Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage Essay Example

Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage Paper Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage Name: Course: Date: We will write a custom essay sample on Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Being a Volunteer in an Orphanage Volunteering refers to working without pay. It is based on the need to acquire skills in a certain field or profession, learning of new things and interacting with other people, especially of a different culture. It is a form of community service when done to benefit one or more people in a particular community. Voluntary work is mostly done for non-commercial organizations and time invested varies with the individuals and the organization being assisted. Some people therefore engage in full volunteering activities while others only do it partially in the curse of other work they undertake. One can volunteer alone or as part of a group of people for instance a class, family or any other independent group. There are many advantages of volunteering. For instance, it offers an opportunity for helping those in need. This is among the main reasons why people volunteer. In so doing, they are being of service to others, a factor that provides a sense of well being and usefulness. Such people help in making a difference in the lives of those they are serving, for example, those volunteering at disaster centers, hospitals and orphanages. Their feeling of having helped another person gives them a sense of purpose and makes them feel appreciated. Volunteers meet new people in their course of work. These people come with a variety of culture, skills, knowledge of new things and even a chance for new friendships. Their interpersonal skills are tested and improved if already good. It is also through this that job networks are acquired. For those volunteers who are already working, networking is beneficial in advancing their careers. This is because it provides an opportunity to meet potential employers and employees. With all the above-mentioned benefits, it is crucial to identify the right volunteer opportunity. There are many places where one can volunteer, but the challenge is in finding what suits them best. A number of aspects have to be considered such as where to volunteer, duration of the program, whether one wants to volunteer alone or in a group, the weight of responsibility one is willing to carry and what is to be gained from the exercise. With these concerns dealt with, one can then proceed to select what they want to do from a list of options, most of which are available publicly. Being a volunteer is one of the best experiences I have ever had to date. Volunteering provides one with a wealth of knowledge on so many issues among other advantages like the ones above. In 2010, I had the opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage in China. This was through an application in response to an advertisement I had seen online. We had just closed school and the thought of idling at home did not appeal to me. I enrolled for an exchange program offered at our local church that incidentally was with a youth group from China. In a previous class session, I recalled one of our teachers emphasizing on the importance of community service. Himself being a volunteer at the local community centre, he told us of the numerous benefits of being a volunteer, which inspired me to volunteer. According to him, community service is not just a punishment given to social offenders or delinquent teenagers in need of correction; instead, it was one way in which a person could pay his or her dues to society. Currently, most employers are looking for individuals with personal drive, a quality brought out through volunteering most of which is unsupervised. Such persons are accorded priority in the job market because of their willingness to learn and their ability to adapt to new environments. Volunteers are not always placed in areas familiar to them; rather they are dispatched to far off places in need of attention. Adaptability is one of the most sought after qualities in the employment field. With all this in mind, I had acquired the motivation crucial to such ventures when the reply to my application finally arrived. The volunteering program would take two months. After taking care of the necessary arrangements, I traveled to China. It was arranged that one of the workers at the orphanage would pick me at the airport. All the way, I was eager to explore the features of the new country and embrace my responsibilities at the orphanage. I already had my work schedule, which stipulated that I would visit the orphanage during the weekend for four hours each. The rest of the week would be spent sightseeing and engaging in activities for the exchange program. The orphanages in China are run by the government, but most are highly populated yet understaffed. This overpopulation is largely due to China’s infamous one child policy whereby couples are only allowed to have one child each. Another concern is that many Chinese citizens are of the notion that male children are better than female ones, a factor that has contributed to abandonment of little girls. In addition, children with disabilities and those born with chronic illnesses were often abandoned by their families. Well-wishers that found them took them to orphanages. Therefore, they are always welcoming new volunteers every year to help relieve them of their workload. It was therefore no surprise that we were many volunteers all stationed at the same facility. I was not the only foreigner working as a volunteer in a Chinese orphanage. Many people from all over the globe were inspired by the plight of the conditions at the Chinese orphanages and felt the need to help. This is despite the fact that the Chinese are often skeptical of foreign volunteers, whom they fear are only out to publicize the poor state of affairs at their orphanages. With so many activities to be undertaken, the number of volunteers at a time was also high. Much passion was required for anyone to be involved in such an activity. Although my initial reason for participating was simply to be part of a community service project and meet new people in a different cultural setting from mine, it was soon to change by the end of my experience. My first experience at the orphanage was beyond what I had prepared for. A woman in charge of the facility took us for a tour of the orphanage and gave us details of the duties required of us. There were around three hundred children at the time, with their ages ranging from newborns to fourteen year olds who had lived at the facility for most of their lives. I realized that I had not researched enough material regarding the ages of the children I expected to find at the orphanage. It was sad to see the number of small children at the facility, and I instantly wondered what it was like to grow up in an orphanage. Seeing that we were new to the facility they stared back at us curiously from their activities as we passed. Due to the facts available about China, it was highly probable that some of the children there were not orphans but children abandoned by their families because of various reasons. This crossed my mind especially after seeing the number of children that were sick or those with disabilities. There was a need to put in place ways of establishing a child’s family background before enrolling them at any orphanage. Being run by the state, the orphanage had a limited supply of resources required for its maintenance. This was evident in the way the sick children were handled; their treatment was hampered due to lack of medical resources. There was heavy reliance on donor materials without which many activities at the orphanage would stall. Although the locals also made donations, many of them came from abroad. Many global non-profit organizations sent money, material provisions and also recruited volunteers to work at the Chinese orphanages. The online advertisement was one of the wa ys in which these organizations sourced for volunteers. The next day was the beginning of doing my duties at the orphanage. As a volunteer, there was almost nothing we could not do excluding tasks that required a certain level of expertise like those by doctors. I had a different experience in all the activities I was involved in throughout my volunteering period. On some days, we would assist in taking care of the sick children. A doctor would come and examine them, and I would help him or her with the children. This was through administering medicine, holding the infants during the examination, providing therapeutic exercises and feeding them. It was particularly a challenge when dealing with newborns during therapy. One could easily see the pain they felt in the screams they let out. While I was satisfied that most of the time they were being taken care of, I felt that children with disabilities should be taken to specialized hospitals. The government should ensure that they are well taken care of by providing resources to transfer them to these hospitals. This is because at the orphanage, they rarely got the attention that sick persons fully require, a fact made worse by their frailty as children. During my entire stay, I could count the number of times that a doctor actually visited the facility. So infrequent were their visits that I got to know each of them on a personal level. Alternatively, the orphanage could source for volunteer doctors locally or appeal to international organizations. This would help ease the poor health condition of most of the children. Another way is to encourage more adoptions so that the children are taken care of by their new families who instantly assume responsibility towards them. The best part about dealing with the infants was the feeling that I had taken part in nurturing them. Most children in orphanages do not experience the care and security that often comes with being in a family set up. While washing and feeding them, I had the chance to show them a bit of love, which I felt, was important in their growth. It was obvious that material tokens though necessary were not enough for their wellbeing. I learnt that some of the orphans had the privilege to be adopted thus they could experience the family environment. These adoptions were mainly done by foreigners, something not favored by the Chinese government despite their citizens’ inability to take in more children. There were teachers who came to assist the children frequently. At times, I would help in teaching them English, a language with which they were fascinated. I loved their zeal to learn and wished they had the opportunity to advance their education outside the orphanage. The older children taught me a few Chinese words, and they would laugh and tease me when I pronounced some words wrongly. To them, I was speaking like a â€Å"crazy person†. The notion that they could also be of help to someone thrilled them, making the teaching sessions very enjoyable. We interacted with the children through other fun ways such as playing games. As soon as they were done with their daily routine, we indulged in all sorts of games with the older children, always watching out for their safety. These were the only times when there was minimal or no supervision by the workers at the facility. There was always someone watching us mostly for security reasons. At first, I was wary of this but soon learnt to be at ease around them when I realized it was just a routine. As a high school student, not much time was spared for playful moments; hence, I relished the times spent with the children. Their joyous nature always made me forget their sad situation. The scene was like that of any other school playground. My lowest moment came towards the end of my stay in China. It was triggered by a call from my mother who wanted to find out how I was faring. One of the orphans I was tutoring overheard my conversation and later asked me if indeed I had a mother. To her, being at the orphanage meant I had no parents and the news came as a surprise to her. I was taken aback by her reaction, one that also served as the turning point in my inspiration as a volunteer. Previously I was solely motivated by the desire to be part of a community project but that quickly changed. I saw the pain in her reaction and the feeling of loneliness that plagued most of the children at the orphanage. I wondered if they knew that a different world existed out there other than the one to which they were accustomed. The bond they shared with the volunteers and other workers at the facility was thus brought about by the idea that we shared a common fate. Travelling back home I reflected on my work at the orphanage and the lessons I had learnt. Besides the different cultural experience through the exchange program, volunteering at the orphanage was the best I had ever had. Interacting with the children opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of life. The activities and duties I performed at the orphanage had helped better the lives of the orphans, and I was looking forward to another opportunity to do the same. I then understood the emphasis placed on passion when selecting where to volunteer. All the work required of a volunteer in an orphanage certainly needs motivation, something all the workers at the facility displayed. The matron in charge of the orphanage was very dedicated to her work, and it was evident that she was in it for personal reasons other than the fact that she was employed by the state. Such dedication is essential because of the challenges one faces in taking care of children in an orphanage. The matron and all the workers were sad to let us go. I was hoping for a chance to offer recommendations, but it never came, though each of us was given time to highlight our experiences. Among the lessons I had learnt was appreciation for family and all the aspects associated with it. The orphans lacked support from their kin and only depended on that offered by the government and strangers in the form of volunteers. Therefore, their lives are mostly unstable and without the care and development that only a family can provide. The instability was partly caused by the lack of a permanent environment given that they meet new people after every few months from various backgrounds, all of whom taught them different things. After living in the facility for some time, a number of children would then be adopted again changing their environment. The ideal time for nurturing a child and molding them to conform to certain values and social behaviors is when they are still young. Therefore cha nging the environment in which they live constantly disrupts the learning process in their lives. One of our roles as volunteers had been to help create an environment similar to that of a home so that they can develop fully functional lives in the future. I was glad to have been a part of their lives, though temporarily. I had enjoyed all the benefits of volunteering and planned to register as a permanent volunteer. Other places exist where I could offer my service, and I looked forward to the new experiences. As a parting note, each of us was accorded certificates of participation by the non-profit organization that sponsored us, one that I would use later when applying for a different volunteering program. Through my initial participation, I would automatically be granted my next volunteering opportunity if I wished to work with the same organization.

