Individual Course Assignment It is increasingly well-established in Essay

Individual Course Assignment It is increasingly well-established in the literature that mostbusiness reporting on sustainabi - Essay Example This is because if an organization fails to retain its sustainability then it may not prosper or enhance its dominancy in this competitive market among other rival players. Keeping this fact in mind, most of the organizations desire to retain its experienced and talented human resources. As they act as the prime resource of an organization (3M) thereby assisting it in the development of varied types of inventive eco-friendly products and services so as to satisfy the changing needs and requirements of the customers. By doing so, the brand image and profitability of the organization might get enhanced thereby amplifying the competitiveness and reliability in the market among others and such a strategy might also act positively thereby amplifying the chances of success and prosperity in the long run among other rivals. Thus, it might be clearly stated that sustainability is the prime criterion of an organization and it might get fulfilled by presenting environmental friendly products a nd services thereby satisfying the needs and requirements of the customers. This report is divided into five phases. ... It also specifies the importance of assurance and its standards along with conclusion and recommendations. What is sustainability? Sustainability is described as the socio-ecological procedure that helps in fulfilment of changing needs and desires of the customers. It is done by presenting eco-friendly products at a competitive price thereby retaining the eminence of the environment. It is done only to retain the quantity of the non-renewable resources of the environment so that it might be used for the future purposes as well. Along with this, development of eco-friendly products also helps in reducing the level of pollution thereby maintaining the uniqueness of the environment. Hence, it might be depicted that sustainability helps in enhancing the economic, environmental and social impacts by developing various inventive products or services to amplify customer base. Description of 3M 3M is one of the most renowned and branded American multinational conglomerate, established in the year 1902. 3M is regarded as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, headquartered in the regions of St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. After starting its operations in the continent of United States, very soon it expanded to the entire globe. So, it enhanced its total assets and revenues by $ 31.6 billion and $ 29.6 billion by the end of the year 2012. Along with this, the operating income also increased by $ 6.1 billion thereby amplifying its reputation and brand image in the market among other rival players. It is mainly due to the development of adhesives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, abrasives, electronic materials, medical products, car-care products, and wax and car shampoo. Other than this, it also presents products for the

Surrealism Art Essay Example for Free

Surrealism Art Essay Surrealism is an international art movement, which draws from the depths of the subconscious mind and explores the human psyche. Frenchman Andre Breton, who described Surrealism as ‘pure automatism by which it is intended to express the true function of thought’, championed surrealism in the late 1920s’. In this period of time, the world was inflicted with the two major wars, that filled humanity with horror and unimaginable terror. Some artists of this period were chosen illustrate these horrors by representing a psychedelic of images from the human mind or to seek an altered reality, which created the intellectual playground to these artists, as it aroused the philosophical argument of what is real and un-real. Surrealism is characterised by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter, using a fascination with the subconscious mind. It is a type of Fantasy art that defines a psychological element, attempting to create artworks that explore the artists’ perception of their dreams, fears and imaginings. In turn, Surrealist artists attempt to represent their visions, by Looking through and creating an altered reality. This period of art dominated the art world during the period just before the Second World War, but still is current in the Postmodern world, continuing to flourish in its subjective approach to representing the imagination. â€Å"Surrealism! What is surrealism? In my opinion. It is above all a reawakening of the poetic idea in art, the reintroduction of a subject but in a particular sense, that of strange and illogical. † (Paul Delvaux) This quote is relevant when referring to the artist James Gleeson, as he explores the depths of the human subconscious mind, while creating his own imaginative world. He achieves this through the juxtaposition of seascapes with living organisms, self-portraits from the human fertile mind and the horror of social concerns through distorted imagery. Gleeson works mainly within a subjective context, where highly emotive paintings are drawn from the inner self . Gleeson paints to understand the difficulties faced with the stress and questions unknown in the modern world. James Gleeson is known as one of Australia’s major painter and important poetic art critic. In his long-lasting career that blossomed from the late 1930’s to the 1960’s, Gleeson wrote the first text in Australia that defined the meaning of Surrealism, and was known as Australia’s leading Surrealist artist.. While working within a subjective context, influenced by Salvador Dali, Gleeson’s overriding concept behind his work is that ‘humanity is driven by the subconscious mind’. Gleeson preferred to work in artificial light and avoided working in sunlight so that he was to paint his dreams and surreal landscapes in a more imaginative way. While the application of painting oil on canvas with luxurious textures of paint with a mixture of translucent glazes and rich encrustations, attracts his viewers, Gleeson’s works inspires the imagination of the viewer. In relevance to the quote ‘the reintroduction of a subject in a particular sense’ Gleeson’s works encourage his viewers to look through and beyond Surrealist’s artists concept of what is reality, and not only, the imagination of the subconscious mind. Gleeson presents his viewers with a number of observations so vivid in concentration, in order to tap into our own secret fears; the fear of the unknown. â€Å"We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit† is presented with geological features of by a secluded beach. In which a man’s facial features and woman’s naked torso dissolve, revealing hollowness inside the figures. It was painted in 1940, just after joined Sydney’s Contemporary Art Society, where Gleeson became fascinated with the writings of famous psychologists, for which became major intellectual influences for his works. â€Å"We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit† is in a traditional subjective context, with a historical form, as Gleeson’s metaphor for the dissolving figures in this piece, represents the corrosion of the world and the human mind between the world wars. Gleeson, like in almost all of his pieces, uses the method of abstraction to increase the sense of his altered reality and reawaken his audience to his subject matter. He has achieved this through his geometric composition of shapes, for which the placing of the objects is deliberate, yet absurd. The large scaled landscape and close up confrontation of figures attract the viewer. He has used a saturated balance of colours as a visual sensation for his viewers, heightening a realistic feel, but destroying it with the corroded figures. This is a direct relationship in the work between Gleeson’s subjective context as well as the terror of his historical outlook. This painting is an example of how Gleeson encourages his viewers to look through the painting and into the depths behind his altered reality of the horrors of war and the human fertile mind. We inhabit the corrosive littoral of Habit 1940 oil on canvas 40. 7 x 51. 3 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Anonymous gift, 1941  © Courtesy of the artist In Gleeson’s piece â€Å"The Arrival of Implacable gifts,† he quotes that ‘The sea deposits all these things that were longed for, that turn out to be things that blind us or even destroy us’. Gleeson’s underlining message lies with the reintroduction of a subject in a particular sense of what draws from the subconscious mind for depicting reality. While a seascape rocky shore is represented, it is juxtaposed with human-like organisms presented in this artwork. This painting was painted in 1985, oil on canvas, in the stage where Gleeson had moved to making large scale ‘Psychoscape’ paintings. These workings had been a way of showing liquid, solid and air coming together directly implying the interface between the conscious and subconscious mind. â€Å"The arrival of implacable gifts† represents a range of distorted rocks, monsters and shells in a twisting state of metamorphosis. The imagery of this painting is abstractly beautiful yet horrific, denoting a feeling of uncertainty for the viewers, and promotes a dialogue with the unimaginable. He achieves this through the use of variance in contrasting colours of earthy tones. The deep space of softened green clouds hovering over the horizon juxtaposed with the swarming mass of rocks and monsters, of diluted earthy reds and browns, allowing his audiences eyes to drift throughout the painting into the imagination of the viewer. He has used a rhythmic texture in the piece; helping to heighten and guide the surrealistic feeling of a dreamlike scenario. Instead of engaging his viewers to look at or in the painting, he creates a strange and illogical scenario to reawaken his audience to look through his altered reality. The Arrival of Implacable Gifts 1985 oil on canvas 198 x 245 cm Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney  © Gleeson/OKeefe Foundation My Body of Work has and will continue to explore the concept of looking through. Studying the altered realities of dreams, fears and imaginative has helped shaped my artist practice. Through James Gleeson’s outstanding talent of juxtaposing symbolic objects with the use of rhythmic texture, contrasting colours and abstracted landscapes, Gleeson has effectively helped influence in shaping my body of work. The use of juxtaposing objects with landscapes through the representing of these images with a range of gentle contrasting colours and translucent layering also has heightened the altered reality feeling in my works. The wide use of abstraction has also been an effective tool when creating more emotive works for my Body of Work. This has been a Direct influence from Gleeson, and he continues to inspire people all around the world with his outstanding reintroduction of a subject with the use of Surrealistic techniques. Gleeson has reawakened my views of Surrealism, to help paint from the subconscious mind and see way beyond what is seen with your eyes, but what lies within the imagination. â€Å"Surrealism is a word that is applied to those forms of creative art which are evolved, not from the conscious mind, but from the deeper sense of the subconscious†. (James Gleeson) The subjective context denotes works that strongly reflect artist’s experiences, imaginings, feelings and psychological experience. For Gleeson, his artworks tends to explore his mood and imagery of the darker aspects of the world. Exploring the subconscious mind, and for that an altered reality in his eyes; Gleeson’s work is considered so significant because he allows his artworks to have an emotional impact on his viewers. In relevance to the quote; â€Å"Surrealism! What is surrealism? In my opinion. It is above all a reawakening of the poetic idea in art, the reintroduction of a subject but in a particular sense, that of strange and illogical. † (Paul Delvaux), James Gleeson works with his poetic side to create a reintroduction to his altered realities for his viewers. References Art Gallery of New South Whales. (2000). James Gleeson- The arrival of unplaceable gifts. Retrieved 08 15, 2013, from New South Whales Art Gallery: http://www. artgallery. nsw. gov. au/collection/works/225/1985 Donald WIlliams, C. S. (1970). Art Now- Contemporary Art. McGraw-Hill Book Company. Israel, L. (2000). Senior Artwise. Jacaranda.  http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/gleeson3.html

Farewell to Mazanar :: essays papers

Farewell to Mazanar Chapter 1 The Wakatsukis are a Japanese family with ten children, the youngest of who is Jeanne; she is the narrator and author of the story. In December 1941, the Wakatsukis are living near Long Beach, California. Mr. and Mrs. Wakatsuki are immigrants; they have come to the United States from Japan, searching for the American Dream. Jeanne's father and brothers man a fishing boat called The Nereid and work for the canneries on the coast. On December 7th, Jeanne stands on shore with the other Wakatsuki females; they all wave good-bye to the Wakatsuki men as they set out to sea. As the women watch the Nereid travel further away, it suddenly turns and heads back to shore. Jeanne and the others are confused about the strange return until a cannery worker on the docks runs toward them; he delivers the news that Japan has just bombed Pearl Harbor in a deadly surprise attack. Jeanne's father is immediately frightened that his ties to Japan will cause him trouble; he goes home and burns the f lag he had brought from Hiroshima, as well as all documents that might tie him to Japan. The family then relocates to the home of their eldest son, Woody, who lives on Terminal Island. After two weeks, Ko Wakatsuki, Jeanne's father, is arrested and interrogated. Later the family learns that he has been taken into custody and falsely charged with supplying oil to Japanese submarines offshore. Chapter 2 Jeanne’s father's absence has already made her insecure, and now she must cope with the presence of unfamiliar people in her new neighborhood. In particular, young Jeanne is terrified of the other Oriental people in the neighborhood. Her father's joking threats of "selling her to a Chinaman" seem true to her now that unfamiliar Chinese faces surround her. In Ko's absence, life in Woody's neighborhood is difficult for the Wakatsuki family. They must live in a cheaply constructed shack among Japanese people who speak only in a thick Kyushu dialect. All of their neighbors are ignorant of the English language, which makes the Wakatsukis, who normally speak in English, very uneasy. Money is also very tight. In order to make ends meet, Jeanne's mother goes to work in a cannery, along with Woody's wife Chizu. The only bright spot is when they receive a letter from Ko; unfortunately, the letter explains how he has been imprisoned in Fort Lincoln, North Dakota.

