A Palaeo Environmental Assessment Of Sediments

This palaeo-environmental Reconstruction is based upon utilizing a multi-proxy attack to analyze lake deposits. The lake of Wuxu-hai prevarications in the Province of Yunnan, southwest China ( figures 1 and 2 ) and consists of a individual basin mensurating 1.7km2 situated at an height of 3630m a.s.l. It is thought that Wuxu-hai Lake was formed by glacial procedures during the Last Glacial Maximum ( LGM ) . At present, the catchment lies in a sub-alpine flora belt situated at 250m below the current treeline. The flora is chiefly comprised of cone-bearing wood ( Pinus, Picea and Abies ) , deciduous and evergreen Quercus. The country above the current treeline is dominated by grassland steppe. 1.2. Materials, Methods and Techniques In 2008 a 6.5 m nucleus was extracted from the Centre of Wuxu-hai Lake and sub-sampled at a declaration of 2cm, utilizing a multi-proxy attack, affecting a assortment of lithological and biological techniques. Vegetation screen Reconstruction within the lake catchment is inferred from alterations in the pollen concentrations of species over clip ( Pinus, Quercas, Artemisia and Poaceae ) . Loss on Ignition ( LOI ) has been carried out to find the organic content of the nucleus. Furthermore, Mineral Magnetic Analysis ( Xlf ) has taken topographic point in order to find the entire magnetic composing of the majority deposit. Finally, Micro Charcoal analysis ( grains/cm3 ) has been used to uncover counts of micro wood coal, supplying a record of past fire events within the catchment. Figure 1: Map exemplifying the Figure 2: Detailed map of Yunnan States of China. Province ( approx 380,000km2 ) . 2. ) Chronology Radiocarbon dating was carried out on 12 equally separated subdivisions of the nucleus utilizing a assortment of different stuffs. The natural 14C ages can non be straight used as a calendar day of the month. This is because the degrees of atmospheric 14C have non remained changeless during the span of clip that can be radiocarbon dated. Therefore, the natural 14C ages BP have been calibrated at 1 sigma and expressed as a mid point value ( Cal yr BP ) to give accurate calendar old ages. ( table 1 ) . Depth Material 14C Age ( uncalibrated ) Cal year BP ( 2 sigma ) Standard Error Median Age ( Cal yr BP ) Calender Year 72.25 Wood 8001 Â ± 50 8698 – 9011 0.979567 8854.5 Â ± 50 6904.5 80.25 Shell 7899 Â ± 65 8587 – 8987 1 8787 Â ± 65 6837 130.5 Wood 9211 Â ± 39 10253 – 10443 0.858516 10348 Â ± 39 8398 142.5 Leaf 9555 Â ± 55 10702 – 11109 0.991144 10905.5 Â ± 55 8955.5 151.5 Leaf 10018 Â ± 27 11329 – 11629 0.959505 11479 Â ± 27 9529 225.5 Majority 8742 Â ± 125 9535 – 10160 1 9847.5 Â ± 125 7897.5 268.5 Seed 13571 Â ± 33 15800 – 16546 1 16173 Â ± 33 14223 307.5 Leaf 14258 Â ± 54 16618 – 17438 1 17028 Â ± 54 15078 359.5 Wood 14723 Â ± 67 17285 – 18083 1 17684 Â ± 67 15734 431.5 Wood 16216 Â ± 41 19228 – 19484 1 19356 Â ± 41 17406 501.5 Shell 12321 Â ± 78 13994 – 14734 1 14364 Â ± 78 12414 629.5 Majority 18921 Â ± 102 22238 – 22638 1 22438 Â ± 102 20488 Table 1: Chronology tabular array exemplifying calibrated 14C AMS day of the months for WX1-08 nucleus. On-line standardization was calculated utilizing Calib Executive Version 5.0.2 package ( Stuiver and Reimer, 1993 ) . The tabular array besides illustrates the carbon 14 ages, standard mistake values, deepnesss of stuffs dated, type of stuff, uncalibrated and graduated day of the months. 3. ) Age-depth Model Figure 3: Age-depth theoretical account covers the period from 22.438 cal year BP – nowadays. Age deepness theoretical account Using the information illustrated in table 1, an age-depth theoretical account was created for the nucleus. However, it is necessary to province that when making the age-depth theoretical account, two of the original informations points were removed ( Table 2 ) . Depth Material 14C Age ( uncalibrated ) Cal year BP ( 2 sigma ) Standard Error Median Age ( Cal yr BP ) Calender Year 225.5 Majority 8742 Â ± 125 9535 – 10160 1 9847.5 Â ± 125 7897.5 501.5 Shell 12321 Â ± 78 13994 – 14734 1 14364 Â ± 78 12414 Table 2: Table exemplifying the 2 values that were considered anomalousnesss. The majority and shell stuffs, which were at deepnesss of 225.5 and 501.5 within the nucleus sample represented significantly lower median ages than the information points above them. This instantly became apparent when plotting them on the age-depth theoretical account as their average ages ( Cal yr BP ) represented obvious anomalousnesss. These values were removed from the age-depth theoretical account. Figure 4: Four zones have been interpreted from the magnetic susceptibleness values. These values indicate mineral magnetic belongingss which can be used to set up alterations in rates of deposit which can so deduce alterations in clime or alterations is the energy of the clime around the catchment ( Dearing, 1986 ) . The four zones stretch across all placeholders leting a multi-proxy probe in which palaeo Reconstruction is based on the integrating of grounds from all the beginnings. Entire organic C Pinus Quercus Artemisia Poaceae Loss-on-Ignition Charcoal Magnetic Susceptibility Percentage ( % ) Percentage ( % ) Percentage ( % ) Percentage ( % ) Percentage ( % ) Grains Per Gram Xlf 9517 13371 16376 19033 20827 22105 Entire organic Silicate Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 5. ) Data reading 5.1. ) The undermentioned subdivision is an reading of the dataset in order to bring forth a paleoenvironmental history for Wuxu-hai Lake. Comparisons to local and regional datasets will be made throughout to measure larger-scale forms that could be related to climatic alterations. Proxy Inference Pinus Tree ( Pine ) Coniferous Grows at High heights ( Upland tree ) Cool conditions, precipitation Poor, coarse textured dirts pollen-analytical oscillations Temporal alterations in flora screen ( vegetation belt displacements ) Treelines: climatically sensitive transitional zones Ecological alterations Not all workss produce same measures of pollen Quercus Tree ( Oak ) Deciduous and Evergreen Grows at lower lifts than Pinus ( Valley braid ) Better dirts than Pinus Artemisia Herb/Shrub Grows at lower lifts than Pinus Warm conditions, prohibitionist Steppe environment Gramineae Grass Occurs in a broad assortment of environments Chiefly grassland steppe ( above treeline ) Loss on Ignition Organic content of sample Charcoal Record of past fire events Magnetic Susceptibility Geology, dirt procedures, deposit tracts, pollution, biological conditions ( Thomas and Goudie, 2000 ) Erosion rates and beginning of deposits Table 3: Summary of Proxies measured and how they can be used for palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction. 5.2. ) Zone 4: ( 635.75cm-500cm ) 22,500 Cal yr BP-20,000 Cal year BP ( approx ) At the beginning of this period Artemisia concentrations experience a big addition and disconnected lessening which is so followed by a steady overall addition to the terminal of this period. This steady overall addition is besides apparent from the Poaceae concentrations. However, the Pinus concentrations, which continually fluctuate during this period, illustrate an overall lessening. The Quercus concentrations fluctuate but remain at a relatively low degree throughout this period. These pollen concentrations suggest that the treeline was sing a progressive diminution in height during this period, leting an increased growing in highland grasses above the treeline. This causes increased Artemisia and Poaceae concentration which, in bend, would show that the catchment country was sing ice chest temperatures than antecedently. Yu et al. , ( 2003 ) survey utilizing a digest of lake records across China illustrated that cold, wet conditions were experienced in western China, before the LGM, produced by a lessening in vaporization due to a low temperature on land and an addition in precipitation. Towards the terminal of the zone the Pinus concentrations experience a rapid lessening to much lower values than old. The degrees of wood coal besides lessening. At this point the Poaceae and Artimisia concentrations demonstrate a rapid addition. This suggests that the treeline retreated to even lower heights within the catchment country, where it was sing even colder conditions than earlier and increased precipitation. During this clip Yan et al. , ( 2007 ) illustrated glacial-induced downward migrations of alpine species ( Pinus ) in cardinal and west of Yunnan Province. The magnetic susceptibleness signal demonstrates multiple fluctuations throughout this period. However, more specifically, it is apparent that the signal high spots a autumn in the mineral magnetic belongingss of the deposit at the terminal of this period. This lessening in the mineral magnetic signal indicates a alteration in the rates of deposit, perchance due to reduced rates of dirt eroding within the catchment. 5.3. ) Zone 3: ( 500cm-360cm ) 20,000 Cal year BP -18,000 Cal year BP ( approx ) All pollen concentrations fluctuate greatly during this period showing the environmental volatility that was being experienced within the catchment. The Pinus pollen diagram demonstrates that several periods of rapid reduced concentrations take topographic point, in between several periods of rapid increased concentrations. This suggests that during this period of environmental volatility the treeline height was continually fluctuating as a consequence of a series of cold stages within the catchment. These continual fluctuations in treeline height are besides apparent from the Artemisia and Poaceae concentrations. As the Pinus concentrations quickly decrease due to a decrease in treeline height and hence tree screen, the Artemisia and Poaceae concentrations quickly increase, due to an expansion of grassland countries situated above the treeline. Therefore, it is clear that this period represents an unstable clime which was continually switching between cold and warm stages. Throughout this period there is a continued fluctuation in the magnetic susceptibleness signal. However, the fluctuations occur at lower values than antecedently seen in zone 4. It is apparent that at the terminal of this zone there is a sudden important autumn in the magnetic susceptibleness signal. It appears that this lessening may be associated with the Last Glacial Maximum ( LGM ) . The timing of the LGM in China is problematic. However many writers place the LGM at 18,000 BP. Equally good as the autumn in the magnetic susceptibleness signal, it is evident from the pollen diagrams that at this clip there are immediate big lessenings in Artemisia and Poaceae concentrations and, after a lag period, big additions in Pinus and Quercus concentrations. This big addition in tree pollen within the catchment demonstrates that the treeline increased in height as a consequence of clime betterment leting a short lived enlargement of forest countries. Walker ( 1986 ) explains that after the LGM, the flora began to react really shortly after or every bit shortly as deglaciation left surfaces available. 5.4. ) Zone 2: ( 360cm-210 ) 18,000 Cal yr BP-13,700 Cal year BP ( approx ) At the beginning of this period the treeline was at its topmost bound, about 18,000BP. However, after 18,000BP terrible diebacks of treeline occur, this is apparent when the concentrations of Pinus and Quercus all of a sudden experience a important lessening. The Er Yuan lake dataset from Yunnan provides grounds to propose that average one-year temperature, at about 18,000-17,000 BP, may hold been 4'C below current temps ( Walker,1986 ) . The cold conditions experienced at Er Yuan may hold besides been experienced at Wuxu-hai which would explicate the terrible dieback of the treeline. From this point onwards the concentrations of Pinus and Quercus fluctuate until about 11,500 BP. Poacea concentrations remain between 0 and 20 ( grains/gram ) but besides fluctuate until about 11,500. A lake nucleus dataset from Xi Hu, Yunnan, highlighted a period between 15,000-10,500 BP which demonstrated a fluctuating clime with periods of intense seasonality ( Shaomeng et al 1986 ) . The fluctuation s in all pollen concentrations evident in the nucleus may so correlate to this period of intense seasonality experienced at Xi Hu. However, a high declaration spelethem record from two caves in sou'-west Yunnan demonstrate that the Indian Monsoon varied significantly during the period of last deglaciation, resembling other East Asiatic monsoon records, such as those from Hulu and Dongge Caves ( Cai et al. , 2006 ) . Therefore, the fluctuations in all pollen concentrations evident in the nucleus during this period could be related to the fluctuations in Monsoonal strength. Artemisia concentrations experience a important extremum at about 15,600 BP. This extremum may be attributed to the same cold-semi humid conditions which were experienced at Xi Hu between 17,000-15,000 BP ( Shaomeng et al 1986 ) . The Artimisia concentration so diminish where they excessively continue to fluctuate until about 11,500 BP. These fluctuations highlight a period after the LGM but before 11,500 BP during which short lived but complex vegetal alterations were taking topographic point. Walker ( 1986 ) highlights a similar fluctuation period within the Er Yuan lake dataset, between 14,000-10,500 BP, and states that this was the most vegetationally complex period. However, these fluctuations have no antagonistic portion in the Kunming lake dataset exemplifying the complexness of local clime alterations in Yunnan. Directly after the LGM the magnetic susceptibleness signal increases back to similar values that were present during zone 4. A strong extremum in the magnetic susceptibleness signal is apparent within this zone, about 16,700 BP. This may bespeak a alteration in deposit such as an inflow of tephra into the catchment country or Aeolian dust from desert parts in the North. However, this strong extremum in the magnetic susceptibleness signal is matched with reduced degrees of Pinus and Quercus concentrations which may bespeak that the environment within the catchment became unstable, impacting tree growing. 5.5. ) Zone 1: ( 360cm-0cm ) 13,700 Cal yr BP-Present ( approx ) This zone demonstrates a important extremum in wood coal concentrations at a deepness of 144cm, about 11,000BP. This addition is likely to stand for a big fire event within or around the catchment country. At the same clip there is a lessening in Quercus, Artimisia and Poaceae concentrations which imply that these countries within the catchment were affected by the fire. Around this clip Xi Hu experienced multiple vegetal and climatic events which were attributed to the Pleistocene-Holocene passage ( Shaomeng et al 1986 ) . However, this appears to hold no resemblance in Wuxu-hai, perchance due to the effects of the fire event. The Quercus, Artimisia and Poaceae concentrations so continue to worsen until 120cm, about 10,300, when Artimisia and Poaceae concentrations within the catchment addition. The pollen diagrams besides indicate that, at about 9,500 BP, the flora within the catchment begins to make a period of comparative stableness. No more rapid fluctuations in flora screen occ ur. The Xi Hu dataset besides illustrates the fact that after 10,500 there is no grounds of climatic alteration ( Shaomeng et al 1986 ) . Vegetation alteration after this period is largely of the order of accommodations within units. At a deepness of 100cm, about 9600 BP, the pollen diagrams demonstrate a gradual addition in concentrations of all pollen types. Menghai, Er Yuan and Kunming lake datasets attribute this addition, by about 10,000 BP, to the clime nearing modern values ( Walker, 1986 ) . At a deepness of 50cm, about 7,400BP Artemisia and Quercus concentrations demonstrate a steady lessening whereas Pinus and Poaceae concentrations remain stable. These comparatively stable concentrations demonstrate a displacement towards a new balance, closely similar to that of today and highlight the terminal of the environmental volatility which was apparent in the old zones. The Er Yuan and Kunming dataset besides indicate that by 10,500-7500 average one-year temperature and rainfall had reached degrees similar to today ( Walker, 1986 ) . The entire organic C concentration within this period indicates a important addition at a deepness of 50cm, about 7,500 BP, bespeaking a rapid inflow of organic affair into the lake at this clip. 6. ) Decision Having described climatic alterations at Wuxu-hai catchment which history for the proxy accommodations it is apparent that the period between about 22,500 BP – nowadays, is by and large dividable into, a clip before 13,500 BP when the clime form was complex, through a move towards progressively simplicity taking to a new stableness. However, it is indispensable to understand that this is a simplification of the many complex alterations that were taking topographic point throughout this period. Comparisons with other local and regional datasets have highlighted the fact that the paleoenvironmental history at Wuxu-hai has several comparings with the Er Yuan and Xi Hu lake datasets. However, the Kunming dataset comparings are non as clear. As Xiwen and Walker ( 1986 ) explain, there is a great assortment of local climes bring forthing vegetal differences, sometimes even on opposite sides of the same vale.

