Work Values

Introduction The purpose of this essay will be to determine the influence of individual work values on the commitment of an employee to an organization. This essay will seek to define the meaning of work values and also employee commitment and how work values influence the commitment of an employee to an organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work Values specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The type of organization that will be evaluated will be a multinational telecommunications corporation (Vodafone) that has a high number of employees and handles a large customer base. The essay will seek to determine the kind of organizational factors that exist within the multinational company that affect the work values and organizational commitment of the employees as well as the available structures of work values that are used in many multinational organizations around the world. The discussion will mostly involve the use of American literature and research work that is available for the last ten years which has offered extensive feedback on the topic. The focus on Vodafone will be suitable for this study given the diverse number of employees that work for the multinational company around its global offices. The company employs over 80,000 employees around the world who are from diverse ethnic backgrounds and possess individual work values that are necessary when it comes to their job performance. The study will therefore discuss the concepts of work values and employee commitment by focusing on the global telecommunications company so as to gain a more practical interaction of how work values influence or affect employee commitment to an organization. Work Values The concept of work values has continued to receive increasing interest amongst various scholars and researchers around the world especially with regards to its influence on the individual commitment of an employee to their organizatio n.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To better understand the concept, work values are referred to as the set of traits or qualities that are considered to be important by an employee in the performance of their work duties and responsibilities. They are also defined as those qualities that employees within an organization desire to have when performing their work. Work values are viewed as measures of employee performance since they determine the efficiency and effectiveness of a worker when it comes to completing certain tasks within the organization. They also provide a measure of the work preferences, ethics, culture and beliefs of the employee which prove to be beneficial when it comes to performing organizational tasks. Work values also provide a measure of personal need and satisfaction as they allow an employee to reflect upon their individual goals and objectives in t he work place and what they have to do to satisfy their needs (Levy 2003). Dose (Cited by Matic 2008) defined work values as the standards of evaluation related to work which employees used to measure the importance and significance of work preferences. Dose further categorises work values to fall under two dimensions with the first dealing with work values that are based on moral dimensions and the second dealing with the degree of consensus that exists on the importance and desirability of particular work values. According to Matic (2008), the very first studies of work values were conducted to explain the differences of employee performance and worker motivation when it came to job performance. Researchers such as Hoppe and and Hofstede, who were some of the theorists that conducted early studies on the effect of work values, had their research work incorporated into the development of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and also Herzberg’s explanation of intrinsic and extr insic needs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work Values specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Matic (2008) noted that Hofstede and Hoppe’s work played an important part in providing a theoretical explanation of how work values motivated employees to perform their work duties. Based on both current and recent research, work values present a strong implication for many managers as they determine the level of motivation an employee will have towards their job and also the kind of job satisfaction employees will derive from performing their work duties. Before assigning any duties and tasks, managers usually observe the work values of their employees so that they can be able to determine what work ethic and motivation they possess when carrying out their work duties. Vodafone, as a multinational corporation, is constantly facing changing and evolving management practices which has forced its management to continu ally re-evaluate the work duties and responsibilities of their employees. In doing so, the company also has to consider the individual work values of its employees to ensure that the management practices and work duties do not conflict with the individual behaviours of an employee. Therefore identifying the work values of an employee plays an important role in redefining work duties and responsibilities within an organization. According to Hofstede (2001), the work values possessed by an individual worker are usually significant for two reasons; the first of which being that they provide an excellent measure of an employee’s work ethic since they are determined by sociological and cultural factors. The second reason is that work values have a direct impact on the various faucets and activities that occur within an organization such as employee motivation, job satisfaction, conflict resolution and employee commitment to