Hamlet Essay -- essays research papers

The Revenge of Prince Hamlet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, is a wonderfully written play that has many tangled webs of lies, betrayal, and revenge. The play starts off with the death of Hamlets father, the king. One night Hamlet sees the ghost of his dead father. The ghost speaks to Hamlet and tells him that he was killed by Claudius. Claudius, who is Hamlets uncle, has recently become the new king and as well married Hamlets fathers wife, Gertrude. Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his fathers death, but because he is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, his heart is not fully in the deed, and he delays, entering himself into a deep depression and strong apparent madness. Hamlets quest for revenge leads him on a long journey of deception and eventually his own death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hamlet himself feels that he is slacking on his vengeance. He explains that â€Å"...all occasions do inform against [him] and spur [his] dull revenge.† (Act IV, Scene iii) There are many points in the book were Hamlet gets upset at himself because he isn’t applying himself to his quest for revenge. Hamlet must do what his father told him to do. His father says that if Hamlet ever loved him, he will â€Å"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.† (Scene I, Act v) He considers himself weak and says â€Å"My fathers brother, but no more like my father/ than I do Hercules.† (Act I. Scene ii)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eventually...

Effects Of Homogenous Grouping Education Essay

The term homogenous refers to points or elements or units which are similar in nature and are in a group which basically means that they posses the same type of basic qualities or belongingss. The opposite word for the word homogenous is heterogenous. Therefore, when a group of points is referred to as homogeneous so it means that the individual points that make up the group have a figure of similarities while a group that has points that differ in all kinds of belongingss is referred to as heterogenous. These footings are non limited to points merely but can besides be used to depict a group of persons by sing similarities and differences in some traits or characteristics. When used in a acquisition environment, homogenous groups refer to an organized group of pupils possessing comparable instructional degrees placed together managing stuffs that are deemed fit to their specific degree, this is normally determined through a series of appraisals and the procedure of organizing such g roups is known as ‘homogeneous grouping. ‘ The exercising of homogenous grouping employs a theoretical account that by and large puts pupils into groups with respect to ability or accomplishment as the variables for doing a determination. At a higher degree of pupil larning the pattern is normally practiced in mathematics, in which instance pupils are taken through general, vocational, or college-preparatory classs in mathematics. A similar state of affairs can besides be experienced in schools that offer algebra at the 8th class particularly at the junior high school and center degrees ( Oakes, 1985 ; Slavin, 1990 ) . Tracking or grouping can besides be done to pupils at the simple school degree, even though the grouping at this phase is done by mensurating general ability or accomplishment and non on ability or accomplishment with respect to mathematics. A 2nd instance in point where homogenous grouping is done for pupils is the little groups in schoolrooms where bunchs are tagged on ability or accomplishment in that specif ic schoolroom. This pattern has been customary for reading direction more normally at the simple school degree for a long clip. The same organisation is used by instructors for mathematics direction. The placing of pupils into high, medium, and low groups for mathematics direction is non much practised at the center, junior, or high school degree where there is a inclination for pupils to make less work when placed in little groups ( Slavin, 1990 ) . The outgrowth of such patterns was brought approximately by the prevailing belief that the difference in kids ‘s rational is so great that there is a demand to learn pupils with different ability or accomplishment degrees in a separate category or group ( Oakes, 1986 ) , yet many concerns have come up with respect to the long-run consequence that practising such groupings may do. Grouping of pupils can either take the signifier of ‘ability grouping ‘ or ‘tracking ‘ with a distinguishable difference bing between the two footings, nevertheless a batch of arguments have been raised in line with these footings. The significance of these footings have been observed to change from one school to another, in this instance ability grouping is defined as a state of affairs where pupils are organized into groups in categories in reading direction while tracking is described as the placing pupils into groups between categories, giving academic classs in topics that reveal differences in the anterior acquisition or ability of the pupils. Tracking specifically has generated vesicating argument with critics bear downing that it non merely fails to help any pupil, but that it besides leads hapless and minority pupils into low paths and dooms a immense figure of pupils to a hapless instruction. It does non nevertheless lack guardians who have besides stood house in reasoning that it pupils with high ability pine away in categories with assorted ability. Conversely, some instructors are in favor of ability grouping proposing that most pupils get disappointed when the whole category does non hold on a new thought at the same clip in a heterogenous grouping. The instructors argue that the low-end pupils pull down the high-end pupils, instead than the opposite taking topographic point. The gait of the category goes down and it becomes necessary for a instructor to fix dual lesson programs for every period, one for the high-end pupils and another for the low-end pupils. At some point one instructor acknowledged the fact that ability grouping could be good in certain countries such as mathematics but warned that it should non be practised all twenty-four hours in all academic countries. So as the argument continues, a common land on tracking and ability grouping is difficult to happen, possibly the most general decision between instructors managing this issue is that ability grouping is good in some instances, but non in others, and that it is necessary to be flexible so that trailing of pupils is non done with no clear capableness of traveling from group to group. Though ability grouping is widely employed by schools across the state, it is a really controversial topic. The contention of ability grouping roots from the scarceness of grounds of how pupils in higher acquisition learn best. Do they larn best in homogenous groups? Can pupils ‘ educational demands be best served in groups of assorted abilities? These are the issues that need to be explored profoundly in the recent surveies. There are a figure of definitions that are of import and need to be clarified. These definitions pertain to structural dimensions of ability grouping or tracking pattern. These facets are electivity, selectivity, inclusiveness and range. Electivity is the extent to which pupils choose or are assigned to track places. Students and their parents are urged by pedagogues to do the â€Å" right † pick harmonizing to their capacities. Curiously, Gamoran showed that the more elected a system, the higher were its pupils ‘ accomplishment degrees ( Gamoran, 1990 ) . Selectivity is the extent of homogeneousness within paths. It is the sum of homogeneousness pedagogues intend to make by spliting pupils into groups harmonizing to features for larning. The more selective a system is, the more the organisation of its pupils does non stand for the composing of its whole pupil organic structure and the more between-class differences are accentuated ( Gamoran, 1990 ) . Inclusiveness is the handiness of options for subsequent educational chances ( Gamoran, 1990 ) . In other words, does the direction a pupil receives prepare him or her for farther acquisition of cognition down the route, or does it cut the pupil off from other options. Finally, range is the comprehensiveness and flexibleness of a tracking assignment ; the extent to which pupils are located in the same path across their topics ( Gamoran, 1990 ) .Effectss of ability groupingAbility grouping has a figure of effects on that have an impact on pupil public presentation and they can be categorised as accomplishment, self-concept, anticipations and attitudes, socio-economic care, and chances for acquisition.AccomplishmentIn analyzing the first issue, which is accomplishment, the first inquiry to be answered is what is achievement and how is it measured? Achievement can be defined as the successful attainment of accomplishments. There a assorted ways in which accomplishment can be measured. M ost normally used in the surveies and are considered here are achievement trials and/or classs on study cards. Both measurings allow for a comparing of accomplishments among pupils. Reuman ‘s 1989 survey tried to reply the inquiry of whether or non societal comparings mediate the relation between ability grouping and pupils ‘ accomplishment anticipations in mathematics. While his survey chiefly included information on pupil outlooks of their accomplishment, consequences refering existent accomplishment were besides stated. Mathematicss accomplishment was measured for sixth-graders from a suburban public school territory in South-eastern Michigan utilizing both achievement trial tonss and describe card classs. His findings pertained to within-class and between-class ability grouping. He found that within-class grouping raised high-achievers ‘ mathematics classs. This may be explained by the fact that in a heterogenous schoolroom utilizing within-class grouping, pupi ls of changing abilities were being compared to each other. In within-class grouping the high-achievers were non in competition with all high-achieving pupils. Their classs were being compared with classs of mean and low-achieving pupils and would hence be higher. Conversely, low-achievers ‘ classs would e lower. The antonym was true for between category ability groupings. Reuman found that high high-achievers received lower classs in between-class grouping and the low-achievers received higher classs when compared to within-class grouping. In between-class grouping the high winners are no longer at the top of their category nor are the low winners at the underside. They are now being compared to pupils of similar abilities and their classs reflect that fact. Although Reuman ‘s survey did non concentrate on secondary pupils, it is practical to include this study since it gives a comparing and contrast of within-class and between-class ability grouping and there is a turn ing tendency towards traveling the sixth-grade into the in-between schools. Newfield and McElyea ( 1983 ) looked at sophomore and senior accomplishment differences in remedial and advanced mathematics and English categories as they compared to heterogenous categories. Heterogeneous categories that included low-achievers performed better on the written part of the English trial. Low-achieving seniors and sophomores in the heterogenous categories showed higher mathematics accomplishment. However, homogeneous-grouped categories of high-achieving sophomores and seniors in advanced categories exhibited greater accomplishment in both mathematics and English. No important differences were found beyond these consequences. Sing the effects of ability grouping on within-class accomplishment, Sorenson and Hallinan ‘s survey ( 1985 ) found that grouping additions inequality of accomplishment. Briefly, sing their survey at the difference in reading accomplishment between within-class grouped pupils and heterogenous schoolrooms for 4th through 7th graders from North California, their primary consequence refering accomplishment for within-class grouping was that high-ability groups attained a higher accomplishment than low-ability groups. These consequences were bases chiefly on informations from simple schools and may non straight use to secondary pupils, but this survey has been included in this research paper to add penetration to the topic of homogenous versus heterogenous effects on accomplishment. Testing the effects on the differences between mathematics accomplishments of within-class ability grouping, heterogenous and cooperative-learning grouped schoolrooms, Slavin and Karweit ( 1984 ) conducted two experiments. The first included 4th through 6th graders from integrated, urban, pathless schools in which the instructors were given appropriate preparation. The 2nd experiment included 3rd through 5th grade pupils from rural, largely white, tracked schools with no specific teacher preparation. The topics in these experiments were called untreated, control categories. The ground for carry oning both experiments was to be able to generalise the consequences of their survey to different school state of affairss