A Leader in On-Line Travel Services Essay

The travel industry is billion dollar a year business. Year round people from all walks fill the roads and departing plane seats in search of travel success. There is no doubt that the travel industry will continue to be in demand, however, while vacationers, business travelers and everyone in between anticipate spending a good chunk of change to get from point a to point b, no person wants to part with their hard earned money. Thankfully, some genius out there understood this. Along with the evolution of the technological advances came a miraculous source for locating the best deals in travel, from flights to hotels to car rental. Based on the number of travel websites available, no longer do discounted travel options belong solely to commissioned travel agents. Today, everyone from housewives to grandpas to beer-guzzling football fanatics have the capability of obtaining their own travel deals. Parented by Expedia, Inc and based in Washington State, Expedia. com revolutionized the way people travel the world, and as time continues, its services only get better. With a bit of research, a pen and some paper, soon-to-be travelers are able to decide what airline or hotel best suits their needs (and their wallets) all with just a few clicks of the mouse. While competitors such as Travelocity and Priceline offer much of the same services, Expedia. com continues to be a leader in the travel industry (PR Newswire, p. 1). Thousands of hotels, airlines and other travel accommodators have joined in to vie for the traveler’s business, and the wooing has resulted in deep discounts and sometimes little extras, such as free hotel nights. Expedia. om’s early days were a bit primitive, but as the demand for travel options increased, the business flourished. Expedia. com has become a household name among travelers and will continue to be a source for deal seekers around the world. Expedia. com’s big break came in 1996 when Richard Barton, who, at the time, was responsible for creating CD-ROMS for Microsoft, presented the idea of offering travel options on-line (NetIndustries, p. 1). Microsoft Network1 reluctantly began assisting in web exposure in order to generate business for the experimental company (NetIndustries, p. ). While discounted airline tickets were the only product Expedia was offering at the time, the investment Microsoft placed in technological innovations for the company greatly expanded the number of people coming across Expedia. com’s website. A few short years would prove that Expedia. com was not just some fly-by-night ‘dot-com’. In 1999, Microsoft Network spun off a portion of their interest in Expedia for public availability; a move that increased Expedia. com’s worth within hours (NetIndustries, p. 1). With success under their belt, Microsoft opted to sell its entire interest in Expedia. com to USA Networks, Inc. 2. Led by CEO Erik Blachford, Expedia. com is wholly owned by InterActiveCorp (PBM, p. 1). Teaming up with Classic Custom Vacations, Expedia Corporate Travel and Travelscape. com, Inc. , Expedia. com found itself in the perfect position to expand the types of travel services offered, and could continue fulfilling their mission of utilizing electronic sourcing in order to provide the best travel options to its users (About Expedia. com, p. 1). Services available through Expedia. com include discounted flights, hotel accommodations, auto rental, cruises and even vacation packages, all for domestic and international destinations. Additionally, the company offers guidance to travelers who are unsure of the type of travel they are seeking. By clicking the ‘activities’ tab on the website, destination seekers are able to view events taking place all over the world (Expedia. com, p7). Additional services include printable maps, an easy 1. Microsoft Network, a major software developer, assisted Expedia. om by providing technological resources, to include premium web exposure, which played a major role in Expedia. com’s growth. 2. USA Networks, a media based operator, changed its name to USA Interactive upon completing its purchase of Expedia. com. USA Interactive also owns Expedia. com competitor Hotels. com (SJP, 2002). to maneuver website and 24/7 customer service. Along with success, Expedia. com endured its share of struggles. In early operations, Expedia faced several lawsuits, including one from competitor Priceline. om for infringing on a patented â€Å"name your price† service. Other competitors, such as Travelocity. com were heating things up by adding new features and services to their websites. Expedia. com’s defense was to play-up the features and services they already used by launching a major marketing campaign using tags like â⠂¬Å"Don’t just travel. Travel right,† and â€Å"Where do you want to go today? † (NetIndustries, p. 1). While the marketing campaign was a success, profit success was short-lived when some airlines stopped paying commissions to on-line travel agents, including Expedia. om. While competitors such as Priceline. com tagged on hefty $10. 00 surcharges to customers using airlines who didn’t pay commissions, Expedia was able to negotiate with several airlines in order to avoid charging additional fees to customers, while continuing to offer those airlines’ services without feeling too much of a punch (NetIndustries, . 1). Overcoming these challenges, Expedia continues its success by utilizing a product line pricing strategy, which entails offering a variety of products at ranged pricing, or bundling packages and charging accordingly. A mere 11 years old, Expedia. com has become established nationally as well as internationally. Today, Expedia. com’s success continues. It employs 1,758 people, and averages sales at an estimated $590 million (NetIndustries, p. 1). The future includes focusing on the business traveler, whose needs are being met by providing the widest range of products possible, and offering little comforts such as the Expedia. com Cafe3. Cornering the market with the best deals, Expedia. com will continue to lead the on-line travel industry without missing a beat.

Project Management Organizational Structures Essay

A series of related jobs that are focused toward a major solution is a project. Projects take time, money, people, and other resources to perform successfully. Project management usually controls these resources as well as planning the project and allocating resources where needed. Before a project is started, management decides which organizational structure will be used to run the project. There are three organizational structures that can be chosen from consisting of the Functional, Matrix, and Pure Project structures. Each of these has their advantages and disadvantages in structuring a project. Project managers are in charge of initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing the project. Prior to beginning a project the manager needs to decide which organizational structure is the best fit to run the project at hand. Choosing which organizational structure to use largely depends on the size of the company, what is trying to be accomplished, and what resources are available. This paper will examine the three primary organizational structures mentioned above and the situation in which each structure would be the best method to manage a project team. In the functional project management organizational structure, â€Å"the project is assigned to the functional unit that has the most interest in ensuring its success or can be most helpful in implementing it† (Mantel & Meredith, 2006). This organizational structure has been considerably one of the oldest methods used however, remains one of the most successful. The functional method is best used when applied to routine work functions and to support the value of work standards. Under this organizational structure projects are usually assigned into two different ways consisting of assigning a project to a functional manager who coordinates with others to contribute or assigning the project to different departments who each complete their portion of the work and report to the department managers. Consequently, â€Å"organizational behavior is important because the functional employees at the interface position find themselves reporting to more than one boss, a line manager [ass igned to control resources] and a project manager for each project they are assigned to† (Kerzner, 2006). The functional structure has both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include a higher flexibility in using the staff through other required  contributions, employees may be switched back and forth between related projects, individuals may be grouped for a larger depth of knowledge, the functional division serves as a â€Å"base of continuity† in the event an individual chooses to withdraw from the project, and the functional field serves as a huge advancement to those who have remained with a the project through a successful completion (Mantel & Meredith, 2006). On the contrary, this structure is not very effective when used on more complex projects and when viewing employee recognition. The individual accountability of tasks is hardly recognized for tasks being performed on an individual basis. Other disadvantages recognized amongst the functional project management organizational structure include the focus not being set on the client, focusing more on activities versus function, slow responses to client needs, lack of interest and motivation in certain areas to the assigned projects, and difficulties in communicating knowledge. Alike the functional organizational structure of project management, the Pure Project structure also has its unique advantages and disadvantages. This structure allows the project to be separated from the rest of the parent system becoming a self contained unit with its own staff, administration, and tying to the parent firm through periodic progress reports and oversight (Mantel & Meredith, 2006). Advantages to using this organizational structure include full authority to the project manager who is project director, shortened lines of communication, strong and separate identities of the project team, the ease of understanding pure project organizations, and the main focus on total project versus optimized subsystems as focused by other organizational structures. The Pure Project structure is effective in dedicating resources through the life of a project. This method is excellent in executing complex projects in that it meets the demands of the project by â€Å"isolating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on completing the project† (Russell, 2008). This structure reacts rapidly to the needs of clients contrary to those in the functional organizational structure. This Pure Project structure’s inefficiencies include the transfers in technology and the use of resources, which are provided through the life of the project as well as duplications  of effort, fostering of inconsistencies, and the project taking on a life of its own. The Matrix organizational structure of project management is much a combination of both the functional and Pure Project organizational structures. This project management structure evolved from the flaws in the other two structures previously discussed. Being combined of the other two organizational structure of project management, the Matrix structure can take on a large assortment of specific forms. This structure works very well when several projects are being coordinated at once. Contrary to the best components combined from the other two organizational structures of functional and Pure Project are the disadvantages of the Matrix structure consisting of conflicts. Having â€Å"individual employees to report to at least two managers often leads to ambiguity and conflict† which in turn could be avoided through proper communication (Russell, 2008). Much of the criticisms of this Matrix structure include the dark side of its advantages for balancing out who is in charge of the project, failure of project due to lack of negotiating skills, the severity of shutting down a project because of the project’s individual identities, and balancing time, cost, and performance. There is not one organizational structure better than the other. Each organizational structure has its advantages and disadvantages. The decision rests on what project the manager is trying to accomplish. The project manager needs to decide which organizational structure best suits that project. The project manager needs to assess the available resources, finances, and keep in mind the timeframe that has been assigned to the project. In order for the project to be successful, the project manager must compare the organizational structures in order to decide which would be the most suitable. In conclusion, organizational structures are never stagnant and frequently change based on the needs and the strategy that is employed by the organization. Organizational strategies dictate the structures that can be used by the organization and the success that these structures will have in  the improvement of the productivity of the workforce in the organization. Any structure ultimately is used to improve the manner by which organizations report and communicate with the other elements within the organization. Organizational structures, rules and regulations, are generally viewed as instruments set in place to facilitate and aid task performance by all those involved in the organization. Due to the effectiveness of the project, the Functional organization, Pure Project organization, and Matrix organization are the three most project management structures that are still used today. References Kerzner, H. (2006). Project Management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mantel, S.J. & Meredith, J.R. (2006). Project Management: A managerial approach. (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Russell, M. (2008). Organizational structures in project management. Ezine articles. Retrieved August 01, 2008 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Organizational-Structures-In-Project-Management.