the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a result of this, many organizations around the world have restructured their activities to encompass work values which will be important in achieving value congruence in business operations (Hofstede 2001). Because the image of an organization is closely linked to the work ethics the organization wants to convey to its various stakeholders, the individual work values of an employee in all the levels of management become increasingly important especially for a corporation such as Vodafone that has a large employee base. Work values become important since they provide managers with a perspective of what is right and wrong within an organization According to Matic (2008), work values encompass emotions, cognitive processes and behaviour that are related to the performance of work duties and responsibilities where employees demonstrate work value characteristics such as individuality, punctuality, attentiveness, subjectiveness and cooperation towards their organizational tasks and d uties. The personality of an individual is also an important factor when it comes to determining the work values of an employee and this therefore contributes to the overall performance of an employee in their work duties. The implication of work values on multinational corporations becomes important especially when it comes to organizational performance and leadership. Given the large numbers of employees who work for Vodafone, job performance becomes a top priority due to the large volume of customer queries that are handled by the global telecommunications company in a day or an hour. Leadership also becomes important to such an organization especially when managers have to delegate certain roles to their junior staff such as monitoring the floor operations of the call centre or monitoring the number of calls that have been made in an hour. Apart from organizational performance and leadership, other implications of work values to an organization are that they assist managers to p repare employees during periods of change, they assist human resource managers to develop suitable and effective reward/compensation systems, they affect changes in management practices and leadership styles and they facilitate open communication within an organization (Li, 2008). Employee Commitment Employee commitment which is at times referred to as organizational commitment is the psychological attachment that an employee has to their place of work. The most common measures that are used to determine the commitment of an employee to an organization include job satisfaction which deals with the feelings an employee has towards their job and organizational identification which is the degree of belonging and oneness that an employee derives from working for an organization. To further explain employee commitment, Meyer and Allen developed a three-component model of commitment that would be used to identify the various types of commitment that existed within an organization (Mutheve loo and Rose 2005). The affective commitment level which is the first part of the model refers to the positive emotional attachment that an employee demonstrates towards their work place. According to Meyer and Allen, employee’s who were affectively committed to an organization were able to identify with the goals and objectives of an organization which in turn enabled them to have sense of belonging. Employees who demonstrated affective commitment usually did so because they personally wanted to display attachment and loyalty to the organization. The second part of the model was referred to as continuance commitment which refers to an individual’s commitment to the organization based on their perceived cost of losing organizational membership. This perceived loss is in terms of economic benefits which the employee gains from committing to an organization, social costs such as friendship ties with co-workers and also financial costs such as rewards and compensations th at arise from belonging to an organization (Mutheveloo and Rose 2005). The third part of Meyer and Allen’s commitment model was normative commitment which refers the feelings of obligation that an employee has towards an organization. These feelings are usually derived from a variety of sources such as when an organization has invested in the training and development of the employee. An employee in such a case feels obligated to the organization to work extra hard in their work duties so that they can be able to repay the organization for the training exercise. This three component model of employee commitment therefore explains the various levels/types of commitment that an employee has towards an organization. According to Mutheveloo and Rose (2005), the concept of employee commitment forms the basis for most human resource management activities within an organization as most human resource policies are directed towards increasing the level of employee commitment with an or ganization. Various researchers such as Meyer et al have set out to identify the various types of employee commitment by viewing them as constructs that can be used to explain the attitudes and behaviours of employees when performing their work duties. Meyer et al developed three groups that would be used to explain employee commitment to an organization with the first group being commitment to their work or job where employees demonstrated feelings of attachment towards their job and work responsibilities. Employees with this kind of commitment derived a sense of job satisfaction because of their commitment to work (Mutheveloo and Rose 2005). Work/job commitment according to the researchers did not however refer to the level of commitment that an employee had to the organization or