Symbolism in Battle Royal Essay Essay Example

Imagery in Battle Royal Essay Paper Ralph Ellison, Battle Royal: Literary Analysis Symbolism †the aesthetic and intentional utilization of portrayals in scholarly works †helps with introducing to crowds both express just as verifiable implications of different ideas and elements. Creators, artists, and different arrangers therefore utilize this exceptionally powerful scholarly gadget as they try to pass on shifted messages to crowds. To represent, through the ‘battle royal’ component inside the Invisible Man tale, creator Ralph Ellison utilizes this scholarly gadget to instigate crowds to frame shifted demonstrative just as denotative implications. In particular, the way that the novel’s storyteller, just as his individual schoolmates (all blindfolded), are occupied with a duel is exceptionally emblematic. To strike nearer home, the blindfolded idea of the hopefuls has a profound representative denotative and just as suggestive implications. On the indicative side, such a blindfolded circumstance exhibits the numbness that the gatherings, who are on the whole Blacks, normally uphold. On the other hand, by being occupied with a duel while blindfolded, the ten Black adolescents show that the Black populace is for the most part in reverse concerning trying to pick up information and comprehension. What's more, by utilizing this representative component, Ellison adds a further wind to the story’s by and large significance. For instance, it is prominent that the Blacks don't exhibit any huge opposition towards going head to head their individual Blacks in a visually impaired duel. It in this way appears just as the Blacks are latent partakers of the embarrassment that the Whites dispense on them. We will compose a custom paper test on Symbolism in Battle Royal Essay explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom paper test on Symbolism in Battle Royal Essay explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom paper test on Symbolism in Battle Royal Essay explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer Furthermore, note that the creator utilizes a regular representative component by depicting the Blacks as being blindfolded. This is on the grounds that blindfolds have the ordinary importance of suggesting absence of sight or comprehension. With everything taken into account, in the Invisible Man epic, Ellison consolidates a traditional emblematic component, especially; the creator presents the Black hopefuls as being blindfolded to exhibit their numbness just as their (the Blacks’) general lack of concern towards looking for equity, progress and improvement. For instance, with respect to the suggestive ramifications of this representative component, by being blindfolded, the Black young people point to a general reluctance of the Black people group to shake for constructive change. For example, it is truly striking that the Blacks have apparently consented to be blindfolded, with no important opposition, and afterward proceeded to take part in a duel. This perspective portrays the Blacks as being individuals who are in a type of safe place as to upholding for sociopolitical changes with respect to the predicament of the Blacks. Consequently, the Blacks are viewed just like a for the most part unconcerned gathering of individuals with respect to looking for financial rights like those of the Whites. Then again, the denotative emblematic significance of the blindfolded state of the Black adolescents is that Blacks don't by and large cautiously contemplate over the vast majority of their activities. For example, it is without question that the duel that the Blacks are occupied with is muddled attributable to the absence of the commitment of the significant feeling of sight. It in this way follows what the young people utilize generally as they duel is instinct and even simple mystery. So also, Blacks are emblematically depicted as doing their things erratically through this representative component. Taking everything into account, Ellison’s Invisible Man novel’s ‘battle royal’ component utilizes the representative component of the dueling and blindfolded Black young people to investigate certain Black characteristics. For instance, this delineation shows that Blacks by and large come up short on an unequivocal concentration in their exercises. Then again, the general disregard among Blacks is illustrated.

Semiotic is a discipline, which can provide a unified framework for Essay

Semiotic is a control, which can give a bound together structure to leading the various exercises inside data syste - Essay Example These components will give the premise of the conversation on how the bound together structures alongside different capacities will assist associations with tackling the difficulties involved in planning, fabricating and keeping up data frameworks. The Quest for Meaning Henry Stubbes was credited to have originally authored the expression semeiotics when he recognized it as a part of clinical science that decipher signs (Bhaduri, 2008, pp.246). John Locke additionally alluded to the terms semeiotike and semeiotics when he clarified his idea about the parts of science. He expressed: All that can fall inside the compass of human comprehension, being either, first, the nature of things, as they are in themselves, their relations, and their way of activity: or, besides, that which man himself should do, as a sound and willful operator, for the achievement of any end, particularly satisfaction: or, thirdly, the available resources whereby the information on both the one and the other of t hese is accomplished and imparted; I figure science might be separated appropriately into these three sorts (Locke, 1823, pp.174). It was Locke’s third branch, where he referenced semiotics as one of those piece of definite information. Crafted by Charles Pierce and later on Ferdinand de Saussure, nonetheless, settled the cutting edge idea of the control. Penetrate alluded to the idea of semiotic as a semi fundamental or formal principle of signs. His situation on signs depends on his three characterizations of its measurements: symbols, records and images (Rahmann, 2001, pp.4). Saussure added to the semiotic idea through his talk of his adaptation of semiotics, which he called as semiology. In 1915, he announced that: A science that reviews the life of signs inside society is possible; it would be a piece of social brain research and subsequently of general brain research; I will call it Semiology. Semiology would give what comprises indications, what laws administer themâ⠂¬ ¦ Linguistics is just a piece of the general study of semiology; the laws found by semiology will be relevant to etymology (refered to in Rahmann, pp.3) Today, disciples of semiotics consider, decipher, arrange and break down signs as per the way of transmission. The code is a vital variable in this procedure since it is the methods by which significance is comprehended. Another word, for instance could without much of a stretch be authored. Saussure did this with his â€Å"semiology† term. The demonstration alone didn't guarantee that importance is transmitted. In the first place, the word must be perceived by the general public. At that point, it must be transmitted by the linguistic structures and codes of such society. This is the general structure that supports semiotics. In the current language, semiology is semiotics. Let us think about the instance of a sonnet. It is a case of a semiotic framework since it is comprised of signs as substance or cadence, wherein each establish a term and an idea similar to the vibe that one will involvement in the style of the saying. One can likewise refer to the instance of a tune. State, in Kenny Loggins’ melody Footloose: the verses is the message, the score turns into a book and the gadget where these are conveyed could be a computerized music player. These models show how semiotic frameworks are viewed as the association of examples that encapsulate signs, which â€

Where to Park

Where to Park When one attends the University of Illinois, they will find a time when they need to park on campus. The experience can be a nerve-racking, stressful, and surprisingly difficult situation. After being on campus for nearly a semester, I have had some eventful moments parking, including lack of signage, meter madness, and simple logistical woes. Courtesy: IP Innovations One of the first parking experiences I had was when I needed to get to a class in little time. Not knowing about parking phone apps and places to park beforehand, I rushed to the building of my lecture, only to find nowhere to park. Later, I settled for a spot a block away, but had no change to pay. Luckily, I found that there was a phone app, Mobile Meter, to pay. With that, I made it to class on time and just want to recommend planning parking ahead on campus. Another adventure was the result of a class which went over on time. When on campus, one has to remember that non-permit parking is timed, and as a result, needs to be calculated. I made the mistake of assuming normal class time and came out to a parking ticket for $10. It was a small price to pay for learning how to park on a large campusâ€"or city, for that matter. It also brought up the lesson that campus parking is something which you need to think about with room for error or great consideration. In other words, add extra meter time and remember when you must re-attend you car. Courtesy: Meridian City Lastly, the final lesson I could share relates to the time in which I parked in an unmarked lot on campus near another lecture building. All of the lots I had seen before had signs all over for permit parking and meters. However, to my surprise, I found on my way out a notice of parking in a permit space. Lucky for me I was able to appeal the fine because of the lack of notification, and in the process, I learned no parking spot is free on campus, no matter how badly labeled. Courtesy: Strivin 2 Be Green Hence, parking can be a bother at the University of Illinois without knowing details such as these. A student needs to remember that to park, they need to plan out their trip and lot ahead of time, keep track of the meter time, and never assume a section on campus has free parking available. Truly the best options are to walk, bus, or bike to class. Jacob Class of 2018 I am a transfer student studying Engineering Physics in the College of Engineering. I started with the Illinois Engineering Pathways program through the College of DuPage. I am from Naperville, Illinois.

What You Need to Know About Weekend MBA Programs

A weekend MBA program is a part-time business degree program with class sessions that are held on the weekend, usually on Saturdays. The program results in a Master of Business Administration degree. Weekend MBA programs are typically campus-based but may incorporate some form of distance learning, such as video-based lectures or online discussion groups. Most weekend MBA programs are just that: programs that take place on the weekend. However, there are some programs that have weekend and evening classes. Programs like this have classes on the weekend as well as classes that take place in the evening on weekdays. Types of Weekend MBA Programs There are two basic types of weekend MBA programs: the first is a traditional MBA program for students who would enroll in a typical MBA degree program, and the second is an executive MBA program. An executive MBA program, or EMBA, is specifically designed for corporate executives, managers, and other working professionals with extensive work experience. Although work experience can vary, most executive MBA students have 10-15 years of work experience on average. Many executive MBA students also receive full or partial company sponsorship, meaning that they typically receive some form of tuition reimbursement. Top Business Schools With Weekend MBA Programs There are a growing number of business schools offering weekend MBA programs. Some of the top business schools in the country offer this program option for people who want to attend school part-time. Some examples include: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business: At Chicago Booth, students meet every Saturday for 11 weeks at a time and earn an MBA degree in 2.5 to 3 years. The curriculum for the weekend MBA program is the same as the curriculum for the full-time MBA program.The University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business: At Berkeley Haas, students can choose from a weekend or evening schedule for MBA classes and could earn their degree in as little as 2.5 years. Weekend MBA classes are held on Saturdays in the spring and fall, but year-round activities are available.Kellogg School of Management at Northwest University: Kelloggs weekend MBA program takes place on Saturdays, but students can choose to take evening classes in addition to weekend classes. There are two weekend MBA options: traditional pace and accelerated. The traditional option takes 20.5 months to complete, while the accelerated option requires fewer credits and evening classes and takes 15.5 months to complete. Pros and Cons of Weekend MBA Programs There are many good reasons to consider a weekend MBA program, but this education option might not be the best choice for everyone. Lets explore a few pros and cons of weekend MBA programs. Pros The biggest advantage of weekend MBA programs is that you can take all of your classes on the weekend, which makes it easier to work part-time or full-time while you earn your degree.A weekend MBA program may make it easier to attend a business school that is not located near your home. It is not unusual for MBA students to fly in from somewhere else for weekend classes.Some full-time MBA programs take two years to complete. You can often earn your degree in the same amount of time (or close to it) as you would in a full-time program by attending part-time weekend MBA programs.Some weekend MBA programs allow you to reduce your tuition costs. In other words, you might pay less for a weekend MBA program than you would for a traditional, full-time MBA program. Cons Classes might take place just one day per week in a weekend MBA program, but you will have to put in work on other days of the week to keep up with your studies.Being able to put what you learn into practice right away in an advantage for students who work while they attend school, but it is also important to remember that it can be exhausting to work and study at the same time. Furthermore, there will come a day when you have to choose between work and academic commitments, and one is likely to suffer because of your choice.Students in full-time programs sometimes get the opportunity to spend more time with their cohorts, which is conducive to relationship building. In a weekend MBA program, you may not have as many opportunities to network or make friends.

