The Roots of Babylon. :: essays papers

The Roots of Babylon. "We know where we're going We know where we're from We Leaving Babylon- We goin to our Father's Land....." The concept of Babylon plays a central role in Rastafarian Ideology: There is only one other word Rastafarians use with more frequency and passion, and that is the name of their Majestic Ruler, Haile Selassie. People who have even a mild interest in reggae understand what"Babylon"means, yet the roots of the word"Babylon"remain unknown to the masses. To gain a better understanding of this term, it is necessary know the full history of Babylon, which starts 6000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. The popular use of the word"Babylon"can be difinitively traced to Marcus Garvey's teachings, which liken the Afro-Caribs in the West to the Jews Exile into Babylon. The institution of slavery created tremendous suffering for those that were enslavedin both of these cases. Many people in Jamiaca are still suffering, due to the successor of slavery, which is racism and poverty. The Bible contains many stories of slavery that describe the hardship that was endured in acncient times, as well as the eventual emancipation from the hardship. Rastas have found much applicable meaning from within the Bible, and it is only natural that they identify with the Jews in Babylon, who faced much of the same obstacles that they themselves face. By labeling the source of their own oppression as"Babylon", the Rastas shed more light on the fact that opression is in fact taking place. This definitive name gives the oppression that they face a center, or a heart, which can be targeted easier. Instead of s aying"Injustice must fall","Poverty must be alleviated", or"Jamaican legislation must represent its people", a Rasta need only say"Babylon must fall". When this centralized, encompassing word is used, it provides the Rasta with a target to be passionately against, and increases his sense of unity with his people. The word Babylon is by no means an arbritary word that is used to describe oppression. Babylon was one of the first cities to ever stand on Earth. It is quite clear that there is much to be learned about this mythical city that will help us to better understand the modern"Babylon system". I believe that the modern definition of Babylon describes a type of mentality that is common to all the institutions that are labeled as being"Babylon". However, the essence of what this midframe is can be most closely encountered through the study of the real Babylon as it grew, prospered and fell thousands of years ago.

Change Management of Business Transformation Initiatives

FACULTY OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE AND POLICY STUDIES CHANGE MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES IN POS MALAYSIA By, NORAINI BINTI MOHD SALLEH – 2008256926 WAN NOR HAFIZA BINTI WAN ZAKI – 2006100587 Table of Contents TITLE| PAGE| Chapter 1: Introduction1. 1: Introduction and background of study1. 2: Statement of the problem1. 3: Research Objective1. 4: Research Question1. 5: Scope of Study1. 6: Limitation1. 7: Organization of chapter| 3-8| Chapter 2: Literature Review2. 1: Overview of Organizational Transformation Initiatives2. 2: Implementation success2. 2. : Predetermined goals2. 2. 2: User satisfaction2. 3: Resistance to change2. 4: Change Management Initiatives2. 4. 1: Leadership2. 4. 2: Communication2. 4. 3: Training| 9-18| Chapter 3: Research Methodology3. 1: Research Framework3. 2: Sampling3. 3: Research Design3. 3. 1: Data Collection Method3. 3. 1. 1: Primary data3. 3. 1. 2: Secondary data3. 3. 2: Research questionnaire3. 3. 3: Data analysis techniq ue| 19-22| Chapter 4: Result and Discussion4. 1: Overview of data collected4. 2: Frequency Analysis4. 2. 1: Gender4. 2. 2: Age4. 2. 3: Position4. 2. 4: Location4. 3: Discussion4. 3. : Resistance to change and user satisfaction4. 3. 2: Resistance to change and predetermined goals4. 3. 3: Change management initiatives| 23-29| Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation5. 1: Summary5. 2: Recommendation5. 2. 1: Sampling Size5. 3: Conclusion| 30-32| Reference| | Chapter 1: Introduction 1. 1. Background of the Study Most of the Government Link Companies in Malaysia are required to participate in the Government Link Company Transformation Program that was launched in May 2004 by the Malaysian government. This is part of an ongoing effort by the Government to develop and grow Malaysian economy.As one of the top 20 Government Link Companies, Pos Malaysia Berhad (Pos Malaysia) embarked on a comprehensive transformation program based on the Government Link Company Transformation Manual that was l aunched on 29 July 2005. Since then many transformational projects were implemented to build strong capabilities, improve performance, undertake better decision making and achieve competitive advantage. Moving forward, Pos Malaysia put in place a five-year transformation plan in August 2009 which is intended to transform the group into a more agile postal organization that is cost-efficient and customer-centric.Many of the transformational projects are delivering significant results that meet Pos business objectives. In Berita Harian Online (April 1, 2010), the Malaysia’s leading Malay daily, stated that Pos was among the performing Government Link Companies. This was reaffirmed by The Star Online (April 19, 2010), which reported the former group managing director and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar has said that â€Å"Pos Malaysia Bhd expects its revenue to rise by 15% to 18% in each of two 12-month periods after its postal tariff hike takes effect on July 1 2009†.In transforming organization, Pos Malaysia employs various technologies to run its operation efficiently in order to maintain its competitive edge. Various projects such as the ultra modern hub (The Star Online, 2010), PITTIS, Shared Banking Services (Pos Malaysia Annual Report, 2009), GIFTS (Pos Malaysia Annual Report, 2008) exploited Information System (IS) and postal latest technology. Therefore in order ensure successful exploitation of purchased technology, enhancing an individual’s desire to use a given new technology is vital.Successful in doing this will lead to higher productivity organization. Ahmed Z. U. et al. (2006) mentioned in their research that contribution of technology in any transformational projects can be determined by measuring productivity as the fundamental economic measurement tool. They highlighted that the ability and willingness of the employees to exploit and adopt new technology in their day-today operations are the key factors to e nsure higher productivity. The return of investment of technology could be minimized whenever employees refuse or resist dopting new technology to fully utilize the potentials of the technology. The reluctance of employees could depend on how difficult to understand, learn, or operate in order to adopt new technology (Rogers, 1962). And it also related to the extent to which a person believes that by using a certain technology will result in free of effort (Davis, 1989). Therefore, resistance to change of employee could be one of the reasons implementation failures in transforming the organizations. Malhotra (1998) estimated that 70% of the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) projects fail.He also stated that the most important obstacles are: i. lack of sustained management commitment and leadership; ii. unrealistic scope and expectations, and iii. resistance to change. Therefore, the prime objective of this study is to examine the relationship between resistance to change and impl ementation success of transformation initiatives, as well as the moderating effect of change management initiatives. 1. 2. Problem Statement Implementation success of transformational projects in any organization is very crucial.Many organizations are struggling in ensuring their organizational transformational initiatives such as Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Lean Six-Sigma program etc. are successfully implemented. It is known that 70% of the Business Process Reengineering projects had failed to deliver the intended outcome (Malhotra, 1998). The most important obstacles are: 1) the lack of sustained management commitment and leadership, 2) the unrealistic scope and expectations, and 3) the resistance to change.At Pos Malaysia, various transformational initiatives were introduced since August 2009 as part of it strategic plan to build strong capabilities, improve performance, undertake better decision making and achieve competitive advant age as demanded by the stakeholders. In implementing all the initiatives, Pos Malaysia also faces the same problem as other organization that embarked on organizational transformation efforts. Not all of the initiatives were successful implemented or progressing smoothly as per plan due to various factors.Factors such as lack of sustained management commitment and leadership, unrealistic scope and expectations, and resistance to change (Maholtra, 1998) exist in Pos Malaysia. Especially factors that related to human because the transformational initiatives involve many changes on the way employees carry out their day-to-day operation. Many manual-type operations are going to be replaced by system or machineries. Employees are required to accept the changes and at the same time they also required to learn how to fit themselves in the new way of doing things.Therefore, the negative organizational response to transformational initiatives implementation i. e. resistance to change, can be come a biggest problem to Pos Malaysia in executing its transformational programs. In order to overcome this problem, study current change management initiatives effectiveness and examine resistance to change will help further Pos Malaysia in implementing transformational initiatives. 