Application of Statistics in Daily Life Report Essay Example for Free

Utilization of Statistics in Daily Life Report Essay Legacy is the way toward making new classes from the current class or classes. In C++ and C, classes can be characterized as getting from aâ base class. Aâ derived classâ inherits the entirety of the progenitors ensured and publicâ methodsâ and dataâ members. With legacy on the off chance that a strategy is made virtual in the base class, at that point the inferred class can supersede it with various conduct. This makes possibleâ polymorphism. Sorts of classes: Definition: In C++ and C# OOP, a derivedâ classâ is any class thatâ inheritsâ from some other determined class orâ base class. Definition: In C++ and C# OOP, the baseâ classâ is the most noteworthy class and does notâ inheritâ from some other class. Different classes can acquire from a base class. They are calledâ derivedâ classes. Types of Inheritance: Single Inheritance: If a class is gotten from a solitary base class, it is called as single legacy. Numerous Inheritance: If a class is gotten from more than one base class, it is known as different legacy Multilevel Inheritance: The classes can likewise be gotten from the classes that are as of now determined. This kind of legacy is called staggered legacy. Various leveled Inheritance: If various classes are gotten from a solitary base class, it is called as progressive legacy Definition of class:When you characterize a class, you characterize an outline for an information type. This doesnt really characterize any information, yet it defines what the class name implies, that is, the thing that an object of the class will comprise of and what activities can be performed on such an item. Classes ;amp; Objects in Detail Class part works: A part capacity of a class is a capacity that has its definition or its model inside the class definition like some other variable. Class get to modifiers: A class part can be characterized as open, private or secured. As a matter of course individuals would be accepted as private Constructor ;amp; destructor: A class constructor is an exceptional capacity in a class that is considered when another object of the class is made. A destructor is additionally a unique capacity which is called when made article is erased. | C++ duplicate constructor: The duplicate constructor is a constructor which makes an article by instating it with an object of a similar class, which has been made beforehand Aâ friendâ work is allowed full access to private and secured individuals from a class. | C++ inline functions| With an inline work, the compiler attempts to grow the code in the body of the capacity instead of a call to the capacity. | The this pointer in C++| Every item has an uncommon pointerâ thisâ which focuses to the article itself. | Pointer to C++ classes| A pointer to a class is done the very same way a pointer to a structure is. Indeed a class is extremely only a structure with capacities in it. | Static individuals from a class| Both information individuals and capacity individuals from a class can be pronounced as static. Epitome Definition: In Object Oriented Programming,â encapsulation is a trait ofâ objectâ design. It implies that the entirety of the articles information is contained and covered up in the item and access to it confined to individuals from that class. C Programming| C++ Programming| C follows the procedural programming paradigm| C++ is a mul ti-worldview language(procedural just as article oriented)| In C language center around technique and steps. | C++ centers around the information as opposed to the process| In C information stowing away and information security is beyond the realm of imagination. Information stowing away and information security is available. | C utilizes Top-Down approch| C++ utilizes Bottom-Up approach| C is a capacity driven programming language| C++ is an article driven programming language| C doesn't bolster over-burdening concept| C++ underpins over-burdening ideas like administrator over-burdening and capacity overloading| C doesn't bolster namespaces concept| CPP bolsters Namespaces idea. | C not bolster special case handling| C++ underpins Exception Handling| C is organized programming language| C++ is object situated programming language. C doesn't bolster legacy, reusability, polymorphism, information abstraction| CPP underpins legacy, reusability, polymorphism, information deliberation. | C language just help Early binding| CPP underpins both Earl y and Late binding| C utilizes standard information, yield capacities like scanf and printf. | C++ utilizes input work cin and yield work is cout. | There are for the most part information is accessible to end client. No information security| There is information deliberation. Not complete information is accessible to End user|

The Situation of Filipino Children and Young People

Practically 50% of the populace in the Philippines are youngsters. With a quick populace development a year, the legislature has a troublesome errand in giving kids enough assets to guarantee their privileges. For some grown-ups and kids, a 15-year-old who bears a youngster readily or reluctantly stops to be a young lady kid however a youthful mother. A 11-year-old who assumes the assignment of working the ?elds stops to be a kid however a laboring farmhand. A 16-year-old who invests the vast majority of his energy at a compensation processing plant stops to be a youthful immature however a provider. A 9-year-old young lady made to hawk her body on the roads turns into a ware. A 8-year-old kid on the road taking someone’s cash for food is a lawbreaker. Young men and young ladies standing around in the lanes sniffing rugby are viewed as residue of society. Only here and there are their circumstances found with regards to neediness and absence of parental direction and cultural obligation. As directed by social practice, a kid might be viewed as a grown-up when the person in question turns out to be a piece of social creation and propagation, or when the kid performs obligations, for example, getting by or having their own family. While kids are not recognized essentially by sequential age, physical and mental advancement distinguishes an age run that sets a general meaning of who are youngsters, that is, (additionally as de?ned by law) people underneath 18 years of age. Then again, unique socio-social settings describe youngsters and their childhoods. Youngsters have gotten progressively defenseless as they yield to their families’ frailties, society’s insufficiencies and social avoidance as the underestimation of the poor increases. Regardless of the conditions they end up in, kids, youth, and youngsters are as yet creating people who have specific needs and rights. They have the two vulnerabilities and abilities. They are not just â€Å"adults-to-be† who should be shaped or â€Å"just children† who are to be underestimated. Kids are social on-screen characters and can be dynamic members in social change. The Philippines is gaining huge ground in the execution of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In any case, destitution combined with political brutality present genuine difficulties to youngsters. The complete number of poor Filipino families is evaluated at 4. 7 million. The quickly developing populace and the disappointment of family unit salaries to ascend as quick as item costs have brought about progressively poor Filipino families. Poor alludes to those whose salaries fall beneath the edge controlled by the legislature, or the individuals who can't bear to give in a continued way to their base fundamental requirements for food, wellbeing, training, lodging and other social courtesies throughout everyday life. In the Philippines, youngsters who are casualties of viciousness are classified as kids requiring uncommon insurance (CNSP). CNSP incorporates kid work; kids casualties of sexual maltreatment and business sexual abuse; relinquished and dismissed or kids without essential guardians; offspring of indigenous social gatherings; youngster survivors of debacles; kids in circumstances of equipped clash; road kids; and, kids in strife with the law. Viciousness against Filipino kids are submitted through physical and mental maltreatment/hardship that show in the most exceedingly terrible types of youngster work, kid prostitution, asking in the avenues, deserting, dealing and/or enrollment as troopers or messengers in zones of equipped clash. Most examples or types of brutality against Filipino youngsters are ascribed to neediness. The expanding detailed instances of brutality against youngsters are the social appearances of a long history of destitution, portrayed by a constant or patterned state of hardship of fundamental administrations that incorporate essential instruction, wellbeing and nourishment administrations, vocation or work openings, solid lodging and apparel. Neediness has influenced a few ages of a great deal of Filipino families that has brought about insufficient parental capacities, stressed family relationship and tainted qualities. Kids are results of their surroundings. Their circumstance reflects the real factors of their families, network and society. While the Filipino family puts a lot of premium on the government assistance of its kids, families are progressively separating amidst the battle for endurance. Simultaneously, youngsters are unintentionally yielded. The sections on the following pages are investigations of the circumstance of Filipino youngsters and youngsters. Neediness and Luck of Education If you have instruction, you won’t go hungry and you live with solaces of a house. You are carrying on with a decent life. There is Michelle multi year olds. She lives in Payatas. Just getting by can be a struggle in a trash town. At such youthful age kids gather and sell trash. In spite of the peril they are compelled to work. Many have had mishaps and kicked the bucket. At the point when tropical storm Ketsana came, her home was crushed. Her mother lost her employment. With no house and no cash for food, Michelle and her kin couldn't go to class any longer. Twelve-year-old Marian is one of the a huge number of Filipino kids whose instruction has assumed a lower priority because of neediness. The fifth of eight youngsters, she fled her home when she was 10 since she said her jobless guardians hurt her. Marian should be in the 6th grade this year, yet she’s as of now selected as a Grade 1 understudy, learning essential language exercises and math aptitudes in an open primary school in Cainta, Rizal. A certain â€Å"Ate Rowena† took her in and persuaded her to return to class. Marian needs to confront difficulties in school. â€Å"Other kids bother me on the grounds that I’m still in Grade 1†¦but I don’t mind them since this is my opportunity to proceed and complete my studies†, she said. Notwithstanding the difficulties, Marian is fortunate contrast with a large number of other Filipino youngsters. Instruction is a right, anyway today; 121 million individuals can't go to class on account of neediness. The poor would decide to take care of the body as opposed to taking care of the psyche. They would decide to work in employments before working for a superior future in school. Destitution has denied them from their entitlement to instruction. Billions of kids are encountering the bad dream of destitution. What does the future hold for them, and for the entire world? Neediness, hungers keep Filipino children from getting essential instruction. Regardless of the yearly increment in the financial plan for essential training, less kids are joining up with schools. Destitution is one of the fundamental driver of the country’s poor training record and has influenced support in instruction in a greater number of ways than one. Absence of individual intrigue came in second at 22 percent, while the significant expense of instruction arrived in a nearby third at 19. 9 percent. Different reasons incorporate, among others, housekeeping, sickness or handicap, inability to adapt to class work, and good ways from school. The absence of enthusiasm among younger students shows a shortcoming with respect to the educational system to make training intriguing for the understudies. This might be because of poor showing quality, insufficient offices and supplies and poor foundation. Destitution, social rejection, school separation and unexpected weakness care, are factors that weigh vigorously on youngsters and hose their enthusiasm to seek after tutoring. The test, along these lines, is the manner by which to make the school intriguing and empowering instead of threatening; how to make it comprehensive, non-unfair and poor-touchy as opposed to selective and world class situated; and how to make it pleasing as opposed to confining. At last, the training substance, procedure and experience ought to be made increasingly significant to the children’s educational encounters by guaranteeing suitable, culture-touchy and values-based mediations. The Education office said craving and hunger are likewise hindrances to investment in training. DepEd began executing the Food for School Program under the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Plan. It was finished with the Health, Social Welfare offices, the National Food Authority and nearby government units. As an inspiration to go to class, it sends an inappropriate message to poor youngsters: go to class to get one kilo of rice rather than the estimation of learning; it is likewise an additional weight for kids as poor guardians urge their kids to go to classes to have the option to profit of the every day ration†. Road Children There is an expected 1. 5 million road youngsters in the Philippines. They endure every day by asking, selling or by consuming medications. Okay consideration to give them a future? The nation has a high number of road youngsters. Road youngsters are powerless to unhealthiness, vehicular mishaps, wounds ailments, medication or substance misuse, sexual abuse, betting and badgering by police or different blackmailers. They likewise will in general join groups as a type of insurance. A ton of youngsters are likewise engaged with medicate exchanging their networks by filling in as sprinters, posts, barkers or by doing repacking and tidying up of stuff. Medication pushers like to enlist youngsters, since they are submissive and not effortlessly recognized. Cebu City is a blasting focus of exchange and the travel industry in the Visayan locale of the Philippines. In Cebu City alone, it was evaluated that 1,300 kids were occupied with such exercises. Respondents in the said investigation entitled â€Å"Children’s Involvement in the Production, Sales and Trafficking of Drugs in Cebu City† revealed that their condition was helpful for their contribution in tranquilize exchanging especially since their barangay authorities were additionally engaged with said criminal operations. The requirement for cash was the significant explanation that drove them to work in medicate exchanging. The majority of the youngsters respondents were medicate clients themselves and around 33% of them had guardians additionally associated with sedate exchanging. A few youngsters got truly or loudly mishandled both by the medication head and law. Road youngster

Seeple Snapshot Denise Mitchell COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Seeple Snapshot Denise Mitchell COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Name: Denise Mitchell Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Year Graduated Undergrad: 2011 Undergraduate Major: English Before you came to SIPA, what were you doing? Before I came to SIPA, I worked at a few nonprofits. The first one in D.C., and that was actually an education non-profit that worked with independent schools. And then I did some traveling, I took some classes. I came back to Brooklyn and ended up working with a non-profit in East New York which was really involved with community development and arts education. I have been pretty non-profit focused. What are you studying at SIPA? I’m studying urban and social policy as my concentration, and my specialization is management. We joke that it’s the liberal arts degree of SIPA and I definitely feel like I get a very well-rounded education through that. What’s been your favorite part about SIPA so far? It’s hard to choose. I think definitely the diversity of the students. I’m continuously in awe of my classmates. Everyone is from a different country, everyone speaks five languages, everyone has traveled and lived in places that you’ve only really seen on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Everyone is just really well-rounded. I’m continuously impressed by my peers. Do you have a favorite class that you’ve taken? I really liked Critical Issues in Urban Public Policy with [former New York City] Mayor David Dinkins. As a native New Yorker, it was a really amazing experience to see this man who, when I was growing up, was mayor and now he’s my professor and I see him every Tuesday. And he brings in a number of really dynamic speakers. It’s just great because it’s a lecture series in every class. Where do you see yourself after SIPA? I see myself everywhere after SIPA. I’d like to open my own non-profit, preferably before graduating in New York City. I’d like to spend a few years working abroad doing international development work. I’d like to come back to New York City and get involved in public policy. And that’s the great thing about SIPA. You feel like you can literally do anything after leaving here.