and locations. In the heterogenous classes the instructors were trained to stress a high ratio of active instruction to seatwork. Mathematicss was taught in context of significance, non in isolation and there were frequent inquiries and feedback. In these categories, instr uctors taught at a rapid gait and strived to increase pupil clip on undertaking. In the within-class ability-grouped categories, instructors were trained to learn with the same constructs as described in the heterogenous categories, but were instructed to distinguish their gait and stuffs for the two groups. In the concerted acquisition categories, pupils worked in heterogenous larning squads of four or five members. They worked on individualised mathematics stuffs at their ain degrees and gait, and the squad members helped one another with any jobs. Slavin and Karweit ( 1984 ) found that the consequences were similar for both experiments. Concerted larning groups and within-class ability groups increased computational accomplishments significantly more than in heterogenous categories that had no grouping. There was a similarity in achievement effects when utilizing the concerted acquisition and within-class grouping interventions. This survey showed that grouping 3rd to sixth grade pupils in some manner is good to achievement when compared with no grouping at all. Again, this survey focused on simple school but did offer concerted acquisition as an option to the traditional usage of either homogenous or heterogenous schoolrooms. There are other research workers who besides conducted surveies on this subject whose findings are summarised as follows. A meta-analysis ( 1990 ) , conducted by Goldring, on the differences in accomplishment of talented pupils between homogenous and heterogenous categories included surveies crossing cla sss three through 12. Goldring found that the higher the grade degree, the more talented pupils benefited from specialized or homogenous categories. Teacher developing for talented plans straight affected pupil accomplishment. Students in particular categories, whose instructors had received particular preparation to learn talented pupils, achieved more than talented pupils in heterogenous categories as compared to pupils in talented categories whose instructors were non specially trained ( Goldring, 1990 ) . Apparently at odds consequences are found in the undermentioned three surveies. Kulik and Kulik ‘s ( 1987 ) meta-analysis included many older surveies dating back to the 1920 ‘s, and they excessively support Goldring ‘s findings that homogenous grouping of talented pupils increased their accomplishment. Looking beyond talented pupils in general, Slavin conducted a synthesis of 29 surveies from the old ages 1927-1986. He found that between-class ability groups, dominant in secondary schools had small or no consequence on accomplishment. He farther said that different signifiers of grouping were every bit uneffective ( Slavin, 1990 ) . Gamoran and Berends ( 1987 ) excessively studied the effects of ability grouping on secondary school and found rather the antonym. They found that ability grouping and tracking did so affect pupil accomplishment and that the differences between accomplishments may hold resulted from fluctuations in pupil academic experiences. Allan ‘s review ( 1991 ) of the incompatibilities between Kulik and Kulik ‘s ( 1987 ) and Slavin ‘s ( 1990 ) findings advises chariness in construing the reappraisals about ability grouping and the gifted. In both surveies, accomplishment was measured by the usage of standardised trial tonss. Tonss of talented pupils are normally high and approach a maximal possible mark. As they come closer to the upper limit, it is hard for these talented pupils, measured in this manner, to demo important academic betterment as they already represent the upper echelon of accomplishment. This effect may assist to account for the differences in consequences of surveies which examine gifted versus regularly-placed pupils. Another job with the usage of standardised trials was that they did non needfully measure what instructors were learning. Allan recommended the usage of teacher-made trials when comparing pupil advancement in homogenous versus heterogenous categories. Slavin include d surveies that used teacher-made trials, but at that place was a job with his choice procedure. He merely included surveies when the teacher-made trials were designed to measure aims taught in all categories. By and large, aims will change among the three ability groups of high, mean, and low and the lone trials that would run into Slavin ‘s standards would be those that tested for minimum aims. Again, this will non successfully show accomplishment additions for norm and high ability categories. Allan stressed that the most harmful facet of the homogenous versus heterogenous contention is the deceits of research workers ‘ findings, particularly Slavin ‘s. some authors may look at Slavin ‘s consequences and misinterpret them to back up their ain beliefs. An every bit detrimental illustration is that some school systems used Slavin ‘s findings to do determinations on gifted or particular instruction plans. In world, Slavin did non include either group in his survey. In scrutiny of accomplishment, non merely should the effects of ability grouping be considered but besides how schools construction their trailing patterns. Different types of tracking systems do hold different effects on pupil accomplishment. What makes a tracking pattern differ from school to school is the extent of accent a system places on selectivity, inclusiveness, range, and electivity. A trailing system which exhibited a high grade of selectivity or high degrees of homogeneousness, t he larger were the differences in accomplishment between each path.Self-conceptIn reexamining the surveies analyzing the effects of tracking on secondary pupils, it was found that self-concept is a really important variable. Self-concept can be defined as the self rating of a pupil ‘s abilities in comparing to his or her other schoolmates. Student self-concept depends on their comfort and adeptness with societal comparing procedures. Self-concept non merely reflects how pupils rate their abilities by societal comparing to other schoolmates, but it besides includes their self-esteem, the manner the feel about themselves. Ability grouping and trailing patterns have a strong consequence on self-concept as the degree or group a pupil is placed affects the variables with which he or she may estimate his or her ain public presentation and ability. For secondary pupils, their self-concept does associate to their group arrangement. In homogenous systems, high-ability pupils rate high degrees of self-concept, while the low-ability pupils exhibited lower degrees of self-concept ( Byrne, 1988 ; Reuman, 1983 ; Spenser & A ; Allen, 1988 ) . A survey following sophomores to their senior twelvemonth found that their self-concept remains changeless for academic paths ( high-ability pupils ) and regular paths ( average-ability pupils ) , but self-concept diminutions for the vocational-tracked pupil ( low-ability ) ( Vanfossen, Jones & A ; Spade, 1987 ) . In heterogenous categories of English and Social surveies, secondary pupils experience higher grades of ego construct and ego regard. Compared to the homogenous categories, instructors, who in this survey were learning to mixed-ability groups for the first clip, perceived elevated degrees of self-concept and self-esteem from their norm and lower pupils ( Poppish et Al, 1990 ) . Low tracked pupils in 11th and 12th class academic categories often compared their abilities to the pupils in high paths and the low-track pupils did see themselves as less capable ( Byrne, 1991 ; Reuman, 1983 ; Vanfossen et Al, 1987 ) . However, in general course of study categories, the low-tracked pupils used societal comparing processes less and placed less accent on academic accomplishments. In these categories, it was found that cognition was non every bit of import as popularity with equals ( Byrne, 1991 ) . Social comparing procedures are an of import go-between of the relationship between ability grouping and self-concept. In a survey of ninth-grade mathematics categories, within-class grouping for high and mean groups positively affects the self-evaluation for those pupils because of the manner they compare themselves to the ability of the other pupils in their category. The low-ability group demonstrated lower degrees of self-concept as they saw that their mathematics abil ities did non be the other groups in the schoolroom. The high-ability pupils compared themselves to pupils who were less mathematically capable and rated their ain abilities high ( Reuman, 1983 ) . In contrast, the self-concept for between-class sorted pupils related to the ability group in which the pupils were placed, i.e. high-ability pupils had high grades of self-concept, mean ability had mean grades of self-concept and low-ability pupils saw themselves as holding hapless mathematics abilities ( Reuman, 1983 ) . Reuman ‘s survey ( 1983 ) besides found that gender plays a function in pupils ‘ self-concept. Unlike male childs, misss are loath to compare themselves academically to others. For these pupils, who do non utilize societal comparing, their group degree strongly relates to their self-concept of their mathematics abilities. The effects of grouping on talented pupils ‘ self-concept showed no important differences between heterogenous and homogenous categories. On of the fabulous advocates for talented clauses is that specialised categories will profit talented pupils ‘ self-concept. However, talented pupils in homogenous, specialised categories do non exhibit higher grades of self-concept than talented pupils in heterogenous, mixed-ability categories ( Goldring, 1991 ) . When looking at the impact homogenous grouping versus heterogenous grouping has on pupils ‘ self-concept, it is of import to see the findings as they pertain to high, mean and low winners in heterogenous, between-class grouping and within-class grouping. It would be lead oning to generalise the consequences of heterogenous versus homogenous grouping for all pupils without looking at these finer dislocations.Anticipations and AttitudesAnticipations, as defined in this research paper, are the hopes and ideas pupils every bit good as instructors bring with them into a schoolroom or to a lesson on how they will win, and what they expect to larn. It is argued that tracking and ability grouping contribute to the inequality of instruction by changing pupil anticipations for successful public presentation and their attitudes towards school ( Oakes, 1985 ) . In her 1985 survey of 25 high schools and 25 junior high school, Oakes found that high-track pupils have higher outlooks for succe ssful public presentation, while low path pupils tend to experience more anomic from their school ‘s educational demands and farther educational chances. In the procedure of analyzing the organic structure of current research on ability grouping for its effects, it was found that much of the literature did non take into consideration anticipations or attitudes as variables. A survey of 9th and 10th class English and Social surveies classes showed that pupils of norm and high abilities had more positive anticipations for their heterogenous categories and their acquisition activities as compared to their homogenous opposite numbers. As the anticipations of the heterogenous pupils increased so did their motive to larn. In this survey, the heterogenous categories were tried for the first clip in this school, which had antecedently grouped homogeneously utilizing between-class groups ( Poppish et Al, 1990 ) . Teacher anticipations play a portion in the impact of ability grouping. In high school history categories, a survey found that instructors have lower anticipations for their low-ability pupils ( Muskin, 1990 ) . This type of instructor anticipation manifests itself in the manner instructors prepare for low-ability pupils. Granted they must take into consideration the lower abilities of these pupils, but these categories resulted blare higher rates of no n-instructional clip. Low-ability history categories were besides marked with a low or non-frequency of critical thought accomplishments, which are skills instructors seem to reserve for their high-ability pupils. One writer ( Muskin, 1990 ) suggests that critical thought accomplishments are taught at a higher frequence to the higher ability pupils because instructors expect high-ability pupils to be more prepared to manage that sort of cognition. Achievement anticipations were measured for 6th graders in mathematics in a 1983 survey. The achievement anticipations are a combination of self-concept of mathematics ability, outlook for high success in mathematics, and the perceptual experience of mathematics as an easy topic. Similar to self-concept, Reuman found that within-class grouping accentuated the sixth-grade high-achievers ‘ positive perceptual experiences and the low-achievers ‘ negative anticipations. This was because higher ability pupils tended to do downward comparings and the low-ability pupils made upward comparings ( Reuman, 1989 ) . This survey ‘s consequences for between-class grouping found that homogenous grouping both raised and lowered the accomplishment anticipations for both high and low-ability pupils. The classs received by the pupils in this survey corresponded to their anticipations. The high-achievers in within-class grouping received higher classs than their between-class opposite numbers. Merely as their accomplishment anticipations were low, the classs of the low-achievers received in the within-class grouping were lower than the low-ability pupils ‘ classs in the between-class grouping. This survey did non except the mean scholars. It found that there was no difference for the achievement anticipations of the average-ability pupils for their within or between-class grouping ( Reuman, 1989 ) . The pattern of ability grouping can impact pupils ‘ attitudes every bit good as their outlooks. In a 1983 survey on high and low achieving sophomores and seniors, it was found that the high winners ‘ attitude were more positive in the homogenous mathematics and English categories, while for the low-achievers, the heterogenous, the heterogenous categories had more positive impact on their attitudes. In comparing tantamount high-achieving sophomores and seniors from heterogenous categories with the homogenous, advanced categories, the survey learned that the high-achieving, homogenous pupils scored higher in positive attitudes toward capable, ego and school. For low-achieving sophomores, positive attitudes toward capable and ego were stronger for the mixed-ability pupils. The homogenous, remedial category exhibited increased marks of apprehension toward their topic. As for the seniors, there was no important difference between their attitudes for capable, ego and school for either assorted or homogenous categories. However, in the topic mathematics, the mixed-ability low-achieving seniors scored somewhat higher in their attitudes toward the topic ( Newfield & A ; McElyea, 1983 ) . From these surveies, it can be deduced that the higher the class, the less the pattern of ability grouping dramas in the consequence on anticipations and attitudes ( Newfield & A ; McElyea, 1983 ; Reuman, 1989 ) . Nevertheless, for in-between school and early high school, anticipations and attitudes are of import facets of ability groupings ‘ impact on pupil public presentation ( Gamoran, 1990, Reuman, 1989 ) . Their function with achievement reinforces the importance of sing anticipations and attitudes when analysing the impact of ability grouping.Socioeconomic position careSome research worker have found ( Jones, Vanfossen & A ; Spade, 1987 ; Goodland & A ; Oakes, 1988 ; Oakes, 1986 ; Vanfossen et Al, 1987 ) that pupils ‘ cultural backgrounds and/or economic position extremely influences their path arrangement. These research workers believed that while ability was an of import forecaster of arrangement, it entirely did non find which ability degree a pupil was placed d uring his or her high school instruction. Oakes ( 1986 ) traced the history of dividing pupils into groups destined for farther academic surveies and others for vocational enterprises, back to the bend of the century. In the early 1900 ‘s there was an inflow of immigrants and emancipated dorsums seeking instruction in the public schools. The leaders in instruction decided that the best instruction for these new pupils would be one which trained them for work, one that would assist them to do a life. Consequently, many research workers ( Jones et al, 1987 ; Goodland & A ; Oakes ; 1988 Oakes, 1986 ; Vanfossen et Al, 1987 ) today have found that non much has changed. Students of higher socioeconomic backgrounds are typical of the academically of high-tracked ability groups whereas minorities and the hapless are disproportionately placed in general or vocational paths. Tracking assignments are by and large based on standardised trial tonss and instructor or counselor judgement. Standardized-test prejudice ad instructor or counselor bias may account for the disproportional arrangement of hapless and minority pupils in low-tracked categories ( Oakes, 1985 ) . Jones et Al ( 1987 ) included in their research the arrangement of pupils into academic paths based on their socioeconomic backgrounds. They used statistics from 1908 informations base entitled the â€Å" High School and Beyond Study. † The sample of topics used in their survey included those seniors of 1982 who had remained in the same path they had been placed as sophomores in 1980. They found that the higher the sum of inclusiveness, the smaller the consequence that pupils ‘ socioeconomic backgrounds had on their location in an academic path. Additionally, the lesser the sum of inclusiveness, the smaller were the societal category differences among pupils in the vocational and ge neral paths. Oakes ( 1986 ) looked at the effects of puting pupils into academic versus vocational paths. She was concerned about her findings on the big per centum of minorities in the vocational plans and found that these plans taught low-level accomplishments for low-level occupations that are in danger of early obsolescence. In contrast, her research showed that a big per centum of white pupils in the academic paths were larning the problem-solving accomplishments needed in readying for the workplace of the hereafter instead than larning accomplishments for water under the bridge occupations of the yesteryear. The ground for utilizing the term â€Å" position care † is because every bit long as minorities and the hapless typify pupils in vocational or low-level ability groups, schools will go on to restrict these pupils ‘ entree to take down accomplishment degrees than their higher-tracked equals ( Oakes, 1986 ) . The findings overpoweringly confirm that the socioeconomic positio n and cultural backgrounds of the pupils influence their path arrangements.Opportunities for larningIn this subdivision, chances for acquisition is equated with equal entree to quality instruction. Opportunities for larning include the sums of direction clip and prep given, the curricular content taught, the stuffs used, the activities engaged in, and teacher presentation. These factors are compared in the ability groups of high, medium and low to make up one's mind if each group is having comparable chances for acquisition and if non, what are the differences. Of the research that discussed chances for larning considered in this paper all agreed that inequalities existed when any sort of ability grouping was used. All of the writers focussed on between-class ability grouping except for Sorenson and Hallinan ( 1986 ) who discussed within-class ability grouping. Trimble and Sinclair ( 1987 ) studied the differences in the curricular content and instructional methods of United States history categories across the three ability groups in six Massachusetts high schools. Muskin ‘s research ( 1990 ) besides used the United States history categories from six high schools to analyze the differences in chances for larning in awards, regular and basic categories. Both Goodland and Oakes ( 1988 ) , Lake ( 1988 ) , and Oakes ( 1986 ) presented a sum-up of findings from old research. All of these writers agree on the undermentioned findings. A higher per centum of clip was devoted to instruction, clip on undertaking and prep in the higher-tracked categories than in the lower paths. High-tracked, college-bound direction emphasized analysis and critical-thinking accomplishments, while non-college edge direction concentrated on rote memory and low-level cognition accomplishments ( Goodland & A ; Oakes, 1988 ; Lake, 1988 ; Muskin, 1990 ; Oakes, 1986 ; Trimble & A ; Sinclair, 1987 ) . In many instances, instructors in low-ability categories spent more clip commanding behavior jobs which resulted in reduced acquisition clip, than did instructors of high-ability categories ( Goodland & A ; Oakes, 1988 ; Lake, 1988 ; Muskin, 1990 ; Oakes, 1986 ; Trimble & A ; Sinclair, 1987 ) . Trimble and Sinclair ( 1987 ) besides talked about the affectional ends of the United States history categories. Affectional ends as they apply to United States history describe instructors ‘ attempts to develop a sense of broadened feelings for the humanistic disciplines and cultivate a desire to go good citizens. The affectional sphere does non concentrate on the memorisation of facts and figures ; instead it develops an grasp for what pupils are larning and how it applies to their day-to-day lives. This can be generalized to all school topics. There was a disparity in the clip devoted to affectional ends between the high-ability categories and the low and mean categories. The high-ability classes spent more clip prosecuting affectional ends while the low and mean categories spent more clip on the memorisation of facts ( Trimble & A ; Sinclair, 1987 ) . Findingss refering instructor outlooks seemed to impact on the chances for larning. Some instructors enjoyed learning the higher ability classes more than the lower ability 1s and accordingly this was reflected in their lucidity of presentation, undertaking orientation, enthusiasm, effectual usage of stuffs and the assortment of activities planned for their categories. Teachers of higher ability categories demonstrated a higher degree of all the features merely mentioned than instructors of lower grouped categories ( Lake, 1988 ; Oakes, 1986 ; Trimble & A ; Sinclair, 1987 ) . While the above consequences referred to between-class grouping, Sorenson and Hallinan ‘s ( 1986 ) research survey concentrated on within-class grouping in upper simple and in-between school classs. They found that because a instructor ‘s instructional clip was divided between three ability groups, there was less chance for larning because there was less direct instructional clip devoted to each group. While these sorted pupils in heterogenous schoolrooms may hold received less direct instructor direction, the direction they did acquire may hold provided for more acquisition. Students were taught in smaller groups and direction was adapted to their abilities. Small, homogenous groups instead than one big heterogenous group facilitated acquisition. Both Gamoran ( 1990 ) and Oakes ( 1985 ) researched the effects of tracking on pupil and educational results. These research workers found that there were content differences between high and low-tracked categories. In school, p upils can merely larn to what they are exposed. Oakes ( 1985 ) writes â€Å" Yet it is clear from the research on tracking that the pattern constitutes a authorities action that restricts pupils ‘ immediate entree to certain types of instruction and to both educational and occupational chances in the hereafter † ( p. 189 ) . Whether or non the same content was available in each path degree, the differences in sum of clip devoted and the instructional manner used, straight affected what pupils learned ( Gamoran, 1990 ; Oakes, 1985 ) . It is clear from the surveies cited in this subdivision that inequalities sing chances for larning do be when tracking or ability grouping is used.DecisionThe surveies and articles which have been reviewed seldom agreed on the benefits or harmful effects of ability grouping. The balance of the available grounds does propose that grouping affects achievement, self-concept, anticipations and attitudes, and chances for larning. While these four issues are affected by grouping, ability grouping is affected by socioeconomic position. One must retrieve when comparing the effects of heterogenous and homogenous categories ‘ accomplishment, three types of schoolroom constructions are being evaluated: heterogenous or whole-class direction, within-class ability grouping, and betw een-class ability grouping. Generally findings are different for each construction. When looking specifically at within-class grouping, it is found that high-ability groups attain a higher accomplishment than low-ability groups ( Reuman, 1989 ) . In comparing to heterogenous grouping, within-class grouping and concerted acquisition groups are more good to achievement ( Slavin & A ; Karweit, 1984 ) . In consideration of between-class ability grouping, widely used in secondary schools ( Slavin, 1990 ) , low winners received higher classs and high winners received lower classs ( Reuman, 1989 ) . When comparing between-class grouping to heterogenous categories we found that high winners in advanced-tracked categories showed greater accomplishment than high winners in heterogenous categories ( Newfield & A ; McElyea, 1983 ) . Summarily, ability grouping is non needfully harmful, but the pattern of ability grouping unsupported by an overall educational intent can take to ill-defined effects on pupil educational results and public presentation in mathematics. It is a recommendation that any school seeking to re-evaluate their grouping system should take into consideration the pupil organic structure composing, the intent of ability group arrangement and the coveted educational results. Before following any ability-group method, one needs to see their school ‘s committedness to teacher preparation, ability to back up staff and the benefits of the employment of concerted acquisition as an instructional method.