The dark side of Dubai

The dark side of Dubai Introduction In response to an article written on Dubai by Jonathan Hari and published online on 07th April, 2009 by â€Å"The Independent,† Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi published a rejoinder on 10th April 2009 in which he not only disparages Hari’s style but also his professionalism and motivating factor (Qassemi, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The dark side of Dubai specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this essay, I will show that while the two journalists definitely have clear distinction in their approach towards influencing their readership and in their attitude towards their subject matter, certain similarities and differences can still be drawn between them and their articles. Discussion Hari’s article seeks to portray Dubai as a city state whose size and prosperity was achieved in a period so short as to be considered unreal (Hari, 2009). He shows its growth is sustained by consumerism and unsustainable economic and environmental practices; and most importantly, he portrays it as a sweatshop whose growth relies on the exploitation of immigrants in a classic case of modern day slavery. Qassemi, in his rejoinder, seeks to call Hari’s intentions into question and query his credibility, professionalism, honesty and fairness. Thus, he questions his alleged overgeneralization of otherwise possibly isolated cases of maltreatment of immigrant laborers; and to show that similar problems to those that Dubai face are to be found everywhere including in established western cities such as London itself. Differences The first major difference between the works of the two journalists is that while Hari adopts a direct approach to his exploration of the dark side of Dubai, Qassemi favors a more implicit way of achieving his goals. He hides behind the veil of a theoretical situation in order to achieve his criticism of the city of London. For instance, he starts on the many hypothetical problems he might have chosen to tarnish London which had not come to his senses by stating â€Å"say for example that I had written an article that states that, in wealthy first world Britain there are 380,000 homeless people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Qassemi, 2009). This allows him to both highlight London’s problems, a city he claims to love, while portraying his sensibility in refusing to exploit them. Hari on the other hand is explicit and leaves one little doubt regarding his intentions from the outset. For instance, he writes regarding the popular notion that Dubai owes its existence to the sheikh: â€Å"but this is a lie. The sheikh did not build this city. It was built by slaves. They are building it now† (Hari, 2009).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second difference between the two writers is that while Hari leans towards the New Journalism by refusing to report impersonally and instead infusing his opinions into his work and using the opinions and emotions of his interviewees to prove his point, Qassemi tends to be more traditional especially regarding the statistical and objective nature of his sources. For instance, Hari writes regarding a deserted hotel: â€Å"standing in the middle, there is a giant shining glass structure that looks like the intestines of every guest who has ever stayed at the Atlantis† (Hari, 2009). This is clearly his subjective impression of the hotel. One of his interviewees, Karen, says about Dubai: â€Å"this isnt a city; its a con-job. They lure you in telling you its one thing – a modern kind of place – but beneath the surface its a medieval dictatorship† (Hari, 2009). Qassemi on the other hand tactfully chooses to use hard statistics in highlighting London’s problems. He at times goes even further to cite credible sources to aid his argument. In one apt example, he writes: â€Å"or that according to Oxfam 13.2 million people in the UK live in poverty; a staggering 20 per cent of the population in the sixth richest nation in the world† (Qassemi, 2009). In doing so, Qassemi is able to paint Hari as subjective and therefore make his proposition that Hari is sensational more plausible. Similarities The most obvious similarity between Qassemi’s and Hari’s work regards their intentions for writing the articles. Both intended to disparage their subject matter: Hari intended to vilify Dubai in its treatment of its low cadre immigrant labor force while Qassemi’s objective was to discredit Hari along with western journalists of his ilk. Further consideration of the motivation behind these articles reveals a more fundamental similarity: that both journalists are plagued by fixed mindsets regarding their subject matter. To begin with, Hari’s complete refusal to acknowledge the great historical fea t that Dubai represents, coupled with his complete disregard of the contribution and opinion of the technicians, investors, engineers and many other technocrats who made Dubai a possibility is very obvious. This blindness to even the slightest positive aspect to Dubai gives the reader the notion that Hari was probably incapable of perceiving any possible positivity relating to Dubai as the result of a deeply ingrained mindset regarding the city state. This is further aggravated by his tone and diction. It hints at a journalist who went into the field, not to find the truth but to prove a certain notion true. This is the reason that this article lacks balanceAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on The dark side of Dubai specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Qassemi isn’t innocent of this mindset problem regarding his subject matter either. While he would like to paint Hari as quick to make generalizations, he begins his a rticle with such a generalization himself: â€Å"I recently figured that if British journalists such as Johann Hari (Tuesday, 7 April) who come to Dubai dont send back something sensationalist it wont get printed and they wont get paid. After all, sleaze sells† (Qassemi, 2009). His mindset regards the work of western journalists. He regards them all as subjective and as motivated by a need to come with unreal sensational pieces in order to get published. He relates how he told this to a British journalist: â€Å"Im going to write an article about London, the same way your compatriots write about Dubai† (Qassemi, 2009). His use of hard statistics notwithstanding, Qassemi still finds himself using them to validate a subjective attitude regarding western journalism. Conclusion It is clear that while the two articles may have employed different approaches, they both were informed by similar attitudes and mindsets. This is in spite of the fact that these are the same attitu des that Qassemi wanted to bring to light. References Hari, J. (2009). The dark side of Dubai. The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/ Qassemi, S. (2009). If you think Dubai is bad, just look at your own country. The  Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/sultan-sooud-al-qassemi-if-you-think-dubai-is-bad-just-look-at-your-own-country-1666748.html

Cholera disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cholera disease - Essay Example Severe dehydration as a result of this disease can lead to loss of life. Most people who suffer from this disease might have ingested the disease-causing organisms via food or water contaminated with V. cholerae. Although its symptoms are mild, healthy individuals develop profuse diarrhea within a day or a week after ingesting the disease-causing bacteria. The symptoms and signs of cholera are depicted by a watery diarrhea that often contains traces of whitish material that are approximately the size of rice grains. As a result of this, the diarrhea is also referred to as â€Å"rice-water stool†. The diarrhea from a person suffering from this disease smells fishy. The volume of diarrhea produced by a victim of this disease can be enormous; the volumes may range from 10 to 18 liters in a span of 24 hours for an adult weighing 70 kg (â€Å"Cholera - Vibrio cholerae infection†, 2013). Apart from watery diarrhea, persons suffering from this disease may also portray the following symptoms and signs: vomiting, rapid heart rate as well as loss of skin elasticity. It may also result to dry mucous membranes, low blood pressure and muscle cramps. The symptoms and signs of the disease may also include thirst feelings in addition to restlessness. Individuals that portray these symptoms are occasionally advised to seek immediate hydr ation in order to prevent the symptoms from advancing because they may result to severe cholera (Adler, 2013). Severe cholera often results to severe dehydration which may lead to acute renal failure, coma, as well as severe electrolyte imbalances. If untreated, severe dehydration results to shock and death. Severe dehydration is often experienced four to eight hours after the patient has passed the first liquid stool. It leads to death in 18 hours or few days if it remains untreated. The outbreak of this disease in underdeveloped countries can result to the mortality rate of about 50 to

The Main Features and Problems Faced by Service organisations In Essay

The Main Features and Problems Faced by Service organisations In pursuing this Technique(Banks in the UK) - Essay Example More than 74% of the United States work force for example is employed on this sector (Li H. & Smith L.2001).With a dramatic fall in labour cost, the cost of processing information, overheads has become far more important in the present age of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) with direct labour representing 5%. Thus, it therefore now appears difficult to justify the use of direct labour or direct material as the basis for absorbing overheads.ABC was developed to overcome some of the major problems of the traditional cost accounting. The 80s witnessed an influx of research in to this concept. Activity based costing involves the identification of the factors which cause the costs of an organisations major activities (Lewis; J.R., 1993). In this regard overhead are charged on the basis of their usage of factor causing the overhead. In the UK and the US, information and manufacturing technology are widely used in both manufacturing and the service sector, with both sectors experiencing different degree of the usage (Palmer, A.2000). The four main characteristics inherent to services provide an answer to the main problem of ABC in the service industry. ... There is a strong possibility that the same enquiry would be answered slightly differently by different people. 1.2 Activity based costing and the service industry in the UK (Banking Sector). By the end of the 1980s, ABC became the focal point within the realms of academic researchers, consultants and managers as a means of overcoming the disadvantages of traditional cost allocation methods. Cost accounting was limited to it s usage of one volume sensitive driver (Cooper & Kaplan 1991). By 1990 initial followers of ABC in the manufacturing sector were able to reduce cost, identify opportunities for improvement and determine a more profitable product mix (Cooper & Kaplan 1991). Thus, the concept gradually gain grounds and became popular in the manufacturing sector. In the service sector, the adoption of ABC has been relatively slow, and the concept was rarely used apart from the health and banking sector. A recent study however, by Schultz & Rostocki (2004) concluded that, the rate of adoption of ABC in service and manufacturing industry was now similar. An essential part of managing and ensuring the long term competitiveness of banking institutions in the United Kingdom will be to configure, manage the service deliveries and their chain of distribution processes. The financial sector in the UK, like in any other country is characterised with the following characteristic Banking institutions and other financial houses are price takers. This is so because the prevailing market price has to be accepted. Large number of institutions offering the same services with none of these institutions being able to influence price. However, their actions are not negligible. As a move by institution A will trigger a whole chain of event, in the form of competitive service