1. 3. Research Questions Based on the problem statement stated above, the following research questions have been developed: a) Is there any resistance to change in the organization? ) Do employees satisfied with the project implemented? c) What is the impact of resistance to change on transformational projects implementation success? d) Do change management initiatives influence the relationship of resistance to change and implementation success? 1. 4. Research Objectives The research objectives are elaborated by each variable as follows: a) To determine resistance of change in the organization? b) To determine employee satisfaction of the outcome of implemented project. ) To examine the relationship b etween resistance to change and implementation success; d) To examine the change management initiatives influence on relationship of resistance to change and implementation success. The expectation of this study is that it outcome may help in increasing the implementation success in service organization i. e. Pos Malaysia. The outcome of this study will generate a list of factors that are responsible for employees’ resistance to change, provide a measurement tool for the assessment of resistance and produce a model for reference by other scholars nd future researchers. 1. 5. Significance of the Study This study is expected hopes to provide significant theoretical and practical contributions in the area of change management. Theoretically, this study should provide guidelines for the organization especially in service organization on how to manage resistance to change effectively and practical contribution on operation of organization especially in field of change management. 1. 6. Scope and Limitation of the Study The scope of this study is relates to implementation success of the completed transformational initiatives in Pos Malaysia Berhad.The other factors include in this study are employee resistance to change and change management initiatives in the organization. The study has several limitations that need to be considered. The study uses a sample drawn from a population of Pos Malaysia employees in Klang Valley. This population may not be representative of implementation success on transformation initiatives in general. Therefore, the actual implementation success result throughout Pos Malaysia nationwide could not be measured accurately due to demographic, geographic and psychographic differences that become a constraint (e. . varies of position, job and initiative availability) to this study. 1. 7. Organization of Chapter This research has been organized into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction of the research and explains the st atement of the problem, purpose of the study, assumptions of the study, research questions, significance and the limitations of the study. The second chapter presents a review of relevant literatures on the subject. Variety topics were reviewed for the study.Some of the topics studied were implementation success, resistance to change and change management initiatives. The third chapter explains the methodology for the research used for the study. In-depth explanation and rationale have also been specified for the use of survey questionnaires for the study. In chapter three also explains the measurement tools and methods for questionnaires administration. The forth chapter consists of the analysis, findings and results obtained from the study. The final chapter presents an overview of the research findings derived from the tudy with a series of recommendations. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2. 1 Overview of Organizational Transformation Initiatives The business environment has become increasingly complex and changes the marketplace from local setting to a global one. Constant pressure is applied on the management to improve competitiveness by lowering operating cost and improving logistic. For the case in Malaysia, the Malaysian government is promoting organizational transformation efforts to all public listed companies under its stable.Through Khazanah Nasional Berhad, all Government Link Companies have to embark on a comprehensive transformation program based on the Government Link Company Transformation Manual that was launched on 29 July 2005. There are various ways an organization could transform how they should improve their business. Some may adopt the principles and techniques of total quality management and re-engineering (Llana, 1998) or embark in Enterprise Resource Planning System (to manage the efficient and effective use of resources such as materials, human resources, finance, etc. (Nah, F. F. nd Lau, J. L. , 2001) or adopt various latest accounti ng systems which acronyms such as ABC/M, EVA and TOC (Cooper and Kaplan, 1988; Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). Many organizations have responded with enthusiasm, adopting them with varied results. A large proportion of corporations venturing into business process transformation succeed at the initiation and design phases. At this stage, it did not require involvement of various levels of employees in the organization. The difficulties occur during the stage of implementation of the transformational projects (Davenport, 1998).During this stage, many people were involved and require a comprehensive change management initiative. â€Å"About half of Enterprise Systems (ES) projects fail to achieve hoped-for benefits because managers underestimate the efforts involved in managing change† (Pawlowsiki and Boudreau, 1999). Researches from past scholars have proved that most BPR failures are more caused by the processes of implementation rather than those of the innovation itself (Klein et al, 2001). A comprehensive change management model will assist not only in ensuring support from employees but it also will cushion the resistance to change as well. . 2 Implementation Success The measurement of information systems success in organizational transformation effort has been researched for over thirty years (Zviran & Erlich, 2003). There are various ways of measuring the implementation success of any transformational projects. Markus & Tanis (2000) stated that the definition and measurement of implementation success of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is very much depending on who defines it. For instance, project managers and implementation consultant often define success in terms of completing the project on time and within budget.The senior management on the other hand would prefer to translate the implementation success in term of bottom-line of financial statement. Enzweiler Group summarized other measures of implementation successes based on people improvements , process improvements, and system implemented (http://www. enzweiler. com/faq/managing. html). People improvements cover measurement of new skill sets, learning the skill to use new system. On process improvements, the measurement of improved resource utilization, improved relationships, or cost reductions can be used to determine the implementation success.For instance, reduction in inventory from USD5 million to USD1. 5 million or reduction in customer service errors from 4% to 1%, or eliminate transaction processing time in the payroll and human resource department. However, measuring directly on the success of an information systems success has been found to be impractical and perhaps impossible because of intangible costs, and benefits of it are difficult to recognize and convert to monetary equivalent (Galetta & Laderer, 1989; Ives et al. , 1983).For the purpose of this study, the two measures of implementation success to be used are predetermined goals and user satisfaction. 2. 2. 1 Predetermined Goals This first measure was adopted from Hong and Kim (2002). The predetermined goals were defined as the degree of deviation from project goals in terms of the expected cost overrun, schedule overrun, system performance deficit and expected benefits. This type of measurements was derived from the project implementation perspective. Oliver, Whymark, & Romm, (2005) rationalized this type of measurement as appropriate to indicates a clear istinction of why certain systems are deployed and the nature of their intended effects. The minimum set of success metrics of project implementation should include project metrics, early operational metrics, and long-term business results (Markus and Tanis, 2000). In this study, the predetermined goals of the projects were chosen as one of the implementation success variable. 2. 2. 