Labour Turnover Essays

Labour Turnover Essays Labour Turnover Essay Labour Turnover Essay The way trade and commerce is conducted nowadays has evolved. Everything involving the operations of the organisation demands a more expeditious means of addressing issues and changes in the external environment. Though this apparently would drive weak companies into the verge of exiting the market, the good ones find a way for this intense demand for constant improvement to their advantage. There are some who find a way to make these incessant demands for change trigger the developmental needs of the company. This is especially true in the case of the hospitality industry. In this industry, the focus is more on the service rendered to the public; hence there is a distinct possibility for it to be indistinguishable and interchangeable. Though the external environment has been regarded by numerous organisational studies to be one of the key elements for organisational success, this end could not be achieved without initially having a strong and stable internal environment. This study will focus on that element of the organisation, particularly of Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts. Specifically, the study shall take into consideration the issue of employee turnover in relation to specific human resource management practices provided by these organisations in the hospitality industry. For this chapter, the subsequent parts shall give further details about the intention of this paper. Specifically, the chapter shall provide for the background of the topic, the actual aims and objectives of the organisation, the plan for the study, its rationale, significance to the existing literature, and its scope and limitations. Background of the Topic The internal environment provides the foundation on which an organisation establishes a firm base so as the demands of the external environment does not lead it away from its ultimate goals. In the past and existing literature, there are a couple of models on which the internal environment is managed. These two prevailing models include personnel management and human resource management. These models are often used interchangeably and espouse confusion to those unfamiliar with the differences. Personnel management is essentially the more seasoned model than human resource anagement which imposes key administrative processes in the common organisation. ( 1990, ) The issue on the use of this model is that its potential could only be maximised when the organisation imposes a strict bureaucratic model. (2001) On the other hand, the emergence of human resource management basically uses the same principles as that of personnel management. However, the scope has been broadened to cover elem ents not limited to the administrative functions of the organisation. These key elements, in relation to human resource management, are now compounded with the consideration of motivation and morale of the employees. 1995,   Hence, this addition have made the process more agreeable to the processes of the private sector as the model has veered away from the accepted notion that the people in the organisation are mere elements of the administration. Aims and Objectives Human resource management has become one of the more important models of management applied in the modern organisation. In this study, a closer look on the labour turnover in the hospitality industry shall be made. Specifically, the conditions surrounding Shangri-La shall be the basis of the discussions in the ensuing chapters. This study intends to establish the relationship of the effective implementation of human resource management and employee turnover in the hospitality industry. In order to carry out this study, the researcher shall carry out the following objectives.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is the existing employment structure in Shangri-La?  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How does Shangri-La practice its human resource management functions?  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How do the employees regard the company’s performance in terms of: o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Training and Development o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Compensation o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Working Conditions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organisation and Productivity o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Empowerment and Employee Involvement o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management and Supervision o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Teamwork  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How does Shangri-la sustain a le vel of retention of the well-performing staff in the organisation?  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is the relationship of labour turnover and the implementation of human resource management practices of Shangri-La? Plan for the Study The paper shall carry out both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the possible causes of labour turnover in Shangri-la Hotels. To be more specific, the analysis of the practice of human resource management initiatives of the respondent company shall be made to determine whether or not it has a direct effect on the overall retention and turnover of personnel. The dissertation shall be divided into several chapters. This will ensure that the discussions are clear and consistent with the distinct areas covered by each chapter. For the purposes of this dissertation, the discussions shall be divided into five Chapters. This first chapter basically forms part of the introductory elements of this paper. It offers a discussion on what the dissertation intends to tackle and what organisational issue it seeks to resolve. An introduction to the general problem of turnover in the hospitality industry, a background of the current environment of the said industry and the rationale why and how this general problem needs to be addressed shall be indicated in this chapter. Hence, the first chapter shall build the foundation on which the subsequent chapters will relate. The second chapter shall provide for the review of related literature pertaining to employee retention, labour turnover and human resource management. On a more specific note, the discussions shall fall squarely on how the existing literature points to the concepts and issues mentioned in the aims and objectives of this paper. Moreover, this chapter will also provide some description of past studies that shows similarities with the intended ends of this paper. These discussions will then be used to relate to the actual findings of this study. The third part of the paper shall cover the methods and procedures used in this paper. Simply, the discussions on this chapter shall cover the models used in the data acquisition processes in the paper. Statistical tools as well as other concerns which the researcher encountered during the course of the study shall be taken into account. This is to provide a transparent account on how the data is acquired and that the data used in the analysis are credible. The fourth chapter shall present, interpret and analyse the data acquired from the respondent company. In this part of the study, tables and charts shall be used to summarise the findings made by the research process. Specifically, the processed data from the quantitative research shall be discussed and related to the objectives of the paper. In addition to that, the discussions shall also relate the findings on the existing theories pointed out in the earlier literature review. The last chapter shall be giving out the summary, conclusions and recommendations based on the findings of presented in the preceding chapter. In doing so, this chapter will succinctly specify the implications of the study on the overall field of organisation and human resource management. The recommendations given in this chapter shall cover the observations and arguments made throughout the dissertation. Rationale of the Study Organisational studies have emphasised time and again of the importance of offsetting the demands of the external environment with the internal environment of the organisation. This harmony provides for the overall success of the organisation. The very manifestation of this stated harmony is seen in the flexibility of the company in dealing with the demands of their operations. This is especially true for the hospitality industry as they tend to operate in a much wider scale compared to other fields. ( 2006,) The management and supervision of the environment is thus a given prerequisite. As stated in the earlier parts of this chapter, the internal environment serves as foundation for the company in dealing with the nuances of the external environment. However, this can only be done if the organisation holds on to a competent set of workers and employees dedicated to the realisation of organisational goals. (  Ã‚   2004,) The problem with this requirement is that this rarely takes place. Companies, after training their employees to meet the standards that they require, do not stay too long in the organisation as they seek other opportunities elsewhere. Studies have also pointed out that employee turnover tends to increase the costs incurred by the company and at the same time opens it up for significant losses. This is compounded by the fact that turnover of employees has the propensity to be driven by personal decisions of the individual employees. Studies have pointed to this phenomenon as voluntary turnover. Acts like resignation and retirement are among those that signify voluntary turnover. ( 2004, Hence, retention is deemed as an indispensable ends on which the company has to achieve. Significance of the Study In the past decades, the study on human resource management has become one of the most contested and debated topics. Scholarly journals and academic articles have assailed every nature of the model. In the same manner, a good number has been made for the purpose of analysing the importance of retention and the effects of turnover. This dissertation would be a welcome addition to this existing literature. In addition, the analyses and findings of this dissertation will fill in the rather scant studies on the effects of turnover and the importance of retention in the hospitality industry. In this regard, it is important to mention that the study will be focusing on a particular hotel in China. Hence, the setting of the study will also establish the existing conditions surrounding the hospitality industry in China. It will also be able to provide a succinct description of the nuances on which may help multinational companies seeking entry on the said market. Furthermore, this study will also be helpful for academics seeking to pursue further studies on the matter. This may trigger an impetus to further improve the knowledge of the existing environment and the industry on which the respondent company operates. To this end, the study will beneficial to a number of sectors in society. The implications of the findings are not limited to organisational studies alone. It affords an advantage to the actual trade and industry as well as in the academe. Scope and Limitations The discussions in the succeeding chapters shall limit itself on the rationale and the stated aims and objectives on this chapter. Subsequently, the data acquired from the primary and secondary sources shall be treated with the utmost ethical standard to ensure that the discussions are all original. In the same manner, all the other claims adapted from previous studies are to be cited while the data acquired from the respondents shall go though a process free from the personal biases of the researcher. All these are done so as the discussions and the contents of this dissertation will not fall under scrutiny and claims of preconception and even unethical manoeuvrings. On the whole, the findings of this dissertation are intended to be treated with the utmost objectivity devoid of any subjective claims coming from this researcher. Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature Introduction The hospitality industry in China is one of the first areas of economic activity to open to outside world and to obtain advanced international management skills as a result. It is evident that China has a bright future in this area, as the rapid development of tourism has been based on a solid foundation. By April 2004, the number of graded star level hotels had reached 8,880 with total turnover of 1,000 billion RMB ($120. 48 billion) ( 2005) People are one of the most important resources for businesses throughout the world. This is particularly true with respect to a service-intensive sector such as hospitality. The hospitality industry’s employment base is in the largest of any industry in China. ( 2005) However, the hospitality industry in China and elsewhere is facing with the problem of a shortage of qualified personnel. With globalization which is heightening competition, organizations must continue to develop tangible products and products and provide services which are based on strategies created by employees. These employees are extremely crucial to the organization since their value to the organization is essentially intangible are not easily replicated   (2002). Organizations invest a lot on their employees in terms of induction and training, developing, maintaining and retaining them in their organization. Therefore, management of an organization at all costs must minimize employee’s turnover. Although, there is no standard framework for understanding the employees turnover process as whole, a wide range of factors have been found useful in interpreting employee turnover . 