White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime. To what extent are the Essay

White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime. To what extent are the regulatory regimes for White Collar Crime (WCC) and Corporate Crime (CC) working - Essay Example The reason behind these concerns is simple, regulations have always prioritized street crimes over WCC and when it comes to corporations, regulations take these offences lightly. It seems governmental regulations seek their benefit in every 'large scale' crime. Apart from the legislator concern, public uphold the opinion in the following words: "There is always a lingering suspicion that the white-collar criminal is getting off leniently in our justice system". (Poveda, 1994, p. 4) In this respect, an awareness of white collar and corporate crime officially encourages us to think critically about the nature of crime and how regulations deal with it. One of the defining characteristics of white-collar crime is their conflicting characteristic both on the one hand of upstanding citizen, in terms of their contribution to voluntary civic activities for example, and on the other criminal, displayed through the harm they caused through their illegal activities (Benson, 1984). Economic or white-collar crimes are performed on a large scale, sophistically such as fraud committed on behalf of organization or against any corporation, and antitrust violations are notoriously difficult to quantify because victims often do not know they have been subject to a criminal offense. Since they are committed on a broader spectrum, therefore government is not much concerned about them as compared to other crimes. Therefore, there is no central regulation or survey application or reporting mechanism to combat with these sorts of crimes or the losses occurred by their frauds. Apart from the critics if we analyse regulatory efforts, it is clear that Government regulatory agencies after crime occurrence collect the original figure of fraud thereby reporting them as they see fit. However, it is often difficult to verify their methodology of reckoning accurate figures that can be compared in any meaningful way. Behind the continuous growth of such crimes, is the organised criminality left over from the operation of licit markets and their regulation to suggest that governmental interventions are having the unintended consequence of generating organised criminal activity within and without national boundaries. (Edwards & Gill, 2003, p. 143) Therefore, unlike violent or street crime, WCC and CC is not analysed or measured through investigations like victim surveys, or comprehensive surveys of the incidence or cost of white-collar crimes. Similarly there is no sampling methodology like fingerprints and crime definitions are seldom transparent, making comparability across crime particularly difficult. However, if the estimates are to be believed, white-collar crime causes tangible losses far in excess of tangible losses associated with street crimes. The regulatory regimes of such broad offences first determine what counts as crime in a particular society. 'Crime and Punishment' gets this right; 'Crime and Society' doesn't. Yet law, a commodity with which the state is endowed, defines and shapes not only spheres of 'outright illegality' like WCC and CC crime, but also certain 'zones of ambiguity'. The ambiguity in the state's relation to law may be evoked by saying that the state has for ages been favoring illegality directly or indirectly. This is nowhere clearer than in the way that state exaction, regulations, and prohibition influence and even determine the incidence of criminal and organized criminal activity (Farer 1999, p. 251). More than any other form of state intervention, it is

Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour

Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour CHAPTER 2 Employee innovation behaviour has been defined as the intentional behaviour of an individual to introduce and/or apply new ideas, products, processes, and procedures to his or her work role, unit, or organization (West Farr, 1989, 1990b). Examples of employee innovative behaviour in the workplace include introducing new technologies and techniques, suggesting new ways to achieve objectives, trying new ways of performing work tasks, and facilitating the implementation of new ideas. Several points in the definition on employee innovation proposed by West and Farr (1989, 1990b) are worth noting. Firstly, employee innovative behaviours include behaviours pertaining to both the introduction and the application or implementation of new ideas, products, processes and procedures by the employees. This definition thus includes a variety of behaviours pertaining to the innovation processes in an organisation. Secondly, this definition takes into account both technical innovations (the introduction or application of new technologies, products, and services) and administrative innovations (the introduction or application of new procedures and policies) (Van de Ven, 1986). Technical innovations are innovations that occur in the primary work activity of the organization; administrative innovations are innovations that occur in the social system of an organization (Daft, 1978; Damanpour Evan, 1984). Examples of technical innovation include the implementation of an idea for a new product or the introduction of new elements in an organizations production process. Examples of administrative innovation include the implementation of new policies of recruitment, allocating resources, and reward. Individual innovative behaviours could be behaviours pertaining to the introduction or implementation of both technical and administrative innovations. Thirdly, the new ideas, products, processes, and procedures being introduced or implemented do not have to be absolutely new to the field. They only need to be new relative to the unit of adoption. For example, an employee is innovating when he introduces an IT system that has not been used in his organization before. This technology doesnt have to be a new invention and could have been used in other organizations before. And finally, innovative behaviours include not only those behaviours leading to innovations within the individuals work role but also behaviours that initiate or facilitate innovations in higher level units such as the individuals work group, department, or the entire organization (West Farr 1989. 2.2 Construction of the Terminology Used in the Dissertation Several similar terminologies to employee innovation exist in the literature. A brief discussion about how those terminologies are similar to and different from the framework of employee innovative behaviour will prevent potential confusion and help our understanding of employee innovative behaviour. One similar construct is individual creative behaviour. Creativity refers to the production and introduction of novel and useful ideas, products, or processes (Amabile, 1988; Oldham Cummings, 1996; Shalley, 1995; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993). Individual creative behaviours are behaviours pertaining to the generation of such novel and useful ideas, products, or processes. Creative behaviour is closely linked to innovative behaviour and it can be considered as one type of innovative behaviour. However, innovative behaviours include a broader range of behaviours than just creative behaviours. Innovative behaviours include both the introduction of self-generated ideas (creative behaviou r) and the introduction and implementation of new ideas generated by other people and organizations. Creativity requires absolute novelty of the idea whereas innovation only requires relative novelty of the idea to the unit of adoption (King, 1990; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993).Therefore, adopting a new policy from another organization to the current organization would be innovative but not creative. Also, the definition of creativity includes an inherent requirement for the idea or product to be useful. The phenomenon of innovative behaviour doesnt include a usefulness judgment in itself. An innovative attempt could result in different possible consequences for the organization. Yet an ineffective innovation is still an innovation. Also, creative behaviour concerns the generation of ideas whereas innovative behaviour includes both the generation or introduction and the application or implementation of the new ideas (Amabile, 1988; Scott Bruce, 1994; Zhou, 1998, 2003). Another related concept to employee innovation is role innovation. Role innovation is the introduction of significant new behaviours into a pre-existing role (West, 1987a, 1987b). Role innovation is usually studied in the context of job change and relocation (e.g., Allen Meyer, 1990; Ashford Saks, 1996; Munton West, 1995; Nicholson, 1984; West Rushton, 1989). The reference for comparison in role innovation is the pre-existing job role. It is considered an act of role innovation, if the way the current job holder does his job is different from the way the previous job holder did it or from the way other people currently do the same job in the same organization. Role innovation is related to innovative behaviour in the sense that introducing new behaviours and procedures into an existing work role is one type of innovative behaviour. However, these two concepts are still different. Role innovation only changes processes within an individuals work role. Innovative behaviours, however, is not limited to innovations occurring in the work role alone but also in the department, unit, and the organization. In addition, all innovative behaviours cannot be considered as role innovation. For example, developing new ideas and products is part of the job profile for some organizational positions (e.g. the RD department). People in those job positions routinely introduce new products and procedures into the organization and therefore frequently engage in innovative behaviour. However, since it is part of their existing job or work role, those behaviours are not considered as role innovation. Another similar concept is personal initiative. Frese, Kring, Soose, and Zempel (1996: 38) defined personal initiative as a behavior syndrome resulting in an individuals taking an active and self-starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a given job. More specifically, personal initiative is characterized by the following aspects: it (1) is consistent with the organizations mission; (2) has a long-term focus; (3) is goal-directed and action-oriented; (4) is persistent in the face of barriers and setbacks, and (5) is self-starting and proactive. Some individuals behaviour in the workplace such as voluntary suggestion of new ideas to the organization can be seen as both personal initiative and innovative behaviours. However, not all personal initiative behaviours are innovative behaviours. Personal initiative could include both quantitative and qualitative initiatives. Quantitative initiatives are those activities that only require additional energy. Those activities do result into the application of new ideas, products, and procedures into the workplace and therefore are not innovative behaviours. Moreover, personal initiative is voluntary in nature of the behaviour whereas innovative behaviours do not have to be beyond the formal job requirement. In a nutshell, creative behaviour, role innovation and personal initiative are all related to but different from the construct of individual innovative behaviour. Differentiating these constructs will further clarify the concept of employee innovative behaviour. At the same time, the existing similarities suggest the possibility that the literatures devoted to these related constructs could inform research on innovative behaviours. 