Perspectives on African Experience- Examine Ayi Akwei Armah's Essay

Perspectives on African Experience- Examine Ayi Akwei Armah's representation of the failures of decolonisation and national independence in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - Essay Example who is the main character in this story, is the protagonist, who seems to be the embodiment of good morals since he is not corrupt and has refused involvement in its gleam. The author wishes to communicate uprightness and good character through the Man, in order to awaken Ghanaians to the reality of corruption, materialism, poverty, political rhetoric and desperation. Promises made during the fight against colonialism were socialistic by nature, featuring equality and betterment of people’s lives, but none of them were fulfilled during the reign of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, or even after the coup. The novel brings out the reality of life in Ghana after independence, where people’s dreams of a better nation were shattered by the filth of corruption at that time. The Man’s dream was to go to the University of Legon, a dream that never came true just like most Ghanaians’ dreams of a better nation were shattered by the corrupt government system that came into power a fter colonialists had left. In this paper, I am to discuss in detail how the author uses symbolism to show moral decadence in the post-independence Ghana, and how it applies to other African states today. The theme of corruption covers the larger part of the novel, as witnessed by the Man on his way to his working place at the railway administration, when the conductor in the bus refuses to return the full change and keeps extra amount over the normal fare as his (Armah 1968, p.1). The conductor smells the cedi and says that it is strange that a man could have so many cedis pass through his hands and yet not really know their smell, implying that the conductor was money hungry. The bus in this case represents Ghana, the conductor represents its leaders, who are very corrupt and the passengers are the Ghanaians. The poor citizens in most African states participate in the economy through working but the money ends up in a few people’s pockets (Ferguson 2010, p. 170), no wonder the conductor is mocking the

UN Sanction within Iraq post-gulf storm war, how they affected the Research Proposal

UN Sanction within Iraq post-gulf storm war, how they affected the people and how they provided perhaps breeding ground for terrorist ideology - Research Proposal Example The period in the history of Kuwait in which the country was a part of Basra’s Ottoman ‘vilayet’ was also being followed by the gulf war of 1990/ 1991. A series of political events led to the stage of the war that was fought between the contrived coalition forces of the United States of America and the military troops of the then ruling leader Saddam Hussein. The frontiers of the countries of Kuwait, Saudi Arab and Iraq were decided in the conference of Uqair in the year 1922 by the then high commissioner of the British controlled Indian Army, Sir Percy Cox, for the city of Mesopotamia. The commissioner resolved the constituents of the frontiers of the country, cutting through different series of ridiculous claims and arguments that seemed to be almost impossible for the period. This event was one of the contributors to prepare the stage for the Gulf war. Finally in the year 1930 the high commissioner of the British army in Baghdad passed the judgment of the encouragement of the absorption of Kuwait into the geographical boundary of Iraq gradually by the government of Britain. According to the British government and their representatives the sacrifice of a small and expandable state of Kuwait would not be a huge concern if there had been an existing demand by the struggle of powers of the then period. Kuwait depicted as an ‘oil well’ was being maintained by the United Nations serving as the proxy for the western world. The colonialism policy of the British government along with the imperialism strategy of the United States of America proved to be economic, provided the accommodation were mutually congenial for both, and for the protection of the hegemony of the western world in the fulfillment of the interest of democratic freedom over the natur al oil reserve of the Gulf countries. They were being buttressed by the feudalistic policies of the other regional countries. Previously the government of the United States of America was indifferent regarding Iraq’s conflict with Kuwait, evidence from the period of late nineties or the period of the beginning of the year 1991 showed the strategies of the American government were in favor of war against Iraq. The United States of America provided a positive signal to Iraq, for the invasion of Kuwait by the later. However they emphasized on the lack of commitment from their part in the supply of troops to back the invasion of Kuwait. There were quick moves on the part of the government of United States on the economical, military and political fronts during the period of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq though no serious opposition was provided by United States on the country’s invasion. The result was too threatening for the government of Iraq. Saddam Hussein was named t he ‘new Hitler’ and ridiculed in Britain, apart from the United States and elsewhere. This led to the introduction of economic sanctions that were comprehensive under the auspices of the United Nations. (Simons, 1–3: Schmid, 3) This invasion of Kuwait by Iraq resulted in the providence of a sanction by the Security Council of United Nations, which imposed tremendous impact on the economy of the country and more devastatingly on the lives of the countrymen.   United Nation Sanction on Iraq   During the period of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq under the governmental leadership of Saddam Hussein the sanctions were mainly applied by the United Nations to pressurize the government of Iraq, which would act as an indirect force to make them leave. The sanctions mainly and predominantly focused on

International Business Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Business Economics - Essay Example Thus, economic growth can be measured in nominal terms by taking into concern the factors like inflation and other economic indicators (Barro & Sala-i-Martin, 2004). Economic growth is usually calculated in real terms to eliminate the changing effect of inflation on the price of total goods produced. Whenever, one examines the modern economy and traditional development, the process of growth in an economy can also be identified at large. Identifiably, traditional economists have attempted to develop certain theories based on which the economic growth can be examined. This can be substantiated with reference to the fact that without the support of agriculture, industrialisation economic revolution cannot be made possible. The percent rate of increase in real Gross Domestic Product or GDP is measured as economic growth. The growth ratio of GDP is therefore called as per capita income. GDP growth indicates the increase rate in inputs such as capital, population or territory, which is known as extensive growth. On the other hand, an increase in growth caused by more efficient use of inputs is referred as intensive growth (Tahvonen, 2000). Based on the study of economics, one of the issues relating to international business economics i.e. â€Å"Economic Growth† typically refers to the growth of probable outputs like production at full employment in every field. Economic growth is generally eminent from the development in the sphere of economics. Meanwhile, economic growth is measured as the annual percent of GDP. Justifiably, GDP measures the market economy, which tends to exaggerate growth during the change from farming economy to household production. It is worth mentioning that the study of macro economics has a strong interrelation with economic growth, as it is fundamentally based on growth of agriculture and industrial production among others (Barro & Sala-i-Martin,

Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Research Paper - 1

Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property - Research Paper Example This particular industry is quite sensitive industry. The ethical issues in the marketing and advertising, intellectual property and regulation of product safety are discussed below. Marketing and advertisement is an effective communication tool that helps an organization to communicate with the end customers regarding the introduction of new product. First of all, several pharmaceutical companies implement competitive pricing strategy and promote their drugs and several products in economic price level compromising with the quality of the products. It can actually affect the health of human beings as several side effects of these drugs can create several problems in body. Secondly, the organizations used to provide emotional adverts and wrong information about the products. It is quite unethical to provide this wrong information. Thirdly, CompCare the subsidiary of the PharmaCare used to and market specific products although the compounded materials were not supposed to sold in bulk . Wrong information about client list, quality issues of drugs and price war between the organizations can be considered as the major ethical issues in marketing and advertising. ... In terms of the regulation of the products safety, the organization faces several critical issues. Providing drugs in low price level to the people of low income group without considering the quality aspect can be considered as one of the ethical issues. Inadequate quality of the pharmaceutical lab can be considered as one of the major issues in the product safety regulation. Inadequate composition in several drugs became issues for the PharmaCare. 2. Argue for or against Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) marketing by drug companies Direct-to-Consumer has considered a one of the important marketing communication tools for several healthcare or pharmaceutical organizations. This DTC marketing process is quite useful and can help the society to overcome several challenges. It is true that advertising and promotion is important for each and every organization to create awareness about the products and services in the minds of the target customers (Doern & Prince, 2012). It is true that the pharm aceutical companies provide effective solutions to several critical diseases that can take away the priceless lives of human beings. After strong research and hard work, the pharmaceutical companies succeed to make a solution to these diseases. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the governments and several public bodies to increase awareness about these drugs that can ensure good health and safety of the mankind. DTC can be considered as an effective marketing communication tools. It is true that several organizations used to follow unethical steps in order to maximize business profits. But, it is true that the society and community cannot get benefits until and unless the people within the society cannot get aware about

Whirlpool Corporation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Whirlpool Corporation - Research Paper Example Furthermore, the company anticipates designing environmentally products in the future to rhyme with the anticipations of the clients. In addition, the marketing strategy that Whirlpool adopts is driven by the needs of the market. In this case, for the company to attain competitive advantage, it is being forced to take advantage of leveraging the global environment in diverse regions. It also plans to implement different marketing mix strategies to address the diverse needs of clients in those countries. Whirlpool segments its market by regions, since almost every nation has unique preferences, which are influenced by customs, the environment, and economic situations among other issues. It is ideal to note that technology is playing a key role in the current business environment. In the case of Whirlpool Corporation, it has not been left behind on this issue. It aims at adopting technology, which will allow it to advance and provide innovative products, which emerge competitive and ea sily excel in the market place. To achieve this function, Whirlpool anticipates incorporating a variety of options, including global procurement, development of corporate technology, and creates an advance manufacturing concepts team. With respect to global procurement, the company anticipates buying an organizing all distribution materials as well as the components ideal for appliance production. Corporate technology anticipates developing products as well as capabilities for process technology and technical services for the Whirlpool business.

Malaysian stock market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Malaysian stock market - Essay Example Using Duncan & Etebari's (1990) method, an initial sample of five securities firms in the KLSE which posted the largest price gains for each of the 49 trading weeks of 2005 will be obtained, all of which were queried by the KLSE during the same period as well. From the price data, initial raw returns will be calculated which in turn will be used to estimate average and cumulative average returns. Conversely, a measure of 'unusual' trading volume will be obtained from the samples by still using Duncan & Etebari's method in measuring abnormal trading volume. A t-test will be applied to determine if behaviour of the average and cumulative returns and positive abnormal volume results are significantly different from zero. Information disclosure is one of the most crucial ingredients for the effective operation of stock markets. Yang and Wu (2002) cite that the financial crisis in Southeast Asian countries that broke out in 1997 and the Enron bankruptcy case in the United States capital market in 2001 provide negative examples that teach about the importance of information on the stock market. Inadequate and even fraudulent information disclosure would bring tremendous negative effect on the effective operation of the whole capital market (Yang and Wu, 2002). As a listed company making full disclosure reduces information asymmetry and enables the public to have information necessary to make informed decisions (Hwa, 2004), Bursa Malaysia demands and requires issuing listed company for explanation when it observes unusual share price or trading volume changes for that company. As stated in the Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements, paragraph 9.02(2), "a listed company is required to make immediate public disclosure of any material information." When information is voluntarily withheld, the company must closely monitor the share price of the company during the period. A company must make immediate announcement to Bursa Malaysia upon detecting unusual circumstances such as heavy share transaction volume, unusual market activity, surfacing rumours or news and signs that insider trading are happening. The company under these situations must immediately publicly clarify, confirm or deny the rumour or report (Hwa, 2004). Such a response may have i nformation content and thus market impact. The role of informational content of companies' responses to unusual market activity observed by the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange is the prime component of the study. The theory of efficient capital markets provides that stock prices will respond to announcements only when the information being announced is new and unexpected. Because changes in stock prices are unpredictable, when information is announced that has been expected by the market, the stock price will remain unchanged (Mishkin, 2003). Studies done by Teitenberg and Wheeler (2001) on information disclosure strategies write that public announcements do seen to affect the market valuations of firms. Effective information disclosure also entails the reduction or the control of insider trading in the stock market. In