2004). Managers must recognize that employees as major contributors to the efficient achievement of the organization’s success (2000). Managers should control employee turnover for the benefit of the organization success. Employees’ turnover is a much studied phenomenon   (1998). Labor turnover is also a key competitive parameter in the hospitality industry. The importance of employees was hi ghlighted by (1991) who suggested that a total service approach was needed which included qualitative as well as quantitative elements to deliver what customers expected. Companies today generally do recognize the important contribution that their employees play in delivering the offer. However, they also make every effort to drive down internal costs as part of the price commitment. Labor turnover is seen as one area of cost which can be measured and benchmarked. It is seen as a significant factor which management can influence , 1995). Low turnover is seen as an asset in the competitive war. High turnover is seen as a problem to be managed ( 1986; 2004). (2002). The importance of allowing managerial discretion to store managers in dealing with the problems they face was recognized. (1995) suggested that companies need to invest resources in developing employees. This would lead to increased motivation, enthusiasm and overall lower labor turnover. This paper focuses on a case study of one international hotel management company in china’s hotels and uses a number of it data sources. It then examines relationships that can account for labor turnover in the light of previous research. The literature on employee turnover is divided into three groups: causes of employee turnover, effects of turnover and the strategies to minimize turnover. Labour Turnover Defined The term â€Å"turnover† is defined by   (1997) as: the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left during the period of being considered divided by the average number of people in that organization during the period. (2000) gives the statement on employee â€Å"turnover† is the rotation of workers around the labor market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment and unemployment. Frequently, managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy: Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee must be hired and trained. This replacement cycle is known as turnover (1995). this term is also often utilized in efforts to measure relationships of employees in an organization as they leave, regardless of reason. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Turnover There are many reasons why employees may leave an organization. Traditionally labor turnover has been seen to be either voluntary (the volition of the employee) or involuntary (, 2000;   1977; . 2001). Voluntary turnover includes push factors such staff leaving due to lack of interested in the job, and pull factors such as staff being attracted to another job by incentives. There is a vast literature on the causes of voluntary employee turnover dating back to the 1950s. Many studies are based on only a small number of variables which often only explain a sm all amount of variability in turnover. Most researchers (1982; 2001; Kramer et al. , 1995; . , 1981;   1996) have attempted to answer the question of what determines peoples intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees’ intentions to quit. To date, there has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of employed included by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings. Therefore, there are several reasons why people quit from one organization to another or why people leave organization. The experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related stress (stressors), lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction make employees to quit (2004). This clearly indicates that these are individual decisions which make one to quit. They are other factors like personal agency refers to concepts such as a sense of powerlessness, locus of control and personal control. Locus control refers to the extent to which people believe that the external factors such as chance and powerful others are in control of the events which influence their lives   (2004). Manu et al. (2004) argues that employees quit from organization due economic reasons. Using economic model they showed that people quit from organization due to economic reasons and these can be used to predict the labor turnover in the market. Good local labor market conditions improve organizational stability   (1983). Large organizations can provide employees with better chances for advancement and higher wages and hence ensure organizational attachment   1990). (2001) argues that local unemployment rates interact with job satisfaction to predict turnover in the market. Role stressors also lead to employees’ turnover. Role ambiguity refers to the difference between what people expect of us on the job and what we feel we should do. This causes uncertainty about what our role should be. It can be a result of misunderstanding what is expected, how to meet the expectations, or the employee thinking the job should be different Kahn et al. 1990. Insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less committed to their organizations, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization ( 1997). If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management/ supervisors, this would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role clarity. The idea of what constitutes involuntary turnover has changed over the last decade. ( 1991) There are some factors that are, in part, beyond the control of management, such as the death or incapacity of a member of staff. Other factors have been classed as involuntary turnover in the past such as the need to provide care for children or aged relatives. Today such factors should not seen as involuntary turnover as both government regulation and company policies created the chance for such staff to come back to work, or to continue to work on a more flexible bases. Causes of Employee Turnover Job Related Factors Most researchers 1982; , 2001; , 1995;, 1981; , 1996) have attempted to answer the question of what determines peoples intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees’ intentions to quit. Over time there have been a number of factors that appear to be consistently linked to turnover. An early review article of studies on turnover by (1979) revealed that age, tenure, overall satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job, and commitment were all negatively related to turnover (i. e. the higher the variable, the lower the turnover). To date, there has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of employed included by the researchers and the lack of their findings. Therefore, there are several reasons why people quit from one organization to another or why people leave organization. The experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related stress (), lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction make employees to quit . , (2004). This clearly indicates that these are individual decisions which make one to quit. There are other factors such as a sense of powerlessness, locus of control and personal control. Locus control refers to the extent to which people believe that the external factors such as chance and powerful others are in control of the events which influence their lives Firth et al. 2004). (2004) argue that employees quit from organization due economic reasons. Using economic model they showed that people quit from organization due to economic reasons and these can be used to predict the labor turnover in the market. Good local labor market conditions improve organizational stability   (1983). Large organizations can provide employees with better chances for advancement and higher wages and hence ensure organization attachment. (I 1990)     (2001) argues that local unemployment rates interact with job satisfaction to predict turnover in the market. Role stressors also lead to employees’ turnover. Insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less committed to their organizations, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization ( 1997). If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management/supervisors, this would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role clarity. Organisational Factors Organizational instability has been shown to have a high degree of high turnover. Indications are that employees are more likely to stay when there is a predictable work environment and vice versa ( 2001). In organization where there was a high level of inefficiency there was also a high level of staff turnover (, 1994). Therefore, in situations where organizations are not stable employees tend to quit and look for stable organizations because with stable organizations they would be able to predict their career advancement. Many studies have reported a significant association between organizational commitment and turnover intentions ( 1998). (2000) study confirmed the link between commitment and actual turnover and   (2000) analysis showed that organizational commitment was a better predictor of turnover than overall job satisfaction. Researchers have established that there are different types of organizational commitment. (1990) investigated the nature of the link between turnover and the three components of attitudinal commitment: affective commitment refers to employees’ emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization; continuance commitment refers to commitment base on costs that employees associate with leaving the organization; and normative commitment refers to employees’ feelings of obligation to remain with the organization. Put simply, employees with strong affective commitment stay with an organization because they want, those with strong continuance commitment stay because they need to, and those with strong normative commitment stay because they feel they ought to. study indicated that all three components of commitment were a negative indicator of turnover. In general, most research has found affective commitment to be the most decisive variable linked to turnover. Job Satisfaction The relationship between satisfaction and turnover has been consistently found in many turnover studies ( 1998). Mobley et al 1979 indicated that overall job satisfaction is negatively linked to turnover but explained little of the variability in turnover. (2000) found that overall job satisfaction modestly predicted turnover. In a recent   2003) found the main reason by far for people leaving their employer was for more interesting work elsewhere. It is generally accepted that the effect of job satisfaction on turnover is less than that of organizational commitment. (2001) noted that the notion of job satisfaction and organizational commitment being causally related has not been incorporated in most turnover models. His study indicated there were strong causal links between stress and satisfaction (higher stress leads to lower satisfaction) and between satisfaction and commitment (lower satisfaction leads to lower commitment). He further noted a reciprocal relationship between commitment and turnover intentions (lower commitment leads to greater intentions to quit, which in turn further lowers commitment). In summary, only commitment directly affected turnover intentions. Characteristics of Employees Despite a wealth of research, there appear to be few characteristics that meaning fully predict turnover, the exceptions being age and tenure. Age is found to be negatively related to turnover (i. e. the older a person, the less likely they are to leave an organization). However, age alone explains a little of the variability in turnover and as age is linked to many other factors, alone it contributes little to the understanding of turnover behavior. Tenure is also negatively related to turnover (the longer a person is with an organization, the ore likely they are to stay). n  Ã‚   concluded that length of service is one of the best single predictors of turnover. et al also found that age and tenure have a negative relationship to turnover. There is little evidence of a person’s sex being linked to turnover. 2000 meta-analysis re-examined various personal characteristics that may be linked to turnover. They concluded that there were no differences between the quite rates of men and women. They also cited evidence that gender moderates the age turnover relationship (i. e. women are more likely to remain in their job the older they get, than do men). They also found no link between intelligence and turnover, and none between race and turnover. Wage and Conditions The research conducted on the link between dissatisfaction with pay and voluntary turnover appears to be inconclusive. (1979) concluded that results from studies on the role of pay in turnover were mixed but that often there was no relationship between pay and turnover. Other studies found no significant relationship. On the other hand, (1991) cited in Tang suggests that the most important reason for voluntary turnover is higher wages/career opportunity. 