2.3 Employee Innovation and Image Outcome Expectations Why do employees innovate in an organisation? A piece of wisdom reiterated by learning theories and motivation theories is the importance of outcome expectations in determining human innovative behaviour. The operant conditioning theory of learning stresses the importance of the Law of Effect, which states that behaviour which appears to lead to a positive consequence tends to be repeated, while behaviour that leads to a negative consequence tends not to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Banduras social learning theory (1977) proposed that people learn about the consequences expected for certain behaviours not only from their own experiences but also from observing others in the workplace. To summarize, operant conditioning theory and social learning theory advocates that people develop outcome expectations of certain behaviours either from direct experiences or from vicarious learning. The outcome expectations, in turn, guide their future behaviour in the workplace. The effects of outcome expectations on behaviour are more directly addressed in Vrooms expectancy theory of motivation (1964). The renowned expectancy theory of motivation suggests that an individuals motivational force to perform an act is determined by his expectancies that the act will be followed by the attainment of certain first-level outcomes (expectancy), that these first-level outcomes will lead to certain second-level outcomes (instrumentality), and the value of these second-level outcomes (valence). The importance of outcome expectations is depicted by the concept of expectancy, which is a subjective belief concerning the likelihood that a behaviour will lead to particular first-level outcomes (Vroom, 1964). A similar observation of the importance of outcome expectations in affecting individual behavioural intentions can also be found in Ajzen and Fishbeins theory of reasoned action (1980). Outcome expectations guide innovative behaviours in the workplace. In the case of employee innovative behaviour, what are the major outcome expectations that affect employee innovation at work? Two major types of outcome expectations will impact employees decision to engage in innovative behaviours: expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes. Expected performance outcomes are employees expectations of how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the performance or efficiency of the employees work role or unit. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect other organization members perceptions of him or her. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the perceptions of the other members of the organisation towards him or her. The linkage of performance and image outcomes at the individual level is comparable to the differentiation between organization efficiency and legitimacy as suggested by institutional theory (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The organizations compete for social as well as economic fitness in the institutional perspective (DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Whereas the economic fitness or organization efficiency frontier enhance the organizations profits and competitive advantages, social fitness brings legitimacy which helps the organization gain stability, resources and hence survival. Several studies have recently brought such an institutional perspective into the study of innovation processes by highlighting the impacts of both efficiency outcomes and potential legitimacy outcomes on innovation adoption decisions. Tolbert and Zucker (1983) found that an early adoption of civil service is related to internal organizational requirements while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legit imate structural form Westphal, Gulati and Shortell (1997) in their research work found out that early adopters can customize Total Quality Management (TQM) practices for efficiency gains, while later adopters gain legitimacy from adopting the normative form of TQM programs. Results from both the empirical studies conclude that an organizations decision to adopt an innovation is influenced by both internal efficiency considerations (i.e., the efficiency outcome) and external legitimacy considerations (i.e., the image outcome). The results not only supports the importance of considering both outcomes in the innovation process but also suggests that their relative impact on innovation adoption will vary in different situations. Abrahamson (1991) suggested a typology that highlights the dominant efficient choice paradigm and other less dominant perspectives that can be used to guide innovation research. The dominant paradigm is the efficient choice perspective (i.e., the efficiency-oriented perspective), which conceptualises organizations as rational entities who always adopt innovations that can improve organization efficiency or performance. On the other hand, two other perspectives the fashion and fad perspectives stresses on the importance of social-political processes by suggesting that organizations sometimes adopt innovations for their symbolic meaning, signalling innovativeness, rather than to boost organizations economic performance. The impacts of expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes on employee innovative behaviour represents the efficiency-oriented and the social-political motives for employee innovation, respectively (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Outcome Expectations and Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for those marked with negative signs, all links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a). 2.4 The Efficiency-Oriented Perspective of Expected Performance Outcomes: The efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding employee innovation behaviour suggests that one major reason people innovate is to bring performance gains. Although assumed to be one of the major motivational reasons in this dominating paradigm, few studies have directly tested the effect of such expected performance outcomes on innovative behaviour. This dissertation provides a hypothesis for testing the outcome of the effects of such expectation and on employee innovation behaviour at work. Expected image outcomes have been considered different from the concept of subjective norm in the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen Fishbein, 1980) in this study. The subjective norm concept refers to a persons belief about whether significant others think that he or she should engage in the behaviour. Although both the concepts are related to potential social outcomes of employees behaviour, expected image outcomes refer to expected perceptions from a potential audience (i.e., other employ ees in the organization) rather than the concern for the approval or disapproval of others. Image outcome expectations can be influenced by other factors as well such as relationship quality, peer expectations, and job requirements. The Literature available on impression management provides an interesting distinction between defensive and assertive impression management (Arkin, 1981; Schlenker, 1980). Tetlock Manstead (1985:61) provides a good discussion on this distinction: Defensive impression management is to protect an employees established social image; it is triggered by negative affective states such as embarrassment and shame. Whereas assertive impression management is designed to improve an employees social image; it is triggered by perceived opportunities for creating favourable impressions on others. Therefore the difference between avoiding image risks and pursuing image enhancement represent different affective states and individual motives. Consulting the impression management literature, the dissertation hypothesizes two major types of image outcome expectations that may affect an employees decision to engage in innovative behaviour. Firstly, expected image loss risk will constrain people from demonstrating innovative behaviour. An employee may decide to play it safe and try and avoid being innovative in order to look socially appropriate and prevent potential image loss. Showing such a tendency to avoid negative evaluations represents the protective self-presentation (Arkin, 1981) or defensive impression management motive (Tetlock Manstead, 1985). The self-protective motive shows that expected image risks will restrict the tendency of an employee to engage in innovative behaviour (refer Figure 1). On the other hand, people may feel the need to innovate because they may see potential opportunity to enhance work efficiency. For example, a high-performing employee may want to introduce a new work technique because he or she perceives opportunities to further improve efficiency. Contrary to the problem-driven construct this latter construct is consistent with the more contemporary vision-guided change model (Cooperrider Srivastva, 1987; Cummings Worley, 2005; Watkins Mohr, 2001) and possibility-driven logic of change (Ford Ford, 1994). This approach suggests that changes can be initiated not only to solve existing problems but also to pursue further improvement toward an ideal vision. Efficiency and performance improvement increases the competitiveness and success of an employee. Regardless of the purpose being is to fix existing performance problems or to explore potential benefits, people will be more likely to engage in innovative behaviour if they expect that the introduction of new ideas, products, procedures, or processes would bring positive performance outcomes to his or her work or job role (refer Figure 1). Therefore expected performance outcomes represent the efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding innovation. This approach suggests that people innovate because they expect positive results in performance gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the efficiency-oriented perspective of expected performance outcomes: Hypothesis 1: Expected positive performance outcomes are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.5 The Social-Political Perspective of Expected Image Outcomes Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviour would impact the perceptions of the other members of the organisation about him or her. Ashford, Rothbard, Piderit, and Dutton (1998), consider expected image outcomes as Employees may engage in innovative behaviour as a conscious effort to improve image. The employees engaging in innovative behaviour to pursue image gain depict the assertive impression management motive (Rioux Penner, 2001). An apt example will be employees suggesting new ideas to managers to appear competent and conscientious. Sutton and Hargadons (1996) designed a study to analyse self-enhancing motive and engineers competitive behaviours in brainstorming sessions. The self enhancing motive suggests that expected image gains will increase employee innovative behaviour at work (refer Figure 1). In line with the social-political perspective in understanding innovation, both avoiding image risks (the self-protective imp ression management motive) and pursuing image gains (the self-enhancing impression management motive) emphasize the importance of social-political considerations in determining employee innovative behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 