Marilyn Monroe And Frankenstein Essay - 1589 Words

Marilyn Monroe is one of Hollywood’s most famed actresses and sex symbols. Typically cast in the â€Å"dumb-blonde† roles, Monroe’s true personality and intelligence was not reflected in the stereotypical characters she portrayed. Despite her fame and popularity, Monroe faced numerous struggles throughout her life until her death, an apparent suicide by drug overdose, in 1962. In this sense, she was actually quite similar to Frankenstein’s monster from the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. The monster is brought to life by Victor Frankenstein only to be abandoned moments after his creation. Desperate to find companionship and make sense of the world, the monster ventures off on his own, only to be shunned by society because of unnatural†¦show more content†¦In a desperate attempt to cure her depression and anxiety, Monroe resorted to drugs and eventually became addicted (Henrikson). This drug addiction led to Monroe’s apparent suicide c aused by a drug overdose in 1962 (History.com Staff). Despite facing this long list of struggles, Monroe continued acting and even got professional help. In 1961, Monroe admitted herself to the Payne-Whitney Clinic in New York, but soon transferred to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (Doll). Several conspiracy theories have arisen over the decades regarding Monroe’s apparent suicide, some claim that her psychiatrists messed up her prescription and killed her accidentally (Henrikson). One of the most popular theories is that she was murdered by the Kennedys after a rumor emerged saying that she had a â€Å"brief fling† with President John F. Kennedy (Henrikson). Regardless of whether these theories are true, Monroe was an incredible woman with amazing â€Å"strength and resilience† to be able to accomplish all that she did, despite the struggles she faced. Frankenstein’s monster is actually quite similar to Monroe in the sense that he also faced many difficulties throughout his short life. The monster’s struggles begin the moment he is created when Victor Frankenstein, filled with â€Å"breathless horror and disgust†, flees from the monsterShow MoreRelated The Pros and Cons of Human Cloning Essay3781 Words   |  16 Pageshuman cloning by a misinformed public would be a sorry episode in human history. This essay will discuss both the advantages and the alleged negative consequences of human cloning. What is a Human Clone? A human clone is really just a time-delayed identical twin of another person. Science fiction novels and movies have given people the impression that human clones would be mindless zombies, Frankenstein monsters, or doubles. This is all complete nonsense. Human clones would be human beingsRead MoreThe Studio System Essay14396 Words   |  58 Pagesaspect of the business . During the 1920s, and 1930s the Hollywood film studios undertook a major evolutionary period. The inception of the Hollywood ‘studio system’ was to change the film making process radically. The following essay will examine how these changes took place, and what impact it had on the film making industry in America. We shall also examine how the system relates to the current production methods used in film making. The main issues raised within

Cultural Event Pan’s Labyrinth Free Essays

XI LIU Cultural Event Paper: Pan’s Labyrinth I like watching movies, and I want to learn about different cultures from different countries. So I attended the cultural event of 2012 Foreign Film Series at 7:00 pm in October 9th. I was so excited that the Art History Organization gave us a chance to watch a Spanish film called Pan’s Labyrinth. We will write a custom essay sample on Cultural Event: Pan’s Labyrinth or any similar topic only for you Order Now I had heard of it before, but I had never watched it. This film combined the fantasy world and the real world perfectly. That is to say, it is a film of magic realism. I was attracted by the plot of the film, and I was astonished by the director’s conception and the visual effects even though a few scenes were a little bit disgusting and scary. The background of the story was traced to 1944, five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War. Spain was shrouded under the haze of fascist dictatorship. Those who were communist party members and the democratic persons were hunted down and killed savagely by the army. The plot of the movie develops with resistance against forces of General Francisco Franco, whose leader was Captain Vidal and who ruled Spain as dictator. The protagonist Ofelia entered a magic world with three challenges that Pan gave to her. The film opened with the sound of a faint melody which was accompanied by the sound of Ofelia’s breathing and the frames of blood streaming from Ofelia’s nose while she was lying on the ground. With the background of white words showing on the screen and the voiceover telling us Ofelia’s status of princess in underground realm, the story started. Ofelia, who was twelve years old, took her pregnant mother to the north to rendezvous with her stepfather Vidal, whose real identity was a fascist officer responsible for repression of the local guerrillas. The purpose of Vidal’s living with Ofelia and her mother was his flesh and blood son to be born, and Vidal’s only pleasure was to study all kinds of ways to torture people who were caught. After watching her cold stepfather doing evil for fun, her sick mother and witnessing violence, Ofelia, who was surrounded by loneliness and fear, became addicted to fantasy for consolation. She was led to a deserted mill which was the entrance to the labyrinth by an insect elf, and the labyrinth porter who had long horns with goats and transparent eyes was waiting for her arrival. Pan told Ofelia that she was actually a lost princess from the underground kingdom and she had to accept three challenges and complete the tasks in order to go back to her kingdom. The first task was to save an old tree. Because there was a huge toad living in the root of the tree, the tree was on the edge of death. She had to take out a golden key from the toad’s stomach. The second task was to use the golden key to retrieve a dagger. In that room, there was an evil creature sitting at a table with a feast of beautiful foods which she could not eat. She was within an inch of her life after giving in to temptation. At the same time, her stepfather began more offensive activities of killing people above ground. Ofelia’s struggling with nightmares blurred the boundaries of reality and fantasy. The third task was to use her half-blooded brother’s pure blood to open the door of underground. Ofelia refused this requirement due to her virtuous heart. She didn’t realize that her stepfather had followed her, and she got shot by him. The scene was back to the initial scene of Ofelia’s streaming blood from her nose lying on the ground at the start of the movie. The ending of the movie can be interpreted in two ways. If it was real, she rejoined the kingdom using her own pure blood and opening the door of entrance. If not, then she ended the movie happy and certain that she was going to a better place, with the dictator powerless to stop her. Pan’s labyrinth is a movie based in a real historical background. It is clear to show us the antiwar attitudes with the development of the two main plots. However, it combines the cruel reality and the beautiful fantasy world perfectly to indicate the damages and hurt of the Second World War from the angle of a girl’s point of view. The role of Ofelia represents the whole group of children who were the victims who suffered most at that time. They were eager to live in a world of fairy tale. However, the war destroyed their real dream, leaving despair, hate and agony. One of the director’s obvious artistic characteristics is that he did well in applying contrasts to achieve great artistic effects. He uses the nice fairy tale to contrast the cruel reality and the darkness of humanity. The scene at the end of the movie, which was the same as the beginning, gives me a deep impression of an innocence girl. Thus it clarifies the abhorrence to the war and spiritual sustenance of longing for beauty. The question at issue that Pan’s labyrinth brings to us is whether fantasies can rescue us from fascism. Around this theme, the director set out two main lines of the plot; one is the reality and the other is the girl’s fantasy world. Three challenges that the girl aced with and the atrocities of Captain Vidal which center on the question at issue reveal that fantasies cannot rescue us from fascism finally. In terms of importance, relevance and sufficiency, a very famous writer Justin Zhang for Slant Magazine stated that this film used a large number of symbolisms of blood to unveiled Pan’s labyrinth god’s mysterious veil (Zhang 24). This movie provides us suff icient and detailed content to reflect the inhumanity of Captain Vidal and the innocence of the little girl. The military executed justice with brutality, violence, cruelty, and no respect for civil rights. The examples of Vidal executing the man that was telling the truth about hunting rabbits, the doctor without any trial, and shooting Ofelia for no real crime, in addition to the brutal interrogation methods, embodies the inhumanity of Vidal. When Ofelia’s mother was in dystocia, he chose to save his baby son’s life but not his wife. These examples are important and relevant to reflect the character of Vidal. The example of Ofelia’s giving up using her half-blooded brother’s pure blood to open the door to the underground kingdom indicates her essence of innocence. All these examples of Vidal and Ofelia are important and relevant to the question at issue and the purpose. Pan’s labyrinth is a movie with deep understanding and implications. At first, it conveys a meaningful anti-war topic. The three tasks that Pan gave to Ofelia were to see if she dared to question when she realized that she was wrong. Eating grapes without resisting temptation in the second task and her refusal of handing over her brother indicates that she was an innocent girl with a rebellious spirit. All the settings of the roles and scenes have their unique meaning. For instance, the scene of Vidal having his mouth cut open by Mercedes is derived from a tradition of Chelsea Smile. British people will cut the traitors’ or the enemies’ mouth as the shape of smile for punishment. The painting of Saturn Devouring One of his Children which was drawn by Spanish painter Goya, hung on the wall in the room where Ofelia finished her second task, is derived from a legend of Greek Mythology. It’s a painting with dark humor to interpret anti-war means. The design of the name of the leading role Ofelia is from Hamlet, written by Shakespeare. This may imply the tragic destiny of the little girl. In short, it is a film that has deep meaning regarding anti-war believing, rebellious spirit and challenges. Not only does it set out an issue that is worth thinking, but it also eulogizes justice and bravery. All these symbolism and settings reflect on its depth and make it a perfect film. However, Pan’s labyrinth does not exist. It was made up by the director, but it is based on a real background. It is precise in describing all the characters of the roles in detail. And, also, it describes the violent scene more directly, such as the face with bloody pile of flesh and the scene of Vidal’s sewing his own mouth which was cut open. It has a visual power to make us know the cruelty of the reality. The scenes switch with accuracy and precision so that we do not feel the movie boring and long. It arranges all three challenges which interlace with Captain Vidal’s atrocities within two hours. So, I think that the movie is a success in its precision of characterization and mysterious scenes. In all, I like this movie. It gives me both visual impact and strong emotional shock. It’s a fantasy story based on the real history. The fantasy world gives me an illusion of beauty, but the cruel reality makes me sober enough to rethink profoundly and see the history clearly. This movie arouses people’s thinking about whether fantasies can rescue us from fascism. The director used the deep symbolism and settings to make the film more thoughtful and have anti-war meaning in depth. The film also gives me a chance to do some research on the background and analyze the implications that the director made. I wish I could watch more movies like this in the future. Work Cited Zhang, Justin. â€Å"The Esoteric Interpretation of â€Å"Pan’s Labyrinth†. †Ã‚  Slant Magzine. 06 2006: 24. print How to cite Cultural Event: Pan’s Labyrinth, Essay examples