2000) noted pay and pay-related variables have a modest effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, personal performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are insufficiently rewarded, they leave. They cite findings from   (1999) that where collective reward programs replace individual incentives, their introduction may lead to higher turnover among high performers. For some individuals pay will not be the sole criterion when people decide to continue within an exiting job. 2000) examined the relationship between attitudes towards money, intrinsic job satisfaction and voluntary turnover. One of the main findings of this study is that voluntary turnover is high among employees who value money (high money ethic endorsement), regardless of their intrinsic job satisfaction. However, those who do not value money highly but have also have low intrinsic job satisfaction tended to have the lowest actual turnover. Furthermore, employees within high intrinsic job satisfaction and who put a low value on money also had significantly higher turnover than this second group. The researchers also found that placing a high value of money predicted actual turnover but that withdrawal cognitions(ie thinking about leaving) did not. Training and Career Development (2003) detected a complex relationship between turnover and training. He suggested that establishments that enhance the skills of exiting workers have lower turnover rates. However, turnover is higher when workers are trained to be multi skilled, which may imply that this type of training enhances the prospects of workers to find work elsewhere. The literature on the link between lower turnover ant training has found that off the job training is associated with higher turnover presumable because this type of training imparts more general skills ( 2003). (1999) examined the relationship between career commitment, organizational commitment and turnover intention among Korean researchers and found the role of career commitment was stronger in predicting turnover intentions. When individuals are committed to the organization they are less willing to leave the company. This was found to be stronger for those highly committed to their careers. The author also found that employees with low career and organizational commitment had the highest turnover intentions because they did not care either about the company or their current careers. Individuals with high career commitment and low organizational commitment also tend to leave because they do not believe that the organization can satisfy their career needs or goals. This is consistent with previous research that high career committers consider leaving the company if development opportunities are not provided by the organization. However, this group is not apt to leave and is likely to contribute to the company if their organizational commitment is increased. found that individuals become affectively committed to the organization when they perceive that the organization is pursing internal promotion opportunities, providing proper training and that supervisor do a good job in providing information and advice about careers. Comparison of Alternatives Aggregate level economic studies provide consistent and significant evidence of the impact of labor market conditions on turnover rates at an aggregate level. As(1979) pointed out, at an aggregate level the relationship between economic factors such as employment levels or job vacancies and turnover has been well established. At an individual level, the labor market approach emphasizes expected utility and rational economic choice among employees and the perceived availability of alternative job opportunities. The relationship between alternatives and turnover on an individual level has been researched widely since 1958 seminal work on ease of movement. Much of the subsequent research focused on the link between job satisfaction, perceived alternative opportunities and turnover. Later, researchers began to focus on the role of both actual and perceived opportunities in explaining individual turnover decisions. Subsequent research has indicated that actual alternatives are a better predictor of individual turnover than perceived opportunities. Research on the impact of unemployment rates as a proxy for actual opportunities in employee turnover revealed that unemployment rates affected the job-satisfaction/turnover intent relationship but not actual turnover (   1999). They concluded that macro level analysis predicted turnover patterns but perceptions of opportunities did not. This point was reinforced in their study on medical centers in various locations used measures of perceived and objective opportunities in internal and external labor markets. The authors concluded that objectives opportunities were a better set of explanations of actual turnover behavior than either perceived internal or external labor market opportunities. Nevertheless, while actual alternatives appear to be a better predictor of turnover, there is also well-established evidence of the link between perceived alternatives and actual turnover. In their most recent meta-analysis, 2000) confirmed that perceived alternatives modestly predict turnover. Intent to Quit Much of the empirical research on turnover is based on actual turnover, although some studies are based on intentions to quit. Apart from the practical difficulty in conducting turnover research among people who have left an organisation, some researchers suggest that there is a strong link between intentions to quit and actual turnover. 1979) noted that the relationship between intentions and turnover is consistent and generally stronger than the satisfaction-turnover relationship, although it still accounted for less than a quarter of the variability in turnover. Much of the research on perceived opportunities has been found to be associated with intentions to leave but not actual turnover ( 1999). One of the possible reasons is that intentions do not account for impulsive behavior and also that turnover intentions are not necessarily followed through to lead to actual turnover. Implications of Turnover The impact of turnover has received considerable attention by senior management, human resources professionals, and industrial psychologists. It has proven to be one of the most costly and seemingly intractable human resource challenges confronting organizations. Analyses of the costs associated with turnover yield surprisingly high estimates. The high cost of losing key employees has long been recognized. However, it is important for organizations to understand that general turnover rates in the workforce can also have a serious impact on an organizations profitability, and even survival. Employee turnover is expensive from the view of the organization. Voluntary quits which represents an exodus of human capital investment from organizations   (1992) and the subsequent replacement process entails manifold costs to the organizations. These replacement costs include for example, search of the external labor market for a possible substitute, selection between competing substitutes, induction of the chosen substitute, and formal and informal training of the substitute until he or she attains performance levels equivalent to the individual who quit John (2000). Addition to these replacement costs, output would be affected to some extend or output would be maintained at the cost of overtime payment. The reason so much attention has been paid to the issue of turnover is because turnover has some significant effects on organizations (1987; 1990;   1991;  Ã‚   1992). Many researchers argue that high turnover rates might have negative effects on the profitability of organizations if not managed properly (, 1992;1993; 1990). Turnover has many hidden or invisible costs(1990) and hese invisible costs are result of incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with departing employees and position being filled while vacant. And all these affect the profitability of the organization. On the other hand turnover affects on customer service and satisfaction (2002). (2002) argue that turnover include other costs, such as lost productivity, lost sales, and management’s time. This demons trates that turnover affects the profitability of the organization and if it’s not managed properly it would have the negative effect on the profit. Research estimates indicate that hiring and training a replacement worker for a lost employee costs approximately 50 percent of the worker’s annual salary (, 2000 but the costs do not stop there. Each time an employee leaves the firm, productivity drops due to the learning curve involved in understanding the job and the organization. Furthermore, the loss of intellectual capital adds to this cost, since not only do organizations lose the human capital and relational capital of the departing employee, but also competitors are potentially gaining these assets   (2002). Therefore, if employee turnover is not managed properly it would affect the organization adversely in terms of personnel costs and in the long run it would affect its liquidity position. However, voluntary turnover incurs significant cost, both in terms of direct costs (replacement, recruitment and selection, temporary staff, management time), and also (and perhaps more significantly) in terms of indirect costs (morale, pressure on remaining staff, costs of learning, product/service quality, organizational memory) and the loss of social capital   (2001). Minimising Turnover: Strategies and Courses of Action Strategies on how to minimize employee turnover, confronted with problems of employee turnover, management has several policy options viz. changing (or improving existing) policies towards recruitment, selection, induction, training, job design and wage payment. Policy choice, however, must be appropriate to the precise diagnosis of the problem. Employee turnover attributable to poor selection procedures, for example, is unlikely to improve were the policy modification to focus exclusively on the induction process. Equally, employee turnover attributable to wage rates which produce earnings that are not competitive with other firms in the local labor market is unlikely to decrease were the policy adjustment merely to enhance the organization’s provision of on-the job training opportunities. Given that there is increase in direct and indirect costs of labor turnover, therefore, management are frequently exhorted to identify the reasons why people leave organization’s so that appropriate action is taken by the management. Extensive research has shown that the following categories of human capital management factors provides a core set of measures that senior management can use to increase the effectiveness of their investment in people and improve overall corporate performance of business: Employee engagement, the organization’s capacity to engage, retain, and optimize the value of its employees hinges on how well jobs are designed, how employees time is used, and the commitment and support that is shown to employees by the management would motivate employees to stay in organization’s. Knowledge accessibility, the extent of the organization’s â€Å"collaborative ness† and its capacity for making knowledge and ideas widely available to employees, would make employees to stay in the organization. Sharing of information should be made at all levels of management. This accessibility of information would lead to strong performance from the employees and creating strong corporate culture   (2002). Therefore; information accessibility would make employees feel 052   . Manage. that they are appreciated for their effort and chances of leaving the organization are minimal. Workforce optimization, the organization’s success in optimizing the performance of the employees by establishing essential processes for getting work done, providing good working conditions, establishing   accountability and making good hiring choices would retain employees in their organization. The importance of gaining better understanding of the factors related to recruitment, motivation and retention of employees is further underscored by rising personnel costs and high rates of employee turnover ( 1988;   1989;   1989; , 1981;   1986). With increased competitiveness on globalizations, managers in many organizations are experiencing greater pressure from top management to improve recruitment, selection, training, and retention of good employees and in the long run would encourage employees to stay in organizations. Job involvement describes an individual’s ego involvement with work and indicates the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with his/her job   1982). Involvement in terms of internalizing values about the goodness or the importance of work made employees not to quit their jobs and these involvements are related to task characteristics. Workers who have a greater variety of tasks tend stay in the job. Task characteristics have been found to be potential determinants of turnover among employees   1988;   and , 1980; 1989; , 1984). These include the five core job characteristics identified by   (1975, 1980): skill variety, which refers to the opportunity to utilize a variety of valued skills and talents on the job; task identity, or the extent to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work that is, doing a job from beginning to end, with visible results; task significance, which reflects the extent to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people, whether within or outside the organization; job autonomy, or the extent to which the job provides freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures that the job provides; and job feedback, which refers to the extent to which the job provides information about the effectiveness of one’s performance (. , 1997). Involvement would influence job satisfaction and increase organizational commitment of the employees. Employees who are more involved in their jobs are more sa tisfied with their jobs and more committed to their organization (, 1989;   1989; , 1988;   1982). Job involvement has also been found to be negatively related to turnover