Improving Productivity Essay Example for Free

Improving Productivity Essay To talk about improvement we need to know first what productivity is in a technical view as a work application. As Montano said, productivity is the proportion that is achieved between the made product or proportionate service and the inputs that have intervened in the accomplishment of this product or service[1]; a measure of how efficiently an organization converts inputs into outputs. Taking into account its definition, it is important to know how to improve the productivity in companies. The specialization and division of the work are some of them. These allow major knowledge of the work, increase of the quality and therefore major performance of the workman; in addition there is a better control of the work, a decrease of mistakes and wastes and enables delegation. Mechanization saves time of manufacture, increases number of working hours, eliminates costs of training compensations and rewards, etc. Standardization allows a decrease of costs of maintenance, the scale and scope production. As scientific management (developed by Taylor) arguments, nonstandard labor practices are too expensive and wasteful; their approach was to homogenize the labor element of operation: standard methods and standard time. Productivity improvement involves methods study, with flowcharting as operator-machine time chart. Methods study, aimed at improving as well safety and ease of performing the work; ergonomics and the well design of distribution of plant are important issues in productivity. Effective communication clarifies the objectives of the whole organization and therefore allows saving time. Training, education, planning and coordinating activities form effective work. What is very important is to integrate as many employees as possible into this process. As Leon Ho express â€Å"Procrastination is the biggest time thief of all! † By identifying the reasoning behind procrastination issues, solutions can be found, such as breaking larger projects down into smaller pieces, scheduling some tasks for first thing in the morning so they are done, and delegating any tasks that are so routine they feel like a waste of your time[2]. Without a deadline, people tend to put things off. A time standard acts like a deadline, helping to keep people motivated. In overall reducing cost and waste, analysis methods that are made especially for areas of the organization, quality control and technology are the most known ways to improve productivity in any firm. No matter what type organization is, all search improvement in productivity that obliges better methods and equipments. However, improving productivity should be permanent, alive and part of the organization at all levels[3]. Now, new productivity needs to be broad and integrated. Bibliography MONTANO,Agustin. Administracion de la produccion.

Cultural Distance How Is It Measured Commerce Essay

Cultural Distance How Is It Measured Commerce Essay Culture is a wide concept whose definition may vary depending on the discipline it comes from, and many litterateurs have attempted to give it a precise and unique definition, which could be taken as valid in every field, always in vain. This essay will dwell upon the significant role culture plays in the global market, given that it is a vital element not to be neglected for a successful career when doing business abroad. Academics of various subjects, especially anthropologists, have been wondering about the definition of culture for decades, with the result of conveying plenty of explanations about its core and how it is perceived among populations. As already said, while this notion has been quested and analysed throughout the anthropological field, it had been widely disregarded in other fields (Taras Steel, 2009). The first intellectual who moved his analysis of culture to the market sector was Geerte Hofstede (Taras Steel, 2009). Thus, this articles intention is to focus on a different approach to culture, i.e. how cultural difference is able to affect marketing operations around the globe. Firstly, this text will go through Hofstedes method (1980) and elucidate why, despite being a broadly criticised model, it still remains the most relevant reference work for cross-cultural successive analysis. Secondly, it will compare and contrast the famous concepts of Hofstede, Trompenaars and Hampden Turner and Schwartz Value Inventory. Subsequently, the article will try to give empirical evidence of how culture diversity affects the markets of the whole planet by providing the example of various cultural clashes of a famous American fast food company in three different Asian countries. Hofstedes model: Lots of criticism but still the most used in the world Hofstedes model of cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980) was a pioneering method elaborated in order to measure cultural distance. It was developed during the late 70s after an attentive examination of work-related values in the IBM employees in 40 countries (Lee Carter, 2012). As the first model ever created, all subsequent studies relate to it, by evaluating, comparing, analysing and obviously criticising e.g. Hofstedes model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith a failure of analysis (MacSweeny, 2002). Among all those aforementioned relations to the study, criticising is the one which most drew the attention of the people who approached Hofstedes research. Nonetheless, there are also some scholars which take Hofstedes side and question MacSweenys fallacious presuppositions, by thoroughly analysing his work and by pointing out his main misunderstandings; MacSweenys critique lacks consistency in terms of clarification about the paradigm he uses to confute Hosftedes cultural research. (Williamson, 2002). Despite being a source subjected to pure criticism, the work of Geert Hofstede, a Dutch organizational anthropologist, is perhaps the most widely used and accepted approach to cross-cultural analysis (Lee Carter, 2012, p. 130). Hofstedes work is still considered to be the most exhaustive and easy-to-understand study of cultural diversity (Holden, 2003). Culture is a broad concept and its definition may vary depending on the context it is related. In fact, it was argued that conceptualising such a wide topic like culture and apply it to every random context could be considered quite presumptuous, surely awry and as a misguided attempt to measure the unmeasurable (MacIntyre, 1961; Smelser, 1992 cited in MacSweeny 2002, p. 90). As a consequence of what just asserted, Hofstedes research was accused of being carried out only in one field and, besides, in a non-market field in which the test persons of IBM were not examined as consumers, negotiators or market intermediaries (Holden, 2003). Afterwards, because its data collection dates back to the late 70s, it was claimed the impossibility of implementation in a plausible current market scenario. Hence, it was judged as out of date, considering that the society had changed (2003). Furthermore, it is bizarre that the most used investigation related to global marketing operations in the worl d has been written by an anthropologist who has nothing to do with being a real marketer (2003). Although these understandable criticisms, Hofstedeans work Cultures Consequences (1980), cited more than 5000 times, still remains the most accepted and utilised method in the cross-cultural analysis. Hofstedes model in comparison and contrast with Trompenaars and Hampden Turner and Schwartz Value Inventory The data, vital for the elaboration of the model, was collected during a certain laps of time and both Hofstede and Trompenaars and Hampden Turner extrapolated their data from questionnaires distributed among workers, with a tiny difference though: Hosftede opted for employees of a specific company, whereas Trompenaars and Hampden Turner for managers of various organisations (Dahl, 2004). Expanding the research into different companies could have been a notable advantage, because it allowed the study to get different perspectives from the respondents. In terms of question typology, Hofstede, as previous stated, decided to ask people about precise work-related value questions, while Trompenaars and Hampden Turner did not only concentrate on the work situation but on the leisure one as well (2004). In any case, they both questioned their actors about preferred state and behaviours. Unlike the other two researches, Shalom Schwartz with his Schwartz Value Survey (1992) took a differen t questioning approach and asked 60,000 people from 63 countries to appraise 57 values as guiding principles of ones life. (Lee Carter, 2012). Schwartzs method (1992), unlike Hofstede (1980) and Trompenaars and Hampden Turner (1998), gives a different vision by evidently separating the individual-level from the cultural-level analysis and by differentiating value types from value dimensions (Dahl, 2004). As a result, Schwartz method allowed to create a category as a value dimension by take into consideration one of the value type identified by the respondent and its opposite value type. The cultural-level and individual-level analysis are separated and their data cannot be evaluated as a whole, i.e. knowing the actors individual values is not necessary to deduce the culture of each individual (Javidan et al). Hofstede used to call this assumption ecological fallacy (Dahl, 2004). According to MacSweeny (2002), Hofstede did not used to make a differentiation between the meaning of culture at large and national culture. He treated it as a nationally discrete part, core, a nucleus (MacSweeny, 2002, p. 92); in other words, he c onceived it as a shared constituent of culture which is made of other different sub-cultures (MacSweeny, 2002). In order to remark Hofstedes idea that a population within a nation, in a certain way, shares the same culture, MacSweeny gives an explicit example by declaring that Hofstede treats the country Great Britain as a single nation with a unique national culture. Regrettably, it is debated that Scotland, even though being inside Great Britain, does not have the equivalent culture of an English citizen. Unlike the aberrant supposition called ecological assumption, both Hosftede and Trompenaars and Hampden Turner accept the so called onion assumption, which has layers to be peeled off (Dahl, 2004), that explains why knowing values in a culture tell us what actually happens in that culture (Javidan et al, p. 899). Yet, a substantial difference lies in the conception of this onion-like model, i.e. Hofstede conceives it as four layers onion, whereas Trompenaars and Hampden Turner fantasise it as a only two layers onion. Still, in spite of the different cognition of the onion, both Hofstedes and Trompenaars and Hampden Turners methods represent the same concept as Cowley and Hanna (2005) assert: The objective of this unit was to learn to exfoliate the perceptible manifestations of culture (artefacts and products), to peel away the layer of norms and values, to discover the core. The most emblematic diversity from these two models is that Hofstedes study investigates through the values of the respondents, while Trompenaars and Hampden Turner is more focused on their behavioural attitudes both in work and recreation moments (Lee Carter 2012). Another comparison can be made in terms of identification of some given value dimensions. Hofstede identified four (with a later fifth in addition) (Hosftede, 2001?), the Schwartz Value Inventory classified ten value types and four main value dimensions and finally Trompenaars and Hampden Turner categorised ten. All these results can be associated and most of them seen as parallel in concept terms, e.g. Hofstedes Power distance bears a resemblance to Trompenaars and Hampden Turners Achievement vs. ascription (Lee Carter, 2012). In addition, another dimension might be considered almost identical: Communitarism vs. individualism of Trompenaars and Hampden Turner with Individualism vs. collectivism of Hofstede (2012). In his work, Hofstede wanted to create a valid framework which was able to classify and distinguish different cultures, and to be aware of potential cultural collisions within a business environment. Thus, Hofstedes interpretation of culture envisages a tight correlation between an invisible level, values and a visible level in which these values manifest, in other words practices (Javidan et al). Empirical evidence of cultural distance impact on global marketing operations Obviously, cultural distance is an issue that affects large companies which are able to broaden the horizons and look for great fortune abroad. Start setting new investments into a foreign market requires a high volume of money and that is why only great organisations can afford such a treacherous move. Why treacherous? A foreign market can absolutely be as profitable as disadvantageous, depending on how much companies take the cultural factors into account. According to Pankaj Ghemawat, (2001) economist and global strategist at the IESE Business School of Barcelona, graduated at Harvard University, many companies are so attracted by foreign markets that sometimes they underestimate the financial threat they are running into. Following, the article is going to present a clear example of how the Asian culture shaped the business of a worldwide company like McDonalds. It will go through all the changes the company had to make in three different countries: Japan, Hong Kong and China. According to what Harris P. (Managing Cultural Difference, 2002) wrote, there is a big gap between the western culture and the eastern one. Through this table (Figure 1), it is quite self-explanatory in what the main principles differ one from another and what the American fast food company McDonalds had to be aware of when moving its brand to Asia: (Figure 1) When people think about McDonalds, the first word crossing their mind might be standardization. Hofstede (1980) would have thought of organizational culture instead. McDonalds is the emblematic example of a company which aims at keeping the same level of quality, cleanliness, customer service, food taste and value. Its main strengths rely on fast service and standard taste of the food, and these have demonstrated to be very profitable in the western market. Unluckily, Asian people were not used to having lunch or dinner in a dozen of minutes, for this reason McDonalds had to cogitate a strategy to get customers and make profit. Referring to Hofstedes classification of power Distance countries worldwide (geert-hofstede.com), Japan has been rated as one of the countries with the lowest score (55), which means it is less inclined to accept a high organizational culture as McDonalds. Nonetheless, the famous fast food company, thanks to some strategies, managed to succeed and survive the Nippon market. First issue of the organisation was that the Japanese society is famous for eating rice during the day as a filling meal. Because of that, McDonalds introduced new products made of rice in the market, like Chinese fried rice, curried rice with chicken and fried egg burger. Thanks to the lanching of these new products the company managed to be taken into consideration from the Japanese society. Secondly, in Japan, such as in other countries like Italy or Spain, there is an elevated sense of commensality, something which is not included in the McDonalds brand. Notwithstanding, the company had to do something to get around this cultural problem and, as a result, it started furnishing its restaurants with tables and chairs where Japanese could eat and spend some time together as being home. Finally, another problem arose when the Japanese society regarded the typical hamburger as snack and not as a whole meal. McDonalds implemented a good strategy by taking this misleadin g perception and converted it into an advantage to create then a place suited for young people who want to get a fast meal and chill out for a while. (McDonalds in Japan, 2009) The situation slightly changed in the state of Hong Kong. According to Hofstedes chart of Power Distance countries, Hong Kong has been rated a little bit more than Japan (68) which, as a consequence, described this country as more open to a centralized organization as the American McDonalds. In fact, People of Hong Kong were already familiar with a market fast food conception, but despite this, McDonalds was doubtful about spreading its companys values onto this Asian market. McDonalds first step was to leave the sign of the company in its original language without any translation, and in addition the founder of the restaurant in Honk Hong, Daniel Ng, opted for a smart solution which consisted of transliterating the name. Transliteration is a good strategy to avoid a cultural translation issue. It renders the English sound of the word into Chinese characters, without running into the problem of translating the meaning of the word. It would be a tough task to avoid. The strength McDon alds used, relied on not imposing the companys values to the locals, but on shaping its organizational culture in order to get approval from them (McDonalds in Hong Kong, 2009). China, in Hofstedes Power Distance chart (1980), has been rated with a very high score (80), therefore McDonalds problems had got nothing to do with the adaptation of a centralized organizational culture. What happened in Beijing was the emblem of cultural difference a big organisation such as McDonalds must take into account: Despite having accessed the Chinese market, McDonalds was not able to clearly convey the values of its work to the locals, and for this reason could not get rid of the competition. Chinese people, even though were familiar with the fast food chain, did not consider it part of their cuisine culture. After years, they kept seeing it as an American brand in Chinese territory. Hence, this was not an advantage at all. Ideological, political and economic differences were an obstacle for an American brand which was operating in the Chinese market. The resolution to this issue lied on the fact that the organisation had to start blending more with the local culture, avo iding to stress firmly its Americanism. Understood so, McDonalds began to introduce Chinese traditional food in its menu in order to show the Chinese population its inclination to respect and use the territorial food culture. In addition, all the restaurants were decorated with Chinese paper-cuts design. This way, customers commenced to trust the brand and see it from a different perspective. This is the same path KFC had to follow to be a very profitable company in the Chinese market nowadays (KFC and McDonalds a model of blended culture, 2004). Conclusion The aim of this article consisted in giving a brief analysis of the models used in cross-cultural distance in order to provide a general understanding. The essay has taken exactly three methods into consideration: Hofstedes, Trompenaars and Hampden Turner and Schwartz Value Inventory. Their investigation is all about identifying cultural differences among people who live in different part of the globe and the usage it has been done with these methods is the most relevant feature this article wants to point out. Big organisations which operate in different countries have to study and analyse the culture of the place they would like to settle in, because culture is the key to be successful, increasing popularity and cash flows. These companies, such as McDonaldss, make use of the cross-cultural distance methods in order to evaluate all the cultural factors they could be running into and be prepared to overcome them easily with an effective strategy implementation. To sum up, these models are vital for a company which sets its investments outside the borders of its country and