2 User Satisfaction Employee or user satisfaction has received widespread acceptance as a substitute measure of information systems success (Wu et al, 2002).This measure represents important feedback from the people who experience the system performance in their day-to-day operation. Nolan and Seward (1974) advocate that user satisfaction is the most feasible and practical tool for evaluating the success of information systems project implementation. Powers and Dickson (1973), Holsapple, Wang and Wei (2005) recognized that user satisfaction as one of the key factors that’s affecting the success of implementation of management information systems projects.Ives, Olson, and Baroudi (1983) and Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) had developed several models to measure user satisfaction, including the user information satisfaction instrument and a 12 items satisfaction End User Computing Satisfaction (EUCS) instrument. Following this suggestion, successful organization transformation implementation success measurement should be evaluated based not only on cost of ownership and quantifiable benefits, but should also take into account the time required to implement the technology and also user acceptable in terms of satisfaction.Therefore in this study, as for the second implementation success measure, user satisfaction method was adapted from Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) because the instrument had been used widely and has been validated through several confirmatory analyses and constructs validity tests. 2. 3 Resistance to Change Change has always been said to be the constant thing in life. Changes can be triggered either from within or outside the system. Change in many organizations may result from mergers, acquisitions, implementation of new technologies, cost-cutting, right sizing, etc (Grover, 1999).Therefore, any resistance from employee can affect the changes intended in an organization. Resistance to change has been research for over than fifty years. Zander (1950) defined resistance to change as a behavior which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change. While another scholars, Folger and Skarlicki (1999, p. 36) defined resistance as â€Å"Employee behavior that seeks to challenge, disrupt or invert prevailing assumptions, discourses and power relations†.Chawla and Kelloway (2004) said that resistance may be viewed from two different angles which were attitudinal and behavioral responses to change. They defined resistance as a phenomenon which can deter the overall change process, either by delaying or slowing down its beginning, or obstructing or hindering its implementation, and also increase its costs (Ansoff, 1990). The employees aren’t really resisting the change, but rather they may be resisting the loss of status, pay or comfort (Dent and Goldberg, 1999).In his studied, Zander (1950) mentioned that resistance occurs due to six primary reasons as follows: a) the nature of the change is not made clear to the people who are going to be influenced by the change; b) the change is open to a wide variety of interpretations; c) thos e influenced feel strong forces deterring them from changing; d) the people influenced by the change have pressure put on them to make it instead of having a say in the nature or direction of the change; e) the change is made on personal grounds; and f) the change ignores the existing established institution in the group.Major failures have been recorded for a vast majority of Systems Applications and Products (SAP) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations. A majority of these failures were greatly connected to shortcomings regarding managing employee resistance (Aladwani, 2001). Resistance to change can be considered as important factor in determining the success of organizational change. Hong and Kim (2002) in their research related to critical success factors for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation found that by lowering organizational resistance will increase the chances of success in implementing system.According to Pawlowsiki and Boudreau (19 99), about half of Enterprise System (ES) projects failed to achieve its business objectives because of underestimation the efforts involved in managing change. In a recent study on impediments to successful ERP implementation, Kim, Lee and Gosain (2005) suggested five critical impediments as follows: a) conflict of interest b) inadequate human resources commitment; c) lack of organizational change management expertise; d) business processes not reengineered to take advantage of ERP; and e) resistance of users. In their study, B. Fowke and D.Fowke, (1991) summed up resistance to change as a manifestation of cultural values and cultural strengths. They also concluded that resistance is an artifact of corporate culture and is largely unconscious. Because of this nature, resistance and cultural variables generally are hard to understand. In order to facilitate a smooth transformational or change efforts implementation such as ERP, BPR, structure, etc. organizations must be competent in effective change management as well as manage any resistance to them. Hence, lower organizational resistance is expected to increase implementation success of transformational projects. . 4 Change Management Initiatives Research from past scholars have proved that most business process transformation failures are more caused by the processes if implementation rather than of the innovation itself (Klein et al, 2001). Summer (1999) found that many ERP implementation failures have been caused by lack of focus on â€Å"the soft issues† such as the business process and change management. While Appleton (1997) and Pawlowski and Boudreau (1999) estimated that half of ERP projects failed due to enterprise underestimating the efforts involved in change management.An appropriate change management model will assist not only in ensuring that employees are supported in the change process but also the resistance to the innovation will be cushioned. In order to establish an effective and a successful change management by changing the behavior of individuals, Kotter (1996) suggests the following eight pitfalls: a) allowing too much complacency; b) failing to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition; c) underestimating the power of vision; d) under communicating the vision by factor of 10; e) permitting obstacles to block the new vision; f) failing to create short-term wins; ) declaring victory too soon; and h) neglecting to anchor changes firmly in the corporate culture. Grover et al (1995) indicated how critical is an effective change management in implementing new technology and business process reengineering. Without an appropriate change management processes, enterprise may not be able to adapt to the new systems and to capitalize on performance gains (Kim et al, 2005). This can be further extended to mean that positioning an organization with adequate and finely-tuned change management processes and procedures nurtures radical changes more effectively.Ack nowledging the need for a change is very important as the stronger the need for change, more and more top management and stakeholders will embrace change management initiatives to ensure success of the implementation of change. Norris et al (2000) pointed out that the tools of management for change are leadership, communication, training, planning, and incentive systems. They argued that these tools can be leveraged and are able to remove great obstacles with minimal efforts when applied properly. 2. 5. 1 LeadershipLorenzi et al (1999) writes that no matter how exaggerated a technological implementation can be, an absence of effective leadership can actually deteriorate all efforts. Clarke et al (1996) discovers that an individual’s resistance to change maybe made perfects if his interest is being threatened in the proposal for change. To overcome employee resistance to change, leadership must involve employees to experience the need for the changes in effect (Pawar & Eastman , 1997). Organizations cannot separate effective leadership and their roles in accomplishing change management (Kotter, 1996).However, there are still many organizations do not envision the informative and political roles championed by management in the implementation of change efforts until there is a major failure (Huq et al, 2006). 2. 5. 2 Communication Communication is considered as one of the most critical success factors in implementing change (Waddel and Sohal, 1998). The manager and the project team must communicate and consult regularly with the employee to make change happen. Communication during change is often a bigger task than can be imagined.Stuart (1996) reports that there are communication principles that can be adopted such as message repletion (the more it is repeated, the less likely employees can forget), use of variety of media, face-to-face preferred, opinion leaders and personal relevant information rather than an abstraction. Every employee must be given the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of the change and they must be given the opportunity to provide feedback. 2. 5. 