their jobs. It instead focused on the level of their commitment towards the employment itself where an employee’s sense of duty towards their work was seen as a strong measure of employee commitme nt. The second group according to Meyer et al was career/professional commitment where employees demonstrated a sense of commitment or attachment to jobs that guaranteed them career progression. This category also explained employee attachment to be in the form of any professional training offered to an employee that was meant to improve their professional qualifications (Mutheveloo and Rose 2005). The third category that would be used to explain employee commitment according to Meyer et al was organizational commitment which refers to the willingness of employees to accept organizational goals, objectives, beliefs and values as their own by working to achieve them. The researchers noted organizational commitment was a subset of employee commitment as it required the full involvement and participation of employees in work related activities Other researchers who developed models that could be used to explain employee commitment within an organization include Angle and Perry with the ir 1981 model of value commitment, O’Reilly and Chatman with their multidimensional model of compliance, identification and internalization and Jaros et al with their multidimensional model of affective, continuance and moral levels of employee commitment (Muthuveloo and Rose 2005). These categorizations and models of employee commitment demonstrate the importance of employee commitment when it comes to motivation to perform work duties within the workplace. Vodafone has conducted various employee satisfaction surveys to determine the level of commitment that its employees have to the company. These surveys usually take place once every year and they are usually conducted with the sole purpose of determining employee commitment to the global telecommunications company. The survey also assesses job security, career progression within the company, management practices of senior executives within the organization as well as the overall satisfaction of employees within the organi zation. The two most important indicators that are used in the survey include employee commitment and employee satisfaction as they form the benchmark of Vodafone in all the international and local divisional offices. Influence of Work Values on Employee Commitment According to researchers such as Mottaz, Bruning and Snyder, work values play a significant role in the commitment of an employee to an organization especially when the work values manifest themselves in the behaviour of the employee. These researchers highlight the fact that employee commitment usually arises from a set of values displayed by an employee towards their work for an extended period of time. Researchers such as Huang, Kidron and Charanyanada have viewed work values to be a major influence of employee commitment because work values strengthen the attachment an employee has towards their organization. Charanyanada in his 1980 study highlighted the fact that an employee’s investment of time and energy de monstrated the reciprocal relationship that existed between commitment and work values (Ho 2006). Since work values encompass the behaviour and personality of an individual, the interaction that exists between the individual’s personal characteristics and their work environment is termed to be dynamic as it determines the level of commitment that the employee will have towards the organization. If the interaction is weakened over time, the individual might lose their sense of commitment forcing them to leave the organization and if the interaction is reinforced the individual might decide to increase their level commitment to the organization by engaging in more work duties. The various characteristics that make up an employee’s work values therefore have a direct influence on the commitment of the employee to the organization (Ho 2006). Work values according Wollack cited by Ho 2006) are an important construct of employee commitment to an organization as they play an integral role when it comes to influencing the affective responses of an employee in their place of work. Wollack argues that the work values an employee possesses are usually gained from past work experience within the organization and they therefore play an important in determining how an employee will perform their work duties within the organization. Wollack continues further with his argument on the influence work values have on the commitment of an employee by stating that the personal characteristics of an individual employee usually interact with the stimuli and environmental conditions that exist in the work place to form the work values that an employee possesses (Ho 2006). According to other researchers such as Brown who conducted his studies in 1996, Mathieu and Zajac who conducted their studies in 1990 and Rabinowitz and Hall who conducted their studies on work values in 1977, work values have an effect on the overall commitment of an employee to the organization as the y represent the three work attitudes that are required from all employees which include job involvement, career salience and organizational commitment. Because work values represent the psychological investment an employee has placed on their work, they play a great role in determining whether an employee will remain loyal and attached to the organization. Rokeach concedes that work values are usually gained during the socialisation process that an employee goes through once they become oriented to the organization. Rokeach also concedes that the most valuable socialisation for a human being usually occurs in the home during their formative