The Bearer Of The Fruits Of Sin :: essays research papers

The world of Puritan New England, like the world of today, was filled with many evil influences. Many people were able to withstand the temptations of this darker side of the spiritual world, but still some fell victim to the supposed Satan’s will. Such offences against God, in thought, word, deed, desire or neglect, are what we define as sin (Schuler 14). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reader is able to observe how one sin devastates three lives. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all guilty of succumbing to temptation, anger, and desire, causing all to fit the definition of a sinner. Yet, Chillingworth’s iniquities raise him up above Hester and Dimmesdale on the level of diabolic acts. From the very moment Chillingworth is introduced, he is deceitful towards the Puritan society. Chillingworth appears in the novel, seeming to know nothing of the scene at the scaffold. He asks of a townsperson: â€Å"†¦who is this woman? – and wherefore is she here to set up to public shame?† (Hawhtorne 67). Yet, we find in the next chapter that he indeed knows who Hester is, because Chillingworth is the lawful husband of her. He decieves the people of Boston to avoid the humiliation his wife brought upon him. In this respect, Chillingworth sins against the eight commandment, â€Å"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour† (Schuler 26).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now, one could state that Hester also sins against the eighth commandment. She never reveals the name of her daughter’s father. And it is stated that one must always tell the truth. Yet, it also states that one must keep a secret whenever asked to do so, and not say anything to damage another’s reputation (Schuler 27). So Hester, in fact, did not sin. She never denies that Dimmesdale was the father of Pearl. She also could not admit the truth because she would break a promise to Dimmesdale and damage his reputation. Dimmesdale also may be accused of this crime, but likewise, he never outwardly states that he was not the father of this child, he merely chooses to remain silent on the matter. While Chillingworth is guilty of breaking the eighth commandment, he also breaks the fifth commandment â€Å"You shall not kill† (Schuler 24). It fact that Chillingworth did not directly kill anyone in the novel. Nevertheless, a serious act of anger or hatred is considered a sin under this commandment (Schuler 25).

The Hamlet in Me :: English Literature Essays

The Hamlet in Me Whether we are planning to build a boat or hoping to write a good essay, the only way to go about these tasks is to make a detailed plan of all the steps that need to be taken in order to get the desired result. If you spontaneously decide to build a boat, the result may be a plywood tub that leaks from all sides, let alone hold anyone in it. Hamlet, a seventh century story put to life through the amazing writing of Shakespeare, is a play that shows how meticulous and well thought out plans will bring about the desired result. The plays main character, Hamlet, is a Renaissance man that struggles with the corrupt world around him. He must deal with such issues like "blood for blood revenge" when his own uncle kills his father and takes his place as king. A ghost king appears to Hamlet and catalyzes the events that follow in the play. Hamlet must devise a plan to take revenge for his father and bring to justice all the people who have marred the situation. Though the church mandates through its moral code that Hamlet not take revenge, Hamlet tries to find the worst fate for his devious uncle possible: "Now might I do it, now he is a-praying, And now I'll do't and so he goes to heave†¦When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th' incestuous pleasure of his bed†¦Then trip him†¦And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes" (3.4.77-100). Hamlet finally gains the nerve to kill his uncle, but sheaths his sword when he realizes that if he kills him while he is praying, his uncle will ascend to heaven. He ultimately decides to kill his uncle when he commits a sin, so that his soul "may be as damned and black as hell." He goes through a meticulous thought process, which shows him both his options and when to act to give his uncle the most cruel and horrible death he deserves. His actions also bring in a conflict between church and the revengeful calls of his families past. If he revenges his father's death then he will be damned to hell according to the church. Without Hamlet's patient and meticulous thought process he would not be able to outwardly expose the king of his wrong doings to Horatio: There is a play tonight before the King.

Media and the Writing Process :: Television Media TV

Media and the Writing Process When looking at a work of media, ones tries to find something that would enhance the writing process. Television, as well as cinema often lends to this process. One example of this is with the John Carpenters’ Vampires, which incorporates the use of suspense and anticipation to lure the viewer into concerning themselves more in to the story. Another example, is the television documentary Hitler’s Henchmen which uses a systematic, chronological method to tell the story of Adolf Hitler’s main Architect, Albert Speer. Of course literary works also can help in enhancing the quality of one’s work. A River Runs through it, Norman Macleans’ personal memoirs, lends to the reader the idea of the metaphor to pursue plot. Another literary work The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger tells the story of a doomed vessel lost at sea and does so through the use of creative language. Cinema is often overlooked as an outlet for literary enhancement. On the contrary, however, many films often tend to use or incorporate ideas which can be transferred with success to a literary piece. The film, Vampires uses many literary devices to progress its story and plot. The devices which were used most extensively, those of suspense and anticipation, can easily be incorporated to enhance a literary piece aesthetically. Television, again, like Cinema is a media which is overlooked when searching for methods to enhance ones work. A television documentary, recently aired, Hitlers Henchmen used a technique which is perhaps vital to a successful literary work. Displaying a information in a systematic, or chronological fashion, as done in the documentary, often clears the path for the reader, or the viewer in this case to make their own assumptions, or judgement of what they have seen. The most important of all media to be used to enhance ones’ own work of course is another piece of literature. The metaphor, as in Norman MacLeans’ work, A River Runs Through It is an excellent device used to give more meaning to single ideas, and can easily enhance a work.

Stylistic Analysis: “To—” by Peter Shelley

Language through Poetry: A Stylistic Analysis of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s â€Å"To —â€Å" A Stylistic Paper Presented to The Faculty of the Department of English Institute of Arts and Sciences Far Eastern University Manila In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement for the Course Eng C 31—Introduction to Stylistics Osabel, Julla C. Panis, Kimberly Nicole S. October, 2012 I. Reaction and it’s effects on you II. Summary of the Text Percy Bysshe Shelley’s â€Å"To —â€Å" is one of his lyrical poetry—is a poem used to express feelings—ideally of the Romantic Era.In his poem, the poem is about an unrequited love—a term that is used when one person has strong feelings towards another that is not reciprocated. Or in other words, someone is in love with someone else who is not interested. It is also about realistic and complicated love, which means that the persona of the poem wants to express his emotions towards the addresse e but he feared to show because in reality, he knew that it is impossible for them to be together, thus, this depicts the persona’s complicated feelings or emotions and the reality of their relationship to each other.The poem illustrates farewell and goodluck to the addressee. To summarize the poem, it is about a man who is in love with someone else or he secretly in love with, who is not interested. He wants to express his feelings to the addressee but he feared to express it, due to his complicated emotions, he chose not to say his emotions because in reality, the addressee will not love him back. Instead of obvious insisting his feelings towards the addressee, the man shows farewell and goodluck to the person he loved most. III. Stylistic AnalysisA. Stylistic Tools Phonology Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages. It has a phonological system of a language includes, an inventory of sounds and their features, and rules which specify how sounds interact with each other. In other words, Phonology is just one of several aspects of language. It is related to other aspects such as phonetics, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics (Sil, 2004). Hence, in Stylistic analysis, Phonology is one of the suited units of analysis in poetry.Basic Sound Patterns Sound devices are resources used by poets to express and emphasize the meaning or experience of poetry through the skilful use of sound. After all, poets are trying to use a focused blend of sound and imagery to form an emotional response. The words and their order should evoke images, and the words themselves have sounds, which can reinforce or otherwise clarify those images. Sound patterns have different elements that show the nature of poetry, and these are the following: 1. Alliteration C-V-CAlliteration is the repetition of the same letter or sounds at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals. e. g Dewdrops dancing on the drifting dust made for a dreary day. 2. Assonance C-V-C Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to set the mood. e. g Try to light the fire. 3. Consonance C-V-C Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds by not vowel sounds. e. g Some mammals are clammy. 4. Reverse Rhyme C-V-CReverse Rhyme it is the repetition of consonant and vowel sounds which happen at the beginning. e. g brainless, bracelet, brakeless 5. Pararhyme C-V-C Pararhyme is the repetition of of first and the last consonant sounds. e. g bat and brat 6. Rhyme C-V-C Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is the end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound. e. g I saw a fairy in the wood, He was dressed all in green. He drew his sword while I just stood,And realized I'd been seen. 7. Repetition is anything that is repeated. e. g â€Å"goodnight goodnight, parting time is such a sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow† — Romeo and Juliet, W. Shakespeare These sounds or elements of sounds are used by the poets to convey the meaning of the text. In this procedure, the poet or author strengthen the vividness of the imagery of the poem to discern its effects or significance of the text. Sound Symbolism Sound symbolism is the study of the direct relationship between the sound of an utterance and its meaning (Hinton, 1999).Sound symbolism is persistent among the world’s languages. Furthermore, sound symbolism plays a significant role in language, especially at the affective level. Essential to the study of cognitive poetics is the concept of sound symbolism, which has been defined differently by different authors but here refers to cases in which ‘a sound unit such as a phoneme, syllable, feature, or tone is said to go beyon d its linguistic function as a contrastive, non-meaning-bearing unit, to directly express some kind of meaning’ (Nuckolls,1999).Jespersen (1922) made the claims that sounds that are suggestive of meaning (which he claims happens through association, not because a sound intrinsically has a specific meaning) ‘makes words more fit to survive and give them considerable help in their struggle for existence’. Mithun (1982) notes that, in many languages, ‘words for noises, animal cries, mental states, physical states, and actions, termed by Fudge ‘expressive vocabulary,’ seem particularly resistant to regular phonetic change’.She goes on to give the specific example of Iroquoian languages, where expressive terms are ‘characterized by special syntactic, morphological, and phonological patterns’. Expressive vocabulary and taboo words contain sounds that do not occur elsewhere. She also claims that expressive vocabulary in Iroquoian l anguages is imitative and therefore resistant to phonological change. While she does not make specific claims about certain sounds being related to certain meanings, her data suggest that phonemes do have a relationship to meaning in Iroquoian ideophones, but that relationship may be imitative rather than iconic or symbolic.The significance of sound, sound patterns and sound symbolism is that in terms of writing texts, particularly poetry, it helps the poets or writers convey the message of the text in implicit manner. This may add to the aesthetic effects of writing poetry while on the readers, the advantage is that, it helps them to understand, appreciate and feel the emotions of the text that the poet is trying to convey. Every sounds of the text has its meaning, whether it describe or gives emphasis to the text. B. Stylistic Tool/ Discussion of coding In this short phonological analysis it begins with the analysis of the sound pattern of the poem.In each sound pattern, it has sh aded area where it shows the comprehensibility of the analysis after that, the researchers tabulated it to find the frequency and percentage form the least number of sound pattern used up to the most number of sound pattern used. Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Rhyme and Repetition To —- BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY One word is too often profaned For me to profane it, One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it; One hope is too like despair For prudence to smother, And pity from thee more dear Than that from another. I can give not what men call love,But wilt thou accept not The worship the heart lifts above And the Heavens reject not,— The desire of the moth for the star, Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow? As can be seen in the text, the most number of shaded sound patterns belongs to Rhyme. As rhyme pattering is concerned, two types of rhyme to be distinguished. First, in the first stanza of the tex t, the shaded rhyming words are rhyme has several syllables and the stressed rhyming syllable, which means that this type of rhyme is Feminine (Latham, 2010).While on the second stanza, same as in first stanza of the text, the shaded rhyming words are in feminine type expect from the first line of the 2nd stanza. (â€Å"love†), thus, it shows the masculine rhyme—single stressed syllable (Costa,2000). The least number of sound pattern used in the text is the Consonance. The sound /t/ occur once in the first and second line of the 2nd stanza. In this two lines practically all the consonants are plosives. To them is generally associated a sound of harshness and hardness (Costa,2000). The use of one masculine rhyme in text depicts the persona of the poem which is man†, while the remaining feminine rhymes depict the addressee, which is â€Å"woman†. The connection of those two types of rhymes that were distinguished in the text is that, the â€Å"man†, w ho is in love with the addressee (woman), but the addressee know nothing about the man’s feeling towards her. The use of one consonance in the text, illustrates the volume of hardness of the feelings to the persona to express is least. Therefore, it shows the persona’s attitude which is fearful of expressing his thoughts to the addressee and due to this, it is explained suitable for the theme of the poem—unrequited love.Figure 1. Sound Pattern Percentage Sound Pattern| Frequency| Percentage (%)| Consonance| 1| 5| Assonance| 3| 16| Alliteration| 4| 21| Repetition| 4| 21| Rhyme| 7| 37| TOTAL| 19| 100| As revealed by the number of percentage of the sound pattern used in the poem, Rhyme has the most number of percentages. This shows that rhymed stanzas are used in lyrical poetry. Traditionally, in romantic era, lyrical poetry use rhymed stanzas to convey or express strong feelings thus, the significant use of the it is that, it reveals the fusion of sound and sense in the poem.

Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall Essay

In this film, based upon a screenplay by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall from a novel from Waterhouse (which written in 1959 influenced by the prevailing theme of the 1950s – the protest of the angry young men), director John Schlesinger creates the fantasized world of Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay), a young man working at the Shadrack and Duxbury funeral parlor who dreams of becoming a great writer. Julie Christie provides some romance for the awkward clerk. Denys Coop’s cinematography effectively captures the drab life and imaginative world of Billy’s existence, lending further relevance to the film in real life. Billy is an original character whose fantasy life is funny throughout. Known to his officemates as Billy Liar because he is a compulsive liar, Fisher escapes his dour existence by creating a fantasy life as the military leader of the fictional, semi-fascist state of Ambrosia. This fantasy supplies the power and control lacking in his daily life where he feels trapped in his job at the funeral parlor. Though chronic lying is not admirable and his coldness towards his family and his fiancees is dislikable trait, still, overall, Billy is an attractive character, and we can pity him as his rather pathetic pretenses are exposed, while still seeing the justness of the exposure. Waterhouse has managed to mirror the basic nature of people: being dissatisfied with what we have and therefore devising all means to be what we dream to be. Billy Liar remains a pleasing counterpoint to the depressive movies Room at the Top (1958) and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). According to Gale (1996), this film that was originally a novel led some commentators to place Waterhouse in the Angry Young Men School. It is in some ways a study of provincial dissatisfaction. Our lives are very similar to Billy in many ways, the reality and fantasy of who we are sharply at odds. Most of us live with a family which is the quintessence of ordinariness; so we compensate by a rich fantasy life and, unfortunately, by dishonesty, much like Billy in the film. Reminiscent of Fisher’s character, we lie our way through life, not out of malice or even out of any conscious desire to cause mischief or to cause hurt to those around us, but purely because we cannot live with, or face up to the demands of, our real lives. The overall mood in the film is, however, disquieting – Fisher’s dreams include killing people, such as his parents, who place obstacles in his way. The film shows that the only real obstacle confronting Fisher is a lack of courage combined with no obvious talent. Much like in real life, we all have a secret vision of doing the unthinkable, murderous or otherwise, to people we extremely dislike. Our judgment is often clouded by anger for other people, which lead to ineffective use of our God-given talents, which in turn hinders the progress that we otherwise could have achieved easily. Despite its very British setting, the film has a universal dimension which is even more poignant in today’s Internet age. In a sense, Billy Liar is an adroit satire about a society caught between socio-economic classes. Billy Fisher’s character is therefore struggling against the limitations of his class, family and urban environment for a better opportunity to display his ability. This theme is relevant even today, as we all strive daily to move up the social and economic ladder of society, as a response to our natural trait to be forever dissatisfied. One cannot help but be fond of and relate to Billy Liar, a unique character that deeply depicts in what boils down to a humorous yet solemn and incontrovertibly influential movie. It is apparent that this film appealed and is still appealing to audiences precisely because Billy’s lack of courage, commitment and his flights of fancy are not so far removed from those of ourselves. Many of us live in dreams where we do spectacular things but given the chance we would not have the courage to accomplish them. Likewise, the film affirms that, ultimately, we must live with, rather than in opposition tom the real world, no matter how painful and uncertain the experience of that invariably will be. While on one level this film could be dismissed as a whimsical fantasy, there is a Billy Liar that exists in all of us. WORK CITED Gale, S. (1996). Encyclopedia of British Humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese. Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.