3 Training Training in change management has always been one major factor that is crucial to implementation of successes (Russo et al, 1999).According to a finding by Moore et al (2000), there is a direct relationship between training and the impact it has on a company’s productivity. The report explains that employees who are trained more often are better able to sue resources at their disposal more effectively. The team that lead and involved in business process transformation needs to be trained in problem solving and communication from a initiation stage (Huq et al 2006) so that they can be educated on the politics and resistance factors (Lientz et al, 2004).Training in this regard should involve all employees involved in the change process, be directed towards skill enhancement and ensure that the new skills are implemented quickly and absorbed into the system. In most cases, resistance has come as a result of changes in the line of command. In other instances, exaggerated leverage and cost saving benefits of the new technology is emphasized with less and infinitesimal regard to retraining employees required for all transformational projects (Grover, 1999) Researcher such as Aladwani (2001) has used change management strategies as a moderator in his research framework.This is also consistent with other researchers (e. g. , Al-Mashari and Zairi, 2000; Aladwani, 1999) that responsiveness to internal customers is critical for an organization to avoid difficulties associated with the change. In this study, change management initiatives will represent the moderator variable. . Chapter 3: Methodology 3. 1 Research Framework This research explores and examines the relationship resistance to change and implementation success, and how change management initiatives act in the capacity of a moderating role. The theoretical framework for t his study is presented in Figure 3. . The independent variable (IV) of this study is only one which is resistance to change. Resistance to change for this model refers to 1) employee resisting to change, 2) cases of blaming occurrence, 3) employee persist old ways of doing thing, and 4) people wishing change to fail. This study framework requires two dependent variables (DV). The two dimensions of implementation success will become dependent variables. The first DV is predetermined goals. Predetermined goals refer to cost, timeline, performance and expected benefits of the implemented project.User satisfaction is the second dependent variables (DV). User satisfaction refers to user feeling using system, user satisfaction gain, and user satisfaction on the output of the system. In this framework, change management initiatives will act in the capacity of a moderating role. This study will examine on how well the moderator variable affects the relationship of the IV on the DV and inter acts with the IV to predict outcome scores. The moderator variable refers to leadership, communication and change readiness. Implementation success * Predetermined goals * User satisfaction Resistance to changeChange management initiatives Figure 3. 1: Conceptual Framework This framework will use statistical moderation technique or hierarchical regression analysis. The change management initiatives such as getting the employee involved, attending to employee concerns, and making available support group will mitigate the effect of resistance to change and enhance implementation success. Early user involvement in the design and implementation of new business processes as well as extensive top-down and cross-functional communication may generate enthusiasm for ERP (Stratman and Roth, 2002).Wee (2000) advocated that establishing a support organization such as help desk, online user manual, etc. is also critical to meet users’ needs and manage organizational change. Norris et al. (2000) pointed that the tools of management are leadership, communication, training, planning and incentive systems. They argued that these tools can be leveraged and are able to remove great obstacles with minimal efforts when applied properly. As such in this study we establish the following hypotheses:- 3. 2 Research Design A descriptive research design was used in this study.In addition to collecting descriptive data about resistance to change and implementation success, the study will investigate change management initiatives impact on the relationship of independent variable and both dependent variables. The variables in the study were identified through a review of relevant research literature. The research provided insights and an in-depth understanding of the topic and problems, which would result in the recommendations of necessary steps that could be undertaken. 3. 3 Data Collection (Sampling and Procedures)In this quantitative research we are using primary data collectio n, specifically for this research, by survey technique. The survey is using a set of questionnaires which developed for this research. The survey research is chosen because it is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research. The unit of analysis is individual, which mean the eligible employee of Pos Malaysia. 3. 4. 1 Sampling Population The selected respondents represent a balanced mix of employees from various level that affected by the organizational transformation project in terms of they carry out their day to day function.The population of interest in this research was the employees of Post Malaysia Berhad. 3. 4. 2 Sampling Size The target sample for this study is employees who work in Klang Valley that involved in business transformational projects in Pos Malaysia. In this study, 130 questionnaires will be distributed and to be used as a sampling to test reliability of this study. 3. 4. 3 Data collection Data collection used in this study was cross -sectional analysis which takes place at a single point in time.Cross-sectional studies are used in most branches of science, in the social sciences and in other fields as well. Cross-sectional research takes a slice of customers’ satisfaction target group and bases its overall finding on the views or behaviors of those targeted, assuming them to be typical of the whole group. 3. 3. 4Data Analysis Technique This section describes methods to be used in the data analysis. The data collected was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 18.Initially, the data was coded in numerical order before it was entered into the statistical program. Subsequently, the data was screened and treated for errors and missing values. The various statistical technique used were descriptive analysis namely; factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. Frequency tables were generated to provide frequency and percenta ges of demographic characteristics of respondents. Chapter 4: Results and Discussions This chapter is dedicated to the analysis of data collected through questionnaire.The main objectives of the study were to look at the significant relationship between employee resistance to change in Pos Malaysia and implementation success with change management initiatives as the moderating roles as shown in the theoretical framework. The data used in this study were gathered from Pos Malaysia’s employees, one of the major service organizations in the country. 4. 1 Overview of data collected One hundred thirty (130) copies of questionnaires were distributed but only one hundred twenty four (124) feedbacks received from respondents. The percentages of respondents’ feedback were 95. 0%, while 4. 60% did not respond. After the coding processes were completed, all 124 questionnaires were ready to be analyzed. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 18 and discussed individually in the following order; (i) frequency analysis, (ii) factor analysis, (iii) reliability, (iv) correlation analysis, and (v) hierarchical regression analysis. This study also discussed thoroughly the relationship between the resistance to change and implementation success that might contribute to research finding.Besides, respondents’ demographic profile was also analyzed in order to examine the pattern of employees’ preferences and their interpretation of implementation success according to the variables. 4. 2 Frequency Analysis This section illustrates the demographic profile of the respondents. The questionnaire included a segment on employees’ profile, as an assortment of demographic and other factors were likely to influence the degree of implementation success of transformational projects in Pos Malaysia. 4. 2. 1 Gender Table 4. 1 represents respondents based on their gender.The result shows that 71 respondents o r 57. 3% of the whole respondents were male. Apart from that, 53 respondents were female or 42. 7% of the whole respondents. Table 4. 1 Frequency Output of Respondent’s Gender Gender| | Frequency| Percent| Valid Percent| Cumulative Percent| Valid| Male| 71| 57. 3| 57. 3| 57. 3| | Female| 53| 42. 7| 42. 7| 100. 0| | Total| 124| 100. 0| 100. 0| | 4. 2. 2 Age Result from the Table 4. 2 shows that the sample employees were mostly in the age group below 35 years (54. 0%). From the table age between 36 – 40 years is 12. 9%, 41-45 years is 16. % and above 46 years old 16. 1%. Table 4. 2 Frequency Output of Respondent’s Age Age| | Frequency| Percent| Valid Percent| Cumulative Percent| Valid| 20-25| 16| 12. 9| 12. 9| 12. 9| | 26-30| 27| 21. 8| 21. 8| 34. 7| | 31-35| 24| 19. 4| 19. 4| 54. 0| | 36-40| 16| 12. 9| 12. 9| 66. 9| | 41-45| 21| 16. 9| 16. 9| 83. 9| | > 46| 20| 16. 1| 16. 1| 100. 0| | Total| 124| 100. 0| 100. 0| | 4. 2. 3 Position Result shown in Table 4. 3 indic ates that 84 respondents were predominantly the front line employees (68. 5%), followed by 31 respondents were supervisors (25. 0%), 6 respondents were managers (4. %) and, only 2 respondents were senior management staff (1. 6%). This implies that respondents represent the actual user of the outcome from the transformational projects. Table 4. 3 Frequency Output of Respondent’s Position Position| | Frequency| Percent| Valid Percent| Cumulative Percent| Valid| senior management| 2| 1. 6| 1. 6| 1. 6| | management| 6| 4. 8| 4. 8| 6. 5| | supervisory| 31| 25. 0| 25. 0| 31. 5| | operational/clerical| 85| 68. 5| 68. 5| 100. 0| | Total| 124| 100. 0| 100. 