intentions ( 1989). Job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment reflect a positive attitude towards the organization, thus having a direct influence on employee turnover intentions. Job satisfaction, job involvement and organizational commitment are considered to be related but distinguishable attitudes ( 1989). Satisfaction represents an affective response to specific aspects of the job or career and denotes the pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from an appraisal of one’s job or career 1976; , 1974;, 1986). Organizational commitment is an affective response to the whole organization and the degree of attachment or loyalty employees feel towards the organization. Job involvement represents the extent to which employees are absorbed in or preoccupied with their jobs and the extent to which an individual identifies with his/her job ( 1988). The degree of commitment and loyalty can be achieved if management they enrich the jobs, empower and compensate employees properly. Empowerment of employees could help to enhance the continuity of employees in organizations. Empowered employees where managers supervise more people than in a traditional hierarchy and delegate more decisions to their subordinates (, 1997). Managers act like coaches and help employees solve problems. Employees, he concludes, have increased responsibility. Superiors empowering subordinates by delegating responsibilities to them leads to subordinates who are more satisfied with their leaders and consider them to be fair and in turn to perform up to the superior’s expectations ( 1995). All these makes employees to be committed to the organization and chances of quitting are minimal. Chapter 3 Methods and Procedures Introduction  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This chapter of the dissertation shall give an account of the methods and procedures used to acquire the primary data used in this study. The chapter shall also give a description of the research process executed in the course of the dissertation. In the same manner, a presentation of the statistical processes used in processing the acquired data from the respondents. Research Method The study encountered a whole lot of barriers in its completion. These include limitations like time constraints and a similarly tight budget. This in mind, the study shall be employing the descriptive form of research. Studies on research design have given certain distinct descriptions on this type of research process. Descriptive research is basically limited to answering specific questions mentioned in the aims and objectives of the study. Moreover, it employs only descriptive statistics to process the data. The reason for this is to establish simple and uncomplicated statistical applications shall be used to make sure that the presentation is understandable and unambiguous. Such statistical processes shall include the likes of such as averages, percentages, histograms, and frequency distributions. ( 2000, ) It is also imperative to point out that the study will be employing an amalgamation of both the qualitative and quantitative research. This intimates that the study will be using both the existing organizational studies and the reports of the Shangri-La Hotels along with the acquired data from the survey conducted from the employees of the Shangri-La Hotels. In using the two types of research, the study is able to discern the significant contributions of the said modes of research on the overall findings of the study. 2003,   Moreover, the amalgamation of the two research types provides this dissertation the acquisition of both shallow numerical data and interprets it using the rich qualitative data. Respondents The primary data used in this study is the responses of the respondents from the survey. A survey has been conducted from 15 July, 2008 to 30 July, 2008. Primary data was collected from Director of Human Resources in 24 Shangri-La hotels in China using a survey questionnaire with 24 responses were returned, representing 100% response rate. The questionnaire was developed based on the review of labor turnover in hospitality in the literature. Three faculty members of Shangri-La Hotel Group headquarter evaluated the content. The feedback and suggestions were analyzed, and the questionnaire was refined. Research Tools For this study, the primary tool employed for data acquisition shall be the survey questionnaire made by the researcher. The initial part of the survey questionnaire covered the respective characteristics of the respondents. This is essential to establish an overall account of the demographic involved in the study. Moreover, queries on gender, age, job description, and the number of years in the company shall be conducted to similarly determine the variety of the company’s labour force. The second part of the study will be asking questions that fit with the the aims and objectives of this dissertation. Specifically, questions on employee turnover and organisational development will be given. In the same regard, the Likert scale will be used to measure the responses of the employees. Below is the series at which the respondents will be giving their responses on the questions on this portion of the questionnaire: RANGE| INTERPRETATION| 4. 50 – 5. 00| Strongly Agree| 3. 50 – 4. 49| Agree| 2. 50 – 3. 49| Uncertain| 1. 50 – 2. 49| Disagree| 0. 00 – 1. 49| Strongly Disagree| The third part of the questionnaire shall provide open-ended questions to permit the respondents to generously and unreservedly provide their responses. It must be likewise assured by the researcher that the responses of the respondents on this part of the paper will be used with absolute discretion. Validity of the Research Instrument In order to guarantee the soundness of the instrument, the researcher will be giving a draft of the survey questionnaires to the consultant for approval. After the slight modifications and resulting approval of the research tool, the researcher shall seek the assistance of the aforementioned departments in Shangri-La to hand out the questionnaires to five employees in the hotels. These employees shall be asked to give their criticism on the research tool and give propositions on how to further develop the questionnaires. After the subsequent simplification and elimination of any immaterial questions, jargons, and any terms that the respondents could not comprehend, the survey will start to the labour force. Administration of the Research Subsequent to the giving out of the survey questionnaires and the resulting acquirement of data, it will be calculated to resolve the findings of the study. With the employment of statistical applications, the following methods shall be employed: 1. Percentage – to settle on the scale of the responses to the questionnaire. n % = x 100  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   n – number of responses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   N  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   N – total number of respondents 2. Weighted Mean f1x1 + f2x2   + f3x3 + f4x4   + f5x5 x =    ; xt where:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   f – weight provided to each response   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   x – amount of responses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   xt – total amount of responses Ethical Issues With the exception of the technical concerns in the research process, there is likewise a quantity of ethical concerns that the researcher should be aware. Specifically, the researcher is supposed to understand that that concern should be regarded interminably to the respondents within this dissertation. The employees have to continually be comfortable and within the highest possible condition as they are with the bounds of the researcher. It is only appropriate that the employees are not bothered and disturbed as they are in the course of acting in response to the questions of the research instrument. Furthermore, the researcher must tender the respondents the assurance of privacy and prudence. It has to likewise be guaranteed on the part of the researcher that the survey would not dish up adverse implications to the actual jobs or any other professional responsibilities that the respondents cleave to in the organisation. In doing so, it could be likely that the organisation will give their full assistance in the course. Chapter 4 Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data I. Introduction The previous chapters have presented the theoretical foundations of employee retention and turnover in an organization. This chapter shall present the findings of the study based on the survey questionnaire forwarded on HR Director of Shangri-la Hotels. In the same manner, the findings shall be presented in a systematic manner specifically by tabulating it thus presenting a summarized form. In doing so, the discussions shall be more concise and the readers are able to discern the arguments more clearly. Likewise, the interpretation and analysis of the said findings shall be directly related to the discussions provided in the second chapter of this dissertation. Specifically, the literature reviewed shall form part of the foundation on which the following observations and arguments are to be based. In the end of this chapter, a sub conclusion shall be made to synthesize the arguments pointed out in the presentation, interpretation and analysis of the findings provided in this chapter. II. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Turnover The second chapter of this dissertation has given the actual definition of voluntary and involuntary turnover. In its simplest sense, voluntary turnover covers resignations and retirements by the employees while involuntary turnover includes organizational actions like lay-offs and termination of employment provided for by the management. In discussing whether Shangri-la’s turnover leans towards voluntary or involuntary turnover, the structure of the company should first be taken into consideration. The table below summarizes the existing employment structure of the company. Table 1. Existing Employment Structure by Division The table above is divided into the specific division of Shangri-la. Looking at the discussions above, it plainly shows that by the first quarter of 2008, there are twenty-one Shangri-la hotels in China. They are located in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shengzhen, Beihai, Changchun, Qingda, Dalian, Pudong, Wuhan, Harbin, Zhongshan, Fuzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Baotou, Huhhot and Xian city respectively in China. Total staff headcount in individual hotel from 441 to 1461. Each hotel separated into 7 divisions including Administration, Food Beverage, Finance, Rooms, Human Resources, Engineer and Sales Marketing. Majority of employee in individual hotel are in Food Beverage and Rooms. The table below presents the actual overall turnover of the company in 2007. Based on the table below, the turnover rate of the company is rather substantial in the said fiscal year. Table 2. Overall Turnover Report The table presents that the first quarter of the year, Shangri-la Hotels China incurred a total of 8% of the in the first quarter alone. This shows that in the first several months of the fiscal year, a considerable number of employees have severed their employment relationship with the company, though it is not clear as to whether it is voluntary or involuntary. The findings also show that the Administration General division turnover ate is 9%, Food Beverage turnover rate is 8%, Finance turnover rate is 4%, Rooms turnover rate is 8%, Human Resources turnover rate is 3%, Engineer turnover rate is 4% and lastly Marketing turnover rate is 8%. So, it can tell the highest turnover rate division is Administration General and followed by Food Beverage, Rooms and Marketing. Hence, this shows that the Administration and General Division has incurred the most percentage of turnover followed by the Marketing and Rooms Divisions amounting to 8% each. It could be surmised with the said data that most of the individuals leaving the company does administrative work, housekeeping, and even those in marketing. III. Causes of Employee Turnover The data provided above presents the actual existence of labor turnover in Shangri-la Hotels in China. Though it is seen that the rate have not bee quite high and appears to be at a manageable level, the causes of the turnover is still unclear. The following discussions will show the actual causes of the turnover based on the survey provided by the researcher on the said company. Areas such as the job related factors, organizational factors, wage conditions, and career development shall be considered to establish which field contributes more to the overall turnover in the organization. A. Job Related Factors Figure 1. Physical Working Conditions Figure 2. Work Organisation and Productivity B. Organisational Factors Figure 3. Communication in the Organisation Figure 4. Supervision in the Organisation Figure 5. Internal Customer Focus Figure 6. Management of the Organisation C. Job Satisfaction Figure 7. Employee Empowerment and Involvement Figure 8. Job Security D. Wage and Conditions Figure 9. Pay and Benefits E. Training and Career Development Figure 10. Training Development / Career Advancement Figure 11. Performance Appraisal F. Comparison of Alternatives Figure 12. Identification and Image of Shangri-La G. Intent to Quit Figure 13. Other Reasons for Quitting IV. Implications of Turnover V. Sub conclusion Read more: http://ivythesis. typepad. com/term_paper_topics/2009/01/employee-turnover-in-relation-to-specific-human-resource-management-practices-1. html#ixzz19JrBJtix