The Freedom Writers - 1584 Words

Introduction Freedom Writers is a drama based on the book â€Å"The freedom writers’ diary† by Erin Gruwell and her students at the Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in California. The book is an agglomeration of the writings of these students, inspired by their teacher, to write about the experiences they had to undergo due to the racial tensions and violence existing in the society. The movie is an enrapturing representation of the way in which a teacher revolutionizes the process of classroom teaching to bring about integration among students divided in terms of colour and race. The movie also emphasizes the importance of social capital and associational or inter-communal form of civic engagement for harmony and development. The plot†¦show more content†¦In a classroom full of people from different race and backgrounds, where hatred reigned and a sense of insecurity dominated, prevailed now a sense of trust. This metamorphosis brought about by Erin was best summarised through the touching words of one of her students, â€Å"All my fears disappear when I enter this classroom. I am Home†. An important scene in the movie was the trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Center – Museum of Tolerance. There the students learned about the Holocaust. They were each given a picture of a child who was a victim of this dreadful event. The stories of these unfortunate children and the videos of the sufferings people had to undergo aroused their sentiments. The students also got a chance to interact with some survivors of the Holocaust. They realised that all the discrimination, the hatred, the pain is not worth it. The trip left a lasting impression on the minds of the students and helped them reform themselves. Key ideas and theories One of the key ideas presented early on in the movie was regarding the important role of government in building the social infrastructure and bring about equity in society. The integration program in the school, which brought students from varied races under one roof, was indeed a commendable step towards this goal. It was evident inShow MoreRelatedFreedom Writers1640 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom writers Question 1. Why are the students so unwilling to associate with anyone outside their ethnic/racial groups? Where does this intolerance come from? The students are so unwilling to associate with each other because they’re not used to getting along with the other group of people. Their used to having to run or shoot at the other ethnic/racial groups. This intolerance comes from growing up in hostile environments towards the other ethnic/racial groups. 2. What would youRead MoreFreedom Writers Essay733 Words   |  3 PagesFreedom Writers Essay In the movie, The Freedom Writers Mrs. Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) plays a role of a dedicated teacher who did all she could, to help her students learn to respect themselves and each other. She has little idea of what shes getting into when she volunteers to be an English teacher at a newly integrated high school in Long Beach, California. Her students were divided along racial lines and had few aspirations beyond basic survival. Mrs. Gruwell was faced with a big challengeRead MoreEssay On The Freedom Writers1977 Words   |  8 Pageschange harsh realities) are handled like problem children, they will grow to fill that role, because they will begin to believe what they are indoctrinated with at school. Both Cultural and Materialistic Determinism are central to both â€Å"The Freedom Writers† and â€Å"Precious Knowledge†. Material Determinism dates back to Early Marxist thinking, which structured society as a materialistic struggle between two class: The Proletariat (The Workers/The Poor) and The Bourgeoisie (The Capitalists/The Rich)Read MoreFreedom Writers Review1848 Words   |  8 PagesThe movie â€Å"The Freedom Writers† is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell’s English classes at Wilson High, an integrated school with students of all racial and cultural backgrounds. As a new teacher she is given the lowest achieving students. For safety and belonging most of these students belong to racial gangs and bring this social concept into the class by sitting in racial arrangements. Their morals and self concept are defined by these gangs, as shown by Eva’s statement of â€Å"we protect ourRead MoreFreedom Writers Critique1679 Words   |  7 PagesThe Freedom Writers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freedom Writers was released in 2007 on January 7. It was based on the book the Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell, who wrote the story based on a school name Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Eastside Long Beach, California. This film tells a story about Erin Gruwell, who is a young teacher who just started her job as a freshman and sophomore English teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School. She is soon challenged by a group of Black, Latino and Asian gang membersRead MoreFilm Analysis on Freedom Writers2290 Words   |  10 PagesFilm Analysis Essay on Freedom Writers Main Credits Title: Freedom Writers Director: Richard LaGravenese Scriptwriter: Richard LaGravenese Adapted from: The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell Actors/Main characters: Hilary Swank-Erin Gruwell, Patrick Dempsey-Scott Casey, Scott Glenn-Steve Gruwell, Imelda Staunton-Margaret Campbell, April L. Hernandez-Eva Benitez, Jaclyn Ngan-Sindy, Jason Finn-Marcus, John Benjamin Hickey- Brian Gelsord, Plot Summary The movie â€Å"Freedom Writers† is based on a trueRead MoreFreedom Writers Analysis Essay1069 Words   |  5 PagesFreedom Writers Director: Richard LaGravenese Brief outline of story: The storyline of the movie takes place between 1992-1995. Beginning with scenes from the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Hilary Swank plays the role of Erin Gruwell, a new, excited schoolteacher who leaves the safety of her hometown, Newport Beach, to teach at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, a formerly high achieving school which has recently had an integration program put in place. Her enthusiasm is quickly challengedRead MoreMovies Such As The â€Å"Freedom Writers (Lagravenese, 2007)†1661 Words   |  7 PagesMovies such as the â€Å"Freedom Writers (LaGravenese, 2007)† and â€Å"Precious Knowledge (Palos, 2011)† both support the central theme of discrimination and race within a school system. The students in both movies come from backgrounds experiencing poverty, gangs, and violence experiencing discrimination and the lack of support for their education, but overcome the stereotypes and battles to gain access to receiving their education at their fullest p otential. Each movie involves students that were guidedRead MoreFreedom Writers : Film Review1085 Words   |  5 PagesFreedom Writers Film Review But even an ordinary secretary Or a housewife or a teenager Can, within their own small ways, Turn on a small light in a dark room. - Miep Gies Just like how Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) turned the lights on, in the dark room of 203. Freedom Writers is a film inspired by students of Woodrow Wilson High School as they experience the aftermath of LA riots. Los Angeles resembles a war zone back in the 1992. During this time in America, it all comes down to what a person lookRead MoreFreedom Writers Movie Analysis1054 Words   |  5 Pages The movie and the book called Freedom Writers talk mostly about the same story. They have similarities, but also have differences. The story talks about the cruel misfortunes in students lives everyday. It mentions how students are drug addicts, living in fear everyday, gangsters, get abused, and another things people go through. This story takes place in Los Angeles, Ca where Erin Gruwell is going to teach at Wilson High School. She is a new teacher at this school and ready to change these students

Human Activity and Energy Sources - 968 Words

Earth’s resources, for instance water, productive farming land and energy, outlines the basic foundations of our continued existence on earth. However, with the continued human activities, for example logging and charcoal burning, these resources are quickly being depleted. Human inhabitation and increased consumption of the natural resources is resulting in untold destruction. The climate change being experienced globally, the rapidly depleting freshwater catchments, the dwindling forest cover, the ever reducing fish ‘stash’ in our seas and oceans and farmland dereliction are some of the effects resulting from human occupation and activities. Poaching, another human activity, is resulting in the extinction of certain animal species thus†¦show more content†¦Sustainability is a model that has been developed to ensure that human life is not threatened by continuing depletion of the natural resources. This model has also been adopted in order to ensure that the ecosystem is protected. Sustainability is being promoted in order to ensure that human beings and the environment coexist within certain set restrictions so as to ensure that the ecosystem continues to support life. In addition, this model ensures that humans understand the relationship which manages the balance between their activities on the ecosystem. Through sustainability, human beings will be able to utilize the available natural resources sparingly with the view that future generations are depending on it too (Maria and Luciana 3). Some of the renewable sources of energy are solar, hydropower, biomass and wind. The use of these energy sources ensures that the ecosystem remain self serving and thus able to sustain human life (Diane and Shubhayu 12). The uptake and use of solar energy is yet to be fully utilized because in America, the percentage of people using this energy is minimal. In the United States, solar energy represents almost a half of one percent of the total electricity use, a number that is insignificant (Diane and Shubhayu 12). The human population is yet to realize that solar energy can be used extensively in both heating and lighting. Moreover,Show MoreRelatedGlobal Environment Essay1298 Words   |  6 PagesThe U.S and the European Union are heavily dependent on expensive imported energy resources that place a big burden on the economy and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development. In order to increase the use of clean energy, we recommend a Cap and Trade policy: A government-mandated, market-based approach to controlling pollutionRead MoreThe Health Fitness Human Performance Essay1498 Words   |  6 PagesHealth Fitness Human Performance One of the most important parts of an athlete’s training regime is nutrition because of its role in human performance. Athletes need to focus on nutrition because the failure to ingest adequate calories can contribute to a lack of vital macro and micro nutrients. Moreover, nutrition is a crucial element in any athlete’s training regime given the influences of food on a person’s physical mankind. Throughout history, certain foods have been regarded as essentialRead MoreCauses And Effects Of Pollution1578 Words   |  7 Pageshow it’s destroying earth and how it helps the greenhouse effect on Earth’s atmosphere. There are many different sources of pollution, even some that may not seem likely to produce so much. There are many causes of pollution in the environment. Some include natural sources of pollution and some are caused by manmade sources of pollution. Whether they are natural sources or manmade sources, they all contribute to the destruction of our atmosphere and rising CO2 levels which cause the â€Å"greenhouse effect†Read MoreAlternative Sources Of Alternative Energy Sources1123 Words   |  5 PagesRough Draft: Alternative Energy Sources Imagine a world where sea levels have risen, a world where extreme weather happens more often and with more intensity, and a world that has very few species of animals left due to mass extinctions. (Environmental Protection Agency) But that future is still avoidable. The answer is renewable energy sources. Alternative energy sources are sources of energy that does not use fossil fuels, and generally are clean and renewable. (Jessa) Some examples include solarRead MoreThe Causes Of Global Warming Essay1705 Words   |  7 Pagesand consequences of the global warming with the aim of presenting solutions to the problem. Moreover, learning of the causes provides the human race and environmentalists will spread the awareness to more people helping them to reduce their activities that contribute to global warming. With the inquiry, there is the concern that human beings and their activities are indeed the leading contributors to the causes of the global warming. The consequences of global warming have been hugely manifested inRead MoreGlobal Warming : The Persistent Rise Of Air And Sea Temperatures1212 Words   |  5 Pagestemperatures in the last few decades raising major concerns globally. If the current trends persist, it may be difficult for the earth to sustain life in the next 200 years. Global warming emanates from both human and natural causes. The current state of global warming is mostly related to human causes, as natural causes are rare. Natural causes include volcanic eruptions, changes in solar output, and variation of the earth’s position altering its distance from the sun (Singer Avery, 2007). VolcanicRead MoreClimate Change Is An Important Issue That Concerns Humanity999 Words   |  4 Pagesimportant issue that concerns humanity. Climate change refers to an increase in average global temperatures. Every day, the enhanced greenhouse effect continues to advance, which significantly influences Earth’s long-term climate. In addition, hu man activity is also contributing to the increase of global warming and is already leading to harmful consequences. Some people believe that global warming is not occurring and the heating of the globe, is just a part of the Earth’s natural cycle. SeveralRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects1312 Words   |  6 Pagessuch countries is on low altitude areas. This position makes developing countries to be direct victims of floods from the melting snow at high altitude areas. A lot of scientific research associates global warming with the numerous irresponsible human activities such as industrialization in the developed countries. These industries emit a high content of greenhouse gases like carbon into the atmosphere on a daily basis. The resultant effects are very alarming and therefore, need to be put under controlRead MoreMarine Ecosystem1607 Words   |  7 Pageson global warming, the fact remains that humans have an impact on the marine ecosystems through waste from che micals and debris polluting this vast renewable resource. Based upon current scientific evidence, emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are projected to cause significant global climate change during the 21st century. Such climate change will create novel challenges for coastal and marine ecosystems that are already stressed from human development, land-use change, environmentalRead MoreClimate Change And Global Warming1371 Words   |  6 Pagescomprehend how human activities contribute towards climate change and global warming, we have to truly understand the science behind this phenomenon. First of all we need to clarify what anthropogenic climate change means. This refers to the change in the amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere as a result of unsustainable human activity. Greenhouse gases and aerosols change incoming and out-going solar radiation, thereby affecting the earth’s climate. The major human activity that contributes

Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Carrefour Egypt Free Essays

The British University in Egypt Faculty of Business Administration, Economics and Political Science Exploring OCB and its variables, its evaluation and implementation: The case of Carrefour Egypt A Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the award of B. A. in Business Administration, Human Resources Management Specialization 2008/09 By Seif Mamdouh Ezzeldin ID: 100558 Honours Level – Class of 05/06 Under the Supervision of Dr. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Carrefour Egypt or any similar topic only for you Order Now Hadia FakhrElDin 1 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour has not been dedicated enough research. The topic is quite new to the HR professionals and challenging. It is also challenging to conduct research on the topic as it has been suggested that OCB is inconsistent and has been stated as an ill-defined science. This paper analysis previous literature done on OCB in parallel with conducting field research in a large multinational in Egypt – in attempt to measure their employees’ OCB and bring the suggested evaluation method into practice. It has been concluded that OCB is not consistent among all employees. However, guidelines to effective evaluate it across different employees have been suggested. Adding to this, the questionnaires in this paper provides a jumpstart for future researchers who wish to evaluate the level of OCB in an organisation. 2 Contents 1. Introduction 1. 1 Research questions 1. 2 Research aims 1. 3 Research Methodology 2- Literature review 2. 1 Definition and history of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour 2. 2 Variables of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour 2. 3 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour can be controllable 2. 4 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour examination is challenging 2. 4. 1 Clarifying in and out role conduct 2. 5 Types of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour 2. Literature Summary 3. Aims and methodology 3. 1 Aims 3. 2 Methodology 3. 2. 1 Questionnaire (1) 3. 2. 2 Questionnaire (2) 3. 3 The research place 3. 4 Advantages and limitation of the methodology adapted 4. Data analysis 4. 1 Questionnaire (1) 4. 1. 1 Highest ranking agreed-with statements (above 66. 6 %) 4. 2 Questionnaire (2) 4. 2. 1 Most agreed upon as in-role (above 66. 6 %) 5. Conclusion 5. 1 Key aims and findings 5. 2 Limitation of the study 5. 3 Directions for future research References Appendix 4 8 9 10 12 12 14 17 19 20 21 25 27 27 30 31 33 34 35 37 37 40 42 46 48 48 51 52 53 55 1. Introduction International trade, European Union, labour mobility, ease of cross border transportation, competition, globalisation, desire to a better living standard and striving for achievement are all factors to employees shifting jobs. Unlike salaries, working conditions, job descriptions and appraisals, these factors cannot be controlled by an organisation. This has all increased interest in Human Resources Management (HRM), careers and Organisational Behaviours (OB) as sciences. An organisation can retain an employee who is not satisfied with his pay by increasing the salary. However, it cannot retain an employee who does not feel committed to the organisation or does not actually feel the organisation is holding on to him/her or treating him as a valued asset; as human resources of organisations were recently categorised as assets since they contribute, develop, control, manage and add value all other different assets (Bisson Branscombe, 2008) The external factors listed are usually considered threats to an organisation as it is always in fear of losing its human resources. Imagine an organisation purchasing very expensive high-tech machines that generated a lot of profit giving it up to a competitor. The consequences are more or less the same if those high-tech machines were top performing employees who may need stronger motivation than money or benefits. The motivation then comes from a newer HR term called Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). One of the characteristics of being a citizen is being committed (to the norms, cultures, behaviours, attitudes and rules). Commitment to an organisation is referred to as Organisational Commitment (OC). 4 OC has been defined as an attitude involving employee loyalty to the organisation with those employees who are committed being willing to contribute something of themselves to their organisations (Smith and Hoy, 1992). OC is one of the very first attitudes that lead to OCB. It is complemented by organisational trust, the degree of employee satisfaction, involvement in decision-making, sense of importance, career guidance and a sort of monetary motivation. What makes the study challenging is that OCB, an inexact science, is defined as discretionary, ‘extra-role’ behaviour, not formally rewarded or punished by the organization, which, in the aggregate, benefits the organization by improving efficiency and/or effectiveness (Organ, 1988). Although OCB is not an obligation or not part of an evaluation process, employees who enjoy it find it an obligatory factor of the job. Free trade, common markets, economic and political unions – which all fall under the umbrella of globalisation is a main reason why organisations, locally and internationally are now seeking; new areas for sustainable competitive advantages and in the eyes of most, Human Resources are one of the most important factors that cannot easily be imitated by others, which defines a sustainable competitive advantage. As being referred to, OCB is a matter of personal choice that goes beyond the call of duty. It can be reflected in situations such as an employee having to decide on whether to attend an informal company event or spending the evening at home. 5 Below are some of the many types of OCB as identified by Bachrach et al. (2000: 516526) 1. Helping Behaviour or Altruism: Selfless concern to the help of others. For example, an employee may inform his/her absent colleague from a training about what has been missed 2. Sportsmanship: Knowing that there is no loss to a party when it comes to a win for the organisation 3. Organisational Loyalty: Promoting the organisation to outsiders as well as supporting and defending it against threats or attacks 4. Organisational Compliance: The behaviour of complying by the organisation? s rules and norms, considering that not every employee initially complies even though it is a must. 5. Individual Initiative: This entails engaging in task-related behaviours at a level beyond minimally required or generally expected levels that it takes on a voluntary flavour 6. Civic Virtue: This is showing willingness to actively participate in the organisation? governance It can now be said that OCB refers to the ability, willingness and motivation to react and perform in a behaviour that is not required and not aiming to be rewarded for it. One other reason why OCB is being an important issue at the moment is the existence of some countries such as Japan, where a person spends his or her entire life working for one organisation and affiliates his or her name with the organis ation. On the other extreme, there are countries such as Egypt where employees regard the organisation they work for part of their career. 6 Some research results indicate that desirable behaviour is determined and managed by the organization. With reference to the selected variables, this paper will justify whether they are in the controllable or uncontrollable environment of an organisation. 7 1. 1 Research questions The research is intended to answer the following questions through reviewing previous literature and conducting field analysis: What is an agreed upon definition for OCB? Why is OCB not disseminated among HR practitioners? Are there specific grounds for what is defined as in-role and out-role? What are the variables that can be related to OCB and influence the behaviour? Since there are variables that can influence the behaviour, can OCB be aimed for by an organisation or is it uncontrollable? How can the level of OCB be evaluated? 8 1. 2 Research aims The research aims to assess the willingness and level of OCB within a large multinational as Carrefour as well as showing the importance of OCB and briefly reviewing the emergence of HR in Egypt. This adds to the existing literature the justification of why OCB is not a well-known concept in organisations within the business sector of this economy. Moreover, clarification of the difference and the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and the variables outlined in addition to practically bringing the variables and type into field work is aimed for. This research also aims to integrate the different Human Resources (HR) activities that sum up and lead to OCB. ? OCB is an inexact science and the paper will try to identify factors which lead to this behaviour, that is desirable by all organisations, and how it can benefit them through examining the direct and indirect relation between OCB and the variables which include: ? ? ? ? Satisfaction Empowerment Involvement Trust Confidence Reaching a clear-cut agreement on what is regarded as in-role and out-role through employees, and checking the findings with other similar sources for consistency is also aimed for. 9 1. 3 Research Methodology ? Literature including internet research Academic research portals, case studies Questionnaires: Two questionnaires are used as part of the field research for this paper. The questionnaires were given to a sample of twenty-five employees at Carrefour Obour City, Egypt ? ? ? Targeting random levels of employees throughout the organisation to test and evaluate their understanding of OCB ? The survey will include questions that test the three main variables and sub points listed above and will be designed to be as consistent as possible through getting the same result in different ways. ? The questions criterion of the questionnaire will be categorised into questions that measure 1. Trust; that include dimensions of integrity, competence and dependability Commitment; which will reflect the variable of culture Satisfaction Loyalty The six types of OCB studied in the literature . 3. 4. 5. 10 The surveys shall then attempt to evaluate to what extent is there OCB in Carrefour Egypt based on the variables. The results will be compared to: 1. The management expectations The relationships of the variables and literature on the topic The existence of OCB in the organisation, considering the fact that the management are not fully aware of OCB as a science and are c onsequently not directly enforcing it or progressing towards it 2. 3. 11 2- Literature review 2. Definition and history of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour OCB literature originited in the work of Katz and Kahn who argued that an important behaviour required of employees for the effective functioning of an organisation is the undertaking of innovative and spontanuous activities beyond the prescribed role requirement. (Vigoda 2000). Organisational Cititeznship Behaviour is the individual behavior that is descritionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and that in the aggreagate promotes the effective functioning if the organisation (Organ as cited in Denis W Organ 1997). Organ in the same literature further clarifies that by descretionary, it is meant that the behavior is not an enforceable of the role or job description. It is is rather a matter of personal choice such that its ommision is not generally understood as punishable (1997: 86). Organizational citizenship behaviour has been the focus of attention from organizational behaviour researchers (Bachrach et al. , 2000; Organ Ryan, 1995; Organ, 1997; George Battenhausen, 1990 as cited in Chen; Huang; Liu) since Organ in 1988 proposed that organizational citizenship behaviour could influence individual and organization erformance. There has, however, been very little interest in studying the topic. According to the research of Bachrach et al. (2000), very few interest and research was conducted on the topic before 1988. Bachrach et al. explain in their literature that an employee who religiously obeys all rules and regulations, even when no one is watching, is regarded as a â€Å"good citizenà ¢â‚¬  (2000: 524) 12 OCB construct has also been defined as â€Å"†¦ a general tendency to be co-operative and helpful in organisational settings †¦ (LePine, Erez, Johnson, 2002 as cited in Ladebo). Eran Vigoda supports the argument that OCB is regarded as the extra-role activities employees pursue by saying that extra-role behaviours describe activities beyond formal job requirement that one chooses to do without expecting any direct reward (2000: 191). The author also defined in-role as the tasks employees pursue as an integral part of a job. Views of a sample of employees in this regard will be shown further in this paper. Previous studies on employment relations indicated that employees viewed the practice of such behaviours (OCB) as personal obligations to co-operate with co-workers in solving task-related problems and to assist the organisation to achieve its performance objectives (Kessler, Purcell Shapiro, 2004; Buyens , De Vos Schalk, 2001; Janssens, Sels, Van den Brande, 2003 as cited in Ladebo). Hence, this raises the question of whether OCB is still a beyond-role activity or not. If the suggestion is valid; this means that organisations without those behaviours shall fail. Robbins and Judge stated that evidence indicate that organisations only benefit from those employees who have a sense or citizenship to the organisation and those organisations outperform those that do not (2007: 30) and referred to such employees as a need for any successful organisation. 