0| | 4. 2. 4 Location It was obviously indicated that most of respondents’ were located the operation sites (80. 6%). And 19. % of respondents were from the headquarters of Pos Malaysia. The result shown in Table 4. 4. Table 4. 4 Frequency Output of Respondent’s Location Location| | Frequency| Percent| Valid Percent| C umulative Percent| Valid| HQ| 24| 19. 4| 19. 4| 19. 4| | Others| 100| 80. 6| 80. 6| 100. 0| | Total| 124| 100. 0| 100. 0| | 4. 3Discussion Many corporations embarked in transforming their organization in order to become competitive. Various transformational initiatives were deployed such as BPR, ERP, Lean Six-Sigma, Supply Chain Management etc. but, relatively little research has been conducted about the implementation success.In this study, negative organizational response was found related to the implementation success to transformational initiatives. Resistance to change was negatively related to user satisfaction, but positively related to predetermined goals. Another significant finding was change management initiatives are not qualify as a moderating variable in both relationship of resistance to change and implementation success variables. As recommended by Hong and Kim (2002), change management initiatives can be treated as an independent variable to predicting the success o f transformational initiatives.In general, organizations must seriously deploy an effective change management to generate buy-in or ownership level of commitment of their employees in order to ensure success of transformational projects implementation. In the next section, more in-depth discussion of the results will be carried out. 4. 3. 1Resistance to change and user satisfaction As mentioned in the previous chapter, resistance to change was found negatively related with user satisfaction. The finding is consistent the research carried out by Hong and Kim (2002) and Ahmed et al. (2006).In the case of high resistance, the employees will feel unhappy with the changes imposed on them. This situation will shape an employee with low satisfaction. An unhappy employee is not good for the organization because they are less productive and more likely to have higher absence rate (Corporate Leadership Council, 2003). This result indicates that management must effectively establish a lean and user-friendly new processes or system when transforming organization. This can be done by ensuring an effective process reengineering exercise during early implementation phase.During this exercise, management should include the affected employees in the team that design new processes or system. The outcome of the process reengineering must pay more attention to the end user (people) and emphasize more on human issues. This suggestion is consistent with proposal made by Holsapple et al. (2005). 4. 3. 2Resistance to change and Predetermined goals Another significant result found in this study was the positive relationship between resistance to change and predetermined goals. This finding was against the study made by Ahmed et al. (2006).The result interprets that high deviation of the pre-set goals will emerge whenever resistance to change is high. It indicates that high resistance able to influence timeline, cost management or benefits realization during implementation of transform ational projects. A project that took longer time to complete or high cost overrun, or difficult to realize the benefits can be said experiencing with high resistance employees during implementation. Organization must be competent in effective change management that involves the affected employees to accept the changes in order to facilitate a smooth ERP implementation (Ahmed et al. 2006). The information about the transformational projects which include cost, timeline, deliverables and expected benefit should be made available and clearly communicated to affected employees. Ahmed et al. (2006) also noted that any effort to educate users through a structured program will overcome resistance issues during implementation. 4. 3. 3Change management initiatives Although change management was found not moderated the relationship between resistance to change and implementation success, it still remains critical for implementation of any transformational projects.Change management has a sig nificant relationship to implementation success and resistance to change. This study shows that an effective change management is able to increase user satisfaction and also will assist in achieving all predetermined goals. It means that change management plays an important factor in ensuring the success of implementation. Change management initiatives were also found to have a negative relation with resistance to change. This result is consistent with Ahmed et al. (2006) study.They stated that change management initiatives will help in reducing the negative impact whenever there is resistance among employees. Kim et al. (2005) suggested that change management should not only carried out by the project team, but also to others. Therefore it is important for the senior management team to play active roles in change management initiatives. Change management tools such as leadership, communication, training, planning and incentive can be leveraged and are able to remove any resistance during implementation of the changes (Norris et al. , 2000). Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation 5. 1 SummaryThe main objective of this study is to examine various factors that contributed to the implementation success of transformational initiatives in service organization, which is Pos Malaysia. The studied factors were resistance to change, change management initiatives, predetermined goals and user satisfaction. A total of 130 sets questionnaires were distributed to various sites in Klang Valley and 124 sets (95. 4%) sets were returned. All data was analyzed by using SPSS ver. 18 software. In this study, all hypotheses were tested with hierarchical regression analysis to determine it significant level of DV, IV and MV relationship.As a result, two out of the four null hypotheses were rejected. Table 5. 1 shows the summarization the findings of this study. 5. 2 Recommendation Since that not many studies were being made in organizational change, followings are the list of rec ommendations for future research. 5. 3. 1 Sampling size Future study should include respondents from other service organizations either at regions or state in order to obtain more robust results. The outcome will able to generalize the research results to the whole population of service organizations in Malaysia. 5. 3 ConclusionIn this study, resistance to change had been examined and confirmed as a critical factor in explaining implementation success of transformational initiatives. The management should keep resistance as low as possible in order the success in implementing transformational projects. In addition, this study also found that change management was not act as a moderating variable in relationship of resistance to change and implementation success. Although it is contradicted result from previous researches particularly change management initiatives as moderating variable.These results can be concluded as accurate in Pos Malaysia’s perspective since each organiz ation has different demographic profile that affects implementation success. Overall of the study revealed that the human factor such as employees’ acceptance of the changes imposed to them, as well as understanding of objectives and benefits of the changes are the important issues in implementing organizational changes in service organization, specifically Pos Malaysia Berhad. These issues if not seriously anticipated may lead to development of negative organizational response in the organization.Finally, in order to overcome this problem, the management should embark on a structured program to educate the user about the potential benefits of the new processes or system. This may in many ways able to reduce the potential resistance and increase the likelihood of a successful implementation of any transformational projects. Reference Ahmed, Z. U. , Zbib, I. , Arokiasamy, S. , Ramayah, T. & Chiun, L. M. (2006), Resistance to Change and ERP Implement Success: The Moderating Rol e of Change Management Initiatives, Asian Academy of Management Journal, 11(2), 1-17 Aladwani, A. (2001).Change management strategies for successful ERP implementation systems. Business Process Management Journal, 7, 266-275 Ansoff, I. H. (1990). Implanting Strategic Management. London: Pretice-Hall International Ltd. Berita Harian On-line. (April 1, 2010). Khazanah Nasional kuasai untung kumpulan 20 GLC http://www. bharian. com. my/bharian/articles/KhazanahNasionalkuasaiuntungkumpulan20GLC/Article/ Chawla, A. & Kelloway, E. K. (2004). Predicting openness and commitment to change. The Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 25, 485-498 Clarke, J. , Ellett, C. , Bateman, J. & Rugutt, J. (1996): Faculty Receptivity/Resistance to Change, Personal and Organizational Efficacy, Decision Deprivation and Effectiveness in Research Universities. Paper presented at the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Memphis, TN. October 31-November 3. Cooper, R. and Kaplan, R. S. , (1988). How cost accounting distorts product cost, Management Accounting, April, 20–27 Cooper, R. B. and Zmud, R. W. , (1990). Information Technology Implementation Research: A Technological Diffusion Approach, Management Science, 36(2), 123-139