years and at work when they begin to shape their careers (Ho 2006). Other researchers who have conducted investigations into the relationship between work values and organizational commitment include Putti et al in 1989 (cited by Ho 2006) where they noted that the intrinsic work values of an employee had a more direct impact on employee commitmen t when compared to the extrinsic work values. Intrinsic values refer to those factors that determine whether the employee’s work is interesting or challenging while the extrinsic values refer to the job benefits an employee gains from tasks that are unrelated to the work job. An example of an extrinsic value is good pension plans, holiday allowances and good medical cover (Ho 2006). Employees working for multinational telecommunication companies such as Vodafone have demonstrated both extrinsic and intrinsic work values as they both determine the rates of employee turnover in the company, employee motivation and job satisfaction. According to Tayyab and Tariq (2001 cited by Ho 2006), intrinsic work values were related to normative or norm-based employee commitment to an organization while the extrinsic work values had a relation to the reward-based commitment employee demonstrated towards an organization. The two authors also identified the existence of a positive correlation between intrinsic work values and the commitment of employees by particularly focusing on executives who worked for the private sector. Based on this relationship, they were able to ascertain that these executives were more committed to an organization when their personal work values were in congruence with those of their direct line managers (Ho 2006). Huang noted that work values such as employee responsibility and personal achievement were perfect indicators of the level of employee commitment as well as job satisfaction and involvement. Huang also believed that the more work values an employee possessed, the higher their level of commitment to the organization. Other researchers Lee and Chung (2001 cited by Ho 2006) identified the instrumental work values that exist within most multinational corporations such as Vodafone that have an impact on employee commitment within an organization. These work values include the stability and freedom of anxious considerations which accordin g to the two researchers was the strongest influencing factor of employee commitment to an organization. The consideration of economic security was the second most important factor that influenced employee commitment followed by social interaction considerations which involved the social interactions that employees had with their colleagues in the work place. The consideration of stability and freedom had a direct influence on the retention commitment of an employee which meant that low job stability was more than likely to contribute to high employee turnover rates (Ho 2006). The consideration of security and economic costs directly influenced the effort commitment of an employee where the amount of economic compensation, pension benefits, medical allowance and other employee benefits determined the level of input they placed in their work duties. The social interaction consideration had the greatest influence on the value commitment of an employee where the social relationships an employee is able to have in an organization determine the level of their commitment to the organization. Properly identifying the intrinsic and extrinsic factors/work values that are possessed by each individual employee will contribute further to the proper understanding of how work values can be used to improve organizational performance. Conclusion This discussion has dealt with the concepts of work values and employee commitment within an organization and also how work values influence employee commitment to an organization. Various research work and studies have been conducted on whether work values affect employee commitment and this study has been able to refer to these works so as to build the discussion. As noted in the study, most of the findings have demonstrated that work values have an effect or influence on employee commitment as they determine the level of motivation and job satisfaction and employee has towards their job. Work values play an important role in determ ining the intrinsic and extrinsic work values possessed by an employee when performing their work duties. The study has therefore been able to ascertain that work values play a significant role in the commitment of an employee to an organization. References Hofstede, G., (2001) Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviours,  institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Ho, C.C., (2006) A study of the relationships between work values, job involvement and  organizational commitment among Taiwanese nurses. Published Thesis. Queensland, Australia: Queensland University of Technology Levy, P.E., (2003) Industrial/organizational psychology: understanding the workplace.  Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Li, W., (2008) Demographic effects of work values and their management implications.  Journal of Business Ethics, 81, pp 875-885 Matic, J.L., (2008) Cultural differences in employee work values and their implicatio ns for management. Management, Vol.13, No.2, pp 93-104 Muthuveloo, R., and Rose, R., (2005) Typology of organizational commitment.  American Journal of Applied Science, Vol.2, No. 6, pp 1078-1081 This essay on Work Values was written and submitted by user Adriana C. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Oreopithecus - Facts and Figures