13 2. 2 Variables of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Katz (1964) states that three basic types of employee behaviours are critical for the overall effectiveness of any organization: ? tempted to remain within the system. carry out their role assignments in a dependable manner. ? innovative and spontaneous activity in achieving There must be organisational People must People must be objectives that go beyond the role specifications. Behaviours (2) and (3) are examples of OCB (Organ, 1988). Other examples of OCB are a willingness to give time helping others who have work-related problems, taking steps to prevent problems with other workers, and obeying organization rules, regulations and procedu res even when no one is watching. Podaskoff has argued that although research on OCB is on the increase, some unfortunate consequences has been brought up (Podaskoff et al. as cited in Chen, Huang Liu). Adler, 1989; Hofstede, 1980 as cited in Chen, Huang Liu further argued that different people from different cultures will not necessarily conform to the same set of norms and will have different beliefs of what can be viewed as OCB. It has been noted that the many occasions in which organizational functioning depends on supra-role behaviour cannot be prescribed or required in advance for a given job. Such 14 behaviours are referred to as the gestures that lubricate the social machinery of the organisation (Bateman as cited in Katz and Kahn 1966). Some examples as portrayed by the authors include helping co-workers with a job related problem or tolerating temporary impositions without complaint. These were referred to as citizenship behaviours (Bateman 1983). The author has also concluded that there is a fundamental connection between satisfaction and OCB. Organisational citizenship behaviour is influenced by job satisfaction. (Bateman 1983). OCB Researchers in at least 15 independent studies as well found a reliable statistical relationship between OCB and job satisfaction (Dennis W. Organ, 1995). Bateman (Bateman 1983). Job satisfaction, especially intrinsic satisfaction, was directly related to OCB. Extrinsic satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between Job characteristics and OCB (SuFen Chiu and Hsiao-Lan-Chen, 2005). As some appraisal methods such as achieving sales quote or calls are related to pay and extrinsic rewards, others including citizenship behaviour and the out-role behaviour are mainly motivated and encouraged through intrinsic rewards and one? s emotions regarding the self. Job characteristics are the attributes of jobs that can have motivational functions for employees. The job characteristics investigated by this study primarily include Hackman and Oldham’s (1975) five core job characteristics (or dimensions) as well as the job interdependence concept. The five core job characteristics are as follows: job variety (the extent to which an employee can use different skills in doing his/her work), job identity (the extent to which an employee can complete the whole or identifiable piece of work), job significance (the extent of the significant impact of the job on others), autonomy (the 15 extent of freedom, independence, and discretion of an employee to plan his/her work pace and method), and feedback (the extent to which an employee knows his/her own job performance from the job itself, colleagues, supervisors or customers (Hackman Oldham, 1980). Job interdependence refers to the extent to which an employee in a team relies on others to complete his/her own tasks (Shea Guzzo, 1987) (as cited in Su-Fen Chiu Hsiao-Lan-Chen, 2005) The social exchange theory also suggests that when an employee feels satisfied with his or her job, he or she will reciprocate with positive behaviour (OCB) to benefit the organisation (Organ Ryan, 1995). Organizations have become more reliant on interdependent social and departmental networks, which have changed the nature of core work activities within the individual work units (Ostroff Smith, 1992). This suggests that it is not only enough for some employees to enjoy such behaviours; OCB must be transmitted across all employees as none work independently. 16 2. 3 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour can be controllable Previous literature suggested that the desirable behaviours, OCB, can be manageable by an organisation (Gene et al, 2000). A good social climate with involvement, fair and competent management, good communication, satisfaction with the organization, and an emphasis on good planning are suggested by the authors to implant this behaviour. Therefore, organisations are also part of the equation; not only the employees. Employees search for companies that are willing to be more committed to them, says Jan Stringer organizations who are more sensitive to their needs and who won’t lay them off during economic slumps (2009). Committed employees tend to have personal values that are similar to those of the company. They are proud to be a part of their company, care about the fate of the company, and recommend the company as a great place to work. Stringer, in her article, suggests some factors in the workplace that influence commitment such as: ? ? ? ? ? Identifying the factors that satisfy employees Identifying factors that are source of dissatisfaction Ensuring that the recognition programmes are meaningful to employees Establishing clear career paths Establishing mentors to advise employees about career management inside the organization ? Identifying benefits that can be used to reward good performance. Ensuring the clarity of the organisation? values as well as ensuring its communication and practice across different organisational levels – clear values 17 help establish teamwork, cooperation and standards of behaviour within an organisation ? Examining the consistency and alignment of actions, policies, and procedures with values It has been argued that a leader? s fair or supportive behaviour may create a need in subordinates to reciprocate. One way to pay-back a leader for the support and fair behaviours is by performing better or engaging in citizenship behaviours (Vigoda 2000). Vigoda? s argument could be linked with the existence of the psychological contract that is concerned with an individual? s subjective beliefs, shaped by the organisation, regarding the terms of an exchange relationship between the individual employee and the organisation (Rousseau as cited in Beardwell Claydon, 2007). It is of importance, however, to mention that some literature proposed an argument that OCB can be a threat to the internal health of an organisation. The literature suggests that OCB has more than two probabilities; present and absent – a third probability is that it can be of negative effect. Vigoda in his paper explains that supervisors and managers have direct influence over subordinates? behaviours by increasing fairness and equality in interactions with them. Hence, in organisations where there is political gamesmanships and power struggles, there will be low concern with values such as equity and fairness and this is where the in-role duties and OCB will be, for the first time, negatively related and result in dissonances (2000: 192). Empirical evidence indicates that employees, who perform less OCB, are likely to exhibit withdrawal behaviours, consider leaving the organisation (Ladebo, 2005 as cited in Ladebo). 18 2. 4 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour examination is challenging Valid evidence to why OCB is not a major concern to Human Resources departments in organisations as other HR focuses is the fact that the rewards that accrue to OCB are at best indirect and uncertain, as compared to more formal contributions such as high productivity or technical excellence or innovative solutions. Those contributions would have a greater likelihood of being expressly linked to the formal reward system. (Organ as cited in Denis W Organ 1997) Organizational citizenship is not a part of the formal evaluation and reward system therefore failure to engage in these behaviours cannot be formally penalized (Van Dyne, Cummings, Parks as cited in Gene et al. , 2000) 19 2. 4. 1 Clarifying in and out role conduct There is a problem, however, that OCB aspects such as accepting tolerance and helping others would be considered part of the job (Organ as cited in Morrison 1994). Morrison concludes her study saying that OCB is ill-defined and varies from one employee to the next and between employees and supervisors. The greater an employee’s perceived job breadth, the more activities he or she defines as in-role (1993:2). This supports the argument that OCB is an inexact science and is viewed differently by different people. The previous argument by Morrison suggests that a manager could define improving the morale of his team members as in-role yet a lower level employee would regard it as out-role. Hypothesis 1 in the article supports this. It has as well been suggested that one of the main problems with defining OCB is the fact that the concept of in and out role is inexact and unclear (Organ 1997) and this justifies the reason for experimenting what employees actually regard as in and out in this concern – theory on its own is a limitation in this regard. Vigoda? s literature as well supports that in and out-role is ill defined and varies from one employee to the other in her literature (2000: 191). 20 2. 5 Types of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour In an attempt to classify and breakdown OCB into different types, the author of this paper refers to Bachrach et al? literature (2000: 516). The authors organised different types of citizenship behaviours into seven main themes: (1) The helping behaviour involves voluntarily helping others with, or preventing the occurrence of, work-related problems and helping others by taking steps to prevent the creation of problems for co-workers (2000: 516, 517). Smith, Orga n Near previously discussed this behaviour in the name of altruism (Becker Vance, 1993). (2) Organ (1990b: 96 as cited in Bachrach et al. , 2000) has defined sportsmanship as â€Å"a willingness to tolerate the inevitable inconveniences and impositions of work without complaining. However, his definition seems somewhat narrower than the label of this construct would imply. The authors added to Organ? s definition that â€Å"good sports† are people who not only do not complain when they are inconvenienced by others, but also maintain a positive attitude even when things do not go their way are not offended when others do not follow their suggestions, are willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the good of the work group, and do not take the rejection of their ideas personally (2000: 517). (3) Organizational oyalty entails promoting the organization to outsiders, protecting and defending it against external threats, and remaining committed to it even under adverse c onditions as well as 21 spreading goodwill and protecting the organization and acts of supporting and defending organizational objectives (2000: 517). (4) Organisational compliance regards the behaviour of complying to an organisation? s policy as a form of citizenship behaviour is that even though everyone is expected to obey company regulations, rules, and procedures at all times, many employees simply do not (2000: 517). The author of this article theoretically views this form of OCB inconsistent. However, because the authors argue that some employees do not originally comply by the policies and norms, the argument is considered valid. Smith, Organ Near previously referred to organisational compliance by the term generalised compliance (Becker Vance, 1993). (5) Individual initiative involves engaging in task-related behaviours at a level beyond minimally required or generally expected levels that it takes on a voluntary flavour. Such behaviours include voluntary acts of creativity and innovation designed to improve one’s task or the organization’s performance, persisting with extra enthusiasm and effort to accomplish one’s job, volunteering to take on extra responsibilities, and encouraging others in the organization to do the same (2000: 524). (6) Civic virtue is projected by showing willingness to actively participate in the organisation? governance such as attending meetings and expressing opinion about what strategy the organisation ought to follow to monitor its environment for threats and opportunities such as keeping 22 up with changes in the industry that might affect the organisation, and to look out for its best interest even at great personal cost. These behaviours, add the authors, reflect an employee? s recognition of being part of a larger whole in the same way that citizens are members of a country and accept the responsibilities which this entails. The authors further outlines that this dimension has not received any empirical confirmation in the citizenship behaviour literature. However, it does appear to be a discretionary form of employee behaviour that is conceptually distinct from the other citizenship behaviour dimensions, and might be expected to improve organizational effectiveness through somewhat different mechanisms than the other forms of citizenship behaviour. All these behaviours are consistent with Organ? s definitions of employees going beyond the formal requirements. The literature portraying the seven types of OCB is regarded as very reliable and trusted as it is supported by arguments of several well known writers who provided literature on the same topic including George Brief (1992), George Jones (1997), Borman Motowidlo (1993, 1997). Williams and Anderson (1991), Van Scotter Motowidlo (1986) and (Organ, 1988) as cited in Bachrach et al. , 2000. As part of the field work for this research, results of a survey will be projected at a further stage showing what different employees regard as in-role and out-role. The actions that employees were asked to comment on were also formed in grouping of the first six types mentioned above, as the self-development? s limitation is that it cannot be measured. The questions constructed were mostly inspired from Morrison? s literature (1994: 1553). 