2(a): Expected image risks are negatively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 2(b): Expected image gains are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6 Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Performance and image outcome expectations are proximal determinants which determine employee innovation in the workplace and also serve as intermediate processes by which more distal individual differences and contextual antecedents affect employee innovation capabilities (West Farr, 1989). An analysis of how distal antecedent factors influence expectations of outcomes and therefore employee innovative behaviour is important for at least two reasons. Firstly, it addresses the question of how distal individual differences of employees and contextual factors affect employee innovation behaviour by examining the intermediate psychological processes. Secondly, it explains the sources of variance in employee performance and image outcome expectations across individuals and situations. Without the intention of providing an all exclusive list, the following five distal antecedent factors were considered as especially important for employee innovation behaviour: Perceived organization support for innovation, supervisor relationship quality, innovativeness as job requirement, reputation as innovative, and dissatisfaction with the status quo. These aforementioned antecedents were chosen because they are among the most studied in the literature and they represent different angles to understand employee innovative behaviour. The five proximal antecedents were taken together to form the conceptual model for testing employee innovation behaviour in this dissertation. Figure 2 Diagram of Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for all those links marked with negative signs, all other links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a) 2.6.1 Perceived Organization Support for Innovation Organization support for innovation in terms of pro-innovation climate, resources, and time allocation, is one of the primary environmental qualities that promote innovation and creativity (Amabile, 1988; Kanter, 1988). This dissertation explores performance and image outcome expectations as important intermediate processes and tries to explain why such organization support affects innovative behaviour. If an organizational environment favours change rather than tradition for its growth and development, its members will seek to initiate change in order to be culturally appropriate (Farr Ford, 1990: 73). Similarly, an organizational climate that promotes innovation will encourage employee to engage in innovative behaviours because such climate legitimates experimentation (West Wallace, 1991) and reduces image risk involved in such behaviours (Ashford et al., 1998). An organization climate promoting innovation delivers expectancies and instrumentalities (Scott Bruce, 1994) so that the employees in that organization understand that being innovative is a desirable image. Reduced potential image loss risks and increased potential image gain environment encourage employees to engage in more innovative behaviours when perceived organization support for innovation is high. Employees in an organization supporting innovation may want to engage in more innovative behaviours not only because of the potential image outcomes but also because they have higher expectations for positive performance outcomes resulting from such innovative behaviours. A favourable organization climate for innovation demonstrates the belief that innovation will benefit the organization in developing and achieve the pinnacle of success. Having such beliefs embedded in the culture of the organization will influence individual attitudes and beliefs through the organization and boost innovation processes. Schneiders (1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework suggests people attracted to and remaining in the organization are likely to be those individuals who share basic beliefs with the organization. Hence, it is logical to expect that compared with organisations not promoting innovative behaviours, people in organizations with pro-innovation climates are also more likely t o have pro-innovation individual beliefs. In other words, they are more likely to be satisfied and believe that initiating innovations will benefit the efficiency and performance of their work. Such beliefs in positive performance outcomes serve as another motive for employee behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 3(a): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(b): Perceived organization support for innovation is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(c): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.2 Supervisor Relationship Quality A quality manager-employee relationship has been found out to be an important contextual factor on employee innovation and creativity (Scott Bruce, 1994; Tierney, Farmer, Graen, 1999). The prevalence of a quality relationship with supervisor will influence employee innovative behaviour indirectly through its influence on performance and image outcome expectations. A quality relationship between the managers and the employees will increase an employees belief that his or her innovative behaviour will result in performance and efficiency gains. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory suggests that subordinates who have high-quality relationships with their supervisors are provided greater resources in the workplace (e.g., privileged information, work support) and decision latitude in return for greater loyalty and commitment (Dansereau, Graen, Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen, Novak, Sommerkamp, 1982). Therefore, employees with high-quality supervisor relationships are more likely to engage in innovative behaviour and be confident that their actions will result in performance and efficiency gains. Desire and motivation of the employees influence what he or she perceives (Gilbert, 1998; Markus Zajonc, 1985; Postman, Bruner, McGinnies, 1948). Research studies undertaken previously shows that supervisors tend to evaluate the employees they like and trust in a more positive way (Cardy Dobbins, 1986; Judge Ferris, 1993; Wayne Liden, 1995). When a supervisor likes and believes in the employee, he or she is more likely to think positively about the employees ideas and believe such ideas are meaningful and significant (Zhou Woodman, 2003). Previous research on attributions concept indicates that when the supervisor likes or empathizes with his sub-ordinates, he or she is more likely to attribute positive outcomes to the sub-ordinatess dispositional causes and negative outcomes to situational causes (Green Mitchell, 1979; Regan, Straus, Fazio, 1974; Regan Totten, 1975). It is expected that good people will perform good actions, and bad people will perform bad actions. Thus whe n liked characters do good things or disliked actors do bad things, we attribute the action to characteristics of the character (Heider, 1958). Therefore, when perceiving a good relationship with the supervisor, an employee will feel more confident that his new ideas will receive acceptance and favourable evaluations from his supervisor, resulting in higher possibilities for image gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the supervisor relationship quality Hypothesis 4(a): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(b): Supervisor relationship quality is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(c): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected image gains associated with innovative behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.3 Innovativeness as a Job Requirement The requirements of a job have been identified by researchers as an activating force for innovation (Kanter, 1988) and a primary factor in inducing employee creativity (Shalley, Gilson, Blum, 2000; Tierney Farmer, 2002). This dissertation explores the mechanisms through which perceived job requirement for innovativeness encourages individual innovation by its influences on both expected performance and image outcomes. The innovative requirement of a job is determined not only by the objective nature of the job position (e.g., RD scientists versus technicians) but also by the subjective attitude of the job holder, which can be influenced by factors including the job holders social environment as suggested by the social information processing theory (Salancik Pfeffer, 1978). Perceived innovativeness as a part of job requirement will also encourage innovative behaviour by minimising the concerns for image risks and increasing image gain expectations. Firstly, it validates innovative behaviours as officially acceptable and socially appropriate. The job requirement serves as a contextual influence that justifies the employees innovative behaviour. Thus, the employees do not need to provide reasons to explain their innovative behaviours and do not need to be concerned about being seen as behaving inappropriately. Secondly, previous research evidence shows that an audience is less critical and more receptive to change-initiated or innovative behaviours from people whose functional background or job position supports such innovative behaviours. Ashford and colleagues (1998) found out in their research that functional background-issue fit negatively related to image risk from selling issues. In the same way, Daft (1978) found out that organizations appeared to adopt technical ideas from professionals (in that case, teachers) and administrative ideas from administrators. Applying the same logic here, managers and fellow co-workers will be more receptive to the innovat ive behaviours of employees in positions requiring innovativeness and will consider their new ideas as more valid and well-grounded, resulting in lower image risk and higher potential of image gain for the innovative employees. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on reputation of an employee as innovative Hypothesis 5(a): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(b): Innovativeness as job requirement is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(c): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.4 Reputation of an Employee as Innovative The employees are considered as more socially appropriate and legitimate when their behaviours match categorizations and expectations of the organisation where they work in (Zelditch, 2001). The existing literature on impression management suggests that the impressions people try to create are affected by their current image in the society (Leary Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker, 1980). Behaviours which are consistent with the expectations and reputations (especially desirable ones) are socially legitimized, and behaviours against those expectations run the risk of being looked down upon by the people in the society. The employees who are not expected to be Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour CHAPTER 2 Employee innovation behaviour has been defined as the intentional behaviour of an individual to introduce and/or apply new ideas, products, processes, and procedures to his or her work role, unit, or organization (West Farr, 1989, 1990b). Examples of employee innovative behaviour in the workplace include introducing new technologies and techniques, suggesting new ways to achieve objectives, trying new ways of performing work tasks, and facilitating the implementation of new ideas. Several points in the definition on employee innovation proposed by West and Farr (1989, 1990b) are worth noting. Firstly, employee innovative behaviours include behaviours pertaining to both the introduction and the application or implementation of new ideas, products, processes