Cognitive Ability

Journal of Applied Psychology 2010, Vol. 95, No. 5, 889 –901  © 2010 American Psychological Association 0021-9010/10/$12. 00 DOI: 10. 1037/a0019985 Get Smarty Pants: Cognitive Ability, Personality, and Victimization Eugene Kim and Theresa M. Glomb University of Minnesota Drawing on the victim precipitation model, this study provides an empirical investigation of the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization at work. We propose that people high in cognitive ability are more prone to victimization.In this study, we also examine the direct and moderating effects of victims’ personality traits, specifically the 2 interpersonally oriented personality dimensions of agency and communion. Results support the direct positive relationship of cognitive ability and victimization. The positive relationship between high cognitive ability and victimization is moderated by the victims’ personality traits; agency personality traits strengthen the relationship of cognitive ability and victimization, whereas communion personality traits weaken this relationship.Keywords: cognitive ability, victimization, personality, agency, communion Recently, a Seattle Times article described the victimization of Suzuki Ichiro, a high-ability baseball player who achieved 200 hits for 8 consecutive years and was the 2007 All Star Game Most Valuable Player (see Baker, 2008). The article reported that his teammates from the Seattle Mariners stated they â€Å"really dislike him† and wanted to â€Å"knock him out† because this high-ability player cares more about individual records than team records.A popular press article (Bruzzese, 2002) reported that victims of workplace bullying are often employees who are â€Å"smart† and â€Å"talented,† and organizations that fail to prevent victimization against these talented employees will experience their turnover, decreases in productivity, and increases in health care costs (see also Murp hy, 2006). Similarly, a survey of workplace victimization suggests that â€Å"bright† people are often targets of interpersonal aggression because of their high level of ability (Namie & Namie, 2000).In the school context, research by Peterson and Ray (2006a, 2006b) on gifted children suggests that many high-ability students experience bullying in school because of their intellectual capability. Although each of the above examples provides a mere glimpse into the phenomena of victimization, together they suggest that ability may be a critical precipitating factor in victimization. However, there is limited research attention to the possibility that ability, specifically cognitive ability, may be associated with being a target of victimization—the possibility of â€Å"smart victims. Given that Brand (1987) posited â€Å"cognitive ability is to psychol- This article was published Online First August 16, 2010. Eugene Kim and Theresa M. Glomb, Department of Human Resourc es and Industrial Relations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2009 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.We are grateful to Michelle Duffy, Paul Sackett, and the participants of the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies Workshop for comments on earlier versions of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eugene Kim, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 321 19th Avenue South, Room 3-300, Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail: [email  protected] umn. edu 889 ogy as carbon is to chemistry† (p. 257), it is surprising that cognitive ability has not received attention in the workplace victimization literature.This study takes an important first step in establishing the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization in an organizational context; it builds the scholarly knowledge base of workplac e victimization and suggests that smart victims may be important to consider in attempts to prevent workplace victimization. In doing so, it makes contributions to the literature on cognitive ability, victimization, and an emerging theme in management research suggesting that victims may precipitate aggression from others in the workplace (for review, see Aquino & Thau, 2009).We outline these contributions below. First, this study suggests an exception to the generally accepted idea that cognitive ability is associated with various positive outcomes. Previous research confirming that cognitive ability predicts many job and real-life outcomes is plentiful (see Brand, 1987; Jensen, 1998; Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2004; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998); however, typically these outcomes are favorable. In comparison, we propose victimization, a negative outcome, will be higher for those high in cognitive ability.Understanding the relationship between cognitive ability and workplace victimization is particularly relevant because cognitive ability is used in selection decisions (Heneman & Judge, 2005) and is strongly related to skill and knowledge acquisition, task performance, and creativity at work (Kuncel et al. , 2004). Thus, understanding workplace victimization for those high in cognitive ability can reduce the risk of negative outcomes for these highly desirable employees, including decreased motivation, job satisfaction, and task performance (Glomb, 2002, in press) as well as lower team and organizational performance (Aquino & Thau, 2009).Second, this study extends the scope of the victim precipitation model, the idea that victims either intentionally or unintentionally provoke potential perpetrators. The limited application of the victim precipitation model emphasizes submissive and provocative victim characteristics (Aquino, 2000; Olweus, 1993) but has not posed the possibility of smart victims (for exceptions, see Namie & Namie, 2000; Peterson & Ray, 2006a, 2006b). By positing and testing the idea that smart victims may also adhere to the victim 890 KIM AND GLOMB recipitation model, we extend this theoretical framework beyond the typical submissive and provocative victim typologies. Third, we extend previous research by considering two basic personality dimensions—agency and communion (Digman, 1997; Wiggins, 1991)—and their interplay with cognitive ability and victimization. According to Bakan (1966), agency is defined as individualization in a group, and it involves independence, dominance, and personal growth; communion is defined as integration of the individual in a group, and it involves cooperation, attachment, and caring (see alsoWiggins, 1991). The original aim of agency and communion personality traits was to understand and distinguish interpersonal behaviors between individuals (Wiggins, 1991), thereby making agency and communion especially relevant to workplace victimization in which the interpersonal relationship of perpetrators and victims is critical for understanding victimization motives (see Schafer, 1977).Drawing primarily on the theory of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), we propose that communion is negatively related to victimization and also buffers the relationship of cognitive ability and victimization, whereas agency is positively related to victimization and also strengthens the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization. In summary, in this study we advance theoretical and empirical research on workplace victimization by examining the role of cognitive ability in precipitating victimization at work and how personality traits linked to more favorable interpersonal interactions (i. e. agency and communion) may have direct and moderating effects on victimization. Workplace Victimization The prevalence of harmful behaviors among employees has been reflected in a growing body of academic research (e. g. , Aquino & Thau, 2009; Barling, Dupre, & Kelloway, 2009; Bowl? ing & Bee hr, 2006; Douglas et al. , 2008; Glomb, Steel, & Arvey, 2002; Hershcovis et al. , 2007; Neuman & Baron, 2005; Sackett & DeVore, 2001). Researchers have examined interpersonal workplace aggression—any form of interpersonal behavior to harm, injure, or discomfort the target at work (Baron & Richardson, 1994; Glomb, 2002)—at the individual level (e. . , Baron & Neuman, 1996) and have also extended theoretical and empirical frameworks to consider group-level (e. g. , Glomb & Liao, 2003) and dyadic (e. g. , Andersson & Pearson, 1999) relationships. Drawing on theories of victimization (e. g. , Curtis, 1974; Schafer, 1968; Sparks, Genn, & Dodd, 1977), researchers have also examined workplace victimization—the self-perception of being a target of interpersonal aggression at work (Aquino, Grover, Bradfield, & Allen, 1999; Aquino & Thau, 2009)—at the individual level (e. g. , Aquino et al. 1999; Glomb, 2002), group level (e. g. , Aquino & Byron, 2002), and dyadic level (e. g. , Aquino & Lamertz, 2004). Drawing on criminology theory in which victim precipitation (Curtis, 1974) and victim elements (Schafer, 1968) are studied, researchers have suggested typical characteristics of victims. For example, Olweus’s (1978, 1993) work in school settings resulted in the proposition of two types of victims. One type of victim is labeled submissive victim and is more anxious, cautious, quiet, and sensitive than other students.In contrast to submissive victims, some students who show highly aggressive behaviors can also become the targets of aggression; Olweus (1993) referred to them as provocative victims. Although Olweus’s research was in a school setting, similar themes of victim types have been suggested in organizational contexts. For example, Aquino and colleagues (Aquino & Bradfield, 2000; Aquino & Byron, 2002; Aquino et al. , 1999) posited that self-determination, aggressiveness, dominating interpersonal behavior, and negative affect ivity are typical characteristics of victims.Individuals low in self-determination are more likely to be targets of aggression (e. g. , Aquino et al. , 1999) and may be likened to submissive victims. Individuals high in aggressiveness (e. g. , Aquino & Bradfield, 2000) and dominating interpersonal behavior (e. g. , Aquino & Byron, 2002) may be likened to provocative victims. Individuals high in negative affectivity may be likened to either submissive or provocative victims because negative affectivity is related to either insecurity and anxiety or hostility and aggression (e. . , Aquino & Bradfield, 2000; Aquino et al. , 1999). In other words, previous research suggests that certain types of individuals, either submissive or aggressive people, may be more frequent targets of aggression in both school and organizational contexts. Although existing research has enhanced the understanding of victimization, there is limited attention to the role of an important individual differenceâ₠¬â€ cognitive ability (for possible exceptions, see Namie & Namie, 2000; Peterson & Ray, 2006a, 2006b).Peterson and Ray (2006b) showed that many smart students experienced bullying in school contexts and that intellectual capability is one of the most frequently reported reasons for being bullied. In their study, 36% of smart students were called derogatory names (e. g. , dork, geek, nerd, smarty, idiot, moron, retard, dumb), and 19% of them were teased about their grades and intelligence. According to Peterson and Ray’s (2006a) qualitative study, some high-ability students reported that the envy of lowability students contributes to targeting smart students.Interviewees stated that â€Å"gifted kids have the upper hand in classrooms† and â€Å"good kids usually get what they want† (p. 257). In addition, some students responded that competition between gifted students contributes to targeting one another. One interviewee reported being the target of bullying fr om â€Å"other gifted kids who didn’t like that I was smarter than they were† (p. 258). One exception to the lack of research on ability and victimization in organizational contexts is a survey of working adults by Namie and Namie (2000).Although this study was not focused on the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization, their survey data provide insight into this issue. In their survey, more than 20% of survey participants (i. e. , targets and witnesses) responded that bright people were targets of interpersonal aggression, reporting that perpetrators envied the targets’ high level of competence and abilities (21%) and that perpetrators treated them as competitors or challengers who threatened their superiority (31%).Literature on school bullying among gifted children, employee reports of smart victims, and the submissive/provocative victim typology suggest that understanding the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization in an org anizational context is valuable. Linking Cognitive Ability and Victimization The victim precipitation model (e. g. , Amir, 1967; Curtis, 1974; Gottfredson, 1981; Schafer, 1968, 1977; Sparks et al. , 1977) undergirds the proposed relationship between cognitive ability and victimization. The core argument of the model is that victimsCOGNITIVE ABILITY AND VICTIMIZATION 891 exhibit behavioral tendencies (either intentional or unintentional) that provoke potential perpetrators to respond to them with harmful behaviors (see Aquino et al. , 1999; Schafer, 1977). In other words, at a minimum, victims unknowingly are at risk of victimization for their individual characteristics; at a maximum, individual characteristics lead to behaviors that elicit victimization from potential perpetrators. Cognitive ability may function as a â€Å"victim precipitator† for several reasons.First, the desirable characteristics of high-cognitive employees may unintentionally instigate other employees to react to them with harmful behaviors. As noted above, cognitive ability plays a central role in the prediction of myriad important workplace outcomes, including task performance, training performance, counterproductive work behavior, creativity, and career success (e. g. , Dilchert, Ones, Davis, & Rostow, 2007; Jensen, 1998; Judge, Higgins, Thoreson, & Barrick, 1999; Kuncel et al. , 2004; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2005; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1994; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998).For example, the validity of cognitive ability in predicting task performance, training performance, and creativity is . 51, . 57 (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998), and . 36 (Kuncel et al. , 2004), respectively. However, these favorable outcomes may also create conditions for victimization. Such positive outcomes of highcognitive-ability employees make them more likely to be targets of an upward or a lateral social comparison process within a work group because individuals choose a â€Å"standard setter† who has high ability as a comparative target (Feldman & Ruble, 1981; Festinger, 1954).As a consequence, these comparisons may elicit negative cognitive and affective states, such as lowered self-evaluation and emotions of envy, shame, hostility, and interpersonal competition (e. g. , Garcia, Tor, Gonzalez, 2006; Smith, 2000; Tesser, Millar, & Moore, 1988), which in turn increase the likelihood of becoming the target of victimization.In other words, the positive characteristics of high-cognitive-ability employees unintentionally place them at risk of being a target because others want to restore their lowered self-evaluation and negative emotions following comparison (see Fein & Spencer, 1997; Smith, 1991). Schafer (1977) categorized this type of victim as someone who has done nothing against the perpetrators but whose unintentional behaviors or outcomes instigate the perpetrators to commit aggressive behaviors toward the victim.Second, the favorable characteristics of high-cognitive-abi lity employees may instigate other employees within a work group to react to them with harming behaviors in a more intentional way. An experimental study by Menon and Thompson (2007) found that individuals in higher (relative) social comparison positions are more likely to overestimate that they are a threat to others. This perceptual bias leads them to experience uncomfortable interpersonal relationships as â€Å"asymmetries in threat appraisal [strain] social interactions during a conflict situation† (p. 6). In their study, people who regarded themselves as threatening elicited less favorable reactions from a counterpart and lower satisfaction with the interaction, even though these perceptions about threat were not communicated explicitly during the interaction. In an organizational context, because of the positive work outcomes of highcognitive-ability employees, they are more likely to have favorable views of themselves, to perceive that others are threatened by them, an d to distrust others’ motives (i. e. , self-enhancing bias; Menon & Thompson, 2007).In other words, high-cognitive employees may overestimate the comparison threat they pose to other group members, which may result in a change in behaviors—for example, avoidance or condescension—toward other group members. This change in behavior then elicits harming behaviors from others (see Duffy, Shaw, & Schaubroeck, 2008). In summary, drawing on the victim precipitation model, we argue that high-cognitive-ability employees may instigate other individuals to respond to them with interpersonally aggressive behaviors.First, high-cognitive-ability employees may unintentionally provoke potential perpetrators because of their position as upward or lateral social comparison targets, thereby fostering negative affective and cognitive states in others who turn to harming behaviors. Second, high-cognitive-ability employees may provoke potential perpetrators because of their overestim ates of how threatening they are, which results in changed behaviors against coworkers that promote more negative interactions.Accordingly, we hypothesized the following: Hypothesis 1: High cognitive ability is positively related to victimization. We note that the current study is unable to address the specific mechanism for the association between cognitive ability and victimization. Rather, we propose likely theoretical mechanisms and conduct empirical tests that would lend support for this association without testing the exact meditational processes. The Role of Personality Traits: Agency and CommunionAccording to Bakan (1966), there are â€Å"two fundamental modalities in the existence of living forms, agency for the existence of an organism as an individual and communion for the participation of the individual in some larger organism of which the individual is part [emphasis added]† (p. 14). Wiggins (1991) integrated Bakan’s idea into the personality literature, d efining agency and communion as â€Å"the condition of being a differentiated individual and the condition of being part of a larger social or spiritual entity [emphasis added]† (p. 9), and proposed that the agency– communion model is relevant to understand and distinguish interpersonal behaviors between individuals. Personality researchers have used agency and communion as umbrella terms that broadly cover self-oriented terms (including independence, egoistic bias, ambition, self-competence, personal growth, and instrumentality) versus group-oriented terms (including cooperation, attachment, consideration, warmth, nurturance, and socialization), although these constructs are not exactly the same (e. g. Abele & Wojciszke, 2007; Digman, 1997; Wiggins, 1991). Previous research suggested that two broad dimensions—akin to agency and communion—are independent higher order dimensions of personality in the interpersonal