Oreopithecus - Facts and Figures Name: Oreopithecus (Greek for mountain ape); pronounced ORE-ee-oh-pith-ECK-us Habitat: Islands of southern Europe Historical Epoch: Late Miocene (10-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About four feet tall and 50-75 pounds Diet: Plants, nuts and fruit Distinguishing Characteristics: Longer arms than legs; monkey-like feet About Oreopithecus Most of the prehistoric primates that preceded modern humans led lives that were nasty, brutish and short, but this doesnt appear to have been the case with Oreopithecusbecause this chimpanzee-like mammal had the good fortune to live on isolated islands off the Italian coast, where it was relatively free from predation. A good clue to the comparatively trouble-free existence of Oreopithecus is that paleontologists have unearthed about 50 complete skeletons, making this one of the best understood of all ancient apes. As so often happens with animals restricted to island habitats, Oreopithecus possessed a strange mix of features, including strong, gripping, monkey-like feet, an ape-like head with teeth reminiscent of the earliest humans, and (last but not least) longer arms than legs, a clue that this primate spent much of its time swinging from branch to branch. (Theres also some tantalizing evidence that Oreopithecus may have been able to walk upright for short periods of time, which has thrown a wrench into the usual timelines for hominid evolution.) Oreopithecus met its doom when plunging sea levels connected its islands with the mainland, whence its ecosystem was invaded by the mammalian megafauna of continental Europe. By the way, the name Oreopithecus has nothing to do with the famous cookie; oreo is the Greek root for mountain or hill, though this hasnt prevented some paleontologists from affectionately referencing Oreopithecus as the cookie monster.

Analysis Of Mobile Communication Communications Essay

Analysis Of Mobile Communication Communications Essay Wireless communication has become a ubiquitous part of modern life, from global cellular telephone systems to local and even personal-area networks. This book provides a tutorial introduction to digital mobile wireless networks, illustrating theoretical underpinnings with a wide range of real-world examples. The book begins with a review of propagation phenomena, and goes on to examine channel allocation, modulation techniques, multiple access schemes, and coding techniques. GSM and IS-95 systems are reviewed and 2.5G and 3G packet-switched systems are discussed in detail. Performance analysis and accessing and scheduling techniques are covered, and the book closes with a chapter on wireless LANs and personal-area networks. Many worked examples and homework exercises are provided and a solutions manual is available for instructors. The book is an ideal text for electrical engineering and computer science students taking courses in wireless communications. It will also be an invaluab le reference for practicing engineers. Wireless communication technology is diffusing around the planet faster than any other communication technology to date. Because communication is at the heart of human activity in all domains, the advent of this technology, allowing multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere where there is the appropriate infrastructure, is supposed to have profound social effects. Yet, which kind of effects, under which conditions, for whom and for what is an open question. Indeed, we know from the history of technology, including the history of the Internet, that people and organizations end up using the technology for purposes very different of those initially sought or conceived by the designers of the technology. Furthermore, the more a technology is interactive, and the more it is likely that the users become the producers of the technology in its actual practice. Therefore, rather than projecting dreams and fears on the kind of society that will result in the future from the widespread use of wireless communication, we must root ourselves in the observation of the present using the traditional, standard tools of scholarly research. People, institutions, and business have suffered enough from the unwarranted prophecies of futurologists and visionaries that project and promise whatever comes to their minds on the basis of anecdotal observation and ill understood developments. Thus, our aim in this report is to ground an informed discussion of the social uses and social effects of wireless communication technology on what we know currently (2004) in different areas of the world. We would have like to consider exclusively information and analyses produced within the rigorous standards of academic research. This constitutes a good proportion of the material examined here. The rise of mobile communication Mobile communication has diffused into society at a rate that is unprecedented. On a world basis, the number of mobile phone s rose 24% between 2000 and 2005. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), there was about one telephone subscription for every third person in the world (2005).2 At the same time there were about half as many who had access to the intent (ITU 2005). The highest adoption rates are found in Europe where there are approximately 82 subscriptions per 100 persons. In Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, etc.) there are 69, and in the Americas there are 52 subscriptions per 100 persons. Following this Asia had 22 subscriptions per 100 and Africa had 11. While the adoption rate in Europe has levelled off, there is an almost Klondike like atmosphere in many other countries. The growth rates in India and China are far above 50% per year. In addition, growth in sub-Saharan Africa often tops 100% and sometimes even 200% per year.3 Thus, in the last decade; we have seen the widespread adoption of a new form of communication.