and procedures by the employees. This definition thus includes a variety of behaviours pertaining to the innovation processes in an organisation. Secondly, this definition takes into account both technical innovations (the introduction or application of new technologies, products, and services) and administrative innovations (the introduction or application of new procedures and policies) (Van de Ven, 1986). Technical innovations are innovations that occur in the primary work activity of the organization; administrative innovations are innovations that occur in the social system of an organization (Daft, 1978; Damanpour Evan, 1984). Examples of technical innovation include the implementation of an idea for a new product or the introduction of new elements in an organizations production process. Examples of administrative innovation include the implementation of new policies of recruitment, allocating resources, and reward. Individual innovative behaviours could be behaviours pertaining to the introduction or implementation of both technical and administrative innovations. Thirdly, the new ideas, products, processes, and procedures being introduced or implemented do not have to be absolutely new to the field. They only need to be new relative to the unit of adoption. For example, an employee is innovating when he introduces an IT system that has not been used in his organization before. This technology doesnt have to be a new invention and could have been used in other organizations before. And finally, innovative behaviours include not only those behaviours leading to innovations within the individuals work role but also behaviours that initiate or facilitate innovations in higher level units such as the individuals work group, department, or the entire organization (West Farr 1989. 2.2 Construction of the Terminology Used in the Dissertation Several similar terminologies to employee innovation exist in the literature. A brief discussion about how those terminologies are similar to and different from the framework of employee innovative behaviour will prevent potential confusion and help our understanding of employee innovative behaviour. One similar construct is individual creative behaviour. Creativity refers to the production and introduction of novel and useful ideas, products, or processes (Amabile, 1988; Oldham Cummings, 1996; Shalley, 1995; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993). Individual creative behaviours are behaviours pertaining to the generation of such novel and useful ideas, products, or processes. Creative behaviour is closely linked to innovative behaviour and it can be considered as one type of innovative behaviour. However, innovative behaviours include a broader range of behaviours than just creative behaviours. Innovative behaviours include both the introduction of self-generated ideas (creative behaviou r) and the introduction and implementation of new ideas generated by other people and organizations. Creativity requires absolute novelty of the idea whereas innovation only requires relative novelty of the idea to the unit of adoption (King, 1990; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993).Therefore, adopting a new policy from another organization to the current organization would be innovative but not creative. Also, the definition of creativity includes an inherent requirement for the idea or product to be useful. The phenomenon of innovative behaviour doesnt include a usefulness judgment in itself. An innovative attempt could result in different possible consequences for the organization. Yet an ineffective innovation is still an innovation. Also, creative behaviour concerns the generation of ideas whereas innovative behaviour includes both the generation or introduction and the application or implementation of the new ideas (Amabile, 1988; Scott Bruce, 1994; Zhou, 1998, 2003). Another related concept to employee innovation is role innovation. Role innovation is the introduction of significant new behaviours into a pre-existing role (West, 1987a, 1987b). Role innovation is usually studied in the context of job change and relocation (e.g., Allen Meyer, 1990; Ashford Saks, 1996; Munton West, 1995; Nicholson, 1984; West Rushton, 1989). The reference for comparison in role innovation is the pre-existing job role. It is considered an act of role innovation, if the way the current job holder does his job is different from the way the previous job holder did it or from the way other people currently do the same job in the same organization. Role innovation is related to innovative behaviour in the sense that introducing new behaviours and procedures into an existing work role is one type of innovative behaviour. However, these two concepts are still different. Role innovation only changes processes within an individuals work role. Innovative behaviours, however, is not limited to innovations occurring in the work role alone but also in the department, unit, and the organization. In addition, all innovative behaviours cannot be considered as role innovation. For example, developing new ideas and products is part of the job profile for some organizational positions (e.g. the RD department). People in those job positions routinely introduce new products and procedures into the organization and therefore frequently engage in innovative behaviour. However, since it is part of their existing job or work role, those behaviours are not considered as role innovation. Another similar concept is personal initiative. Frese, Kring, Soose, and Zempel (1996: 38) defined personal initiative as a behavior syndrome resulting in an individuals taking an active and self-starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a given job. More specifically, personal initiative is characterized by the following aspects: it (1) is consistent with the organizations mission; (2) has a long-term focus; (3) is goal-directed and action-oriented; (4) is persistent in the face of barriers and setbacks, and (5) is self-starting and proactive. Some individuals behaviour in the workplace such as voluntary suggestion of new ideas to the organization can be seen as both personal initiative and innovative behaviours. However, not all personal initiative behaviours are innovative behaviours. Personal initiative could include both quantitative and qualitative initiatives. Quantitative initiatives are those activities that only require additional energy. Those activities do result into the application of new ideas, products, and procedures into the workplace and therefore are not innovative behaviours. Moreover, personal initiative is voluntary in nature of the behaviour whereas innovative behaviours do not have to be beyond the formal job requirement. In a nutshell, creative behaviour, role innovation and personal initiative are all related to but different from the construct of individual innovative behaviour. Differentiating these constructs will further clarify the concept of employee innovative behaviour. At the same time, the existing similarities suggest the possibility that the literatures devoted to these related constructs could inform research on innovative behaviours. 2.3 Employee Innovation and Image Outcome Expectations Why do employees innovate in an organisation? A piece of wisdom reiterated by learning theories and motivation theories is the importance of outcome expectations in determining human innovative behaviour. The operant conditioning theory of learning stresses the importance of the Law of Effect, which states that behaviour which appears to lead to a positive consequence tends to be repeated, while behaviour that leads to a negative consequence tends not to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Banduras social learning theory (1977) proposed that people learn about the consequences expected for certain behaviours not only from their own experiences but also from observing others in the workplace. To summarize, operant conditioning theory and social learning theory advocates that people develop outcome expectations of certain behaviours either from direct experiences or from vicarious learning. The outcome expectations, in turn, guide their future behaviour in the workplace. The effects of outcome expectations on behaviour are more directly addressed in Vrooms expectancy theory of motivation (1964). The renowned expectancy theory of motivation suggests that an individuals motivational force to perform an act is determined by his expectancies that the act will be followed by the attainment of certain first-level outcomes (expectancy), that these first-level outcomes will lead to certain second-level outcomes (instrumentality), and the value of these second-level outcomes (valence). The importance of outcome expectations is depicted by the concept of expectancy, which is a subjective belief concerning the likelihood that a behaviour will lead to particular first-level outcomes (Vroom, 1964). A similar observation of the importance of outcome expectations in affecting individual behavioural intentions can also be found in Ajzen and Fishbeins theory of reasoned action (1980). Outcome expectations guide innovative behaviours in the workplace. In the case of employee innovative behaviour, what are the major outcome expectations that affect employee innovation at work? Two major types of outcome expectations will impact employees decision to engage in innovative behaviours: expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes. Expected performance outcomes are employees expectations of how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the performance or efficiency of the employees work role or unit. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect other organization members perceptions of him or her. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the perceptions of the other members of the organisation towards him or her. The linkage of performance and image outcomes at the individual level is comparable to the differentiation between organization efficiency and legitimacy as suggested by institutional theory (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The organizations compete for social as well as economic fitness in the institutional perspective (DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Whereas the economic fitness or organization efficiency frontier enhance the organizations profits and competitive advantages, social fitness brings legitimacy which helps the organization gain stability, resources and hence survival. Several studies have recently brought such an institutional perspective into the study of innovation processes by highlighting the impacts of both efficiency outcomes and potential legitimacy outcomes on innovation adoption decisions. Tolbert and Zucker (1983) found that an early adoption of civil service is related to internal organizational requirements while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legit imate structural form Westphal, Gulati and Shortell (1997) in their research work found out that early adopters can customize Total Quality Management (TQM) practices for efficiency gains, while later adopters gain legitimacy from adopting the normative form of TQM programs. Results from both the empirical studies conclude that an organizations decision to adopt an innovation is influenced by both internal efficiency considerations (i.e., the efficiency outcome) and external legitimacy considerations (i.e., the image outcome). The results not only supports the importance of considering both outcomes in the innovation process but also suggests that their relative impact on innovation adoption will vary in different situations. Abrahamson (1991) suggested a typology that highlights the dominant efficient choice paradigm and other less dominant perspectives that can be used to guide innovation research. The dominant paradigm is the efficient choice perspective (i.e., the efficiency-oriented perspective), which conceptualises organizations as rational entities who always adopt innovations that can improve organization efficiency or performance. On the other hand, two other perspectives the fashion and fad perspectives stresses on the importance of social-political processes by suggesting that organizations sometimes adopt innovations for their symbolic meaning, signalling innovativeness, rather than to boost organizations economic performance. The impacts of expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes on employee innovative behaviour represents the efficiency-oriented and the social-political motives for employee innovation, respectively (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Outcome Expectations and Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for those marked with negative signs, all links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a). 