Life in Japanese Internment Camp free essay sample

The evacuees produced own food and other products for themselves. II. The evacuees adapted to their new environment by creating means of joy and happiness. A. The internees played games and sports. B. The internees made use of arts and music to create joy. C. The internees, especially women, enjoyed the freedom from having to do housework. D. The internees continued with what they did outside the barbed wire. III. The internees had no privacy and were always reminded of the fact that they are being controlled and supervised. A. Everywhere, they are surrounded by factors that force them to acknowledge the fact that they are being interned such as barbed wire and soldiers. B. The lack of privacy can be shown during meal time. C. The structure of the camps are meant to give the internees no private time. IV. The internees lost relationship with people around them. A. The internees lost relationship with their families. We will write a custom essay sample on Life in Japanese Internment Camp or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page B. The internees lost relationship with their village people. . C. The internment forced the internees to lose the traditional relationship etween Issei and Nisei. Conclusion The Unimaginable: The Life in Japanese American Internment Camp World War II was a time of mass hatred and unnecessary sufferings of innocents. This belief is, in most part, based off of the establishment of Jewish concentration camp for the Holocaust. However, that is not the whole picture. Japanese Americans in the United States of America were forcefully moved to concentration camps, what they called relocation camps, and lost all their possessions just because they looked like the citizens of Japan who attacked the U. S. in December 7th, 1941. These Japanese Americans, men, women, and babies, had to suffer the consequences of the action taken by the people on the other side of the world just because of their appearance and ethnicity. During the internment, even though the Japanese Americans were able to adapt to their new environment, the Japanese American internment camps robbed the evacuees of their basic rights. The evacuees adapted to their new environment by establishing communities and creating joy within the harsh conditions. Despite so, the camps took away the internees’ rights to have privacy and forced them to lose relationship with people they love and care. Since the 1880s, the Japanese came to United States of America for sugar and pineapple crops in Hawaii (Fremon 12). By 1900, there were almost 25,000 Japanese Americans, including Issei, first generation, and Nisei, Issei’s children, in the Pacific Coast (12). However, more and more anti-Japanese groups including the Japanese Laundry League formed as Japanese succeeded in their American lives (13). Starting from there, the Japanese Americans had to face discrimination from every corner of their lives. In 1906, San Francisco removed Japanese students from white school and made them attend the segregated school in Chinatown (13). This problem was resolved by the Gentlemen’s agreement between America and Japan in which Japan agreed to stop Japanese immigration and American agreed to stop the segregated school system (14). Facing discrimination, the Issei and Nisei still did well; only 1600 Issei owned farms, but they produced almost 30%-35% of all fruits or vegetables in California (18). They united with each other and helped each other live in the U. S. A. Continuing with the discrimination from whites and the endurance of that discrimination, Japanese population was less than one-tenth of U. S. population, and they were not a threat to American neighbors by number (20). However, the Japanese Americans’ lives were diminished by the Japanese aircraft attack of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December 7, 1941 (Grapes 12). In addition to the already-existing Japanese discrimination, the Pearl Harbor attack and the accusation of â€Å"fifth column† activity by Japanese triggered the anti-Asian sentiment (12). The attack of Pearl Harbor made the Japanese Americans the target of Americans; a few hours after the attack, about 3000 suspected spies, mostly Japanese Americans, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Yancey 25). By the night of December 7, 1942, hundreds of people were in custody (Fremon 22). Also, on December 8, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to Congress for a Declaration of War against Japan (7). Then, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which was one of the greatest violations of civil rights in American history (31). This order, recommended by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and General John DeWitt, gave the army the right to â€Å"relocate all persons of Japanese lineage as well as others who might threaten the security of the country† (Yancey 29). With this order, more than 112,000 Japanese Americans, treated as traitors, were evacuated from the western coast in 1942 (Fremon 8). After the passage of the order, DeWitt issued first proclamation on March 2, 1942 which â€Å"called for two military zones: zone 1 covered the western third of California, Oregon, and Washington, and the southern quarter of Arizona; Zone 2 covered remainder of four states† (34). Japanese Americans had to leave the zone by direct and indirect force, and the government passed the law which gave the military authority to move Nisei and Issei (34). Along with that, the Executive Order 9012, passed in March, created the War Relocation Authority (WRA) (35). The WRA’s job was to take charge of the internees after they were moved to the camps (35). The Japanese American Citizen League (JACL) tried to fight against it. However, because it was too young and they were afraid that Americans would think they were really spies if they won’t cooperate, JACL decided to follow WRA (36). Furthermore, in â€Å"March 27, DeWitt issued Public Proclamation Number 4 which forced persons of Japanese ancestry to stay in military zone 1 after the end of the month, and on March 27, DeWitt issued Exclusion Order Number 1 in which persons of Japanese ancestry were moved from Washington to camp in Manzanar, California† (37). During the war, there were more than 100 evacuation orders and, through this, the innocent Japanese Americans suffered the consequences (37). Despite the abrupt news of internment, the Japanese Americans managed to quickly adapt to the newly provided environment. One of the ways that the Japanese Americans adapted to their new environment was by forming communities at the camps. This is one of the first things that the evacuees did at the camps, and they, with WRA, did so by establishing schools. One of every four evacuees was a child, â€Å"so college-educated Nisei began organizing schools, some of the first institutions to be established in the camps† (Yancey Life in a Japanese 53). On September 15, 1942, nursery and elementary schools opened in Manzanar Camp, a relocation camp in Manzanar, under the leadership of Dr. Genevieve W. Carter, a female superintendent of education for the camp (Cooper 31). The classes began in assembly centers, led by inexperienced, but eager volunteers. After the WRA took over, it hired Caucasian teachers to live and work in the camps (Yancey Life in a Japanese 54). However, not many came to the camp because the pay was low, $1,620 a year. At Manzanar Camp, along with the 1,100 elementary school students, there were almost 1,400 high school students. The high school opened in September 28 and â€Å"it filled block seven: the mess hall, recreation building, and all fourteen barracks† (Cooper 31). There were as many as sixty students in a classroom (Cooper 31). At first, the classes did not have supplies such as blackboards, books, chairs, tables, and lab equipment (Yancey Life in a Japanese 55). However, many eagerly studied and thousands graduated high school in the camp and went to college or professional schools (Yancey Life in a Japanese 55). With the establishment of the school system, the evacuees got used to their new environment little by little. Along with the school system, the establishment of self-government helped to shape the new community in the camp. Each camp had its own Caucasian administrator and staff who were businesslike individuals who tried to overn fairly and give residents as much freedom as possible. One of the examples of this is when director Harry Stafford allowed the Minidoka, Idaho, Nisei baseball team to go to Idaho Falls to participate in the state championship. Also, at Manzanar, a camp official said, ‘The back gate of the camp was often open; the farm hands went freely in and out and [director Ralp h] Merritt looked with lenience upon recreational sorties [outings], since they were no danger to military security’† (Yancey The Internment 53). However, the Caucasian administration lacked the ability to control every aspect of the large camp. Thus, the evacuees elected or appointed spokespersons, or block managers, usually respected Issei, who linked the internees and staff (Yancey The Internment 53). These managers â€Å"supervised grounds maintenance, ensured that everyone had necessary provisions, and passed on official WRA announcements† (Yancey The Internment 53). In addition to the administrator and the block manager, there were community councils, mostly young adult Nisei who spoke English and were Americanized. These people worked on jobs such as policy making and dealing with mild infractions of the law (54). The fact that the evacuees organized themselves into different levels or ranks show that they are willing to adapt to the new camp life. Finally, the evacuees established community through producing their own food and other products. At first, the WRA took responsibility of feeding the evacuees and they did so by giving the evacuees American food (Yancey The Internment 51). One internee said, â€Å"They issued us army mess kits, the round metal kind that fold over, and plopped in scoops of canned Vienna sausage, canned string beans, [and] steamed rice that had been cooked too long† (Yancey The Internment 51). Then, when the evacuees did not finish their portion because the food was too bad, the authorities decided to cut down the portion; the authorities thought the evacuees did so because the portion was too large (51). In response, the internees took the responsibility. The farmers and laborers plowed, planted, and produced crops such as â€Å"cabbage, squash, tomatoes, and soybeans (51). These crops they produced are the main ingredient for most of the Japanese diet (51). In addition, some raised cattle, poultry, and hogs, and with these, the menus became more various and the life in camp became much more tolerable. Along with food production, the evacuees worked in food processing; the internees at Manzanar made their own soy sauce, and tofu-making plants were a part of each camp (51). To obtain jars for glassware, they ate great amount of peanut butter (52). By doing so, the evacuees were able to establish small repair shops, beauty parlors, and dry-goods stores which resembled communities from outside the barbed wire (52). As the internees gained more authority over some aspects of their lives, such as diet, they were able to establish their own communities at the camps. Another way that the evacuees adapted to their new environment was by making their lives more enjoyable by actually creating happiness in the situation they were given. One way to create happiness was through sports. Aside from the common belief that the internees could only sleep, eat, and work, sports were one of the activities that took the time of many evacuees (Fremon 49). Even in normal society, sports are used to entertain both players and the audience, and the fact that sports existed at the camps show how the evacuees also tried to create some entertainment at the camps. Some of the sports they played include basketball, volleyball, and sumo wrestling with baseball being the most popular (Fremon 50). For example, a baseball team, Livingston Dodgers, brought their uniforms and equipment to the camp and one of the players, Gilbert Tanji, said that he actually liked camp better than outside because there was more competition (50). In fact, there were as many as 100 teams active at one time at some centers and they ranged from children to Issei in their sixties (Yancey The Internment 56). The big number shows how popular sports were and how great people’s longing for entertainment and joy was at the camps. These teams competed against each other and some, the Hunt team, even went out to the state championship (Yancey The way 62). Indoor sports were present too though they were limited to those that took little space like â€Å"Ping-Pong, judo, boxing and badminton† (Yancey The Internment 56). Also, by the end of 1943, the evacuees were occasionally permitted to leave the grounds so that hiking and swimming became popular pastimes (56). From these sports, the internees were able to create happiness and enjoy the life in camp more. In addition to sports, which were mostly for men, women tried to make their lives at camp better by enjoying the freedom they were provided. They were freed from the obligation of the traditional role and filled that time with what they actually wished to do. Before entering the camp, women had their time filled with unending hard work such as cleaning, shopping, cooking, sewing, and more (Yancey Life in a Japanese 53). Because they had to help both their children and their husbands when they were in need, they had almost no leisure time to sit and talk with friends (53). However, their lives changed after they got in the camps. They did not have to clean too much given that the houses were single-room apartments, did not have to prepare meals given that they were served three times a day, did not have to clean much given that the government provided some clothes, and did not have to care about paying bills too much given that there were only few bills to be paid (Yancey Life in a Japanese 53). With the new free time, women were able to develop friendships and take care of themselves more often (Yancey Life in a Japanese 53). They enjoyed the newly earned leisure time and began developing hobbies or new interests at the camps (Yancey Life in a Japanese 53). Therefore, women were able to enjoy the life at the camps with their acceptance to the new leisure time. Furthermore, the continuing of activities from outside the barbed wire also provided happiness for the evacuees. One example of these activities is the gardening (Fremon 59). The internees who enjoyed gardening and who continued to do so in the camps took great pride in making their barren surroundings as beautiful as possible (Yancey Life in a Japanese 61). By working together to create large gardens and landscaping parks that required constant care, the internees were able to spend time with their favorite actions. In general, people forget their current situation when they concentrate on an activity they enjoy very much (Yancey Life in a Japanese 61). With these gardeners, the Gila Camp, located in Arizona desert, turned into a beautiful community with lawns, trees, and vegetable gardens (Yancey Life in a Japanese 31). At other camps, there were small gardens planted by the evacuees in front of their shelters (Fremon 60). Similar to gardening, the farmers took great pride in products they produced (Yancey Life in a Japanese 59). At Manzanar camp, the farmers cultivated almost fifteen hundred acres of land and at Gila River camp, they cultivated over seven thousand (Yancey Life in a Japanese 59-60). The crops ranged from vegetables, including cabbage, squash, and tomatoes, to field crops such as soybeans and guayule (Yancey Life in a Japanese 60). The farmers at Manzanar camp also provided the internees with fresh apples and pears by reviving abandoned an orchard from a previous owner (Yancey Life in a Japanese 60). By doing gardening and cultivating crops, the internees felt proud and created joy inside the barbed wire. Lastly, the internees became happy was through arts and music. At the camps, former musicians formed bands and orchestras and performed music from classical music to the â€Å"jitterbug for high school dances† (Yancey Life in a Japanese 62). Also, schools embraced music by having classes such as choir classes and performing concerts (Houston and Houston 90). At the camps, there were, as examples provided, music, the schools performed in concerts, assemblies, and talent shows. With these activities, the internees were kept busy and distracted from thinking about the fact that they are guiltlessly arrested (Houston and Houston 90). Despite the Japanese Americans’ attempts to adapt to their new environment, the camps continuously reminded the internees that they are being arrested. During the camp life, it was almost impossible for the internees to forget about the fact that they were being arrested and were always being watched. The relocation centers were surrounded by barbed wire fences, guard towers with machine guns, and searchlights (Yancey Life in a Japanese 47). Though they were just barbed wire fences, the mindset and the feeling of being trapped were very much present within the existence of the fences. With these fences, along with the machine guns and searchlights, the evacuees must have realized that they were being trapped every second. Furthermore, most of the relocation camps were located in desolate regions of the country, far from cities, highways, and railroads. Also, they were built at the most unproductive land; the Jerome and Rohwer camps were built on â€Å"Arkansas swampland infested with malarial mosquitoes† (Yancey Life in a Japanese 46). At some camps, the temperature went up high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit: Topaz center (Yancey Life in a Japanese 46). The climate was so bad that one internee said, â€Å"The desert was bad enough The constant storms loaded with sand and dust made it worse Down in our hearts we cried and cursed this government every time when we were showered with dust† (Yancey Life in a Japanese 47). With the weather so disastrous, the internees were kept reminded of the fact that they are at relocation camps and that their lives had changed because of the internment. With the continuous reminder that they are being interned by their own government, the internees faced the lack of privacy. One of the evidence that the life in camps showed lack of privacy was the meal time. The meals were provided three times a day, as mentioned above, and they were communal (Yancey Life in a Japanese 44). The internees ate at noisy cafeteria-style mess halls where people stood in long lines and ate at big tables (Cooper 25). One of the evacuees said, â€Å"It wasn’t like having a meal made at home with loving hands† (Cooper 25). For most Japanese people, mealtime was the center of their family scene, but after they came to the internment camps, they lost the big part of family private time Houston and Houston 30). Therefore, the mealtimes show that the evacuees lacked privacy they used to enjoy. In addition to the mealtime, the whole building structure of the camps prevented the evacuees from having any private time. First of all, the houses were very small with one-room apartment measuring twenty by twenty five feet where, in most cases, two families had to live (Cooper 25). Thus, for every apartment, there were about eight to ten people who did not know each other. They had sleep while â€Å"listening to the heavy snoring of strange bedfellow† (Cooper 25). Not only were the evacuees forced to sleep in small rooms that looked like â€Å"chicken coops† where â€Å"there were no ceilings so that if a baby cried 150 feet down on the other end of this long line of cubicles, the crying could be heard throughout the entire building,† the fact that they had to share even that room with other strangers made the condition seem inhumane (Alonso 40). Also, the camps were built in a way that even the bathrooms and showers had no dividers (Alonso 41). The toilets were back-to-back down the middle of the room and for the internees who enjoyed the luxury of hot, relaxing bath before, this was very shocking (Yancey Life in a Japanese 44). One woman felt like the camps were dehumanizing the internees and said that one â€Å"cannot deport 110,000 people unless [he] has stopped seeing individuals† (Alonso 42). Regarding the information, one can undoubtedly state that the internees were given no right to have privacy or even be humans at the camps. Lastly, the Japanese Americans had to suffer loss of relationship with the people they love. The internment forced the Japanese Americans to lose relationships with their families. For the Japanese Americans, it is their culture to eat together and have mealtime as center of their family scene. However, after they were arrested, they were forced to eat at the mess halls where it was almost impossible to bring families together. For example, the older members of family, mostly grandparents, had to get their food delivered because they could not walk three blocks three times a day. Also, children began eating with their friends instead of their family (Houston and Houston 30-31). After continuing with this kind of life for few years, the Japanese Americans collapsed in the end. One of the internees said that â€Å"whatever dignity or feeling of filial strength we may have known before December 1941 was lost, and we did not recover it until many years after the war† (Houston and Houston 32). Having a good family relationship is one of the key points in living a happy life, but the internment forced the Japanese Americans to lose their rights to do so. In addition to family relationships, the Japanese Americans lost relationships with their beloved neighbors and village people. Mary Tsukamoto, one of the internees, and her family had to experience separation with their beloved community people. Their community, consisting of mostly Japanese Americans, went through hardships, such as the Depression, and were very close to each other. They laughed, cried, and mourned together. However, they had to be separated when the internment of Japanese Americans were announced; the line that divided people into different camps was drawn in the middle of the community. This was such a big shock that one of the community member said, â€Å"We’ll never forget the shock and grief and the sorrow on top of everything else that was happening to us† (Grapes 132-133). Because of the internment, the Japanese Americans had to give up on their relationship with people they love, and this is something that should not have happened just because of their ethnicity and appearances. Lastly, the traditional relationship between the Issei and Nisei was lost because of the internment. Before the internment, the young Issei listened nd respected the older and experienced Nisei. However, at the camps, the Issei began forming gangs because they did not have to help their parents after school anymore. Not only that, they used the fact that they are United States citizens and that they outnumber Nisei to overpower them. In response, Nisei generation ridiculed the Issei for having powerless citizenship (Fremon 64-65). From these, it is apparent that the Nisei and Issei lost their traditional relationship and some internees never regained the relationship even when the internment was over. After all, the Japanese Americans adjusted to their new environment and at the same time, suffered consequences of the attack of the Pearl Harbor. They adjusted by forming new communities and creating joy, and they suffered the lack of privacy and loss of relationships because of the internment. On December 18, 1944, the United States Army finally declared that the evacuation of Japanese Americans is over. However, the order formally came into effect on January 2, 1945 (Alonso 96). Even though they were free from internment, they still had to suffer the aftermath of the internment through rebuilding trust, wealth, and communities; in some cases, they were still treated as if they are threat to the American community (Alonso 97). Therefore, in 1948, the federal government passed the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act which â€Å"allowed those who were in internment camps to file claims with the federal government, asking the United States government to pay back Japanese Americans for the money or property they lost† (Alonso 97). However, this Act had many problems. The Act was passed too late for it to help many Japanese Americans and the lost financial papers and records made the Japanese Americans to defend their lost properties. Also, the process for the repay too long, while the government had to spend almost three times the amount to fight for it (Alonso 97-98). Most of all, the Act did not pay the real price for the properties and the kind of emotional sufferings (Alonso 98). In order to prevent events like this to happen again, President Nixon, in 1971, signed a law that required â€Å"action by Congress before any order like Executive Order 9066 could ever be issued again† (Alonso 99). Later, in 1988, the Japanese Americans felt like they deserved real reparations for their sufferings. Therefore, on August 10, 1988, against many oppositions, the bill for reparation was passed. The bill said that the U. S. government was wrong on suspecting the Japanese Americans of spying and their actions were too extreme. Also, the bill â€Å"promised twenty thousand dollars tax free to each prisoner of the internment camps who was alive when the bill passed† (Alonso 104-105). Even though the Japanese Americans Internment was officially over, the impact of the unjustness will remain forever, so this type of events should never happen in the United States ever again. Works Cited Alonso, Karen. Korematsu V. United States. Springfield: Enslow Publishers, 1998. Cooper, Michael. Remembering Manzanar: Life In a Japanese Relocation Camp. New York: Clarion Books, 2002. Fremon, David. Japanese-American Internment. Springfield: Enslow Publishers, 1996. Grapes, Bryan. Japanese Americans Internment Camps. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2001. Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki and James Houston. Farewell To Manzanar: A True Story Of Japanese American Experience Of During And After The World War II Internment. Boston: San Francisco Book Company and Houghton Mifflin Book, 1973. Yancey, Diane. Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1998. Yancey, Diane. The Internment of the Japanese. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2001.

