the confidentiality of their responses and that the responses would be used for academic purposes only. Data Collection and Sampling : For this study, primary data was collected through structured undisguised questionnaires adminstered to the respondents. Questionnaires were administered through personal contacts / meetings and through mail as per the convenience of the respondent at home or in office. The respondents were requested to spare few minutes to provide categorical responses to items in the questionnaire The respondents for the study were selected from the personnel of organizations in Information Technology (IT) / Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry in India. A total of 275 questionnaires were administered to the respondents. 264 questionnaires were found to be complete in all respects, giving a response rate of 96.%. A further 29 invalid questionnaires were eliminated (those questionnaires where too many items were left unanswered or the same response was given to all the questions) and thereby 235 valid questionnaires were taken for further analysis. Measurements The study hypothesis covers 2 Constructs Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) and Employee Engagement (EE). OCS is measured for 5 key dimensions / Factors viz., Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality while EE is measured on 3 key dimensions / factors viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition. The 8 categorical dimensions were measured on the following items / variables: Factor / Dimenstion Items / Variables of measurement Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) Organization Integration Information about the requirements of my job Information about my progress in my job Information about company policies and goals Information about changes in our organization Supervisory Communication Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems Extent to which my supervisor trusts me Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas Personal Feedback Information about how I am being assessed Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates Communication Climate Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies Extent to which I receive in time the information need to do my job Media Quality Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right Employee Engagement Organization Commitment I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own I do not feel like part of the family at my organization (R) I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization (R) This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization (R) Job Satisfaction I find real enjoyment in my job Most days I am enthusiastic about my job I feel fairly well satisfied with my job Withdrawal Cognition I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high All the variables are categorical in nature and were measured on a categorical scale (5 point Likert). Data Analysis We have applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as the tool of analysis for maximum likelihood estimation for examining the proposed hypotheses. As suggested by many researchers (e.g. Anderson Gerbing, 1998), we have chosen the Two-step analysis method wherein in the first step, we conduct the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) based on the correlation coefficient matrix of each measurement item (i.e. dimenstions / factors of OCS and dimensions / factors of EE). In the second step, after confirming the fitness of the constructs, the structural model is examined futher based on the covariance matrix and the hypothesis is tested for the entire model (OCS EE). Results Measurement Model The study employed both First order and Second order Confirmator Factor Analysis (CFA) to confirm the fitness of the measurement model. The Latent constructs and their corresponding measurement items are listed in Table 1 to Table 4 covering the first order and second order CFA results for the 2 main constructs of the study; OCS and EE. Overall results show that the factor loadings for most of the items were above 0.7 (Except for one item under OCS Information about changes in our organization for the which the factor loading is 0.57 and for 1 item under EE I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own. We retained the item with factor loading of 0.57, because the judges as well as our literature survey had identified communication about changes in the organization as very critical to employee engagement and removal of this was actually reducing the model fit charcteristics of the OCS construct. We however, removed the item EE I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own from futher analysis because this removal was improving the model fit charactericts of the EE construct. The CR values of all the items reached the significant level (p.001). This finding confirmed the convergent validity of each of the items measuring the constructs of the study. We further analysed the Construct for each of the factors and they were all above 0.7 except one factor Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66. This implies a good internal consistency of the scale (Nunnally, 1978). We also analysed the Variance-extracted estimates for each of the factors and almost all of them are nearly equal to and greater than 0.5. These results therefore, provide adequate evidence of convergent validity. Hypothesis Testing Table-1 shows the Constructs and indicators of the measurement items of Organization Communication Satisfaction OCS on executing First Order CFA. For a sample size of 235, the factor loadings are all greater than 0.7, except two items of the Factor Organization Integration. The first item Information about company goals and policies has a factor loading of 0.65, which is marginally lower than 0.7. The second item Information about changes in our organization has a factor loading of 0.57. Though this is less as compared to the acceptable value of 0.7, we have retained it for the purpose of futher analysis since the judges as well as literature survey identified it as a very critical component of OCS. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7 and the Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The above results confirm the Convergent Validity and in ternal consistency reliability of the OCS construct. Table-2 shows the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and the squared correlations for the constructs in the First Order measurement model for OCS. All the Variance-extracted estimates are greater than the corresponding squared correlations estimates. This test confirms the Discriminant Validity. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.914, GFI=0.871 and RMSEA = 0.081 indicates an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 1 that the Factors / Dimensions of Organization Communication Satisfaction are inter-related. Table-3, shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of OCS on executing the Second-order CFA. In this case also the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the 2 items of the factor Organization Integration similar to first order analysis. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7 and the Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.909, GFI=0.866 and RMSEA=0.081 indicate an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 2 that Organizational Communication Satisfaction (OCS) is explained by the dimensions viz., Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality. Table-4 shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of EE on executing the first order CFA. In this case, the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the item, This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me, which was marginally lower at 0.67. In the first analysis, we executed the CFA with 5 items under the factor Organization Commitment. The item, I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own was removed from further analysis because the factor loading was less than 0.7. Further, removal of the item improved the overall model statistics. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7, except one factor, Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66. The Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The above results confirm the Convergent Validity and internal consis tency reliability of the EE construct. Table-5 shows the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and the squared correlations for the constructs in the First Order measurement model for EE. All the Variance-extracted estimates are greater than the corresponding squared correlations estimates. This test confirms the Discriminant Validity. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.964, GFI=0.942 and RMSEA = 0.081 indicates an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 2 that the Factors / Dimensions of Employee Engagement are inter-related. Table-6, shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of EE on executing the Second-order CFA. In this case also the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the item, This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me, which was marginally lower at 0.67, similar to first order analysis. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7, except the one factor, Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66, similar to the first order CFA. Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.964, GFI=0.942 and RMSEA=0.081 indicate a good and acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 4 that Employee Engagement (EE) is explained by the dimensions viz., Organization Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition. Table-7 shows the results of the examination of the overall OCS-EE model. The overall model reached the range of acceptability, since the value of 2 / df equals 2.003, which is considered acceptable (Bollen, 1989). The other indices of model fitness and values, CFI = 0.91, GFI = 0.83, AFGI = .80, IFI = 0.91 and RMSEA = 0.065. These results achieve an acceptable level of Goodness of Fit (Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black). The results also show that OCS has a significant positive influence on Employee engagement ( = 0.76, p .001). Therefore, our Hypothesis 5 is supported that Organization Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement. Table I Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Organization Communication Ssatisfaction) First Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Integration 0.93 0.501 Information about the requirements of my job 0.767 0.59 Information about my progress in my job 0.752 0.098 0.56 10.805** Information about company policies and goals 0.650 0.085 0.42 9.359** Information about changes in our organization 0.566 0.090 0.32 8.116** Supervisory Communication 0.80 0.500 Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me 0.815 0.66 Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems 0.849 0.077 0.72 14.575** Extent to which my supervisor trusts me 0.788 0.065 0.62 13.272** Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas 0.774 0.070 0.60 12.951** Personal Feedback 0.86 0.501 Information about how I am being assessed 0.771 0.59 Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded 0.788 0.100 0.62 11.375** Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates 0.735 0.091 0.54 10.692** Communication Climate 0.80 0.495 Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals 0.825 0.68 Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it 0.797 0.066 0.68 13.023** Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies 0.720 0.065 0.52 11.551** Extent to which I receive in time the information needed to do my job 0.719 0.071 0.52 11.527** Media Quality 0.75 0.500 Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise 0.705 0.50 Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy 0.827 0.105 0.68 10.713** Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right 0.760 0.101 0.58 10.153** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 315.727 (125) GFI 0.871 AGFI 0.823 CFI 0.914 NFI 0.866 RFI 0.836 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 2 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and squared correlations for the Constructs in the First Order Measurement Model (OCS)*$ Organization Integration Supervisor Communication Personal Feedback Communication Climate Media Quality Organization Integration 0.501 Supervisor Communication 0.466 0.500 Personal Feedback 0.420 0.462 0.501 Communication Climate 0.453 0.230 0.417 0.495 Media Quality 0.456 0.402 0.411 0.349 0.500 * AVEs are shown along the diagonal of the matrix $ Squared correlations between each pair of constructs are shown in the left bottom of the matrix Note : Correlation Matrix for measurement items and Constructs in the model are available with the author upon request. Table 3 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Organization Communication Satisfaction) Second Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Integration 0.93 0.501 Information about the requirements of my job 0.761 0.58 Information about my progress in my job 0.757 0.100 0.57 10.729** Information about company policies and goals 0.652 0.086 0.42 9.298** Information about changes in our organization 0.566 0.091 0.32 8.061** Supervisory Communication 0.80 0.500 Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me 0.811 0.66 Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems 0.850 0.078 0.72 14.455** Extent to which my supervisor trusts me 0.787 0.066 0.62 13.146** Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas 0.778 0.071 0.61 12.956** Personal Feedback 0.85 0.486 Information about how I am being assessed 0.772 0.60 Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded 0.793 0.101 0.68 11.386** Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates 0.729 0.091 0.58 10.587** Communication Climate 0.80 0.494 Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals 0.818 0.67 Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it 0.793 0.068 0.68 12.751** Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies 0.725 0.067 0.53 11.491** Extent to which I receive in time the information needed to do my job 0.728 0.073 0.53 11.561** Media Quality 0.75 0.500 Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise 0.706 0.50 Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy 0.829 0.105 0.69 10.741** Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right 0.757 0.101 0.57 10.142** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 329.892 (130) GFI 0.866 AGFI 0.824 CFI 0.909 NFI 0.86 RFI 0.835 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 4 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Employee Engagement) First Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Commitment 0.80 0.501 I do not feel like part of the family at my organization 0.795 0.63 I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization 0.809 0.080 0.65 12.946** This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me 0.673 0.070 0.45 10.456** I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization 0.842 0.075 0.71 13.476** Job Satisfaction 0.75 0.501 I find real enjoyment in my job 0.880 0.77 Most days I am enthusiastic about my job 0.838 0.070 0.70 14.637** I feel fairly well satisfied with my job 0.774 0.065 0.60 13.422** Withdrawl Cognition 0.66 0.499 I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company 0.819 0.67 Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high 0.676 0.112 0.46 7.773** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 60.803 (24) GFI 0.942 AGFI 0.892 CFI 0.964 NFI 0.943 RFI 0.915 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 5 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and squared correlations for the Constructs in the First Order Measurement Model (EE)*$ Organization Commitment Job Satisfaction Withdrawal Cognition Organization Commitment 0.501 Job Satisfaction 0.254 0.501 Withdrawal Cognition 0.429 0.272 0.499 * AVEs are shown along the diagonal of the matrix $ Squared correlations between each pair of constructs are shown in the left bottom of the matrix Note : Correlation Matrix for measurement items and Constructs in the model are available with the author upon request. Table 6 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Employee Engagement) Second Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Commitment 