23 However, the addition of the OCB types as measures is an added contribution in this paper. 24 2. 6 Literature Summary The thought about OCB originated with the argument of Katz and Kahn who argued that only the undertaking of innovative and spontaneous activities beyond the regular shall effectively function an organisation. Several authors pioneered by Denis W. Organ defined OCB as a behaviour that is of personal choice; it is discretionary, not intended for reward or recognition and considered beyond-role behaviour. As the term beyond-role was brought into existence, researches, academics and practitioners were not successful in finding agreed upon behaviour that is regarded in-role or out-role by everyone. Moreover, it has been stated that OCB is difficult to research and reach as it is not part of the formal evaluation and reward system. Authors agreed that different employees categorise the same behaviours differently: a manager could define assisting an intern in another department as in-role, while an employee in the same department as the manager would find it out-role. OCB has many related variables that were identified by several authors. Among them are job satisfaction, empowerment, commitment from both the employee and the organisation, involvement, feedback and others. Literature mainly stressed on the job characteristics and satisfaction. Some researches also argued that the OCB, the desired behaviour, can be achieved by an organisation? management through empowering and embedding their employees with toolkits that include research about determinants of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, loyalty, career advisement and behavioural modification. 25 Bachrach and other authors (2000) were able to define seven major types of OCB in their literature titled Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: A Critical Review of t he Theoretical and Empirical and Suggestions for Future Research that can provide great help to practitioners and researches attempting future research to classify, categorise and evaluate OCB within an organisation. 6 3. Aims and methodology 3. 1 Aims The research aims to assess the willingness and level or OCB within a large multinational as Carrefour. It has been observed that majority of the previous literature has either not recently tackled OCB practically and from a practitioner? s viewpoint or has not projected results in a manner simple and comprehended by some other researchers. Adding to this, the concept of OCB is not yet comprehended in the Egyptian business society. Human Resources itself is still considered a new concept. Since the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, employees were granted excess rights that employers themselves were complaining. The rights outweighed the duties and responsibilities. By 1980, the employment law in Egypt was passed and tried to maintain a fair balance between employer and employee rights and was regarded as successful. The law was majorly concerned with three stakeholders other than the employer and the employee; those were the employment office, health office and the social insurance office. Personnel and personnel affairs department (now named Human Resources) have started to exist in large hotels and banks in Egypt by mid 1980s. The concept started developing until what is now called Human Resources – ever since organisations begun realising that employees are one of the most valuable assets. The core duties of the Human Resources department, formerly known as personnel affairs, now include other sub departments such as compensation and benefits, equal opportunities, training and development as well as other functions. Despite the fact that the evolution of HR concepts in Egypt started tens of years earlier, the concept of OCB is not yet used between HR executives and personnel as other terminology is. 27 For this reason and for other reasons such as globalisation and free trade, foreign investment is on increase in the Egyptian economy and the requirement of valuable and durable staff is on the increase. Hence, awareness and application of this term is of extreme importance and this paper could initiate the action. The research also aims to answer the following: ? What is an agreed upon definition for OCB? o This question will be answered through reviewing previous literature and compiling the most important definitions of OCB. ? Why is OCB not disseminated among HR practitioners? o Literature review will be the main guide to answering this question. ? Are there specific grounds for what is defined as in-role and out-role? o The source depended upon for this aim is questionnaire (2) which will show what the sample studied regard is in and out role. ? What are the variables that can be related to OCB and influence the behaviour? Literature review will be the main guide to answering this question. ? Since there are variables that can influence the behaviour, can OCB be aimed for by an organisation or is it uncontrollable? o Literature review as well as questionnaires (1) and (2) will help answer this question as statements and questions in the surveys can guide HR professionals to find out where the loopholes are, and which areas employees need motivation or awareness at. 28 ? How can the level of OCB be evaluated? o The questionnaires given are one source of evaluating OCB. 9 3. 2 Methodology Reviewing the literature of renowned authors and writers about OCB and what has been previously said and published. Due to the fact that OCB is not widely discussed among HR academics and practitioners, extensive research was required to understand the origins, theories, implications and types of OCB. Furthermore, literature review provided solid grounds and a platform upon which the arguments are built. In addition to this, the review assisted the further field work carried on for this paper which will be discussed. The literature review also assisted the author to specify the scope of the paper as well as building knowledge base for future research. Two questionnaires were also used as part of the field research for this paper. Two different questionnaires were given to a sample of twenty-five employees at Carrefour Obour City, Egypt. The respondents were from random departments. However, it has been ensured that only employees and supervisors complete the survey – not workers, in order to ensure consistency and fairness of the results. An employee would find him/herself more committed to and rewarded by the organisation more than a security personnel – this is the present view of the business environment in this culture. 30 3. 2. 1 Questionnaire (1) This is a twenty-five question questionnaire that has been compiled and structured assessing the environment at Carrefour as a large multinational where employees are highly focused on their jobs and do not frequently interact with the top management. The questions were assessing dimensions of trust, integrity, confidence, empowerment, satisfaction, commitment and involvement. The choices for respondents were (1) Agree, (2) Neutral, (3) Disagree. The dimension of trust tackles issues of trust between the employee and his/her organisation, the treatment and his/her colleagues. The dimension of integrity is focused on whether the respondent feels that integrity is demonstrated within the actions and promises of the organisation or not. The confidence is primarily focused on whether the employee is confident about the organisation and management? s capabilities or not. Empowerment assesses whether or not the employee feels empowered enough to step outside his/her department, have opinions in other aspects of the organisation and encouraged to provide feedback in a decent manner even if not required. It has also been tested whether the employees are satisfied or not, in terms of the job, surrounding personnel, the organisation and job security. Commitment was not extensively focused upon in Questionnaire (1) as the primary focus of Questionnaire (2) is commitment – Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in particular. However, Questionnaire (1) assesses the commitment of the employees in the aspect of loyalty and feeling that the organisation is also concerned with him/her as an employee 31 Finally, the involvement dimension tests whether the employee is involved in departmental work, organisational activities, announcements and decision making or not. The results are to indicate whether the employees fulfil and find fulfilled the dimensions mentioned in the organisation and are willing to portray citizenship behaviour or not. 32 3. 2. 2 Questionnaire (2) This is an eighteen question questionnaire adopted from Morrison (1994). Adjustments were made and the questions are restructured and divided to serve the six types of OCB referred to in the literature – three questions assessing each type/component and the respondents mark whether they regard the statement written as in-role (part of what they regard as their formal duty) or outrole( referred to as OCB). The six types/components are individual initiative, organisational loyalty, sportsmanship, civic virtue, helping behaviour and organisational compliance. 33 3. 3 The research place Carrefour is a leading operator in the retail industry worldwide, French based. It has been lastly ranked in the second half of 2007 as the first among twenty-two competitors and the thirty-second most profitable organisation among five-hundred (Global 500, 2007). It is the second-largest retailer in Europe and the first in Egypt. The Carrefour group has fifteen-thousand stores company-operated and franchises. Carrefour Egypt is a franchise to Majid-Al-Futtaim (MAF Group), a renowned business man from the United Arab Emirates who also operates Carrefour in several countries other than Egypt. Carrefour International? s principles guiding the HR policy: 1. Freedom 2. Responsibility 3. Sharing 4. Respect 5. Integrity 6. Solidarity 7. Progress In values (1) to (5), the company included their employees as part of the principles and policy, expressing great concern towards them. In addition to this, points (2), (3), (4) and (5) in particularly is directly related, and part of OCB as have been discussed. 34 3. 4 Advantages and limitation of the methodology adapted Questionnaires as the main source for this field research where chosen as they carry the following advantages: ? As some of the questions are direct and the answers must be confidential, many respondents displayed relief as they found it there are no personal details required There is no risk of conflicting meanings – the questions are set and are not interpreted differently to different respondents. This makes translating a copy of the questionnaire into Arabic a valid action ? ? The questions do not differ from a respondent to another Questions can be re-organised and tackled with different manners after the surveys are c ompleted There is a written record of people? s responses ? ? ? Easier to administer Less time consuming Easier to analyze There are, however, some disadvantages as well: ? ? ? Some people were possibly not honest with their responses Some people might have not fully understood some of the questions Some people may left blank spaces There has been a possibility that some people were biased due to the perception or belief that there is a pre-suggested or pre-agreed upon answer 35 ? ? ? Continuation of fear that the questionnaires could be seen by the HR department The questionnaires and data analysis rely on the honesty of respondents Some of the respondents were confused as Carrefour Egypt HR carry out questionnaires to their personnel twice a year, once in June Limited questions equals limited analysis, which is always a limitation of questionnaires Due to the existence and awareness of these disadvantages and limitations, actions were taken accordingly: ? Extreme confidentiality w as given to respondents. The questionnaires projected the aim and privacy assurance to the respondents. Moreover, some of the respondents have been verbally re-assured that the surveys are kept confidential. ? In addition to this, further assurance was made to some of the respondents that the researcher is not affiliated with the organisation in any way and it has also been made clear by the HR personnel that this questionnaire has nothing to do with the company? s formal periodical evaluation. 36 4. Data analysis 4. 1 Questionnaire (1) This is a twenty-five question questionnaire that has been compiled and structured assessing the environment at Carrefour as a large multinational where employees are highly focused on their jobs and do not frequently interact with the top management. The questions were assessing dimensions of: ? Integrity and equal opportunity: This dimension tests whether integrity is demonstrated in actions by the management and employees of the organisation as well as testing fairness among employees and equal opportunities. Example statement: This organization treats its employees fairly and justly ? Confidence: This dimension measures the degree of confidence among employees about the skills and abilities of the organisation as well as confidence of being generally valued. Example statement: I feel very confident about this organization? skills ? Empowerment: This dimension evaluates the degree of empowerment, autonomy and freedom that employees feel they are equipped with. Example statement: My manager/supervisor encourages creativity/innovation by reducing the fear of failure 37 ? General satisfaction: This dimension questions the level of satisfaction employees have – satisfaction from the job, working conditions, job security as w ell as informal networks. Example statement: The organization fails to satisfy the needs of its employees like me ? Commitment : This dimension evaluates the degree of commitment in the organisation. Not only whether employees are committed; but also if they feel the organisation is mutually committed. Example statement: I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment to its employees and me ? Involvement: The involvement dimension evaluates to what extent are the employees involved in different aspects of the organisations – involvement in non-work related activities, company posts and updates, competitive position and information on other departments. Example statement: I am usually aware and my supervisor keeps me informed of the company? s ongoing situations The results of the survey are shown in Figure 4. 