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Education - Essay Example With education turning out to be one of the most important aspects of one’s life, educators, government authorities and other relevant stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the various challenges that may impede the educational processes. Although, countries of the world have their own educational systems to effectively educate their children and young people, there could be some problems in each of these systems. So, this paper focusing on the educational systems of United States and Middle Eastern countries, will discuss how there are certain inherent problems in both these systems, necessitating reforms. United States is regarded as the most developed nation in various spheres of human existence from economy to science and technology, media power, etc. United States is able to achieve that recognition, not only because of their innovative mindset and hard work, but due to a strong educational system. Although, the educational system is churning out equipped individu als, there are certain facts and issues, which clearly show that the education system in America needs reforms. One of the key facts is the inability of the children, students or young adult to read and write high level language in various fields from science to politics. Michael Moore in his book, Stupid white men-- and other sorry excuses for the state of the nation provides the statistics which depict the levels of literacy among the people in America. â€Å"There are forty-four million Americans who cannot read and write above a fourth-grade level-in other words, who are functional illiterates.† (Moore). He further states that even if the people are able to read, they rarely indulge in reading activities. â€Å"I've also read that only 11 percent of the American public bothers to read a daily newspaper, beyond the funny pages or the used car ads.† (Moore). This implies that though the Americans are educated, they are not utilizing their knowledge to increase their awareness about the world. If these shocking facts about the educational system are focused in an particular perspective, it is clear that the schooling system has some loopholes. Formal education of a child begins in a school and the quality of schooling depends on the variety of factors. The conditions of American public schools particularly regarding the treatment of teachers point towards the lackadaisical attitude of the American government towards education. Teachers and their dedicated efforts are very important in the education of the child. But even these teachers are neglected by the American government and society. They are not adequately paid and this results in low quality of teaching, as the teachers are not encouraged to perform better by recognizing their efforts in form of high wages. â€Å"The twin topics of teacher quality and teacher compensation have garnered considerable attention†¦motivated in part by the desire to increase the quality of individuals who select into the teaching profession, and to prevent attrition.† (). With these problems of underpayment and attrition, it is obvious that the education of children is effected to such an extent they are never able to comprehend true meaning of education. To correct these situation regarding the quality of education and quality of teachers, they have to be paid aptly. â€Å"One obvious policy tool to deal with the quality and distribution of teachers would be to increase teachers' monetary compensation, perhaps in a targeted

Sociology And Social Worlds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sociology And Social Worlds - Essay Example â€Å"Matter† refers â€Å"principally, to the role material objects play in the making of social worlds† (Redman, 2008, p. 8), e.g. money and receipts which help create attachments between people as well as between people and objects. It can be argued that things (or matter) can affect social bonds on their own as well, since they â€Å"have agency as much as people† (Carter & Smith, 2008, qtd. in Redman, 2008, p. 12). Matter is inextricably linked to social attachments as well, both between people and between people and objects, everything material is at some point social and vice versa. There is much that has been said by social constructionists in this regard and this paper attempts to assess the above-mentioned role of matter with regard to what the social constructionists have put forward in this regard. Just how efficacious these arguments are is a matter that will also be addressed herein. In the end, a recommendation is made for more research to be done with regard to the role of matter in our attachment forging. To come back to matter, it may also include certain physical/biological traits, such as gender. But here the question arises if it is indeed gender that causes attachments to be forged between people (for instance mother and child, husband and wife) and not social norms. Thus, social constructionists argue, it can be an effect of both factors simultaneously, a woman is biologically female, and hence is expected by society to rear her child and love her unconditionally, however, this does not necessarily mean that the love she feels for her child is fabricated – it is the role of being a â€Å"mother† that may be socially fabricated, but not the feelings of being a â€Å"mother.† In such a context, it is our bodies, that are â€Å"matter,† and which are used to form attachments between people and between people and things, for instance, a girl having fondness for her doll, whereas a boy having it for his cricket bat. In this regard, social constructionists hold that it is actually the society that causes this errant belief of gender to be transferred into the social lives of people (Gabb, 2008, p. 31). Social constructionists argue that this phenomenon has more to do with social norms and practices than with individual needs and requirements. However, that cannot be completely true. There are certain individual traits that tend to form an attachment between people and objects and between people. In Woodward’s article, for instance, the attachment to boxing has been linked with certain ideals of masculinity, while that in itself cannot be considered to be matter, it is, perhaps, the biological sex of a person, and even the social implications that come with this, that determine and effect the propensity of boxers to be attached to the sport itself and the various factors it brings with it (2008). Moreover, the training of the boxer inculcates in him/her further attach ment to the game. Although some would argue that it is more mental than physical – attachment to boxing is caused by a certain psychological drive in the person.

Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - The Strong Wife of Bath

The Strong Wife of Bath       Alison of Bath as a battered wife may seem all wrong, but her fifth husband, Jankyn, did torment her and knock her down, if not out, deafening her somewhat in the process. Nevertheless, the Wife of Bath got the upper hand in this marriage as she had done in the other four and as she would probably do in the sixth, which she declared herself ready to welcome. Alison certainly ranks high among women able to gain control over their mates.    The Wife of Bath's personality, philosophy of sexuality, and attitude toward sovereignty in marriage obviously are offered as comedy. When Chaucer's short poem addressed to Bukton, who is about to marry, recommends that he read the Wife of Bath regarding "The sorwe and wo that is in mariage" (ed. Benson, p. 655), he has to mean the domination, real or attempted, or the nagging, of the husband by the wife, that is sure to follow his wedding. Why else recommend the Wife of Bath for the edification of a bridegroom-to-be? And how could such an admonition be meant as anything but jest?    The Bukton piece leaves Chaucer's present-day audience wondering whether he and Philippa, married in 1366, had lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, the Chaucer Life-Records tell us nothing personal such as this. As for Chaucer himself, although he uses the autobiographical first person pronoun, his allusions to domineering and/or nagging wives are presented through the voices of his persona and of the pilgrim narrators of the Canterbury Tales, of whom the persona is one, all as likely to be fiction as to be fact. Chaucer remains inscrutable regarding his own marriage.    What, then, are we to make of the Bukton piece; of Alison of Bath and her anti-Pauline vi... ...st wife in the world. One would expect the married men hearing this to chuckle. But, needless to say, Chaucer's audience included women as well. In that day, when all marriage was Pauline at least in theory, and permanent sacramentally as well as legally, both "archwives" and "sklendre" had promised to obey. Women could join the laughter at this old chestnut because the shrew was some other woman. Of course good Christian wives never nagged their husbands.    Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. 3rd edn. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Crow, Martin M., and Clair C. Olson, eds. Chaucer Life-Records. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966. Skeat, Walter W., ed. Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. 2nd ed. 6 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1899; rpt. 1972. Woolf, Rosemary. The English Mystery Plays. Berkeley: U of California P, 1972.