0.80 0.501 I do not feel like part of the family at my organization 0.795 0.63 I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization 0.809 0.080 0.65 12.946** This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me 0.673 0.070 0.45 10.456** I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization 0.842 0.075 0.71 13.476** Job Satisfaction 0.75 0.501 I find real enjoyment in my job 0.880 0.77 Most days I am enthusiastic about my job 0.838 0.070 0.70 14.637** I feel fairly well satisfied with my job 0.774 0.065 0.60 13.422** Withdrawl Cognition 0.66 0.499 I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company 0.819 0.67 Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high 0.676 0.112 0.46 7.773** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 60.803 (24) GFI 0.942 AGFI 0.892 CFI 0.964 NFI 0.943 RFI 0.915 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 7 SEM results of Hypothesis Testing Hypothesis Coefficient CR-Value Organization Communication Satisfaction - Employee Engagement 0.76 5.734* Model Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 631.049 (315) Chi-Square / df 2.003 GFI 0.833 AGFI 0.800 CFI 0.907 NFI 0.832 IFI 0.908 RMSEA 0.065 * p.001 Discussion Managerial Implications The overall model is summarized in 5. All the 5 hypothesis proposed by us were confirmed thereby establishing the importance of Organization Communication Satisfaction in influencing Employee Engagement in organizations. This study therefore, serves as a means of empirically validating the understanding the concepts expressed in various literatures from consulting firms and independent research agencies. With the downturn and associated resource re-organization in various organizations, specifically in the IT / ITES sectors, it will become imperative for the organizations to ensure that their most valued employees are fully engaged. This study underlines the importance of communication satisfaction in building a sense of organizational commitment willingness to walk that extra mile to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Organizations would like to use communication as a strategic option to deliver focussed messages to segmented employee audiences in order gain their trust a nd make them highly engaged. This would help organizations reduce the uncertainity in the minds of their employees about their jobs, future in the organization, especially during uncertain times and thereby reduce attrition of high performing and most valued employees. Limitations and future implications for research This study was limited to the IT and ITES industry. While the effects of downturn and resource reorganisations are more profound in the IT / ITES industry, the other sectors are also feeling the heat with respect to employee engagement. Therefore, findings of the study may not be generalised and would need further research to check its relevance to all industries. This study has focussed largely on the Psychological Stage engagement facets of Employee Engagement. There are other facets like behavioural engagement and trait engagement (Macey and Schneider, 2008) that would need to be analysed. Further, this study has focussed on Organization Communication Satisfaction and its impact on Employee Engagement. There are other aspects of employee engagement that literature refers to as antecedents and consequences to employee engagement viz., Organization Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and Perceived Organization Support (POS) (Saks, 2006). Future studies could examine the impact of Organization Communication on OCB and POS. Lastly, there is a mention of trust in various literatures and the role of Organization Communication in developing trust among employees. There are also studies that mention the role of Interpersonal trust in positively influencing the various facets of employee engagement (Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawal cognition). This study did not examine the role of Organization communication in building interpersonal trust and its impact on employee engagement. Future studies could examine the mediating role of trust in the OCS EE relationship. References Anderson, L.M. (1996) Employee cynicism : an experimentation using a contract violation framework, Human Relations, Vol. 49 No. 11, PP. 1395-418 Anderson, J. C Gerbing, D. W (1988) Structured Equation Modeling in practice : a review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), pp. 411-423. Argenti, P.A. 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Academy of Management Review, 23, 513-530

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A Discussion On Earthquakes Essay Example For Students