The History of Intel

The History of Intel In 1968, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore were two unhappy engineers working for the Fairchild Semiconductor Company who decided to quit and create their own company at a time when many Fairchild employees were leaving to create start-ups. People like Noyce and Moore were nicknamed the Fairchildren. Robert Noyce typed up a one-page idea of what he wanted to do with the new company, and that was enough to convince San Francisco venture capitalist Art Rock to back Noyce and Moores new venture. Rock raised $2.5 million dollars in less than two days by selling convertible debentures. Art Rock became the first chairman of Intel. Intel Trademark The name Moore Noyce was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so the two founders decided upon the name Intel for their new company, a shortened version of Integrated Electronics. However, the rights to the name had to be bought from a company called Intelco first. Intel Products In 1969, Intel released the worlds first metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) static ram, the 1101. Also in 1969, Intels first money-making product was the 3101 Schottky bipolar 64-bit static random access memory (SRAM) chip. A year later in 1970, Intel introduced the 1103 DRAM memory chip. In 1971, Intel introduced the now-famous worlds first single chip microprocessor (the computer on a chip)- the Intel 4004- invented by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stanley Mazor. In 1972, Intel introduced the first 8-bit microprocessor- the 8008. In 1974, the Intel 8080 microprocessor was introduced with ten times the power of the 8008. In 1975, the 8080 microprocessor was used in one of the first consumer home computers, the Altair 8800 which was sold in kit form. In 1976, Intel introduced the 8748 and 8048, the first type of microcontroller i.e. a computer-on-a-chip optimized to control electronic devices. Though produced by the USA’s Intel Corporation, the 1993 Pentium was basically the outcome of research conducted by an Indian engineer. Popularly known as the Father of the Pentium chip, the inventor of the computer chip is Vinod Dham.

Serial Killer Nurse Kristen Gilbert

Serial Killer Nurse Kristen Gilbert Kristen Gilbert is a former Veterans Administration (VA) nurse who was found guilty of murdering four VA patients in the early 1990s. She was also convicted of attempting to murder two other hospital patients and has been suspected in the deaths of dozens more.   Childhood Years Kristen Heather Strickland was born Nov. 13, 1967, to parents Richard and Claudia Strickland. She was the oldest of the two daughters in what appeared to be a well-adjusted home. The family moved from Fall River to Groton, Mass., and Kristen lived out her preteen years without any significant problems. As Kristen grew older, however, friends say she became a habitual liar and would boast of being related to Lizzie Borden, a notorious serial killer. She could be manipulative, threatening suicide when angry, and had a history of making violent threats, according to court records. A Nursing Job In 1988 Kristen earned her degree as a registered nurse from Greenfield Community College. That same year, she married Glenn Gilbert, whom she met at Hampton Beach, N.H. In March 1989, she landed a job at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Northampton, Mass., and the young couple bought a home and settled into their new life. To fellow workers, Kristen seemed competent and committed to her job. She was the type of co-worker who would remember birthdays and organize gift exchanges during the holidays. She seemed the social butterfly of the C Ward where she worked. Her superiors rated her nursing as highly skillful and noted how well she reacted during medical emergencies. In late 1990, the Gilberts had their first child, a baby boy. After returning from maternity leave, Kristin switched to the 4 p.m. until midnight shift and almost immediately strange things began to happen. Patients began dying during her shift, tripling the medical centers rate of deaths over the previous three years. During each incident, Kristens calm competent nursing skills shined, and she won the admiration of her fellow workers. An Affair After the Gilberts second child was born in 1993, the couples marriage seemed to falter. Kristen was developing a friendship with James Perrault, a security guard at the hospital, and the two often socialized with other workers at the end of their shifts. At the end of 1994, Gilbert, who was actively having an affair with Perrault, left her husband and their young children. She moved into her own apartment and continued to work at the VA hospital. Kristens co-workers began to grow suspicious  about the deaths that always seemed to occur during her shift. Although many of the patients who died were old or in poor health, there were also patients who had no history of heart problems, yet were dying of cardiac arrest. At the same time, supplies of ephedrine, a drug with the potential to cause heart failure, began to go missing. Suspicious Deaths and a Bomb Threat In late 1995 and early 1996, four patients under Gilberts care died, all of cardiac arrest. In each case, ephedrine was the suspected cause. After three of Gilberts coworkers voiced their concerns that she may have been involved, an investigation was opened. Shortly thereafter, Gilbert left her job at the VA hospital, citing injuries she sustained while at work. By the summer of 1996, Gilbert and Perraults relationship had become strained. In September, federal authorities investigating the hospital deaths interviewed Perrault. Thats when the bomb threats began. On Sept. 26 while working at the VA hospital, Perrault took a phone call from someone claiming to have planted three bombs at the hospital. Patients were evacuated and police called, but no  explosives were found. Similar threats were made to the hospital the next day and on the 30th, all during Perraults shifts. Two Trials It wasnt long before police linked Gilbert to the calls. She was tried and convicted in January 1998 of making a bomb threat and sentenced to 15 months in prison. Federal investigators, meanwhile, were getting closer to linking Gilbert to the patient deaths at the VA hospital. In November of 1998, Gilbert went on trial for murder in the deaths of Henry Hudon,  Kenneth Cutting, and  Edward Skwira, as well as the attempted murders of two other patients,  Thomas Callahan, and Angelo Vella. The following May, Gilbert was also charged in the death of patient Stanley Jagodowski. The trial began in November 2000. According to prosecutors, Gilbert committed the murders because she craved attention and wanted to spend time with Perrault. In seven years at the hospital, prosecutors said, Gilbert was on duty when more than half of the 350 recorded patient deaths occurred. Defense lawyers countered that Gilbert was innocent and that her patients had died of natural causes. On March 14, 2001, jurors found Gilbert guilty  of the first-degree murder in three of the cases and second-degree murder in the fourth. She also was convicted of  attempted murder in the case of two other hospital patients and sentenced to four life sentences. She dropped her appeal of the sentence in 2003. As of February 2017, Gilbert remained incarcerated in federal prison in Texas. Sources Farragher, Thomas. Caregiver or Killer? The Boston Globe. 8 October 2000. Goldberg, Carey. Former Nurse on Trial in Patients Deaths. The New York Times. 23 November 2000. Gorlick, Adam. Murderous Nurse Escapes Death Penalty.  ABC News. 26 March 2001. HLN Staff. When Serial Killers Strike: The Angel of Death on Ward C. CNN. 1 April 2013.