Largest City in Area in the United States

Although New York City is the most populous city in the United States, Yakutat, Alaska, is the largest city in the area. Yakutat includes a whopping 9,459.28 square miles (24,499 sq km) of area, composed of 1,808.82 square miles of water area and 7,650.46 square miles of land area (4,684.8 sq km and 19,814.6 sq km, respectively). The city is larger than the state of New Hampshire (the countrys fourth smallest state). Yakutat  had been founded in 1948, but in 1992 the city government was dissolved and it combined with the Yakutat Borough  to become the countrys largest city.  Its now officially known as the  City and Borough of Yakutat.   Location The city lies on the Gulf  of Alaska near the Hubbard Glacier and  is surrounded by or is nearby the  Tongass National Forests, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Yakutats  skyline is dominated by  Mount St. Elias, the United States second tallest peak. What Folks Do There Yakutat has a population of 601 as of 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Fishing (both commercial and sport)  is its largest industry. Many types of salmon inhabit the rivers and streams:  steelhead, king (Chinook), sockeye, pink (humpback), and coho (silver). Yakutat hosts a three-day annual tern festival in late May or early June, as the area has one of the largest breeding grounds for  Aleutian terns. The bird is uncommon and hasnt been studied extensively; its winter range wasnt even discovered until the 1980s.  The festival features  birding activities, Native cultural presentations, natural history field trips, art exhibits, and other events. The first Saturday in August is the annual  Fairweather Day  celebration, which is full of live music at Cannon Beach Pavilion. People also come to the city for hiking, hunting (bears, mountain goats, ducks, and geese), and wildlife and nature viewing (moose, eagles, and bears), as the area is along migration patterns for waterfowl, raptors, and shorebirds.   Displacing Other Cities With its incorporation with the borough, Yakutat displaced Sitka, Alaska, as the largest city, which had displaced Juneau, Alaska. Sitka is 2,874 square miles (7,443.6 sq km) and Juneau is 2,717 square miles (7037 sq km). Sitka was the earliest large city, having been formed through the incorporation of the borough and city in 1970. Yakutat is a perfect example of an overbounded city, which refers to a city that has boundaries that extend far beyond its developed area (certainly the glaciers and ice fields in the city wont be developed soon). The Lower 48 Jacksonville, in northeast Florida, is the largest city in area in the contiguous 48 states at 840 square miles (2,175.6 sq km). Jacksonville includes all of Duval County, Florida, with the exception of the beach communities (Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach) and Baldwin. It had a population of 880,619 as of 2016 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Visitors can enjoy golf, beaches, waterways, the NFLs  Jacksonville Jaguars, and acres and acres of parks (80,000 acres), as it has the largest network of urban parks in the country—more than 300.

Taking a Look at Schizophrenia - 828 Words

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Physics Project - 5333 Words

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The Relationship Between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth Free Essays

The Relationship between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth A Psychological Study Whether a person is aware of it or not, everywhere they go, they are mentally judging people and creating an opinion about others without necessarily ever even meeting them. These judgments can be based off of simple appearance, or actions, or any other sort of visible aspect of a person. Simply put, humans are judgmental creatures. We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship Between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the most common aspects of a person’s life that is judged from outside appearance is wealth. Assumedly, if a person dresses well, they must have money to buy such a wardrobe. Though this is certainly not always the case, people generally assume that what is on the outside is reflected on the inside. In this study, people’s visual interpretation of a person and the person’s assumed wealth will be examined. The participants will be shown pictures of random people of various wealth and asked to judge their monetary net worth. The variables being studied through this experiment are conceived attractiveness and monetary success. The goal of this experiment is to find a correlation between the two. Many studies concerning this phenomenon have been performed in the past and many books on the subject of attraction have been written. The relationship between physical attractiveness and monetary worth has been an interest for scientists for many years. As long as there has been social class, people through the ages have been judging other’s wealth by their appearance, whether people have been conscious of it or not. These studies have been important because these two variables (attractiveness and wealth) have also been linked to desire and favorability, two of the most unique and profound of human emotions, as will be discussed in the following In an experiment conducted at Georgia Southern University by researchers Dawson and McIntosh, the relationship between wealth, attractiveness, and desirability was examined (Dawson McIntosh, 2006). Dawson and McIntosh believed that men looked for physical attractiveness in women, whereas women looked for material resources (wealth) in men. Alternatively, the experimenters predicted that if men and women were less advantageous in these physical and monetary traits, they would compensate with other personal traits, such as personality. Participants to be judged for the experiment were randomly chosen from Yahoo Personals. Members of the opposite sex then rated the attractiveness of the participants and generated adjectives that were believed to describe the participant. For the male participants, it turned out that if they were considered less attractive or wealthy by the raters, their profile would emphasize of other positive personal characteristics. On the other hand, for the females, there was a trending phenomenon that if a profile emphasized greatly on the woman’s physical attractiveness, it concentrated little on other personal characteristics. However, there was no relation between how physically attractive the rater found the participant and what other positive characteristics were used to describe the participant. Dawson and McIntosh (2006) believed that their hypothesis was moderately supported. The judgments that people make on a person’s physical attractiveness can influence much more than the assumed size of his or hers wallet. These judgments can influence decisions as important as whom to vote for in government elections. This phenomenon was studied by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick at the University of Alabama and Loyola University. They hypothesized that the more attractive a candidate was, the more memorable their campaign was (Hart, Ottati, Krumdick, 2011). Hart et. al. (2011), explored this by showing participants photos of potential candidates (all Democrat) along with campaign policies. The photos and information was then removed and the participants were asked to recite all the information that they could remember about each candidate and answer various questions regarding their attitudes and standpoints about the candidate and his or her campaign. The results show that those who were considered novices on the subject matter, being those that were unable to remember the candidates’ specific campaign and policy points, seemed to favor those that they found more physically attractive. Alternatively, those that were considered experts on the campaign material seemed to favor the less attractive of the candidates (Hart et. l, 2011). One might ask, however, what exactly is it of a person physique that lead people the judge them as attractive? While most people look at a person’s overall appearance and make judgments based on that, there are much subtler cues that a person subconsciously picks up on. Each person’s tastes are unique, and different cue s appeal to different people. Author Gordon L. Patzer Ph. D. described some of these cues in his book The Physical Attractiveness Phenomena (1985). Overall Patzer believed that personality was the main contributing factor. While physical first impressions are important, personality is what a person really remembers. A good impressions is key. If a person makes a bad impression of themselves upon meeting someone, their negativity or foolishness will forever live on in he or she’s new acquaintance’s eyes. After personality, however, traits that spark attraction become much more minute and specific. First, Patzer believed that height was a key contributor. Women have a tendency to be attracted to a man taller than herself, though not towering. Men, on the other hand, are attracted to women who are shorter than himself, but not unproportionately so. Even if one does not consciously acknowledge it, they are taking note of everyone’s height that they meet. People also take notice of someone’s facial aspects, such as shape of the jaw, hairline, etc. (Patzer, 1985). Specific combinations