A Discussion On Earthquakes Essay Perhaps Mother Nature offers no greater force than that of theearthquake. Across the span of time, earthquakes have been recorded for theirincredibledestructive forces, and their abilities to awe mankind with theirunparalleledforce. Earthquakes can often strike without any notice, leveling largecitiesand killing scores of innocent people. Not only can earthquakes bring harmtosociety through these methods of destruction, but they can also causemillionsof dollars worth of damage to the areas they destroy, causing economicchaos. An earthquake is a natural phenomenon, occurring throughout the history oftheworld. Descriptions as old as recorded history show the significanteffectsearthquakes have had on peoples lives. Long before there were scientifictheories for the cause of earthquakes, people around the world createdfolkloreto explain them. Until recent times, science has not had a completeunderstanding of how earthquakes are caused, and what can be done topredictwhen they will strike. This essay will discuss how earthquakes are formedandoccur, how scientists can more accurately predict the arrival ofearthquakes. Before contemplating how earthquakes might possibly be prevented, itisessential that the process and formation of and earthquake be understood. Earthquakes are caused when the earths crustal plates move, rub, or pushagainst each other. The earths crust (the outer layer of the earth) ismade upof seven major plates and approximately thirteen smaller ones. The nameplateis used to describe these portions of the earths crust because they areliterally plates or sections, composed of dirt and rock. These platesfloaton molten lava, called magma. Since the plates are floating on magma, theycanslowly move. The place where friction occurs between plates is called afault. A fault is a crack in a plate or a place where two or more plates meet. Anexample of a fault where two plates meet is the San Andreas fault inCalifornia,where the Pacific and North American plates meet. The plates are about30miles thick under land and can be one to five miles thick beneath theocean. The plates move because of convection currents. Magma has currents liketheocean does, that move in a circular motion beneath the plates. When twoplatesare pushing against each other, they are constantly building up tension onthefault. When two plates finally slip, they release a great amount of energyinthe form of shock waves. These shock waves cause vibrations, which in turncause the ground around the fault line to move and shake. This phenomenonisknow as an earthquake. Because of the incredible destructive capabilities of earthquakes,scientists are constantly trying to devise ways to ensure their earlydetection. Earth scientists have begun to forecast damaging earthquakes in California. Although quake forecasting is still maturing, it is now reliable enough tomakeofficial earthquake warnings possible. These warnings help government,industry,and private citizens prepare for large earthquakes and conduct rescue andrecovery efforts in the aftermath of destructive shocks. In recent years,earthquake forecasting has advanced from a research frontier to an emergingscience. This science is now being applied in quake-plagued California,whereshocks are closely monitored and have been studied for many years. Earthquakeforecasts declare that a temblor has a certain probability of occurringwithin agiven time, not that one will definitely strike. In this way they aresimilarto weather forecasts. Scientists are able to make earthquake forecastsbecausequakes tend to occur in clusters that strike the same area within a limitedtimeperiod. The largest quake in a cluster is called the mainshock, thosebefore itare called foreshocks, and those after it are called aftershocks. .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .postImageUrl , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:hover , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:visited , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:active { border:0!important; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:active , .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1 .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue32b27aabbc3b500673327509996e7c1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Tortilla Curtain EssayIn any cluster, most quakes are aftershocks. Most aftershocks aretoosmall to cause damage, but following a large mainshock one or more maybepowerful. Such strong aftershocks can cause additional damage andcasualties inareas already devastated by a mainshock, and also threaten the lives ofrescuerssearching for the injured. In the first few weeks after the 1994 magnitude6.7Northridge, California, earthquake, more than 3,000 aftershocks occurred. Onemagnitude 5.2 aftershock caused $7 million in damage just in electricutilityequipment in the Los Angeles area alone. The U. S. Geological Survey(USGS)first began forecasting aftershocks following the 1989 magnitude 7.1 LomaPrieta,California, earthquake. By studying previous earthquakes, scientists haddetected patterns in the way aftershocks decrease in number and magnitudewithtime. With such knowledge, scientists can estimate the daily odds for theoccurrence of damaging aftershocks following large California temblors. Theseforecasts are relayed directly to the California Office of EmergencyServices(OES) as well as to the public. Some of the more larger earthquakes are preceded by foreshocks. Knowledge of past earthquake patterns allows scientists to estimate theoddsthat

Robin Hood Case Study free essay sample