Inquiry 1 creative nonfiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inquiry 1 creative nonfiction - Essay Example fellow classmates at school due to an unfortunate birthmark appearing on her forehead while at home, she receives less support from her kleptomaniac and alcoholic mother together with her absentee father. Her only sources of comfort and refuge comes from her pet rooster coupled by her favorite meals which us sweetened condensed milk. She prefers ti watch a murfs-like cartoon show known as The Noblets. One day as they had gone to the post office with her mother, Mary stumbles across a New York City telephone book and her curiosity drives her into wanting to know more about the Americans. She decides to write to one of the addresses in the book in a bid to establish more facts about the Americans. She randomly chooses Max Jerry Horowitz and proceeds to write him a letter with a hope that they would become pen friends. The letter is well received by Max who is a 44 year old Jewish atheist and he decides to reply back to Mary owing to the fact that they have some shared interests. This leads into the two becoming very good friends which does not go well with Mary’s mother. Max becomes extremely anxious at the point collapse when Mary asked him about love. Upon his release from the hospital, he hesitates to write back to Mary for a long period of time. As a result Mary becomes despondent thinking that Max had completely forgotten about her. There are a number of themes that have been highlighted by the movie upon close examination. Some of the major themes include neglect that is evident by the manner in which Mary is being treated by her parents. They are less concerned about her and do not care about her happiness neither do they seek to understand their only daughter. I think the producers of the film wanted to offer some life lessons to parents all over the world to watch out on how they are playing their roles as parents. This is a wakeup call to all parents to develop an understanding of their children. The theme of depression is made evident in the film in

Annotated Bibliography, Plagiarism, and Research Essay

Annotated Bibliography, Plagiarism, and Research - Essay Example This article shows that the senior officers have a role to play to ensure military personnel conduct and adherence to work ethics. This article is useful in research on the misconduct of army officers as it evaluates why the numerous forms of delinquency occur among the military officers, and in doing so, it puts into consideration the efficacy of training, the impact on the combatant of any improbability of action, group effects and authority malfunctions. In addition, this article also examines the actions to be taken by the seniors against the officers if found guilty of misconduct. Though this article winds up by noting that the â€Å"bad apple† theory explains why some military personnel get involved in misconduct, it fails to explain if training and effectual command can manage this misconduct. Elliot, F., & Elkins, R. (2007, January 7). UN shame over sex scandal. The Independent. Retrieved  December  2012, from http://://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article 2132576.ece According to reports by the United Nations, almost 200 of its military peace keepers have been disciplined for ill-behaviors. According to this article, the known misbehaviors among the military personnel can well be managed by the senior officers. ... According to this article, 64 percent of the misconduct accusations reported linked to sexual abuse and exploitation while almost 25 percent involved prostitution. However, this article shows how the United Nations, through the help of the senior troop officers, has planned to reduce the cases of sexual offense among its peace keepers. This article gives a good illustration of how senior officers play a significant role in the other officer’s misconduct. Warner, C. H., & Appenzeller, G. N. (2011). Linking the professional Ethic and Battlefield Behaviors. Journal of Engaged Leadership, 1(1), 1-9. According to this article, ethical conduct of battlefield soldiers is essential in counter rebellion and constancy operations, where the support of the local populace is vital to mission success. In spite of their infrequency, ethical drops even in their minimal strategic levels can greatly affect the strategic mission. This article notes that a single incident of military personnel mi sconduct can affect the success of the entire unit. In addition, this article portrays that the single most significant aspect in controlling misbehavior is leadership. The senior officers play an imperative role in ensuring that work ethics are adhered to. This article demonstrates this by showing how the mission of the United States army in Abu Ghraib in Afghanistan affected their mission in the country. In this incident, the American Army soldiers killed three innocent civilians. In addition, this article also talks on how the events in Iraq stirred up arguments on the ethics of the American Soldiers. This calls for the commanders to make swift reforms to the army to ensure safety of the

Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance

Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study In todays competitive world, employee is an important asset to every organisation. An organisation cannot progress without employees. However, the success of an organisation depends on how the management utilise their workers capabilities in achieving organisation goals and objectives. Employees need to be inspired as well as motivated to perform well and perform efficiently. According to Smith (n.d.), employees who like where they work will help the company make more money. Sears conducted an 800-store survey that showed the impact of employee attitudes on the bottom line. When employee attitudes improved by 5%, customer satisfactionjumped 1.3%, consequently increasing revenue by one-half a percentage point. Seeking ways to motivate and build worker morale pays dividends to any business or organization. The motivated worker is more committed to the job and to the customer. This shows that happy employees performed well which increases the quality and quantity of their work. Long time ago, employees were considered as merely an input to the production of good and services. However as time goes by, this way of thinking has changed as many studies has been done on the employees behaviour and job performance. An employees performance may affect the production of the company, from the quality to the quantity of the products and services. This is why the management must identify the factors affecting their workers performance. A high performance workforce is the most important foundation for organisations success no matter how big or how small the organisation is. Job performance is the ability and skill that an employee possesses in performing the job required by the employer. The level of performance by the employee is going to affect the organisations goal and productivity. Besides, employees performance may also be affected by the management of the company, the job itself or even the employees own behaviour. Good job performance provides great achievement to the organisation, harmony in the workplace and also employees self-accomplishment. Thus, to have a good workforce and good employee performance, organisation must firstly identify and understand the factors which affect the employees job performance in achieving companys goal. 1.2 Research Problem For centuries, individuals have questioned and performed research on the factors affecting employees job performance and yet the answers may vary from one another. Some researcher said that employees performance is influenced by their pay and some said they are not. Employees are an organisations important asset which is why good performance by the employees is essential in producing good job quality and productivity. Employees are the ones who are running the organisation on behalf of the company. They have the responsibilities to perform well for the company in order to achieve organisation goal and compete with other organisations in the same industry. Employees are the one who plan, manage, organise and run the business activities of an organisation. This means that poor employees job performance may reduce the quality of services and productivity which will eventually slow down the operation of the organisation and lead to wastage of resources such as money and time. Organisations may find ways to solve the problem by terminating poorly performed employees or even choose to ignore it which may lead to unsuccessful business or bankruptcy. By choosing to terminate underperformed employee could not solve the problem as time is needed to hire new employee and extra cost will be incurred for training new employee. Management should find ways that inspires their workers to perform well in order to achieve organisations goal and in order to fully utilise their resources. Management believes that by paying employees more (increase of wages), employees will tend to perform better. Perhaps it might be true according to some researcher. However, there are also recent studies that have shown that employees motivations are not solely affected by pay. Thus, this research is carried out to investigate the factors that affect employees performance. This research will attempt to evaluate the effect of four variables which are motivation, job commitment, job design and work environment. 1.3 Research Objectives The reason for this research is: To investigate if motivation has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if job commitment has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if job design has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if work environment has the significant affect on employees job performance. Job design is techniques that are use in the job design exercise are such as job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation and job simplification. The work environment or working place which an employee performs in, can affect his or her performance. Work environment can be divided into two categories which are physical environment and social environment. The physical environment includes safe working place with ample resources and equipment such as comfortable chair, lighting and etc whereas the social environment includes people that the employees are working with in the organisation such as working colleagues or subordinates, supervisors and etc. 1.4 Scope of the Study This empirical study consists of dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable is employees job performance whereas the independent variables consist of factors that affect employees job performance such as motivation (pay, benefits, rewards, etc), job commitment, job design and work environment. The population for this study take into account the employees working in the manufacturing companies in Penang and is randomly selected by using convenience sampling method. Questionnaires will be distributed to 150 employees. Questionnaires will then be collected back and data will be analysed using the regression testing that is use to test the effects of the independent variables onto the dependent variables. 1.5 Significance of Study It is definite that every organisation no matter how big or small in size the company is in the whole wide world needs people or employees to operate and manage their company. The significance of this study is to investigate the four factors relationship with employees job performance, as employees job performance is important in producing good job quality and maximum productivity. This study is also essential to find out the influences of the four factors to the organisations. An organisation is considered dead and cannot operate without workers. Well performed employees may lead the organisation to success and earn competitive advantage over competitors while poor performed employees may lead company to failure and even bankruptcy. Besides poorly performed workers causes insufficiency in productivity which indirectly waste company resources. It might also cause company to be defeated by its rival. Therefore this study will help managers and employees to understand better the problem affecting their performance and reduce the negative effects to the company. Chapter 2 LITERATURE RREVIEW 2.1 Introduction These days, the business world is becoming more challenging than ever. This increases the managements awareness that good job performance is the key success to the organisation. To have well-performed employees, various ways or techniques should be conducted to manipulate humans nature and needs to produce desired behaviours and well performance. For that reason, the first thing the management should do is to understand human (employees) needs and wants. Employee job performance is the ability of employees to perform effectively in their job required and they need to have understanding of complete and up-to-date job description for their position. Besides that, they also need to be aware of the job performance requirements and standard that they are expected to meet. Supervisors or the management of the organisation should then review their employees job description and performance requirements. Job performance can be reviewed in terms of overall efficiency in the job or in terms of specific components that the job compromises. The purpose of performance standards is to communicate expectations. Some supervisors prefer to make them as specific as possible, and some prefer to use them as talking points with the specificity defined in the discussion (University Human Resource Services, 2005). In general employees and supervisors use the performance assessment annually to sum up an overall review of how the job has been done over the previous 12 months, to identify whether organisational goals have been met, to identify areas which require additional efforts, and lastly to identify the achievement and development goals for the forthcoming year. Performance reviews typically take place annually, but can be scheduled more frequently. Performance review processes vary depending on whether your appointment is as classified or professional staff. For classified staff covered by a labour contract, the contract establishes the performance review process requirements (University of Washington, 2007). People who are joining the workplace today are not only looking for jobs that earn money, but are also looking for more opportunities such as self-development. They are willing to put more effort on their job when their own needs, goals, expectation and desires are met. For that reason, the management of the organisation have to find out the factors affecting the employees performance and come up with techniques to improve employees job performance. Management must also make sure that employees goals are in line with organisations objectives. As the world become more competitive, organisations around the world are also alerted by the need to compete effectively against each other. In order to do so, organisations need to prepare themselves by making sure the people in their organisation are able to perform well and compete competently. Job performance will be the key success for organisation as it enables employees to work at their best and maximize their contribution to the organisa tion. 2.2 History of Research on Job Performance According to Hersen (2004), â€Å"job performance is a complex, multidimensional construct that can be defined and assessed in varying ways. Job performance can be defined (and assessed) in terms of quantifiable outcomes of work behaviours (e.g., amount of sales measured in dollars, productivity level, number of academic journal publications, number of lines of computer code written) and in terms of behavioural dimensions (work-related communication, decision making, attention to detail) that are less quantifiable†. Employees job performance also stands for the level ability of every employee to work efficiently (in terms of quantity and quality) in their job as required or expected by their employers. The employees job performance is then evaluated by the employer, supervisors or the people in charge. The job performance can be evaluated in terms of effectiveness all together in the job and in terms of particular components that the job compromises. The employees performances will show the personalities, knowledge and experiences of themselves. Each employees performance level is different as each individual has different capability and behaviour. Employees poor level of performance may be affected by many factors which include motivation, job commitment, job design and the work environment of the organisation. Historically, many researchers have attempted to study the factors affecting job performance but it is not as simple as one may think and the answer may vary from one another. Buchanan (n.d.), who has done a study on the relation of job satisfaction and performance, pointed out in her study that â€Å"the relationship between job satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy. One view, associated with the early human relations approach, is that satisfaction leads to performance. An alternative view is that performance leads to satisfaction†. She also mentioned that many researchers tend to relate job satisfaction and job performance in a specific fashion, which is a happy worker, is a good worker. Job satisfaction is defined as the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs (Spector, 1997). This definition suggests job satisfaction is a general or global affective reaction that individuals hold about their job (Williams, 2004). Job satisfaction is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Several numbers of studies has found that there is only a limited amount of relationship between employees satisfaction and their job performance. For example, it was found by Brayfield and Crockett (1955) that there is only a minimal relationship between job performance and job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2001). The increased of job satisfaction does not necessarily mean increased of employees job performance. If the goals of the organisation are not aligned with the goals of employees, then employees are not effectively working towards the mission of the organisation. Therefore, Buchanan concluded in her study that each employees performance is normally determined by motivation, ability, and the work environment. The motivation factor is the desire of the employee to do the job; ability is the capability of the employee to do the job and lastly the work environment which is the tools, materials and information that is needed by the employee to do the job required. 2.3 Past Research on Motivation Affecting Job Performance In the past, employees job performance are traditionally been looked at in terms of ‘motivation. Many researchers have come out with a conclusion that employees levels of performance are influenced by the motivation factor. Examples of researchers are like Maslow (1954), who developed ‘the hierarchy of needs or Hezberg (1966), who developed the idea of ‘hygiene factors, such as pay and conditions which, if not ‘right in the eyes of the employee, act as de-motivators. There is also the work of McClelland who argued that people struggled to fulfil needs of power or influence and social interaction, amongst others. All these ideas have uses in the management of the poor performer. Sometimes, however; they seem to be too complex to use on a day-to-day basis and are more suited to giving the manager a theoretical understanding rather than a useful tool (Proud, n.d.). From the theory of motivation such as Maslows hierarchy of needs,modern leaders, executive managers or supervisors findmeans of motivation for the purposesof employees performance and workforce management. Motivation is always view as an important issue in the business world. This is because motivation is vital in every organisation as it will affect the productivity of the organisation. When the employees in an organisation are unmotivated, the productivity of that organisation will be decreased whereas compared to an organisation which have motivated employees the labour turnover will be lower and production will be higher. According to Dev (n.d.), â€Å"A Gallup organisation study indicated that companies with positive employee attitudes are 50 percent more likely to achieve customer loyalty, and 44 percent more likely to achieve above-average profits. Additionally, the study finds firms that measure in the top quartile with regard to employee engagement averaged 24 percent higher profitability, 29 percent greater revenue and 10 percent less employee turnover than businesses in the bottom quartile. The evidence is clear. Better people management practices produce better business results.† According to Bartol Martin (1998), â€Å"motivation is defined as the force that energises behaviour, gives direction to behaviour, and underlies the tendency to persist. This definition recognises that in order to achieve goals, individual must be sufficiently stimulated and energetic , must have a clear focus on what is to be achieved, and must be willing to commit their energy for a long enough period of time to realise their aim†. Thus, motivated behaviours are performed and controlled voluntarily by the employees themselves whereas supervisors or managers only act as the motivator to encourage employees to increase their level of job performance. Many people who are not motivated keep their performance to an acceptable level by expending only 20% to 30% of their ability whereas managers who know how to motivate their employees can achieve 80% to 90% ability levels and consequently higher levels of performance (Geoff, n.d.). Motivation comes in many different forms. It can be in a simple form like praise by the supervisors or managers, in the form of monetary (increase in pay), rewards, promotion, job security and etc. These factors are important because it will affect the employees level of job performance. Hence it is truly essential that managers and supervisors of an organisation knows how to motivate its employees in performing well and achieving organisation goals. According to Wagner (n.d.), â€Å"Abraham Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, ‘A Theory of Human Motivation. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before moving on to other needs†. Maslows hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid, with lowest levels of the pyramid made up of the most basic needs and more complex needs are at the top of the pyramid. The basis of Maslows theory is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. A satisfied need is not a motivator as the most influential employee need is the one that has not been satisfied. From the Maslows hierarchy of needs, management should understand and identify what their employees need and then satisfy them from the lowest to the highest level. Physiological needs are needs which are at the bottom of the pyramid, are the most essential needs to human living. In the workforce, organisation helps employees to satisfy their needs by giving them basic salary. Safety needs are security needs that include the needs for shelter from the environment and health insurance. In the organization context, employees express their security needs as a desire for job security with fringe benefits. The management should provide employees with safe working environment with ample tools and resources. These will be the factor that helps employees to perform well. Social needs are needs related to the need for friendship, love and sense of belonging. At the workplace, these needs include having good relationship with colleagues, superiors or etc. When employees enjoy working closely with each other, it may result in positive behaviour at work which will also result in better employee performances. The management can also help to satisfy employees social needs by showing direct concern for them. Esteem needs are the needs of self-respect, respect or recognition from others and a sense of personal achievement. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world (Simons et al., 1987). In the organisation, the management can fulfil employees esteem needs by showing their appreciation through promotion, rewards, recognition and etc. Self-actualisation needs are place at the highest level of the pyramid. These needs are associated to personal growth, self-fulfilment and the realisation of ones full potential. In this stage, the management can help the employees by giving them tasks that challenges their own intelligence. All the elements in the Maslows hierarchy of needs are the motivator for employees to perform well in their job. A motivated employee is usually someone with clearly defined goals who takes action which he or she expects to achieve. Besides that, motivated employees will be likely to put in more effort towards the organisation objectives and goals. A leader that recognises employee efforts and helps employees achieve and grow can help improve motivation which therefore increases job performance. According to Hong et al. (1995), Vroom maintained in his expectation theory that everyone works in expectation of some rewards (both spiritual and material), and welfare is one of them. In other words, the degree of reward influences the quality and quantity of work, and in turn productivity. So it is important for management to explore how to give the stimulus (welfare) in order to promote work motivation and performance. Image. Relationship between the type of employee benefit and impact on job performance However, there are some researchers that found out that motivation has limited relationship with employees job performance. They do not believe that money (salary and bonuses) is a good motivator. McNamara (n.d.), who did a research on employee motivation, said that â€Å"certain things like money, a nice office and job security can help people from becoming less motivated, but they usually dont help people to become more motivated. A key goal for the company is to understand the motivations of each of their employees†. Another researcher, Urichuck (n.d.), stated that â€Å"organisations could provide employee motivation through a bonus in the form of money at the end of a period. For sure they will be glad and grateful. They may even perform better, but what are their expectations at the end of the next period will be more money. External employee motivation is temporary and it is never lasting. Money is an external employee motivator. Its an incentive that once acquired, leads to expectations for more, bigger or better. Nevertheless the employees will not even realise that the company is facing a crisis. They will want a bonus at least equal to what they got last year, but preferably more, not less†. According to him, there is a survey on thousands of workers around the world that uses compared rankings by supervisors and employees on employee motivating factors. The typical supervisory group ranked the factors in the following order; high wages, job security, promotion in the organisation, good working conditions, interesting work, personal loyalty of supervisor, tactful discipline, full appreciation of work done, help on personal problems, and feeling of being in on things. However, when employees were given the same exercise and asked what affects their morale and employee motivation the most, their answers followed this pattern; full appreciation of work done, feeling of being in on things, help on personal problems, job security, high wages, interesting work, promotion in the organization, personal loyalty of supervisor, good working conditions, and tactful discipline. Note that the top three employee motivating factors marked by the employees are the last three felt to be important for them by their supervisors (Urichuck, n.d.). As a result, this research shows that motivation through the form of money, has limited amount of relationship with employees job performance while recognition is the most influential motivator that affects employees job performance. 2.4 Past Research on Job Commitment Affecting Job Performance Job commitment is the willingness of the employees to be devoted in completing the job assigned to them at minimum level of commitment or exceeding the amount that is required. The level of employee commitment to their job is often the key determinant of whether the employee performs as expected or exceeding the expectations. The level of employee commitment may affect employees job performance. Committed employees often performed well and results in companys success and increase of productivity level. Besides job commitment includes the level of employee involvement and employee loyalty to the organisation. Simpson (n.d.), who did a research on building employee commitment for business success, stated that â€Å"the indication of lack of employee commitment could be an indication of a company on the way to becoming another business failure. The workplace is changing dramatically and demands for the highest quality of product and service is increasing. To remain competitive in the face of these pressures, employee commitment is crucial. The two keys to success in todays environment of increasing competition and rapid change are an absolute passion for, and dedication to, excellence in customer service and the effective and enlightened management of our workforce. The employees commitment will lead to achieving desired standards in customer service and high job performance. Without employee commitment, there can be no improvement in any area of business activity. In the absence of good management, employees will simply treat their work as a job; a 9am to 5pm routine without any desire to accomplish any more than is necessary to remain employed. It does not take many uncommitted employees to prevent a business from prospering and thereby ceding a big advantage to its competitors†. Another researcher, Fink (1992), asserted that although there are many factors that affect employees performance, the key factor of employees performance is affected by employees job commitment. He defines commitment as an attitude that develops from a process called identification, which occurs when one experiences something, someone, or some idea as an extension of oneself. While all research on commitment treats it only in terms of identification with organisation, that is, its goals, values, and mission, on the other hand, he focuses on three-dimensional concept including identification with the work itself and with co-workers. He is sure that these are equally important because they can have powerful effects upon employee performance. As basis of his research he makes an interactive model that proposes: good management practices result in an effective reward system and employee commitment, an effective reward system results in enhanced employee commitment and employee performanc e, and employee commitment results in enhanced employee performance. As a result of his research in two companies, who has 418 and 430 employees, respectively, he found that there was significant correlation between employee performance ratings and commitment score in all categories, and also the correlation between performance and commitment for managers and operational employees grouped separately were significant in all categories. The higher the level of employee commitment to work; co-worker, and organisation, the higher the level of the performance will be. Based on Sutanto‘s (1999) findings, instead of concluding that job commitment only has significant affect on job performance, he has found that â€Å"there is also a positive and significant relationship between commitment to supervisors and performance. He also stated that employees commitment to supervisors have become a good predictor to performance rather than commitment to organisations†. After conducting a larger project to all 1,803 members of May 1993 graduating class of large north-western university, Becker (1992), has found that commitment to supervisors was positively related to performance. â€Å"Further, internalization of supervisors and organizations values was associated with performance but identification with these foci (targets) was not. A number of theorists and researchers have begun to view employee commitment as having multiple foci and bases. Foci commitments are the individuals and group to whom an employee is attached†. Thus, in order to increase employees performance, the study suggest that managers should focus on creating employees commitment to supervisors rather than creating employees commitment to the organisation. On the other hand, Cohens (1999) research supported the important status of job involvement as an antecedent to organisational commitment. Specifically, Cohen argued that those individuals with high levels of job involvement, which stem from positive experiences on-the-job (Witt, 1993), make attributions for these experiences to the organisation. Thus, having previously received benefits from the organisation and being obligated by the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960) to repay them, high job involvement employees feel compelled to reciprocate in some form. This increased affective commitment (i.e. where employees adopt the companys goals as their own and, therefore, desire to remain with the organisation to help it achieve its goals; Meyer and Allen, 1984; Mowday et al., 1979) and later was found to reduce turnover intentions, absence behaviour, and/or turnover, as well as increased job performance. Tough many researchers have confirmed that employees commitment result in high job performance, nevertheless some past researchers have also found that job commitment or involvement has limited affect on employees job performance. According to Rotenberry and Moberg (2007), â€Å"research finding a significant impact of job involvement on employee performance has met limited success (e.g. Brown, 1996; Brown and Leigh, 1996; Diefendorff et al., 2006 and Vroom, 1962)†. Diefendorff et al. (2002) stated that â€Å"research has been limited for two reasons. Specifically, they asserted that past studies had predominantly used inferior measures of job involvement, which led to their insignificant findings. In addition, Diefendorff et al. (2002) argued that the performance domain assessed in those previous studies needed to be expanded in order to ascertain job involvements true impact on performance at work. The researchers tested the validity of these propositions, but called for additional research in the area paying particular attention to theory development regarding the job involvement-performance relationship†. 2.5 Past Research on Job Design Affecting Job Performance Job design is the method of arranging various work elements in forming a job that suit the employees. Job design identifies what work must be performed to be precise, the content of the job, how it will be performed, where it is to be performed and the competencies required by the person who will perform it. Job design also facilitates the achievement of organizational goals and performance of the work the job was established to accomplish (Sharon, 1998). Job design is also important to avoid employees dissatisfaction. The design of the job must follow the organisations and employees requirement including the health and safety requirement. Besides, job design implementation includes methods such as job enlargement, job rotation, job enrichment and job simplification. The first, job enlargement, can be used to increase motivation by giving employees more and varied tasks. Tasks that reduce the amount of specialization required by the employee, as well as, extending the length of time he or she has to complete them. The second, job rotation, allows an employee to work in different departments or jobs in an organization to gain better insight into operations. This, in itself, does not modify or redesigns the employees job, but allows the opportunity to increase his/her skills and knowledge about other jobs. Job enrichment, the third method, allows the employee to take on some responsibilities normally delegated to management. The risk here is that the employee would be transferred too much responsibility and autonomy in the planning and control aspects of the job. Done right, however, the newfound control would invigorate the employee to work more effectively and thus increased it Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study In todays competitive world, employee is an important asset to every organisation. An organisation cannot progress without employees. However, the success of an organisation depends on how the management utilise their workers capabilities in achieving organisation goals and objectives. Employees need to be inspired as well as motivated to perform well and perform efficiently. According to Smith (n.d.), employees who like where they work will help the company make more money. Sears conducted an 800-store survey that showed the impact of employee attitudes on the bottom line. When employee attitudes improved by 5%, customer satisfactionjumped 1.3%, consequently increasing revenue by one-half a percentage point. Seeking ways to motivate and build worker morale pays dividends to any business or organization. The motivated worker is more committed to the job and to the customer. This shows that happy employees performed well which increases the quality and quantity of their work. Long time ago, employees were considered as merely an input to the production of good and services. However as time goes by, this way of thinking has changed as many studies has been done on the employees behaviour and job performance. An employees performance may affect the production of the company, from the quality to the quantity of the products and services. This is why the management must identify the factors affecting their workers performance. A high performance workforce is the most important foundation for organisations success no matter how big or how small the organisation is. Job performance is the ability and skill that an employee possesses in performing the job required by the employer. The level of performance by the employee is going to affect the organisations goal and productivity. Besides, employees performance may also be affected by the management of the company, the job itself or even the employees own behaviour. Good job performance provides great achievement to the organisation, harmony in the workplace and also employees self-accomplishment. Thus, to have a good workforce and good employee performance, organisation must firstly identify and understand the factors which affect the employees job performance in achieving companys goal. 1.2 Research Problem For centuries, individuals have questioned and performed research on the factors affecting employees job performance and yet the answers may vary from one another. Some researcher said that employees performance is influenced by their pay and some said they are not. Employees are an organisations important asset which is why good performance by the employees is essential in producing good job quality and productivity. Employees are the ones who are running the organisation on behalf of the company. They have the responsibilities to perform well for the company in order to achieve organisation goal and compete with other organisations in the same industry. Employees are the one who plan, manage, organise and run the business activities of an organisation. This means that poor employees job performance may reduce the quality of services and productivity which will eventually slow down the operation of the organisation and lead to wastage of resources such as money and time. Organisations may find ways to solve the problem by terminating poorly performed employees or even choose to ignore it which may lead to unsuccessful business or bankruptcy. By choosing to terminate underperformed employee could not solve the problem as time is needed to hire new employee and extra cost will be incurred for training new employee. Management should find ways that inspires their workers to perform well in order to achieve organisations goal and in order to fully utilise their resources. Management believes that by paying employees more (increase of wages), employees will tend to perform better. Perhaps it might be true according to some researcher. However, there are also recent studies that have shown that employees motivations are not solely affected by pay. Thus, this research is carried out to investigate the factors that affect employees performance. This research will attempt to evaluate the effect of four variables which are motivation, job commitment, job design and work environment. 1.3 Research Objectives The reason for this research is: To investigate if motivation has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if job commitment has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if job design has the significant affect on employees job performance. To investigate if work environment has the significant affect on employees job performance. Job design is techniques that are use in the job design exercise are such as job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation and job simplification. The work environment or working place which an employee performs in, can affect his or her performance. Work environment can be divided into two categories which are physical environment and social environment. The physical environment includes safe working place with ample resources and equipment such as comfortable chair, lighting and etc whereas the social environment includes people that the employees are working with in the organisation such as working colleagues or subordinates, supervisors and etc. 1.4 Scope of the Study This empirical study consists of dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable is employees job performance whereas the independent variables consist of factors that affect employees job performance such as motivation (pay, benefits, rewards, etc), job commitment, job design and work environment. The population for this study take into account the employees working in the manufacturing companies in Penang and is randomly selected by using convenience sampling method. Questionnaires will be distributed to 150 employees. Questionnaires will then be collected back and data will be analysed using the regression testing that is use to test the effects of the independent variables onto the dependent variables. 1.5 Significance of Study It is definite that every organisation no matter how big or small in size the company is in the whole wide world needs people or employees to operate and manage their company. The significance of this study is to investigate the four factors relationship with employees job performance, as employees job performance is important in producing good job quality and maximum productivity. This study is also essential to find out the influences of the four factors to the organisations. An organisation is considered dead and cannot operate without workers. Well performed employees may lead the organisation to success and earn competitive advantage over competitors while poor performed employees may lead company to failure and even bankruptcy. Besides poorly performed workers causes insufficiency in productivity which indirectly waste company resources. It might also cause company to be defeated by its rival. Therefore this study will help managers and employees to understand better the problem affecting their performance and reduce the negative effects to the company. Chapter 2 LITERATURE RREVIEW 2.1 Introduction These days, the business world is becoming more challenging than ever. This increases the managements awareness that good job performance is the key success to the organisation. To have well-performed employees, various ways or techniques should be conducted to manipulate humans nature and needs to produce desired behaviours and well performance. For that reason, the first thing the management should do is to understand human (employees) needs and wants. Employee job performance is the ability of employees to perform effectively in their job required and they need to have understanding of complete and up-to-date job description for their position. Besides that, they also need to be aware of the job performance requirements and standard that they are expected to meet. Supervisors or the management of the organisation should then review their employees job description and performance requirements. Job performance can be reviewed in terms of overall efficiency in the job or in terms of specific components that the job compromises. The purpose of performance standards is to communicate expectations. Some supervisors prefer to make them as specific as possible, and some prefer to use them as talking points with the specificity defined in the discussion (University Human Resource Services, 2005). In general employees and supervisors use the performance assessment annually to sum up an overall review of how the job has been done over the previous 12 months, to identify whether organisational goals have been met, to identify areas which require additional efforts, and lastly to identify the achievement and development goals for the forthcoming year. Performance reviews typically take place annually, but can be scheduled more frequently. Performance review processes vary depending on whether your appointment is as classified or professional staff. For classified staff covered by a labour contract, the contract establishes the performance review process requirements (University of Washington, 2007). People who are joining the workplace today are not only looking for jobs that earn money, but are also looking for more opportunities such as self-development. They are willing to put more effort on their job when their own needs, goals, expectation and desires are met. For that reason, the management of the organisation have to find out the factors affecting the employees performance and come up with techniques to improve employees job performance. Management must also make sure that employees goals are in line with organisations objectives. As the world become more competitive, organisations around the world are also alerted by the need to compete effectively against each other. In order to do so, organisations need to prepare themselves by making sure the people in their organisation are able to perform well and compete competently. Job performance will be the key success for organisation as it enables employees to work at their best and maximize their contribution to the organisa tion. 2.2 History of Research on Job Performance According to Hersen (2004), â€Å"job performance is a complex, multidimensional construct that can be defined and assessed in varying ways. Job performance can be