Small Economic Activity in Rural Area

Background of the studyEconomic activity refers to the consumption of goods and services and activities in which money is exchanged for product or services (Hendricks, 2017). It was performed for the purpose of making money, gaining wealth, creating and producing items that can be offered to the public for sale. Pavlov (2000) also argued that economic activity defined as any activity consisting in offering goods and services on a given market. The outcome of economic activities is measured monetarily (Hendricks, 2017). According to Fisher (1933), economic activities classified into three main sectors which are primary sector (consisting of agriculture), secondary sector (formed by industry) and lastly is the tertiary sector which are incorporating all other activities that did not fit in the first two sectors. Cari data statistic economi Malaysia?In business scope?There are several types of economic activities including business, professions and employment. Restaurants, large retailers and even small businesses engage in economic activities every day. Business is one of the economic activity. Whether it is a formal business, an entrepreneurial venture or a small lemonade stand in the front of yard, the economic activity of business is any activity where goods and services are exchanged for the earning of money. High cost living?Rural area refers to nonmetropolitan areas (United States Department of Agriculture, 2003). According to Office of Management and Budget United States (2013), nonmetropolitan areas are outside the boundaries of metropolitan areas and have no cities with 50,000 residents or more. Department of Statistic Malaysia (2010) stated that Lawas, Sarawak only had the total population of 38,385 in 2010. It can be categorized as the rural area because the total population less than 50,000 populations. In the next 10 years, the total of population in Lawas, Sarawak expected will be increase in 2020 (Population and Housing Census of Malaysia, 2010). According to Malaysia Labour Force Survey Report (2002:17), rural area defined as all the gazetted areas consisting of less than 10,000 people and all of the areas that are not gazetted. It also argued by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development which simply defined rural as an area with population of less than 10,000 people. In 2002, out of nine main economic activities in rural areas, agriculture-related activities including hunting, forestry and fishing contributed 38.5% of the employment as compared to 18.2% in manufacturing and 9.8% in wholesale and retail trade (Malaysia – Labour Force Survey Report, 2002). Problem statementBusiness growths in Lawas town lead to raise the economic development in rural area. However, there are some issues that are often said. The local authority gives less attention to small-scaled business especially retailing business. This has been a challenge to small business owners to develop their businesses because of competition from large-scale business. Additionally, the lack of special sites for traders, particularly in stall business and renting business, has resulted in irregularities. It causes the huge problems for the urban environment such as creating a less attractive, hygiene problems and congestion, especially in Lawas town. These problems occur due to the weakness of local authorities in implementing the regulatory, guidelines planning, standards of planning, control activities, employee attitude and lack of financial. The local authorities mostly give attention to the issues of getting the appropriate site, the size of the building site, the provision of the perfect garbage disposal facility, the absence of special units or sections to implement the rules thoroughly in the context of actual planning. Informal businesses operating not only in town areas but also occurred in the village area. There are several issues that viewed from the informal sector businesses such as stalls and hawkers. It found that several stalls and hawkers had physically dilapidated conditions, built in unsafe business area and the absence of adequate public facilities have affected the unpleasant scenery. Several stalls or hawkers were too close to the road reserve. The selection of a location informal business has to take seriously. It is because, informal sector mostly happen found on parking lot area, roadside and in sidewalk of the stores. To improve this situation, the Lawas District Council will take enforcement action such as seizing business equipment, revoke licenses or impose fines. Occasionally, the Lawas District Council also handed over enforcement notice to close business or relocate stalls and hawker centers temporarily in a more organized and secure area.Research questionsResearch objectives The purpose of this study is aimed to analyst and evaluates the problems and growth of small-scale business in Lawas. Thus, consideration should be given to this aspect when discussing and evaluating the challenges of development. The objectives of the study are as follow:To identify the need of small-scale business in an economyTo determine the various problems faced by the local communities in the study areas from the perspective of the small-scale businessTo suggest more appropriate and effective ways to overcome this problem.The findings of this study will help the policy makers in identifying problems relating to the institutional arrangements of rural development agencies. Consequently, it will help in introducing more effective institutional arrangements in delivering or implementing rural development programmes in order to tackle rural development problems.Significance of studyThere are three factors that have driven the researcher to engage in the research. Firstly, there is a need for balance in development between rural and urban areas. Secondly, rural development is particularly important for the political stability of a nation, and thirdly, rural communities that typically form the majority of population in most developing countries are mostly poor. Therefore, rural development is part and parcel of the nation's development. It cannot be sidelined even though it possesses diverse and complex problems.