Running Head: ROBIN HOOD CASE STUDY University of Maryland University College Analysis of the Robin Hood Case Study Introduction This paper will identify Robin Hood’s organizational strategy by using the Balanced Scoreboard approach, based on the framework of performance measurement. According to Thompson (2005), â€Å"the scoreboard approach to objective settings advocates using a company strategic vision and strategy as the basis for determining what specifics strategic and financial outcomes are appropriate measures of the progress a company is making† (p. 30). This approach will examine the following four objectives: (a) internal business process, (b) the customer, (c) financial, and (d) innovation. An analysis of Robin Hood case study will expand on each of these objectives by addressing the issues in the case study that resulted in the band’s failure and by providing recommendations to improve organization. Issues within the Organization The Robin Hood case study had numerous issues within his organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Robin Hood Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first issue was the organization’s mission. Robin Hood’s mission was to welcome and seek members to pursue a personal vendetta against the Sheriff and his administration. Subsequently, the relationship between Robin Hood and the band members became chaos. The band members turned against Robin Hood’s principles and the communication failed when attempting to plan a new strategy. Another issue within the Robin’s organization was the low-profit revenues, which caused limited resources and low productivity among the Merrymen. The last issue is the decision-making process within the organization. Robin Hood took charge by making all the decisions and denied the members’ creativity of being more independent. Applying the Balance Scoreboard Approach According to Thompson (2005), â€Å"identifying a company’s strategy is reflected in its actions in the marketplace and the statements senior managers about the company’s current business approaches † (p. 4). As shown in Table 1, identifying a company’s strategy is an important factor and the most fundamental concept that business must posses in order to achieve success (See Appendix A). By identifying the organization’s strategy, the Balanced Scoreboard approach will give Robin Hood a prominence to developing a formal company mission, strategic objectives and strategies to achieve the organization’s goals. Internal Business Process To satisfy the customers, what business processes must Robin excel at? Robin Hood needs to rethink his strategic planning. Strategic planning is very critical to organizations because strategies are the basis for the development of a working business process. Thompson further states â€Å"strategic planning is the process of deciding the competitiveness moves and approaches that will increase the business† (p. 15). Robin Hood’s organization can obtain goal by developing a short and long-term target. writing services websites When seeking a short-term target that would help the company’s strategy, Robin Hood should consider changing the organization’s mission statement. Robin Hood’s mission was a personal revenge towards the Sheriff. Changing the mission statement will allocate a committed team of leaders. If committed team of leaders existed, the organization can create a formal strategic planning process. To further this process, Thompson suggests â€Å"(a) analyze the environment and vision, (b) identify the organizational strengths and resources, (c) craft a strategy, (d) implement and execute the strategy, and (e) monitor the performance† (2005, p. 8). Smith further substantiates this short-term target by stating that â€Å"committed leadership is the single most important ingredient in the successful implementation of strategic principles and practices because leadership helps establish a sense of urgency around change initiatives, generates short-term wins, consolidates wins, and anchors new approaches to business and work in the organizational culture† (2003, p. 66). The leaders within the case study were reluctant to change the policy of taxing the farmers and townspeople. They were very proud of their motto by â€Å"Rob the rich and give to the poor†. If the Merrymen’s Lieutenants were more committed leaders, they would understand in the long-term that implementing strategies can reposition the organization to become more strategic focus. Customer To achieve our vision, how should Robin appear to the customers? Robin must develop a discipline process for assessing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Smith reported â€Å"in an era of rapid change and intense competition, the companies that establishes and maintains the clearest and most consistent loyalty of their customer requirement on an ongoing basis, are going to become and remain market leaders† (2002, p. 24). Although Robin’s mission was to take revenge on the Sheriff, he later realized that this fight was for the people that joined his organization. Robin started to provide customer service to the people by looking after their welfare and fighting the injustice that had been imposed by the Sheriff of Nottingham. The valuable benefits of employee loyalty can only be achieved through high levels of effective communication. To better address the people, Robin’s must effectively communicate a new strategic vision. Thompson reported â€Å"an effectively communicated vision is management’s most valuable tool for enlisting the committed of the company personnel actions that will make the vision a reality† (2005, p. 24). Robin’s new mission is as follows: ? The vision of the company is to lead the way to a healthier world. The company will live up to the commitment by fighting injustice. By carry out this vision at every level of the organization, the company will be recognized as the best justice organization in the competitive market. The company will achieve this by: ? Continuing growing and improving our organization ? Attracting, developing, and motivating the best people ? Making solid decisions to attract business Implementing a new vision will bring better a customer