defined (and assessed) in terms of quantifiable outcomes of work behaviours (e.g., amount of sales measured in dollars, productivity level, number of academic journal publications, number of lines of computer code written) and in terms of behavioural dimensions (work-related communication, decision making, attention to detail) that are less quantifiable†. Employees job performance also stands for the level ability of every employee to work efficiently (in terms of quantity and quality) in their job as required or expected by their employers. The employees job performance is then evaluated by the employer, supervisors or the people in charge. The job performance can be evaluated in terms of effectiveness all together in the job and in terms of particular components that the job compromises. The employees performances will show the personalities, knowledge and experiences of themselves. Each employees performance level is different as each individual has different capability and behaviour. Employees poor level of performance may be affected by many factors which include motivation, job commitment, job design and the work environment of the organisation. Historically, many researchers have attempted to study the factors affecting job performance but it is not as simple as one may think and the answer may vary from one another. Buchanan (n.d.), who has done a study on the relation of job satisfaction and performance, pointed out in her study that â€Å"the relationship between job satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy. One view, associated with the early human relations approach, is that satisfaction leads to performance. An alternative view is that performance leads to satisfaction†. She also mentioned that many researchers tend to relate job satisfaction and job performance in a specific fashion, which is a happy worker, is a good worker. Job satisfaction is defined as the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs (Spector, 1997). This definition suggests job satisfaction is a general or global affective reaction that individuals hold about their job (Williams, 2004). Job satisfaction is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Several numbers of studies has found that there is only a limited amount of relationship between employees satisfaction and their job performance. For example, it was found by Brayfield and Crockett (1955) that there is only a minimal relationship between job performance and job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2001). The increased of job satisfaction does not necessarily mean increased of employees job performance. If the goals of the organisation are not aligned with the goals of employees, then employees are not effectively working towards the mission of the organisation. Therefore, Buchanan concluded in her study that each employees performance is normally determined by motivation, ability, and the work environment. The motivation factor is the desire of the employee to do the job; ability is the capability of the employee to do the job and lastly the work environment which is the tools, materials and information that is needed by the employee to do the job required. 2.3 Past Research on Motivation Affecting Job Performance In the past, employees job performance are traditionally been looked at in terms of ‘motivation. Many researchers have come out with a conclusion that employees levels of performance are influenced by the motivation factor. Examples of researchers are like Maslow (1954), who developed ‘the hierarchy of needs or Hezberg (1966), who developed the idea of ‘hygiene factors, such as pay and conditions which, if not ‘right in the eyes of the employee, act as de-motivators. There is also the work of McClelland who argued that people struggled to fulfil needs of power or influence and social interaction, amongst others. All these ideas have uses in the management of the poor performer. Sometimes, however; they seem to be too complex to use on a day-to-day basis and are more suited to giving the manager a theoretical understanding rather than a useful tool (Proud, n.d.). From the theory of motivation such as Maslows hierarchy of needs,modern leaders, executive managers or supervisors findmeans of motivation for the purposesof employees performance and workforce management. Motivation is always view as an important issue in the business world. This is because motivation is vital in every organisation as it will affect the productivity of the organisation. When the employees in an organisation are unmotivated, the productivity of that organisation will be decreased whereas compared to an organisation which have motivated employees the labour turnover will be lower and production will be higher. According to Dev (n.d.), â€Å"A Gallup organisation study indicated that companies with positive employee attitudes are 50 percent more likely to achieve customer loyalty, and 44 percent more likely to achieve above-average profits. Additionally, the study finds firms that measure in the top quartile with regard to employee engagement averaged 24 percent higher profitability, 29 percent greater revenue and 10 percent less employee turnover than businesses in the bottom quartile. The evidence is clear. Better people management practices produce better business results.† According to Bartol Martin (1998), â€Å"motivation is defined as the force that energises behaviour, gives direction to behaviour, and underlies the tendency to persist. This definition recognises that in order to achieve goals, individual must be sufficiently stimulated and energetic , must have a clear focus on what is to be achieved, and must be willing to commit their energy for a long enough period of time to realise their aim†. Thus, motivated behaviours are performed and controlled voluntarily by the employees themselves whereas supervisors or managers only act as the motivator to encourage employees to increase their level of job performance. Many people who are not motivated keep their performance to an acceptable level by expending only 20% to 30% of their ability whereas managers who know how to motivate their employees can achieve 80% to 90% ability levels and consequently higher levels of performance (Geoff, n.d.). Motivation comes in many different forms. It can be in a simple form like praise by the supervisors or managers, in the form of monetary (increase in pay), rewards, promotion, job security and etc. These factors are important because it will affect the employees level of job performance. Hence it is truly essential that managers and supervisors of an organisation knows how to motivate its employees in performing well and achieving organisation goals. According to Wagner (n.d.), â€Å"Abraham Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, ‘A Theory of Human Motivation. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before moving on to other needs†. Maslows hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid, with lowest levels of the pyramid made up of the most basic needs and more complex needs are at the top of the pyramid. The basis of Maslows theory is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. A satisfied need is not a motivator as the most influential employee need is the one that has not been satisfied. From the Maslows hierarchy of needs, management should understand and identify what their employees need and then satisfy them from the lowest to the highest level. Physiological needs are needs which are at the bottom of the pyramid, are the most essential needs to human living. In the workforce, organisation helps employees to satisfy their needs by giving them basic salary. Safety needs are security needs that include the needs for shelter from the environment and health insurance. In the organization context, employees express their security needs as a desire for job security with fringe benefits. The management should provide employees with safe working environment with ample tools and resources. These will be the factor that helps employees to perform well. Social needs are needs related to the need for friendship, love and sense of belonging. At the workplace, these needs include having good relationship with colleagues, superiors or etc. When employees enjoy working closely with each other, it may result in positive behaviour at work which will also result in better employee performances. The management can also help to satisfy employees social needs by showing direct concern for them. Esteem needs are the needs of self-respect, respect or recognition from others and a sense of personal achievement. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world (Simons et al., 1987). In the organisation, the management can fulfil employees esteem needs by showing their appreciation through promotion, rewards, recognition and etc. Self-actualisation needs are place at the highest level of the pyramid. These needs are associated to personal growth, self-fulfilment and the realisation of ones full potential. In this stage, the management can help the employees by giving them tasks that challenges their own intelligence. All the elements in the Maslows hierarchy of needs are the motivator for employees to perform well in their job. A motivated employee is usually someone with clearly defined goals who takes action which he or she expects to achieve. Besides that, motivated employees will be likely to put in more effort towards the organisation objectives and goals. A leader that recognises employee efforts and helps employees achieve and grow can help improve motivation which therefore increases job performance. According to Hong et al. (1995), Vroom maintained in his expectation theory that everyone works in expectation of some rewards (both spiritual and material), and welfare is one of them. In other words, the degree of reward influences the quality and quantity of work, and in turn productivity. So it is important for management to explore how to give the stimulus (welfare) in order to promote work motivation and performance. Image. Relationship between the type of employee benefit and impact on job performance However, there are some researchers that found out that motivation has limited relationship with employees job performance. They do not believe that money (salary and bonuses) is a good motivator. McNamara (n.d.), who did a research on employee motivation, said that â€Å"certain things like money, a nice office and job security can help people from becoming less motivated, but they usually dont help people to become more motivated. A key goal for the company is to understand the motivations of each of their employees†. Another researcher, Urichuck (n.d.), stated that â€Å"organisations could provide employee motivation through a bonus in the form of money at the end of a period. For sure they will be glad and grateful. They may even perform better, but what are their expectations at the end of the next period will be more money. External employee motivation is temporary and it is never lasting. Money is an external employee motivator. Its an incentive that once acquired, leads to expectations for more, bigger or better. Nevertheless the employees will not even realise that the company is facing a crisis. They will want a bonus at least equal to what they got last year, but preferably more, not less†. According to him, there is a survey on thousands of workers around the world that uses compared rankings by supervisors and employees on employee motivating factors. The typical supervisory group ranked the factors in the following order; high wages, job security, promotion in the organisation, good working conditions, interesting work, personal loyalty of supervisor, tactful discipline, full appreciation of work done, help on personal problems, and feeling of being in on things. However, when employees were given the same exercise and asked what affects their morale and employee motivation the most, their answers followed this pattern; full appreciation of work done, feeling of being in on things, help on personal problems, job security, high wages, interesting work, promotion in the organization, personal loyalty of supervisor, good working conditions, and tactful discipline. Note that the top three employee motivating factors marked by the employees are the last three felt to be important for them by their supervisors (Urichuck, n.d.). As a result, this research shows that motivation through the form of money, has limited amount of relationship with employees job performance while recognition is the most influential motivator that affects employees job performance. 2.4 Past Research on Job Commitment Affecting Job Performance Job commitment is the willingness of the employees to be devoted in completing the job assigned to them at minimum level of commitment or exceeding the amount that is required. The level of employee commitment to their job is often the key determinant of whether the employee performs as expected or exceeding the expectations. The level of employee commitment may affect employees job performance. Committed employees often performed well and results in companys success and increase of productivity level. Besides job commitment includes the level of employee involvement and employee loyalty to the organisation. Simpson (n.d.), who did a research on building employee commitment for business success, stated that â€Å"the indication of lack of employee commitment could be an indication of a company on the way to becoming another business failure. The workplace is changing dramatically and demands for the highest quality of product and service is increasing. To remain competitive in the face of these pressures, employee commitment is crucial. The two keys to success in todays environment of increasing competition and rapid change are an absolute passion for, and dedication to, excellence in customer service and the effective and enlightened management of our workforce. The employees commitment will lead to achieving desired standards in customer service and high job performance. Without employee commitment, there can be no improvement in any area of business activity. In the absence of good management, employees will simply treat their work as a job; a 9am to 5pm routine without any desire to accomplish any more than is necessary to remain employed. It does not take many uncommitted employees to prevent a business from prospering and thereby ceding a big advantage to its competitors†. Another researcher, Fink (1992), asserted that although there are many factors that affect employees performance, the key factor of employees performance is affected by employees job commitment. He defines commitment as an attitude that develops from a process called identification, which occurs when one experiences something, someone, or some idea as an extension of oneself. While all research on commitment treats it only in terms of identification with organisation, that is, its goals, values, and mission, on the other hand, he focuses on three-dimensional concept including identification with the work itself and with co-workers. He is sure that these are equally important because they can have powerful effects upon employee performance. As basis of his research he makes an interactive model that proposes: good management practices result in an effective reward system and employee commitment, an effective reward system results in enhanced employee commitment and employee performanc e, and employee commitment results in enhanced employee performance. As a result of his research in two companies, who has 418 and 430 employees, respectively, he found that there was significant correlation between employee performance ratings and commitment score in all categories, and also the correlation between performance and commitment for managers and operational employees grouped separately were significant in all categories. The higher the level of employee commitment to work; co-worker, and organisation, the higher the level of the performance will be. Based on Sutanto‘s (1999) findings, instead of concluding that job commitment only has significant affect on job performance, he has found that â€Å"there is also a positive and significant relationship between commitment to supervisors and performance. He also stated that employees commitment to supervisors have become a good predictor to performance rather than commitment to organisations†. After conducting a larger project to all 1,803 members of May 1993 graduating class of large north-western university, Becker (1992), has found that commitment to supervisors was positively related to performance. â€Å"Further, internalization of supervisors and organizations values was associated with performance but identification with these foci (targets) was not. A number of theorists and researchers have begun to view employee commitment as having multiple foci and bases. Foci commitments are the individuals and group to whom an employee is attached†. Thus, in order to increase employees performance, the study suggest that managers should focus on creating employees commitment to supervisors rather than creating employees commitment to the organisation. On the other hand, Cohens (1999) research supported the important status of job involvement as an antecedent to organisational commitment. Specifically, Cohen argued that those individuals with high levels of job involvement, which stem from positive experiences on-the-job (Witt, 1993), make attributions for these experiences to the organisation. Thus, having previously received benefits from the organisation and being obligated by the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960) to repay them, high job involvement employees feel compelled to reciprocate in some form. This increased affective commitment (i.e. where employees adopt the companys goals as their own and, therefore, desire to remain with the organisation to help it achieve its goals; Meyer and Allen, 1984; Mowday et al., 1979) and later was found to reduce turnover intentions, absence behaviour, and/or turnover, as well as increased job performance. Tough many researchers have confirmed that employees commitment result in high job performance, nevertheless some past researchers have also found that job commitment or involvement has limited affect on employees job performance. According to Rotenberry and Moberg (2007), â€Å"research finding a significant impact of job involvement on employee performance has met limited success (e.g. Brown, 1996; Brown and Leigh, 1996; Diefendorff et al., 2006 and Vroom, 1962)†. Diefendorff et al. (2002) stated that â€Å"research has been limited for two reasons. Specifically, they asserted that past studies had predominantly used inferior measures of job involvement, which led to their insignificant findings. In addition, Diefendorff et al. (2002) argued that the performance domain assessed in those previous studies needed to be expanded in order to ascertain job involvements true impact on performance at work. The researchers tested the validity of these propositions, but called for additional research in the area paying particular attention to theory development regarding the job involvement-performance relationship†. 2.5 Past Research on Job Design Affecting Job Performance Job design is the method of arranging various work elements in forming a job that suit the employees. Job design identifies what work must be performed to be precise, the content of the job, how it will be performed, where it is to be performed and the competencies required by the person who will perform it. Job design also facilitates the achievement of organizational goals and performance of the work the job was established to accomplish (Sharon, 1998). Job design is also important to avoid employees dissatisfaction. The design of the job must follow the organisations and employees requirement including the health and safety requirement. Besides, job design implementation includes methods such as job enlargement, job rotation, job enrichment and job simplification. The first, job enlargement, can be used to increase motivation by giving employees more and varied tasks. Tasks that reduce the amount of specialization required by the employee, as well as, extending the length of time he or she has to complete them. The second, job rotation, allows an employee to work in different departments or jobs in an organization to gain better insight into operations. This, in itself, does not modify or redesigns the employees job, but allows the opportunity to increase his/her skills and knowledge about other jobs. Job enrichment, the third method, allows the employee to take on some responsibilities normally delegated to management. The risk here is that the employee would be transferred too much responsibility and autonomy in the planning and control aspects of the job. Done right, however, the newfound control would invigorate the employee to work more effectively and thus increased it