of all of these aspects, plus many more, determine how attractive a person finds another. Whereas none of these traits have an scientific relation to personal wealth, they do play a key role on how attractive someone is initially judged as. Whenever a person meets someone new, they subconsciously judge the stranger’s appearance and determine what level of attraction if had towards the stranger, even if there is no intent to pursue romantically. Other assumptions then stem off of this initial judgment of attraction. One of the most common is the attempt to judge a stranger’s wealth by their appearance and personal attraction. Scientists have been exploring the relationship between attractiveness and monetary value for years. The following study attempts to spread more light on the subject. Methods This study was designed to determine the correlation between ‘attractiveness’ and perceived wealth. Variables were defined as how personally attractive the surveyors found the estranged participants pictured versus how monetarily wealthy the stranger was based on the surveyors’ attraction. The data was collected using a Likert Scale to represent attractiveness and a scale with different levels of wealth. The results from the experiment allowed for the ratings of ‘perceived wealth’ to be compared to the rating of ‘attractiveness’ and discover if a correlation did in fact exist between the two. Based on the results of the previous study, â€Å"Attributions of physical attractiveness† (Johnson, MacEachern, 1985) ‘attractiveness’ should influence the perception of desirable traits, such as wealth. This may result for a multitude of reasons to be discussed in the future. Participants The participants sampled were the 10 females and 10 males pictured in the slide show. The participants varied all ages, ethnicities, and states of wealth in an attempt to make the sample’s characteristics representative of the public and mildly random. All participants were retrieved off of Google with some strategy to make sure that characteristics were varied in an attempt to be representative, making it a stratified sample. Also participating were the surveyors who rated the sample of participants. The surveyors consisted of a cluster sample of the Flagler College PSY 253 class. The sample totaled 17: 12 females and 5 males. Considering that the sample consisted of college students, assumedly between the ages of 19 and 22, the surveyors were not necessarily representative of the public but rather of college students in general. The participating surveyors received no compensation other than class participation and attendance points, which were awarded simply for showing up to the class. Materials For the experiment, a Powerpoint was used with 20 photos of participants, strangers to the surveyors, obtained off of Google: 10 pictures of females and 10 pictures of males, one per slide. Materials also included a paper survey handout on which the participants would record their responses. The survey consisted of two scales, one Likert scale rating attractiveness and one rating wealth. The Likert scale ran from 1-10 with one with the least attractive and ten the most and the scale for wealth ran from Poor($0-1000)-Average($1000-999,999)-Millionaire-Billionaire (See Appendix A). The participants provided their own writing utensils (pens and pencils). Procedure All participating surveyors were given a single handout survey (See Appendix A) by the administrators and then instructed to record their gender on the handout. Each surveyors’ gender determined whether they would be in Group A (Females) or Group B (Males). Both groups were instructed that they would be shown a slide show consisting of pictures of different individuals of the opposite sex and asked to record their opinions on attractiveness and wealth on the paper survey provided for each picture shown. Each picture was shown for approximately ten seconds and a totally of ten pictures were shown for each group. Group A was administered the survey first. The surveys were then collected by the administrators and a slideshow with ten different pictures was shown to Group B and the participants were asked to fill out the same survey as the prior group. The surveys were then collected by the administrators, concluding the experiment. Results Data was collected using a between subjects design. This experiment examined the correlation between how a person perceives attractiveness and how wealthy the person is then assumed to be. The experiment had two variables: Variable 1, perceived attractiveness, and Variable 2, assumed wealth. Participants were administered a survey listing the two variables, Variable 1 was measured on a Likert Scale of 1-10, when Variable 2 was measured on a scale of 1 (Poor, $0=1,000), 2 (Average, $1,000-$999,999), 3 (Millionaire), and 4 (Billionaire). The mean value for Variable 1 was M=4. 12 with a standard deviation of SD=1. 13314 and the mean value for Variable 2 was M=2. 36 with a standard deviation of SD=. 33066 (refer to Table 1). The median for Variable 2 was 3 and the mode is 2. The median and the mode for Variable 2 were both 2. The Pearson Correlation for the experiment was r=. 05 and the significance for each variable was p=. 891. This made the study’s finding significant and that there is a strong correlation between our variables. Discussion At the beginning of the experiment, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between how physically attractive someone was conceived as by a stranger and how wealthy they were assumed to be, judged on their rated attractiveness. At the end of the experiment, the results support this hypothesis. The significance of the variables was p=. 891, demonstrating that there is a high correlation between how attractive someone perceives a stranger and how wealthy the stranger is assumed to be, confirming the hypothesis. The positive correlation of the results suggests that the more attractive a person finds a stranger, the more monetary value the stranger is assumed to have. The Pearson Correlation was r=. 05 which proves that these results were reliable. The fact that r=. 05 means that the results were very specific, with few outliers, and can be condensed to a confined ranged of results, which all fit in together to support the hypothesis. Also, the low standard deviations of SD=1. 12212 and SD=. 33066 show how little overall variation there is to the variable means among participants. The results of this study can be interestingly related to the results of other studies previously performed, while the studies themselves may not mirror each other. As discovered by Dawson and McIntosh (2006), men and women on dating websites, if considered less attractive, emphasis more of their personal traits (Dawson McIntosh, 2006). Though it was not a component of the study being examined, some participants in the photos, when less attractive, dressed better, in fancier clothing, while those who were deemed more attractive tended to wear less flashy clothes. Perhaps if a person does not consider themselves to be physically appealing, they will try to look nice in other ways in public, such as clothing. Previously discussed, an experiment by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick (2011) revealed that voters are more likely influenced by and likely to remember candidates that are perceived as more physically attractive and tend to think higher said attractive candidates (Hart et. al, 2011). This could have a relation to the current experiment in the respects that the survey takers may have had higher expectations of the participants’ monetary value if considered more attractive. This could be because people have a tendency to hold high hopes and expectations for those they find desirable. The experiment at hand has no relation, however, to the third theory Previously discussed by Patzer (1985). Patzer (1985) believed that there is a combination of specific attributes that causes a person to be attracted to another person. A specific feature that Patzer discussed was height, being that females prefer taller men and males vice versa (Patzer, 1985). However, there was no way for the surveyors to judge the participant’s height to their own through the pictures shown during the survey. For this experiment at least, height had nothing to do with personal attraction or attraction’s relation to wealth. There were very few flaws to this experiment that would have altered the results. The only obvious flaw was the issue of sexual orientation. For surveying ease, the experimenters divided the groups into male and female, rather than by sexual orientation because while attracted to males and attracted to females are two clear groups, there may have been bisexuals in the population and they would not have been able to take the survey twice. So though some surveyors may have felt that they were in the wrong group and it may have had an effect on the results, it effects were nothing detrimental. If repeated in the future, perhaps the experiment would involve surveys more catering to sexual orientation rather than being limited to division of gender. On the other hand, while there may have been a flaw, there was no experimenter bias because each participants’ correct wealth was never hinted at until the end. Also, it was impossible for the surveyors to develop practice effects because the survey involved no technique or talent. Also, there was no difficulty level so there was no floor or ceiling effects. In conclusion, the original hypothesis was supported. There was a positive correlation between perceived attractiveness and assumed monetary wealth, this meaning the more attractive a person found a stranger, the person then tended to assume the stranger proportionately more wealthy. There may be more triggers behind this phenomenon but judging by the survey results, the correlation was at least fueled by the attractiveness variable. References Dawson, B. L. , McIntosh, W. D. (2006). Sexual strategies theory and internet personal advertisements. CyberPsychology Behavior, 9 (5). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. du:9005/ehost/detail? vid=11hid=110sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionmgr110bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aphAN=22677445 Hart, W. , Ottati, V. C. , Krumdick, N. D. (2011). Physical attractiveness and candidate evaluation: a model of correction. Political Physology, 32 (2). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. edu:9005/ehost/detail? vid=5hid=110sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionm gr110bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aphAN=58702305 Patzer, G. L. (1985). The physical attractiveness phenomena. Los Angeles, CA: Plenum Press How to cite The Relationship Between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth, Essay examples