value to Robin’s organization. Financial To succeed financially, how should Robin appear to the customers? Robin scheme to rob from the rich and give to the poor was not a long-term strategy to finance his goal. Robin Hood needs to improve the financial performance within the organization by demanding quantifiable results. According to Thompson (2005), â€Å"the organization can obtain quantifiable results by (a) identifying the financial ways to obtain short-term benefits, and (b) understanding where the organization can generate savings, (c) and having a clear understanding of the financial impact of the organization† (p. 27). Robin Hood can demand quantifiable results by asking the people within the organization for a small nominal fee on a monthly basis. The nominal fee will help the organization to gain resources and keep the business up and running. In the long run, the organization can reduce the labor risks of the organization. Innovation To achieve our vision, how will Robin sustain his ability to change and improve? The last objective is innovation. Innovation is crucial, as is maintaining clear plans and making realistic forecasts and living up to them. Organization cannot afford to rest on their success; they need to continually build on their competitive advantages to remain ahead in the rat race and save themselves from being put out business. Robin Hood needs to strive for constant innovative expertise by changing his motives and finding ways to improve the change of business. Robin should consider joining the barons to fight freedom of King Richard. By doing this, Robin could conqueror Prince John and the Sheriff at the same time. Recommendations In order to determine the recommendations, an assessment of Robin Hood organization can be made by providing a summary of the risks within the organization that needs immediate attention. First, Robin Hood made all the decisions, which caused chaos within the organization. Consequently, this style caused to hinder Robins expansion possibilities. Yet another risk that must be addressed is the value of the Merrymen, which decrease significantly since the Sheriff has taken over. Therefore, limited resources and cash flows have hindered Robins operations. The first recommendation is Robin Hood must change his leadership style. His authoritative style caused a lot confusion within the organization. His follow the leader concept allowed disorder to overpower the ultimate goal and did not allow autonomy and creativity to develop within the Merryman. Yet another recommendation would be to develop a new management team of Lieutenants and Sergeants. This combination will help Robin Hood bridge the gap between the different operations. In order to establish a successful strategy and implementation efforts, Robin must utilize the team’s environment to promote collaboration and idea-building within the organization. According to Thompson, â€Å"idea solution is a team effort in which each organization unit strives to produce results in the area of responsibility that concentrate to the achievements of the company’s performance targets and strategic vision† (2005, p. 31). The establishment of teams will enhance the growth prospects and promote unique collaboration that may not have otherwise existed. It is imperative to have cross-functional teams so that the communication throughout Robin Hood’s organization is conveyed. This recommendation, along with the previous recommendation, could also help Robin Hood to control the environment for structuring and developing a better strategic plan. The last recommendation is something that may be deemed quite risky. Since the Sheriff has proven to be the most successful organization, I would suggest Robin Hood consider a joint venture with the Sheriff. Even though the Sheriff has his own competitive advantage of having political connections, I am optimistic enough to believe that this joint venture could prove cost-effective for both organizations. Conclusion As evident from this paper, the prime keys for Robin Hood’s organization in maintaining that edge to remain â€Å"in business’, but, also to make financial gains, involve adopting measures that help to stay current, motivated, and resourceful. Robin Hood can achieve this by applying the Business Scoreboard Approach, which can (a) clarify and translate the vision and strategy, (b) communicate and link objectives and measures, (c) plan, set targets, and align the strategic initiatives, and (d) enhance the strategic feedback and learning. When an organization correctly assesses its strategy in the marketplace, the opportunities for growth is enhanced. References Smith, D. , Blakeslee, J. (2002). Strategic six sigma: Best practices from the executive suite. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Thompson, A. , Strickland, A. (2005). Strategic management: Concepts and cases (14th ed. ). New York: Mc-Graw Hill. Appendix A Table 1. Factor to Identifying a Company’s Strategy |Factors to Identifying a Company’s Strategy | |Actions to diversify the company’s revenues and earnings. |Actions to strengthen the competitive capabilities | |Actions and approaches that define how the company’s manages the finances | |Efforts to purse new markets opportunities | |Actions form from a strategic alliance | |Actions to gain sales, more performance, and better quality | |Actions to respond to changing market conditions and external circumstances | |Actions to enter into a new geographic or products. |