1 38 Agree Satisfied This organization treats its employees fairly and justly This organization can be relied on to keep its promises I believe that this organization takes the opinions of its employees like me into account when making decisions I feel very confident about this organization? skills I think it is important to watch this organization closely so that it does not take advantage of its employees and me I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment to its employees and me Compared to my previous workplace(s), I value my relationship with this organization more I feel a sense of loyalty to this organization I think other employees are happy in their interactions with this organization The organization fails to satisfy the needs of its employees like me I am aware of the company? overall s trategy I feel my department gets support and teamwork from other areas within the company My manager/supervisor encourages creativity/innovation by reducing the fear of failure My manager/supervisor demonstrates professionalism I understand how the company’s strategy differentiates us from the competition I am usually aware and my supervisor keeps me informed of the company? s ongoing situations (ups and downs, etc) How satisfied are you with with your job? How satisfied are you with the morale of the people with whom you work How satisfied are you with your own morale? I feel that my work gives me a sense of personal accomplishment How satisfied are you that you receive appropriate recognition for your contributions? How satisfied are you with your overall job security? How satisfied are you with your informal life and networks within your organisation? Does your company show enough consideration to your personal time outside work? As an employee, I feel empowered to make decisions beyond my job description 14 13 7 23 6 18 23 21 5 2 18 16 19 23 20 15 21 12 16 20 12 14 8 12 7 Neutral 8 9 12 0 10 7 1 3 14 11 4 6 3 1 4 9 3 10 5 4 8 8 12 9 12 Disagree Dissatisfied 3 3 6 2 9 0 1 1 6 12 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 4 1 5 3 5 4 6 Percentage % Agree Neutral Satisfied 56 52 28 92 24 72 92 84 20 8 72 64 76 92 80 60 84 48 64 80 48 56 32 48 28 12 12 24 8 36 0 4 4 24 48 12 12 12 4 4 4 4 12 16 4 20 12 20 16 24 Disagree Dissatisfied 32 36 48 0 40 28 4 12 56 44 16 24 12 4 16 36 12 40 20 16 32 32 48 36 48 Figure 4. 1 Questionnaire (1) responses 39 4. 1. 1 Highest ranking agreed-with statements (above 66. 6 %) The highest ranking statements have been grouped into four categories: Job contributors, supervisory contributors, involvement contributors and commitment contributors. 1- Job: ? I feel that my work gives me a sense of personal accomplishment (80%) How satisfied are you with with your job? (84%) This shows that the majority of employees in Carrefour are both satisfied with their jobs there and feel that their jobs add to their sense of personal accomplishment. This can be attributed to the fact that Carrefour Egypt asks the employees for eval uations, said Mr. Hussein, which partially focus on weather an employee: ? ? ? ? Likes the job and likes the organisation Likes the job but dislikes the organisation Dislikes the job but likes the organisation Dislikes the job and the organisation – Supervisory: ? ? My manager/supervisor demonstrates professionalism (92%) My manager/supervisor encourages creativity/innovation by reducing the fear of failure (76%) This shows that the majority of employees are satisfied with their managers and supervisors in terms of being a „role-mode? within the organisation or being empowered 40 enough by them to be calculated risk-takers. This is attributed to the complex selection and recruitment at Carrefour Egypt, as well as a periodical corporate review. 3. Involvement: ? ? ? I am aware of the company? s overall strategy (72%) I feel very confident about this organization? s skills (92%) I understand how the company’s strategy differentiates us from the competition (80%) This shows that employees across Carrefour are aware of the company? s strategy and therefore aware of the vision and mission statements. The result shown is possibly because of communication the vision and mission across the organisation, as well as the employees initiating eagerness to learn more about the organisation. 4. Commitment: ? I feel a sense of loyalty to this organization (84%) Compared to my previous workplace(s), I value my relationship with this organization more (92%) ? I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment to its employees and me (72%) The majority of the employees value Carrefour more than their previous employers as well as feeling they are loyal to this organisation. This goes back to the fact that commitment is shown both f rom the organisation and the employees at the same time. 41 4. 2 Questionnaire (2) This is an eighteen question questionnaire adopted from Morrison (1994). Adjustments were made and the questions are restructured and divided to serve the six types of OCB referred to in the literature – three questions assessing each type/component and the respondents mark whether they regard the statement written as in-role (part of what they regard as their formal duty) or out-role( referred to as OCB). The six dimensions are: ? Individual initiative: This dimension evaluates to what extension the employees themselves are eager to perform more duties than their job entails. Example statement: Thinking you should also think of what is best for the organisation even if not asked or involved ? Organisational loyalty: This dimension examines the level of loyalty employees possess. Loyalty in this case is examined by actions employees perform that are non-work related that prove they are, for no reward, loyal to the organisation. Example statement: Attending voluntary functions that help the organisation? s image ? Sportsmanship: This dimension tests to what extents could employees prioritise work requirements and exceptions even on their own expense. 2 Example statement: Not taking excess time off, even if you have extra vacation days ? Civic virtue: Other than fulfilling the job, some employees show willingness to participate or provide viewpoints in governing the organisations. Civic virtue tests this perspective. Example statement: Attending voluntary meetings considered important ? Helping behaviour: The helping behaviour is shown by employees through t he willingness to help others and as well prevent problems for occurrence. Example statement: Covering for co-workers who are absent or on break ? Organisational compliance: Although organisational rules and policies should be abided by, some employees still don? t. This dimensions, therefore, tests to what extent employees comply. Example statement: Not spending time on personal telephone conversations Based on questionnaire (2) and the responses, Figure 4. 2 shows the contribution of each dimension to the whole (OCB) as shown by the employees at Carrefour. Figure 4. 3 shows the results of Questionnaire (2) 43 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour The Dimensions Individual Initiative Organisational loyalty Sportsmanship %12 Civic virtue Helping behaviour Organisational compliance %19 %19 %31 %8 %11 Figure 4. 2 OCB components 44 Action Thinking you should also think of what is best for the organisation even if not asked or involved Keeping up with changes and developments in the organisation Helping people outside department when they have a problem Reading and keeping up with organizational announcements Helping organize departmental get-togethers Attending voluntary functions that help the organisation? image Coming to work early if needed Having to work overtime because of a colleague? s mistake, not you Not taking excess time off, even if you have extra vacation days Attending voluntary meetings considered important Volunteering to do things without being asked Helping orient new people even when not asked Covering for co-workers who are absent or on break Helping others with work when they have been absent Giving time to help others with work-related problems Being punctual everyday regardless of weather, traffic, etc Not spending time on personal telephone conversations Not spending time in non work related issues Regarded in-role 9 Percentage % 36 Dimension Individual Initiative 4 5 18 2 5 3 6 19 17 4 21 11 20 13 22 23 25 16 20 72 8 20 12 24 76 68 16 84 44 80 52 88 92 100 Individual Initiative Individual Initiative Organisational loyalty Organisational loyalty Organisational loyalty Sportsmanship Sportsmanship Sportsmanship Civic virtue Civic virtue Civic virtue Helping behaviour Helping behaviour Helping behaviour Organisational compliance Organisational compliance Organisational compliance Figure 4. 2 Questionnaire (2) responses Adopted from Morrison, E. W. 1994) „Role definitions and organizational citizenship behaviour: The importance of the employee? s perspective.? Academy of Management Journal, 37, 1556 45 4. 2. 1 Most agreed upon as in-role (above 66. 6 %) 1. Organisational compliance: ? ? ? Being punctual everyday regardless of weather, traffic, etc (88%) Not spending time on personal telephone conversations (92%) Not spending time in non work related issues (100%) It is clearl y observed the majority of employees regard complying with rules, policies and the psychological contract as in-role behaviours. In theory, organisational compliance has to be regarded as in-role already. However, due to the suggestion that not all employees comply, it has been surveyed. This proves the opposite of Morrison? s hypothesis that it might not be regarded as in-role – it is. The dimension of organisational compliance is the most agreed upon as in-role among the questioned employees and constitutes thirty-one percent of the OCB in Carrefour. Like in Morrison? s research, organisational compliance is the most agreed upon dimension as being in-role – 89, 80 and 68 percent respectively. . Helping behaviour: ? Helping others with work when they have been absent (80%) This may be attributed to the culture of Egyptian people more than for the business environment – people known to be helpful and cooperative. In Morrison? s research, agreement to this behaviour as in-role was 78 percent. 3. Civic Virtue: ? Attending voluntary meetings considered important (68%) 46 In comparison to the original research, the result here shows 18% higher agreement. This would further justify the 80% loyalty demonstrated in questionnaire (1). 4. Sportsmanship: ? Not taking excess time off, even if you have extra vacation days (76%) This is backed up by the fact that 80% of the respondents in questionnaire (1) agree to the statement which says that their work gives them a sense of personal accomplishment. Moreover, it supports the result in section 4. 4. 1 as job satisfaction is one of the highest contributors to the employees? commitment. The result in this research exceeds the original work by 10 percent. 5. Organisational loyalty: ? Reading and keeping up with organisational announcements (72%) The original research exceeds this result by 12 percent. However, 72 percent of employees regarding this statement as in-role is quite a satisfactory rate, especially that only 56 percent of the employees agreed to the statement that their manager/supervisor cares to keep them updated in questionnaire (1). Furthermore, loyalty has been also proved in several other statements. The general agreement between this research and the original research done by Morrison (1994) shows consistency and proof that these elements are regarded as in-role by most employees. 47 5. Conclusion 5. 1 Key aims and findings The research aims at defining OCB from an academic and a practical viewpoint as well as assessing the willingness and level of OCB within a large multinational as well as showing the importance of OCB and briefly reviewing the emergence of HR in Egypt. Moreover, clarification of the difference and the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and the variables outlined in addition to practically bringing the variables and type into field work is aimed for. This research also aims to integrate the different Human Resources (HR) activities that sum up and lead to OCB. The research questions: ? What is an agreed upon definition for OCB? (Chapter 2) Organisational Cititeznship Behaviour is the individual behavior that is descritionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and that in the aggreagate promotes the effective functioning if the organisation. It is also regarded as the extra-role activities employees pursue by saying that extra-role behaviours describe activities beyond formal job requirement that one chooses to do without expecting any direct reward. ? Why is OCB not disseminated among HR practitioners? Chapter 2) OCB is still regarded as a new term. Moreover, there has been a very limited number of literature on OCB in comparison with other HR terms. Adding to this the difficulty of defining the actions and conduct that is regarded as beyond-role. 48 ? What is defined as in-role and out-role? (Chapters 2 4) There has been agreed upon behaviours for what is regarded as in-role. As for out-role or beyond-res ponsibility conduct, it is concluded that the difference in employment level will always let individuals interpret in and out-role differently. Hence, it is also concluded that OCB varies proportionately with the level of employment which agrees with the common sense. Like most managers are more satisfied with their jobs (due to pay, prestige and benefits), they are also more committed and portray more citizenship behaviours. Furthermore, like a new employee is not used to the organisation and not regarded as loyal yet, his OCB is still in the introduction phase. ? What are the variables that can be related to OCB and influence the behaviour? (Chapter 2) The literature outlined many variables that are related and complements the favourable behaviour. Among these variables are job satisfaction, loyalty, commitment, sportsmanship, compliance and integrity. ? Since there are variables that can influence the behaviour, can OCB be aimed for by an organisation or is it uncontrollable? How can the level of OCB be evaluated? (Chapters 2 4) From the literature, it is concluded that organisations can focus more on studying the variables and elements that lead to the favourable behaviours desired such as identifying the factors that satisfy employees, establishing clear career paths and examining the consistency and alignment of actions, policies, and procedures with values. In addition this, the field research in chapter 4 summarises and adds the 49 contributors, variables and components of OCB which, if read and analysed by organisations, will provide assistance on how to modify their employees behaviours and enable them to reach the behaviour needed for success and prosperity of any successful organisation. The surveys conducted provide valid foundation to organisations who wish to evaluate their level of OCB as the surveys successfully reached this aim – with further modifications that suit every organisation. 