Market Structure in Context of Australia

Question: Discuss about the Market Structure in Context of Australia. Answer: Introduction The market structure is based on the number of buyers and sellers exchanging goods and service. The market structure can be classified into four types, such as, perfectly competitive; monopoly; oligopoly and monopolistically competitive. In the perfectly competitive market there are numerous sellers and buyers, exchanging identical products. The price is determined where demand and supply equalised automatically through invisible hand. Therefore, the participants of this market are price takers.Since the price and quantity is solely decided by the market itself, this market is said to be most efficient one. However, this kind of efficient market does not exist in the real world and most of the firms are engaged in monopolistic competition. In this market, the producers differentiated their products from each other. They can also set price, however, the control over price is moderate. The another kind of market structure is the oligopoly market structure, where there are few number of sellers who decides price by colluding with each other. This paper will discuss the different market structures in the Australian market. It will discuss about the firms that enjoys the monopoly in this country. It will also talk about businesses and industries that operates in the monopolistically competitive market. The paper will also discuss about the oligopoly market in this nation. [1] Market Structures in Context of Australia Monopoly Market In Australia, the postal service industry is dominated by the Australia Post. This company is operated by the government of Australia and other companies are restricted to enter this market. This company has the largest network over every single corner of this nation. It is the monopoly firm that provides certain mailing services. Apart from this company there are many companies that operates in the same industry like, FedEx; DHL etc. However, in spite of many companies in the same business, Australia Post has successfully maintained its monopoly by charging very low price for its services. With the help of government support the company did not focus on the profit generation. Australia Post can discriminate its price, and charge low price for bulk delivery. The private firms charge very high charges for delivering in the extremely rural region of this country. In contrast, the Australia Post offers this service at minimum possible price. The price may differ due to the distance betw een the sender and the receiver, but do not vary because of the location where it has to be posted. However, due to decline in the traditional method of communicating through letters, the company has been facing challenges over decades. It has developed its parcel plan that are used in online delivery services. This ensures a growing demand for the parcel and high revenue collected by the firm. The regulation of this organization has restricted other private postal companies to drop their parcels in the Post box of Australia Post[2]. Therefore, the regulation has helped the company to maintain monopoly in some of its services. However, this monopoly firm must focus on attaining more efficiency and pursuing digital marketing strategy. [3] Oligopoly Market In Australia the supermarkets operate in the oligopoly market structure. There are few supermarket chain like Woolworths; Cole; Aldi; Costco; IGA; Food Works and SPAR. However, Coles and Woolworths are two giant supermarket chain that occupy 70% -80% market share in this country, therefore, they together form duopoly in the supermarket chain. The rest of the share is captured by IGA; Aldi as a boutique niche and other operators[4]. The Australia is considered as oligopoly community, as many industry operates under oligopoly market structure. The two giant supermarkets are the major players of this industry and practice a certain degree of competition in price setting. However, the price war in the oligopoly set up is not profitable and have detrimental impact on the firm. This is because; the oligopoly firm forms cartel to decide its price and quantity. The cartel might soar the price of the products at retails stores. If one firm cheats, and supply more products then the price might decline. The fall in price will attract more customers to the stores of that company; and it will capture higher market share[5]. The other firm can also cut prices to give tough competition. However, too low price may lead to fall in revenue of both companies. Therefore, instead of engaging in the price war, it is beneficial for the firms of oligopoly market to increase its sales at given price, through promotion and brand differentiation, in order to capture the maximum share of the market. Monopolistically Competitive Market There are many industries in Australia that has the characteristics of a monopolistically competitive market. The clothing and apparel industry operates in the monopolistically competitive market. There are many clothing brands in Australia who are engaged in huge competition in this industry. The features of this industry is that, clothing and textile industry produces almost identical products. However, they differentiate in terms of quality of the fabric; design of the clothes etc. Therefore, different clothing brand charges different price for its own product. Due to variation in the types of fabric; better quality; different designs of the apparel, the consumers perceive the products to be different. Some clothing firms hire qualified and reputed designers for designing apparels, this places the company in the niche market charging high price[6]. Therefore, product differentiation enables the companies of the clothing industry to set price by their own, hence, enjoying monopoly power. There is less barrier to enter the market, as it requires huge spending to make fabrics; stitching them or to design apparels. It takes lot of effort to establish brand name. Moreover, some international brands have entered into the clothing industry of Australia, that has increased the competition to the local retailers of cloths and apparels[7]. Conclusion In Australia, all the market structures are prominent. In the postal and mailing service, Australia Post enjoys monopoly. The supermarket chains operate in the oligopoly industry with two giant supermarkets Woolworths and Coles. The Clothing industry of this nation operates in a monopolistically competitive market. The paper has analysed the features of each industry in context of Australia. References ABC News. (2014). Post offices are the lifeblood of rural Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-08/elliott-australia-post/5190156 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]. ABC News. (2014). Retailers struggle as foreign fashion chains hit Australian market. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-10/retailers-struggle-foreign-fashion-chains-reach-australia/5735070 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]. Carmody, B. (2015). Australia Post is hurting small businesses with PO Box monopoly, says delivery company Sendle - SmartCompany. [online] SmartCompany. Available at: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/growth/49035-australia-post-hurting-small-businesses-with-po-box-monopoly-says-delivery-company-sendle/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]. Okonkwo, U., 2016.Luxury fashion branding: trends, tactics, techniques. Springer. The Sydney Morning Herald. (2014). Coles: Reviewing law of supply and demands. [online] Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/coles-reviewing-law-of-supply-and-demands-20140506-zr5k1.html [Accessed 11 Aug. 2016]. TheAustralian. (2013). We are an oligopoly economy: Robb. [online] Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/we-are-an-oligopoly-economy-robb/story-fn91v9q3-1226699531519 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016]. Williams, J., 2016. Economic insights on market structure and competition.Addiction.