2.4 The Efficiency-Oriented Perspective of Expected Performance Outcomes: The efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding employee innovation behaviour suggests that one major reason people innovate is to bring performance gains. Although assumed to be one of the major motivational reasons in this dominating paradigm, few studies have directly tested the effect of such expected performance outcomes on innovative behaviour. This dissertation provides a hypothesis for testing the outcome of the effects of such expectation and on employee innovation behaviour at work. Expected image outcomes have been considered different from the concept of subjective norm in the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen Fishbein, 1980) in this study. The subjective norm concept refers to a persons belief about whether significant others think that he or she should engage in the behaviour. Although both the concepts are related to potential social outcomes of employees behaviour, expected image outcomes refer to expected perceptions from a potential audience (i.e., other employ ees in the organization) rather than the concern for the approval or disapproval of others. Image outcome expectations can be influenced by other factors as well such as relationship quality, peer expectations, and job requirements. The Literature available on impression management provides an interesting distinction between defensive and assertive impression management (Arkin, 1981; Schlenker, 1980). Tetlock Manstead (1985:61) provides a good discussion on this distinction: Defensive impression management is to protect an employees established social image; it is triggered by negative affective states such as embarrassment and shame. Whereas assertive impression management is designed to improve an employees social image; it is triggered by perceived opportunities for creating favourable impressions on others. Therefore the difference between avoiding image risks and pursuing image enhancement represent different affective states and individual motives. Consulting the impression management literature, the dissertation hypothesizes two major types of image outcome expectations that may affect an employees decision to engage in innovative behaviour. Firstly, expected image loss risk will constrain people from demonstrating innovative behaviour. An employee may decide to play it safe and try and avoid being innovative in order to look socially appropriate and prevent potential image loss. Showing such a tendency to avoid negative evaluations represents the protective self-presentation (Arkin, 1981) or defensive impression management motive (Tetlock Manstead, 1985). The self-protective motive shows that expected image risks will restrict the tendency of an employee to engage in innovative behaviour (refer Figure 1). On the other hand, people may feel the need to innovate because they may see potential opportunity to enhance work efficiency. For example, a high-performing employee may want to introduce a new work technique because he or she perceives opportunities to further improve efficiency. Contrary to the problem-driven construct this latter construct is consistent with the more contemporary vision-guided change model (Cooperrider Srivastva, 1987; Cummings Worley, 2005; Watkins Mohr, 2001) and possibility-driven logic of change (Ford Ford, 1994). This approach suggests that changes can be initiated not only to solve existing problems but also to pursue further improvement toward an ideal vision. Efficiency and performance improvement increases the competitiveness and success of an employee. Regardless of the purpose being is to fix existing performance problems or to explore potential benefits, people will be more likely to engage in innovative behaviour if they expect that the introduction of new ideas, products, procedures, or processes would bring positive performance outcomes to his or her work or job role (refer Figure 1). Therefore expected performance outcomes represent the efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding innovation. This approach suggests that people innovate because they expect positive results in performance gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the efficiency-oriented perspective of expected performance outcomes: Hypothesis 1: Expected positive performance outcomes are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.5 The Social-Political Perspective of Expected Image Outcomes Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviour would impact the perceptions of the other members of the organisation about him or her. Ashford, Rothbard, Piderit, and Dutton (1998), consider expected image outcomes as Employees may engage in innovative behaviour as a conscious effort to improve image. The employees engaging in innovative behaviour to pursue image gain depict the assertive impression management motive (Rioux Penner, 2001). An apt example will be employees suggesting new ideas to managers to appear competent and conscientious. Sutton and Hargadons (1996) designed a study to analyse self-enhancing motive and engineers competitive behaviours in brainstorming sessions. The self enhancing motive suggests that expected image gains will increase employee innovative behaviour at work (refer Figure 1). In line with the social-political perspective in understanding innovation, both avoiding image risks (the self-protective imp ression management motive) and pursuing image gains (the self-enhancing impression management motive) emphasize the importance of social-political considerations in determining employee innovative behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 2(a): Expected image risks are negatively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 2(b): Expected image gains are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6 Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Performance and image outcome expectations are proximal determinants which determine employee innovation in the workplace and also serve as intermediate processes by which more distal individual differences and contextual antecedents affect employee innovation capabilities (West Farr, 1989). An analysis of how distal antecedent factors influence expectations of outcomes and therefore employee innovative behaviour is important for at least two reasons. Firstly, it addresses the question of how distal individual differences of employees and contextual factors affect employee innovation behaviour by examining the intermediate psychological processes. Secondly, it explains the sources of variance in employee performance and image outcome expectations across individuals and situations. Without the intention of providing an all exclusive list, the following five distal antecedent factors were considered as especially important for employee innovation behaviour: Perceived organization support for innovation, supervisor relationship quality, innovativeness as job requirement, reputation as innovative, and dissatisfaction with the status quo. These aforementioned antecedents were chosen because they are among the most studied in the literature and they represent different angles to understand employee innovative behaviour. The five proximal antecedents were taken together to form the conceptual model for testing employee innovation behaviour in this dissertation. Figure 2 Diagram of Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for all those links marked with negative signs, all other links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a) 2.6.1 Perceived Organization Support for Innovation Organization support for innovation in terms of pro-innovation climate, resources, and time allocation, is one of the primary environmental qualities that promote innovation and creativity (Amabile, 1988; Kanter, 1988). This dissertation explores performance and image outcome expectations as important intermediate processes and tries to explain why such organization support affects innovative behaviour. If an organizational environment favours change rather than tradition for its growth and development, its members will seek to initiate change in order to be culturally appropriate (Farr Ford, 1990: 73). Similarly, an organizational climate that promotes innovation will encourage employee to engage in innovative behaviours because such climate legitimates experimentation (West Wallace, 1991) and reduces image risk involved in such behaviours (Ashford et al., 1998). An organization climate promoting innovation delivers expectancies and instrumentalities (Scott Bruce, 1994) so that the employees in that organization understand that being innovative is a desirable image. Reduced potential image loss risks and increased potential image gain environment encourage employees to engage in more innovative behaviours when perceived organization support for innovation is high. Employees in an organization supporting innovation may want to engage in more innovative behaviours not only because of the potential image outcomes but also because they have higher expectations for positive performance outcomes resulting from such innovative behaviours. A favourable organization climate for innovation demonstrates the belief that innovation will benefit the organization in developing and achieve the pinnacle of success. Having such beliefs embedded in the culture of the organization will influence individual attitudes and beliefs through the organization and boost innovation processes. Schneiders (1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework suggests people attracted to and remaining in the organization are likely to be those individuals who share basic beliefs with the organization. Hence, it is logical to expect that compared with organisations not promoting innovative behaviours, people in organizations with pro-innovation climates are also more likely t o have pro-innovation individual beliefs. In other words, they are more likely to be satisfied and believe that initiating innovations will benefit the efficiency and performance of their work. Such beliefs in positive performance outcomes serve as another motive for employee behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 3(a): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(b): Perceived organization support for innovation is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(c): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.2 Supervisor Relationship Quality A quality manager-employee relationship has been found out to be an important contextual factor on employee innovation and creativity (Scott Bruce, 1994; Tierney, Farmer, Graen, 1999). The prevalence of a quality relationship with supervisor will influence employee innovative behaviour indirectly through its influence on performance and image outcome expectations. A quality relationship between the managers and the employees will increase an employees belief that his or her innovative behaviour will result in performance and efficiency gains. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory suggests that subordinates who have high-quality relationships with their supervisors are provided greater resources in the workplace (e.g., privileged information, work support) and decision latitude in return for greater loyalty and commitment (Dansereau, Graen, Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen, Novak, Sommerkamp, 1982). Therefore, employees with high-quality supervisor relationships are more likely to engage in innovative behaviour and be confident that their actions will result in performance and efficiency gains. Desire and motivation of the employees influence what he or she perceives (Gilbert, 1998; Markus Zajonc, 1985; Postman, Bruner, McGinnies, 1948). Research studies undertaken previously shows that supervisors tend to evaluate the employees they like and trust in a more positive way (Cardy Dobbins, 1986; Judge Ferris, 1993; Wayne Liden, 1995). When a supervisor likes and believes in the employee, he or she is more likely to think positively about the employees ideas and believe such ideas are meaningful and significant (Zhou Woodman, 2003). Previous research on attributions concept indicates that when the supervisor likes or empathizes with his sub-ordinates, he or she is more likely to attribute positive outcomes to the sub-ordinatess dispositional causes and negative outcomes to situational causes (Green Mitchell, 1979; Regan, Straus, Fazio, 1974; Regan Totten, 1975). It is expected that good people will perform good actions, and bad people will perform bad actions. Thus whe n liked characters do good things or disliked actors do bad things, we attribute the action to characteristics of the character (Heider, 1958). Therefore, when perceiving a good relationship with the supervisor, an employee will feel more confident that his new ideas will receive acceptance and favourable evaluations from his supervisor, resulting in higher possibilities for image gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the supervisor relationship quality Hypothesis 4(a): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(b): Supervisor relationship quality is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(c): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected image gains associated with innovative behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.3 Innovativeness as a Job Requirement The requirements of a job have been identified by researchers as an activating force for innovation (Kanter, 1988) and a primary factor in inducing employee creativity (Shalley, Gilson, Blum, 2000; Tierney Farmer, 2002). This dissertation explores the mechanisms through which perceived job requirement for innovativeness encourages individual innovation by its influences on both expected performance and image outcomes. The innovative requirement of a job is determined not only by the objective nature of the job position (e.g., RD scientists versus technicians) but also by the subjective attitude of the job holder, which can be influenced by factors including the job holders social environment as suggested by the social information processing theory (Salancik Pfeffer, 1978). Perceived innovativeness as a part of job requirement will also encourage innovative behaviour by minimising the concerns for image risks and increasing image gain expectations. Firstly, it validates innovative behaviours as officially acceptable and socially appropriate. The job requirement serves as a contextual influence that justifies the employees innovative behaviour. Thus, the employees do not need to provide reasons to explain their innovative behaviours and do not need to be concerned about being seen as behaving inappropriately. Secondly, previous research evidence shows that an audience is less critical and more receptive to change-initiated or innovative behaviours from people whose functional background or job position supports such innovative behaviours. Ashford and colleagues (1998) found out in their research that functional background-issue fit negatively related to image risk from selling issues. In the same way, Daft (1978) found out that organizations appeared to adopt technical ideas from professionals (in that case, teachers) and administrative ideas from administrators. Applying the same logic here, managers and fellow co-workers will be more receptive to the innovat ive behaviours of employees in positions requiring innovativeness and will consider their new ideas as more valid and well-grounded, resulting in lower image risk and higher potential of image gain for the innovative employees. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on reputation of an employee as innovative Hypothesis 5(a): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(b): Innovativeness as job requirement is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(c): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.4 Reputation of an Employee as Innovative The employees are considered as more socially appropriate and legitimate when their behaviours match categorizations and expectations of the organisation where they work in (Zelditch, 2001). The existing literature on impression management suggests that the impressions people try to create are affected by their current image in the society (Leary Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker, 1980). Behaviours which are consistent with the expectations and reputations (especially desirable ones) are socially legitimized, and behaviours against those expectations run the risk of being looked down upon by the people in the society. The employees who are not expected to be

Comparison of To His Coy Mistress and An Answer to a Love Letter :: Love Letters Poetry Poems Essays

Comparison of To His Coy Mistress and An Answer to a Love Letter These two poems are meant to be a love letters written by a man to a lady of higher disposition and an answer to that love letter, written by that lady. The first, written by Marvell is written is telling her 'Carpe Dieum' - or 'Seize the Day' this phrase sums up his poem, as that is what he is telling her to do all the time. This is shown by the way he has structured his piece he starts of explaining what they could do if they had all of the time in the world "We would sit and think which way to Pass our long loves day." This means that they would just spend the whole time talking and planning their life because he says our long loves day and in the context it could mean their life (as they will love forever, therefore all their life will just be one day full of love) then he goes on to say that although he would like to do this they cannot as they will eventually die "Times winged chariot hurrying near Thy beauty shall no more be found" He uses this imagery to show how time (death) is creeping up on them but fast, as in on a winged chariot. Then, in the logical fashion he comes up with a solution that they should "Roll all our strength and all Our sweetness into one ball." This could just means that they should 'get together and become one, possibly through matrimony or having a child hence ball. It could be a euphemism for having sex. However in Montagu's poem she uses a different argument. At first she says that he is seeing a false impression of her because of all the flattery at the beginning, then saying 'but leaving her-'tis me you pursue'. She is complimenting his wife (as the man I s already marries) trying to persuade him that his life at the moment is much better as he has a wife and money and would be stupid to leave that behind. Then she starts getting really aggressive and offensive against mankind, likening them to pug dogs, "Why should the poor pug (the mimic of your kind) Wear a rough chain and be to a box confin'd?" This is meant to be an immense insult against mankind- likening them to simple dogs, that to be fair are quite ugly and just sit on a lap to be stroked all day. In saying this she infers that men have no use but to 'be'. In the next line she begins to give you an idea about why

Importance and impact of poverty on outcomes

Explain the importance and impact of poverty on outcomes and life chances for children and young people BY jess663 CYP core 37 1. 2 Explain the importance and impact of poverty on outcomes and life chances for children and young people Poverty can have a huge effect on children and young people's development. Overall poverty removes choices from people's lives, their choices are limited to what they can do and afford rather than what they want or need.Which is why poverty is 1 of the 5 on the agenda of the Every child matters framework stating every child should achieve wealth and economic well-being. We all as parent's carers have a roles and responsibilities within our community to promote this. Some impacts and outcomes for children and young people are: Communities in poverty may not have local amenities such as play schools, mother and toddler groups and usually have higher risk of gangs and anti-social behaviour within their neighborhood, which may reduce their play in a safe o utdoor environment.Poor diet due to low income, lone parent etc. They may not be able to afford the type of food that gives them a balanced and healthy diet. Families will want to buy cheaper food, which is processed and has more fat and sugar in it. This kind of food leads to a lack of concentration and obesity, which further leads to health issues such as heart problems. Health problems can influence a child's outcome in life as there would be limits to opportunities.Education – higher chance of children from deprived areas getting lower grades due to lack of space or facilities such as computers, internet books etc. leading to them not attending further education – affecting future Job prospects – lower paid Jobs, poor working conditions, unsecure Jobs. Lack of motivation and guidance – the overall Journey to better them self seems too long and almost impossible, therefore it is not worth trying. Without guidance children do not learn the correct ways to behave.This will cause them to come into conflict at school because they do not know or understand acceptable boundaries. They may be unaware of the dangers they can face in life. They may have a distorted view of their own abilities and may believe that they are allowed to do what they want because they are never prevented. They may believe they are unloved, unimportant and nvalued and as they grow older this could lead to depression and self-harming. The lack of boundaries could result in them becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.They may struggle to form social relationships because of their lack of personal hygiene. Poor clothing could lead to bullying and teasing, causing them to withdraw and become isolated. According to ‘Every Child Matters' if a young person between 16 and 18years is ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) then is also said that young people that are NEET have a high chance of becoming young arents, getting involved wi th unhealthy lifestyles, such as crime, drugs, alcohol and poor diets.So poverty plays a big part in a child or young person's outcomes and life chances. Living in an area of poverty is not only a lack of food and clothing, but also a lack of resources to enable children to participate in activities that educate them and socialise with others, which can encourage them to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. People not living in poverty tend to get more opportunities than those living in poverty as people in general tend to respect them more.