50 5. Limitation of the study Due to the fact that OCB has not been granted enough interest from researchers and practitioners up-to-date, the amount of literature available was not of high assistance to the theoretical study. Moreover, direct help from the practitioners, especially in Egypt was difficult to find as they have not been informed of OCB and its implications. Adding to this, many organisations are not in favour of researcher s conducting surveys in their premises, especially of critical and confidential information such as commitment, loyalty, fairness and trust. Another limitation is the small number of sample as only one branch of Carrefour (Obour) was examined. This may influence the result as not to reflect the opinions of employees in Carrefour in Egypt, but only Carrefour Obour. However, the researcher has been assured that the same managerial and leadership style as well as working conditions are followed not only in Carrefour Egypt; however it is internationally abided by. The topic also limits researchers due to the fact that the level of OCB differs from one employment level to another. Finally, it is concluded that as a conduct or action is considered to be in the employment/psychological contract, it is automatically more regarded as in-role. Evidence of this is the fact that organisational compliance is the highest contributor to the OCB of the organisation while the all elements of the compliance are elements of any employment contract. 51 5. 3 Directions for future research It has been concluded in this paper that the level of OCB varies from an employment level and duration to another. As a result, the topic needs to be further expanded in future research. Future field research should assess different levels of employees as well as grouping employees that have been employed in an organisation for similar durations to maintain fairness and consistency. Furthermore, research in different types of organisations should take place. It is expected that in a service industry, the level of OCB should be higher than in others due to the fact that employees are more empowered as they interact more with their customers – the main source of revenue and sustainability. The future research should take place in different industries and questioning whether the results could or could not be compared against each other. Adding to this, conducting the research in a non-for-profit organisation would be a very good example of OCB for reasons that include the fact that NPOs do not compensate its employees, or the compensation is not profit generating. As a result, employees have more committing reasons than monetary rewards and motivation. This research was initially intended to research this issue. However, due to the limited time and resources, this has not been feasible. A suggested NPO is AIESEC (www. aiesec. org). An international NPO considered role model to NGOs and NPOs. Members of this organisation demonstrate the highest levels of OCB that can be observed. Word count 9,072 52 References Bachrach, et al. (2000) „Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical and Suggestions for Future Research.? Journal of Management, 26, 51. 1-61. 1 Bateman, T (1983) „Job Satisfaction and the Good Soldier: The Relationship between Affect and Employee †Citizenship†? 26(4), 587-595 Beardwell, J Claydon, T (2007) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach. Essex: Prentice Hall. Becker, T Vance, R (1993) „Construct validity of three types of organisational citizenship behaviour: an illustration of the direct product model with refinements.? Journal of Management, 19(3), 664-682 Bisson, S Branscombe, M (2008, February 19) „Employees are our most valuable asset?. Editorial. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www. itpro. co. uk/blogs/maryb/2008/02/19/ Chiu, S and Chen, H (2005) „Relationship between job characteristics and organisational citizenship behaviour: the meditational role of job satisfaction.? Social behaviour and personality, 33(6), 523-540 Gene, et al. (2000) „Good soldiers and their syndrome: organizational citizenship behavior and the work environment.? North American Journal of Psychology, 2(2) Katz, D. (1964) „The motivational basis of organisational behaviour.? Behaviour Science, 9(2), 131-133 Ladebo, O „Perceived supervisory support and organisational citizenship behaviours: Is job satisfaction a mediator South African Journal of Psychology, 38(3), 479-488 Liu, C. , Huang P. , and Chen, C „Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in a Non-U. S. ontext: its dimensions, antecedents and consequences? Morrison, E. (1994) „Role definitions and organizational citizenship behaviour: The importance of the employee? s perspective.? Academy of Management Journal, 37, 15431567 Organ, D (1995) „Personality, Satisfaction and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour.? The journal of social psychology, 135(3), 339-350 Organ, D Ryan K. (1995) „A meta-analytic review of attitudinal and dispositional predictors of organizational citizenship behaviour.? Personnel Psychology, 48, 775-802 Organ, D (1997) „Organisational Citizenship Behaviour: It? Construct Clean-Up Time? 10(2), 85-97 Robbins, S Judge, T (2007) Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall 53 Smith, D Ostroff, F (1992) „The horizontal organisation.? The McKensey Quarterly, 1, 148-167 Stringer, J. „The secret to keeping employees committed?. Southern Methodist University. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from http://EzineArticles. com/? expert=Jan_Stringer Vigoda, E (2000) „Internal politics in public administration systems: An empirical examination of its relationship with job congruence, organizational citizenship behaviour, and in-role performance.? Public Personnel Management, 29, 185-210 Interview with Mr. Amr Hussein, Carrefour Obour H. R. Manager. Dated May 12, 2009 at Carrefour Obour offices. (2007, 23 July) „Carrefour?. Fortune Global Five 500. Retrieved May 18, 2009 from http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/7881. html www. carrefour. com 54 Appendix Questionnaire (1) This is not a test. There are no „right? or „wrong? responses to the statements that follow. A response is only „right? if it reflects your personal opinion, and the strength of your reaction, as accurately as possible. Please indicate the level of your agreement with the following statements. Answers are to be kept confidential and shall only be used for academic purposes; no names or personal information required. It should not take more than 10 minutes to complete this questionnaire. This organization treats its employees fairly and justly Agree Disagree This organization can be relied on to keep its promises Agree Disagree Neutral Neutral I believe that this organization takes the opinions of its employees like me into account when making decisions Agree Neutral Disagree I feel very confident about this organization? skills Agree Disagree I think it is important to watch this organization closely so that it does not take advantage of its employees and me Agree Neutral Disagree I feel that this organization is trying to maintain a long-term commitment How to cite Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Carrefour Egypt, Papers

The Evolution of Google Penguin Algorithm Updates

Penguin: The History The original Penguin algorithm arrived on April 24, 2012, and was aimed at rooting out and penalizing websites with low-quality links and too many keywords. Alongside the Panda algorithm, Google wanted to reward sites with valuable, relevant links, and penalize sites that had built unnatural links solely to increase their search rankings. Penguin initially affected around 3.1 percent of all search queries and had a significant impact on how webmasters approached SEO, causing many to shift towards unique content. Penguin 2.0 made further tweaks to the algorithm, affecting around 2.3 percent of all search queries. Similarly, Penguin 3.0 built off the tweaks made in the previous updates. Penguin 1.0 The Penguin update is Google’s latest crackdown on what it terms webspam: Techniques used to boost PageRank without providing value to visitors. Launched on April 24, the update affects 3.1% of searches and targets sites that abuse Google’s existing quality guidelines. So far Penguin’s main impact has been on websites that rely on link networks for traffic. Using exact match anchor text, especially if the links are bought rather than organic, is a red flag to Google, as are spammy comments using exact match link signatures, guest posts on irrelevant websites and low-quality article directories, and links from sites that contain dangerous or dishonest content and links. Penguin is not an attack on the use of SEO. Instead, it is the latest phase of Google’s war against webmasters who abuse links and rely on other on-page SEO tricks. The search engine behemoth believes that real people’s enthusiasm for content is the best indicator of quality. This means that social signals and sharing are becoming more and more critical to PageRank. Providing your visitors with high quality, unique content that offers useful information that they’ll want to share is thus becoming more and more important; this is the only type of SEO content that’s going to pay off for you in the long term. If your website focuses on providing engaging, fresh content for visitors, then you have nothing to fear from Penguin. Avoid future problems by focusing your link-building efforts on getting high-quality links from influential websites in your niche or industry. Think link quality rather than quantity. Links are the natural consequence of an engaging, content-rich webpage rather than a tool to be manipulated. Google has very helpfully released specific guidelines for its Penguin update. It advises websites to avoid the following: Hidden on-page text and links that exist only to boost rankings. Cloaking or redirects that mislead your site’s visitors. Sending automated queries to Google to boost rankings. Keyword stuffing and hidden keywords that are there only to fool the search engines. Multiple domains or subdomains with duplicate or irrelevant content Doorway pages and pages created for affiliate schemes that have little or no original content. Pages that contain phishing links or install viruses and trojans. Note that there is nothing in the guidelines to concern websites that exist to please their visitors. However, if you feel that Penguin has unfairly punished you, Google has provided an online form for complaints about the effects of the update. Google’s latest push against webspam is not going to be its last. The days of building traffic via link networks and paid links are over: Websites now have to earn their links by merely being link-worthy. The search engine wants SEO to be transparent and honest. It is guaranteed to continue its war against websites and SEO experts who try to game its algorithms. Ultimately the Penguin update is good news for honest webmasters and quality websites and blogs. Focus on providing unique, engaging content on a regular basis and make it as easy to share as possible with social network buttons. The more attractive your website and its content to real people the more it will rise in the rankings. What Sites Got Hit? Google’s most significant updates often knock webmasters for a loop. Even with hints beforehand that Google was planning an update targeting over-optimization, no one knew what to expect before Penguin came about. Since Google doesn’t tell us exactly what they’re doing- or even what they’ve done, after the fact – it leaves SEO experts to analyze their changes to sort out what happened to the algorithm and what ranking factors are most likely to get you into trouble. Now that the Penguin update has been launched, it is easier to see what Google was targeting, but the only way to know for sure is to study a large number of sites and look for a common thread between those that were impacted by the update. Microsite Masters has done the research and published the results on their blog. They found two factors that the penalized sites had in common: Targeted anchor text: Every single site they found that was penalized used keyword-optimized anchor text for at least 65% of their incoming links. Yes, that’s right–every single site. Links from irrelevant sites: Almost half of the penalized sites had no links from other sites in the same niche, and over 70% of the penalized sites had less than 30% of their links coming from related sites. What to do About the Penguin Update? The mere mention of an update to Google’s search algorithm is enough to inspire fear in the hearts of many internet marketers, bloggers, and webmasters. For those who make a living off ad revenue and affiliate sales, being ranked highly on Google is critical to success. Being de-indexed by Google has been referred to as â€Å"internet death.† When a site is de-indexed its content becomes invisible to search users, which translates into traffic almost wholly vanishing. The following advice will assist you in avoiding such a nightmare situation. Calm Down; It’s Not the End of SEO When the update known as Penguin was released, many anxiously awaited to see the impact it would have on their traffic. A good number of these people were just now recovering from Google’s previous algorithm update, Panda. While the aftermath of the previous update was nothing short of cataclysmic, Penguin seems to be much milder in comparison. This is likely due to many webmasters learning from the lessons taught by Panda. The main focus of this update appears to be backlink spam and keyword stuffing. Avoid Black-Hat Backlinking Services Even before the release of Penguin, Google sent a strong signal that paid backlinking services will not be tolerated. It did this by de-indexing BuildMyRank.com, one of the most successful and popular of these services. This sent shock waves across the SEO community and signified things to come. Google designed Penguin to more effectively weed out sites with backlink profiles determined to be unnatural and intended to game the system. Never use automated software and services to build vast amounts of low-quality links in a short amount of time. Penguin sniffs these out like a shark smells blood. This kind of linking strategy is blatantly unnatural and will almost guarantee a stiff penalty. Instead focus on backlinking methods that Google views as natural, such as guest writing on blogs and websites that fall under the same niche category as the content you are trying to rank. The Death of Exact Match Anchor Text Penguin has made it clear that link diversity is essential for surviving Google’s wrath. This is especially true when it comes to choosing anchor text. The majority of the sites punished by Penguin had one thing in common; the blatant exploitation of exact match keywords. This was once considered perfectly sound SEO strategy for dominating specific keywords but has since become tainted by black hat services spamming irrelevant anchor text to exploit Google’s algorithm. Keyword anchor text can still be used but in smaller doses. A general rule of thumb is to have exact match anchor text make up under 50% of your total link profile. Keyword Stuffing A former holy grail of SEO has now become detrimental to success. Stuffing a whole host of keywords together and producing sloppy, low content articles will now prove toxic to your traffic. Google views this as a blatant act of spamming and punishes it severely. The safest route is to pick just a few keywords and strategically place them throughout your content. Make sure your keywords do not seem forced or out of place. Do not treat an article as filler to place keywords. Content should always be relevant, interesting and grammatically correct. Your keyword ratio should be between 2 to 5 percent of the entire article. Penguin 2.0 The world’s biggest search giant released the Penguin 2.0 update on May 22, 2013, and this latest transformation of the Google search algorithms further improve the quality of the results delivered. The latest update is aimed at clearing spam off the Internet by penalizing websites which attempt to artificially increase their standing in the search results by using black-hat SEO tactics. This update focusses in particular on elements such as keyword-stuffed anchor text and aggressive link building strategies. Webmasters who might have been over-optimizing their content may be looking at a sudden drop in traffic since the release of the latest update. If your site has been hit by Penguin 2.0, then you will need to think about taking a new direction in your search engine marketing campaign. Which Sites Are Affected by Penguin 2.0? The latest update focusses heavily on links and anchor text, and the ratio of your site links will determine whether your website benefits or gets penalized. In particular, websites containing links with keyword-stuffed anchor text have been hit the hardest. If the content of your website includes large amounts of anchor text with exact-match key phrases, then it looks very unnatural in the eyes of Google’s crawlers and your traffic will likely suffer as a result. Any website which has made use of aggressive link building campaigns may be adversely affected by Penguin 2.0. This includes sites containing backlinks from other websites deemed low quality in Google’s eyes and sites which contain a lot of other outgoing links. Additionally, having an excessively high percentage of keyword-rich incoming links will hurt your website. Other bad places to have a high percentage of your backlinks include webpage footers, blog comments, unrelated websites and other pages which are also penalized by Google. Those who have brought links before will almost certainly find that the vast majority of their backlinks appear on such sources. How to Survive Google Penguin 2.0 For the most part, the things which have constituted good SEO tactics since the first release of Penguin back in 2012 should still work. Google has not changed its policies; it has simply become better at enforcing them and making sure that less and less spam and otherwise junk content makes it into the search results. While ideally, you should have already discontinued any black-hat SEO tactics long ago, it is even more important now to change your strategy if you haven’t done so already. If your website has been severely hit by the latest algorithm, then it may be time to completely redo your content as well as entirely change your search engine marketing strategy. Now is the time to ensure that your website is filled with quality and original content that human readers want not only to read, but also to share with others. Content that gets social signals is exactly what impresses Google and, in some cases, it may even end up going viral. The modern Internet is very much about social media and it is an inescapable fact that any successful website is successful due to the very fact that its visitors are the ones promoting the site by sharing content that they like on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Any webmaster should also do their bit to encourage the sharing of content by providing social networking buttons to accompany suitable articles and other pages. When it comes to link building, you need to be looking for natural links rather than having more links on irrelevant or otherwise unsuitable sources. Going after the cheap and easy links is only going to hurt your business in the longer term. Instead, focus on getting links on other sites which deal with relevant niches and industries. People should be clicking on those links because they want to learn more about something or they want to read references supporting another piece of content. Finally, ensure that you have content creation and marketing strategy. This needs to be something that you are one-hundred percent committed to. If you are running a blog, ensure that it is updated frequently and consistently to encourage your existing readers to come back regularly while also attracting new ones. This will also help to encourage social signals and natural, organic traffic. When it comes to dealing with social media, it is important not to ignore important social signals. Social media is about interacting with your readers by responding to their queries and comments and getting involved with the community that builds up around your business and website. Google wants to reward popular websites which draw in traffic organically rather than that those which put every effort possible into manipulating the search engines. In conclusion, make sure that you abandon the old strategies of search engine optimization if you haven’t already. Focus on your human readers and customers – that is what today’s SEO is all about. What Was Punished by Penguin 2.0? Google Penguin 2.0, released in May 2013, is the latest major version of the search giant’s algorithm in a long stream of updates which focus on penalizing over-optimized content and, in particular, many of the link building strategies which were once deployed by the vast majority of search engine marketers. Whether you are doing much of the SEO yourself or hiring a company to do the work for you, it is essential that you pay close attention to Google’s webmaster guidelines as it is becoming increasingly difficult to artificially manipulate a website’s standing in the search results. The following takes a look at seven of the most prominent ways to get yourself booted out of Google’s indexes. 1. Keyword-Stuffed Anchor Text Anchor text refers to the clickable text representing a hyperlink. Traditionally in search engine optimization, anchor text contained keywords designed to artificially increase the ranking of a webpage in the search engine results. Search engine marketers have often optimized their anchor text in such a way that it contains keywords associated with the contents of the page linked to. However, using the same anchor text to excess will ultimately flag your website as over-optimized and, not only this; it also annoys your human readers. You should overcome this situation by diversifying your anchor text to include a wider variety of keywords to avoid repetition and make it look more natural within the context of the content itself. 2. Paid Links Google’s dislike of paid links is certainly nothing new, but its latest algorithm updates are getting better and better at determining which links have been paid for. Link buying often means that you end up with backlinks plastered all over the Internet often accompanied by content which is completely irrelevant. Do not forget that your ranking in the search engines is becoming increasingly heavily influenced by the content of the websites that link to your own. Paid links represent a completely artificial way of manipulating the search results and, if you use link buying services, there is a high chance that your website will be kicked out of the Google indexes within a matter of months. 3. Link Stuffing Internal links are meant to guide human visitors to other pages on your website which they may be interested in. When used with this intention in mind, internal links are useful if not essential to any user-friendly and easily navigable webpage. However, it is poor practice to have too many of these internal links as it makes your website look over-optimized both to your visitors and to the search engines. Be particularly wary of using drop-down menus and the same anchor text in your internal links. 4. Keyword Stuffing Aside from its use in anchor text, keyword stuffing in the other content of a webpage is also something that many search engine marketers are guilty of. In spite of constant condemnation from Google, many people still seem to believe in things like the myth of keyword density. In reality, however, paying attention to keyword density inevitably leads to over-optimized content of questionable quality. Stuffing your content with keywords will not help to increase your search engine ranking and, these days, it is more likely to get your site penalized. As with your anchor text, diversify your keyword usage and only use them in such a way that they blend in naturally with the rest of the content. 5. Invisible Text Webmasters hoping to manipulate the search results with minimal effort sometimes use invisible text containing a list of keywords and phrases. Using CSS, this text is the same color as its background thus hiding it from human readers while remaining visible to the search engine crawlers. Unbelievably, many webmasters are still using hidden text on their sites in spite of Google have been easily able to uncover this method and remove offending websites from its indexes. 6. Duplicated Content While there is nothing wrong with posting your content for which you own the copyrights across multiple websites, it is important to remember that Google doesn’t like this. Publishing unique content is a must, and this has long been the case in spite of many people still not paying attention to this fact. Worse still, content theft remains a major problem on the Internet with unscrupulous and lazy webmasters stealing content to post on their sites or to use in their marketing campaigns. Google is becoming increasingly better at detecting such sites and those posting stolen content can expect not only to have their website de-indexed but also to have it taken down entirely. Penguin 3.0 One year after the Penguin 2.1 update, Penguin 3.0 has finally arrived. Google recently confirmed that the most recent update to the algorithm started rolling out on Friday, October 17. So what’s different about Penguin 3.0? How do you know if you’ve been affected, and how do you recover if you’ve been hit? Penguin 3.0: What’s New? The new algorithm helps sites that have cleaned up their webspam signals since the last update and demotes sites with newly-discovered spam. Penguin 3.0 is a worldwide update which will be rolled out throughout weeks. It’s aimed at further improving search results by punishing websites that violate Google Webmaster Guidelines. Google has stated that it’s an algorithm change, not merely an update. Most SEO experts predict it will affect a similar number of websites as Penguin 2.0, but the full impact will only be known in the coming months. Google is not in the habit of revealing precise details, but when it has been fully rolled out, we’ll probably receive some form of official announcement. Do You Need to Take Action? If you’ve previously used dubious SEO strategies to improve your search rankings, you will have already been hit by previous Penguin updates. However, if you’ve since taken the appropriate measures to clean up your link profile and publish more relevant, quality website content now is the time to check your rankings and your organic search traffic data. If you’ve noticed any sudden drops in rankings, it’s likely you’ve been affected by Penguin 3.0. There are no quick fixes, but with a little effort, you can recover. You may have to wait until the next algorithm update to see if the changes have made a difference, but it’s still wise to act now. Steps to Recovery If you’ve been affected, it is most likely because of too many unnatural links pointing to your website. You can track down all your inbound links with tools like Google Webmaster Tools, Majestic SEO, and Ahrefs. So what qualifies as a poor-quality link? Links on article directories and link farms Any paid links, apart from advertisements Irrelevant links posted on forums or social media Too many exact keyword-match anchor text links Once you’ve used one of the above tools to source the origins of your inbound links, you need to contact the relevant webmasters and ask them to remove your links. If they refuse or can’t remove them, you can use Google’s Disavow Tool. The Bottom Line However you’re affected by Penguin 3.0, you need to continue to build better links on more authoritative sites and avoid stuffing your content with too many keywords. This can only be done by producing original, relevant, and high-quality content that people want to link to. If you are unfamiliar with how to compose such content, outsourcing an experienced content writer is an easy and inexpensive alternative. This is the best way to avoid being affected by the Penguin algorithm in the future.