circumplex (e. g. , Blackburn, Renwick, Do nnelly, & Logan, 2004; Digman, 1997; Wiggins, 1991). With regard to the five-factor model of personality, Trapnell and Wiggins (1990) found that agency corresponds primarily to the dominance aspect of extraversion and that communion corresponds primarily to agreeableness (see also Peabody & Goldberg, 1989; Wiggins, 1991).Digman (1997) has also derived two independent higher order factors that correspond to an agency and communion taxonomy; agency corresponds to extraversion and openness (i. e. , personal growth), and communion corresponds to agreeableness, con- 892 KIM AND GLOMB scientiousness, and emotional stability (i. e. , socialization; see also John, 1990; McCrae & Costa, 1996). Recently, Abele and Wojciszke (2007) confirmed previous studies by showing that a pool of 300 trait items (e. g. , communion, collectivism, morality, and femininity items for communion; agency, individualism, competence, and masculinity items for agency) is educed to the two broad dimensions of agency and communion. This idea is well summarized by Abele and Wojciszke, who stated the following: There is a long tradition in social and personality psychology to distinguish fundamental dimensions for the description of persons and groups: social and intellectual desirability, individualism and collectivism, independent and interdependent self, competence and morality, competence and warmth, dominance and nurturance, masculinity and femininity, and so on.Following Bakan (1966), we call these fundamental dimensions agency and communion. (p. 759) a similar vein, Aquino and Bommer (2003) showed that high levels of organizational citizenship behavior decreases victimization; presumably, this relationship may be due to a positive reciprocity norm. Overall, targets who have high agency personality traits do not engage in the positive reciprocity cycle and are more likely to be engaged in the negative reciprocity circle, which increases the likelihood of victimization.Targets who have high c ommunion personality traits are more likely to be engaged in the positive reciprocity circle with coworkers, which decreases the likelihood of victimization. Therefore, we hypothesized the following: Hypothesis 2: High agency is positively related to victimization. Hypothesis 3: High communion is negatively related to victimization. Integrating the victim precipitation model with theories of reciprocity, we propose the moderating roles of agency and communion personality traits on the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization.Although high levels of cognitive ability and competence may make someone predisposed to victimization, this may depend on their interpersonal interactions with others as influenced by their agency and communion personality traits. Because agency-driven behaviors do not build a norm of positive reciprocity or possibly initiate a norm of negative reciprocity, it strengthens the positive relationship between targets’ cognitive ability and vi ctimization. For example, employees who are high in cognitive ability and agency traits may use their talent to increase individual performance, which may negatively impact other group members.Conversely, because communion-driven behaviors initiate a norm of positive reciprocity between the giver and the taker, it circumvents or buffers the positive relationship between targets’ cognitive ability and victimization. For example, employees who are high in both cognitive ability and communion traits may use their talent to increase group performance (e. g. , help coworkers with workloads or problems). Such behaviors contribute to build the positive reciprocity cycle with coworkers and thereby weaken the likelihood of victimization because of high cognitive ability.Put simply, being smart and focused on oneself will lead to more victimization, but being smart and focused on group members will lead to less victimization. Although there is no direct empirical evidence suggesting an interactive effect of cognitive ability and agency and communion traits on victimization, recent studies hint at the plausibility of such an effect. For example, Fiske, Cuddy, and Glick (2006) suggested that people differentiate one another by competence as well as likeability, which in turn affects their cognitive and affective content of interpersonal perception (see also Collins, 1981).Similarly, Casciaro and Lobo (2005) suggested the importance of competence and likeability in a work setting; when individuals were high in both competence and likeability, coworkers treated them as â€Å"lovable stars,† but when individuals were high in competence and low in likeability, coworkers treated them as â€Å"competent jerks. † Consistent with the previous conceptual arguments, Casciaro and Lobo (2008) showed that individuals who are competent and likeable form more task interaction networks, whereas individuals who are competent and dislikeable fail to form taskPut simply , agency and communion personality traits are independent multidimensional constructs (Saragovi, Koestner, Dio, & Aube, 1997) that reflect self-oriented and group-oriented behaviors. Given that behaviors are rooted in personality traits (see Fleeson, 2001; Hogan & Holland, 2003; Moskowitz & Cote, 1995) and that agency and communion personality traits serve to describe interpersonal behaviors (Wiggins, 1991), we propose that individuals who have more agency traits, such as independence, egoistic bias, ambition, and self-competence, are involved in agency-driven behaviors, such as seeking goals and being less concerned about others.Conversely, individuals who have more communion traits, such as communality, socialization, consideration, and warmth, are involved in communion-driven behaviors, such as helping and nurturing coworkers and developing harmonious interpersonal relationships with coworkers. The direct relationship between agency and communion personality traits and victimizat ion is supported by theories of reciprocity. Agency-driven behaviors do not build a norm of positive reciprocity, at best (Axelrod, 1984), and initiate a norm of negative reciprocity, at worst (Andersson & Pearson, 1999).In the absence of a norm of positive reciprocity, employees do not feel obligated to respond to (positive) actions with other positive actions. Individuals high in agency engage in agency-driven behaviors, which may be at the expense of and harmful to others. A norm of negative reciprocity will perpetuate these harmful behaviors. Thus, aggressive behaviors against individuals who are high in agency may, in fact, increase. This implies higher victimization for people who have agency traits that either block the positive reciprocity norm or elicit the negative reciprocity norm through agency-driven behaviors.Conversely, communion-driven behaviors initiate a norm of positive reciprocity between the giver and the taker (Gouldner, 1960). In other words, the taker general ly responds to the communion-driven behavior with another communion-driven behavior toward the giver. After building a norm of positive reciprocity, both givers and takers are reluctant to violate this relationship through harming one another because it breaks the social norm and promotes a reputation for being untrustworthy, unkind, and unthankful (Cialdini, 2001; Gouldner, 1960).Thus, individuals who are high in communion traits engage in communion-driven behaviors and perpetuate a norm of positive reciprocity in which they are less likely to be the targets of interpersonal aggression. In COGNITIVE ABILITY AND VICTIMIZATION 893 interaction networks. Although failure to form task networks with â€Å"competent jerks† is distinct from victimizing them, this work does suggest withholding something favorable from them—a behavior that is consistent with some passive, indirect forms of victimization examined here (e. . , withholding information or resources). In line with t his research, we predict that two interpersonally oriented personality dimensions that affect likeability play a critical role in the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization; smart individuals who are high in agency traits may experience more victimization, whereas smart individuals who are high in communion traits may experience less victimization.Therefore, we hypothesized the following: Hypothesis 4: The relationship between cognitive ability and victimization is moderated by agency, such that when targets are high in cognitive ability, targets high in agency will experience more victimization than those lower on agency. Hypothesis 5: The relationship between cognitive ability and victimization is moderated by communion, such that when targets are high in cognitive ability, targets high in communion will experience less victimization than those lower on communion.Method Participants and Procedure Two hundred and seventeen employees of an organization that manages health care homes for individuals with disabilities voluntarily completed paper-and-pencil surveys during on-site survey administration with researchers. 1 Participants were guaranteed confidentiality. Employees within a health care home worked closely with one another to provide excellent care and service for the residents, and they constitute our work groups.Of the respondents, 95% were Caucasian, 74% were women, and 35% were employed full time. Average tenure was 22 months, and average age was 24 years. The organization had administered the Wonderlic Personnel Test (Wonderlic, 1984) and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough & Bradley, 1996) to job applicants prior to hire, and the Wonderlic and CPI scores of our respondents were linked to the survey data from the current study using identifiers. Fifty employees who did not have Wonderlic and CPI scores were excluded.After listwise deletion of individuals with incomplete information, the final sample was composed of 133 employees in 27 groups (i. e. , health care homes). Group size ranged from two to 10 members (average 4. 93). Comparisons between those respondents who were in our final sample and those who were deleted because of missing data revealed only one significant difference; excluded employees had slightly lower negative affectivity scores ( p . 05). Measures Cognitive ability. Cognitive ability was assessed using the Wonderlic Personnel Test prior to hire.The Wonderlic Personnel Test is a 50-item, 12–20-min omnibus test of intelligence, and it was originally designed to measure general mental ability for personnel selection. The manual reports that test–retest reliability ranges from . 82 to . 94 and that interform reliabilities range from . 73 to . 95 (Wonderlic, 1984). Victimization. Victimization was assessed using the 20-item Aggressive Experiences Scale (AES)-Target scale (Glomb, in press; Glomb & Liao, 2003). Illustrative items are â€Å"how often has a coworker or supervisor made angry gestures toward you? â€Å"how often has a coworker or supervisor spread rumors about you? † and â€Å"how often has a coworker or supervisor belittled your opinions in front of others? † Respondents indicated the frequency of their victimization experience using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (once a week or more). One item was removed because of zero variance (â€Å"how often has a coworker or supervisor physically assaulted you? †). The coefficient alpha of the AESTarget scale was . 87. Agency and communion.At present, there are not commonly accepted assessments of agency and communion, perhaps because of their designation as higher order constructs. Agency and communion have been measured by the Masculinity and Femininity scales from several personality inventories, including the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974; for review, see Helgeson, 1994; Saragovi et al. , 1997). Agency and communion have also been measured using the five-factor model; Wiggins (1991) suggested using the Extraversion (i. e. dominance facet only) and Agreeableness scales because these capture a substantial portion of variance in agency and communion, respectively (for empirical support, see also Peabody & Goldberg, 1989; Trapnell & Wiggins, 1990). Also, using the Big Five framework, Digman (1997) suggested using the Extraversion and Openness scales for agency (i. e. , personal growth) and the Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability scales for communion (i. e. , socialization). In this study, agency and communion were operationalized using both Wiggins’s (1991) specific measure approach and Digman’s (1997) broad measure approach.Following Wiggins’s approach, we selected the CPI scale of Dominance ( . 83) for agency and the CPI scale of Communality ( . 71) for communion. The CPI-Dominance is highly correlated with extraversion (r . 82; Fleenor & Eastman, 1997), and dominance is a key facet of extraversion (DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007). The construct definition also supported our choice: Individuals high in dominance are assertive, dominant, and task-oriented; individuals low in dominance are quiet and cautious. The CPI-Communality is highly correlated with agreeableness (r . 0; Fleenor & Eastman, 1997), and agreeableness corresponds to communion (Wiggins, 1991). The construct definition of communality supports our decision: Individuals who are high in communality are likely to be team players who fit in with other people easily, agreeable, cooperative, reasonable, approachable for advice, dependable, and contented; individuals who are low in communality are likely to be nonconformers, changeable, moody, and reckless (Gough & Bradley, 1996; Groth-Marnat, 1990). Following Digman’s (1997) broader approach to agency measurement, we selected the CPI scales of Social Presence ( . 2), 1 This data set was used to examine different research questions in Glomb and Liao (2003), Glomb and Tews (2004), and Glomb and Welsh (2005). 894 KIM AND GLOMB Capacity for Status ( . 72), and Independence ( . 74) in addition to Dominance. These additional three scales have been identified as compound traits of extraversion and openness (Fleenor & Eastman, 1997), and extraversion and openness correspond to agency (Digman, 1997). CPI-Social Presence also corresponds to the dominance facet rather than the sociability facet of extraversion (Hough & Ones, 2001).The construct definition supported our choice: Individuals high in social presence are self-assured in social settings, and individuals low in social presence are reserved; individuals high in capacity for status are likely to be ambitious and to have high desire to succeed, and individuals low in capacity for status dislike competition; individuals high in independence are likely to be self-sufficient, persistent in seeking goals whether others agree, aggressive, and assertive, and individuals low in independence are likely to seek support from others, avoid conflict, be meek, and be mild (Gough & Bradley, 1996).We used similar conceptual and construct evidence for the Communion scale. In addition to CPI-Communality, we selected the CPI scales of Socialization ( . 78) and Responsibility ( . 77) because these two scales have been identified by Hough and Ones (2001) as compound traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability (see also Fleenor & Eastman, 1997); furthermore, Digman (1997) has suggested that communion corresponds to agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.The construct definition of these two components also supported our decision: Individuals high in socialization are likely to be conscientious and easy to conform to others, whereas individuals low in socialization are likely to be rebellious and to have unconventional attitudes; individuals high in respons ibility are responsible and ethically perceptive, whereas individuals low in responsibility are likely to be self-indulgent and careless (Gough & Bradley, 1996).In summary, the Agency scale is composed of the CPI scales of Dominance, Social Presence, Capacity for Status, and Independence; the Communion scale is composed of the CPI scales of Communality, Socialization, and Responsibility. 2 Given the typical conceptualization of agency and communion as broad traits, we consider the broad operationalization in our primary analyses and conduct additional analyses for the narrow, one variable conceptualization. The reliability scores of multidimensional Agency and Communion scales were . 87 and . 84, respectively (see Cronbach, 1951; W. M. Rogers, Schmitt, & Mullins, 2002).We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to assess whether the CPI scales load on the higher order common latent constructs of agency and communion using LISREL 8 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1996). The results for the ? Agen cy and Communion scales reveal that a two-factor model— 2 (12) 19. 43; incremental fit index (IFI) . 98; comparative fit index (CFI) . 98; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) . 06; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) . 07—fits the data quite well and fits significantly better than a one-factor model— 2(13) 49. 96; IFI . 91; CFI . 90; SRMR . 10; RMSEA . 5—providing evidence that subscales load on the higher order measures of agency and communion. In addition, agency and communion correlate . 16 (ns) in our study, which is comparable with correlations reported in previous studies (e. g. , Abele & Wojciszke, 2007 [r –. 03, –. 05]; Bruch, 2002 [r . 05, . 11]; Conway, Pizzamiglio, & Mount, 1996 [r . 27, . 32]). We also assessed the criterion-related validity of the Agency and Communion scales by examining whether they are significantly related to variables shown to be related to agency and communion measures in the broader p ersonality psychology literature.Specifically, we assessed life satisfaction and burnout in our study but did not examine these variables in our substantive hypotheses. Correlations in our data are similar to those in prior literature using alternative operationalizations of communion and agency. Specifically, results show that our Communion scale is significantly related to well-being outcomes, such as life satisfaction (r . 24, p . 01, compared with r . 26 for women and . 28 for men in Saragovi et al. , 1997), and that our Agency scale is significantly related to psychological health outcomes, such as emotional exhaustion (r –. 21, p . 01, compared with r –. 5 in Roos & Cohen, 1987). Control variables. On the basis of previous workplace victimization research (e. g. , Aquino et al. , 1999; Aquino & Thau, 2009; Bowling & Beehr, 2006; Hentig, 1948; Schafer, 1968), we controlled for several variables to reduce the potential impact of unmeasured variables on victimizatio n. Empirical evidence on the relationship between employee demographics and victimization shows mixed findings (Bowling & Beehr, 2006); we control for an employee’s age, gender, and tenure in the organization. There is a compelling theoretical link between organizational hierarchy and victimization (see Aquino et al. 1999); we control for supervisory versus nonsupervisory status. Individual differences, such as positive and negative affectivity, show mixed relationships with victimization (see Bowling & Beehr, 2006); we use the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) to control for positive affectivity ( . 86) and negative affectivity ( . 86). Stress may generate negative affective and behavioral responses that spark victimization (Bowling & Beehr, 2006); we use the Stress Diagnostic Survey (Matteson & Ivancevich, 1982) to control for job, work group, and organizational stress ( . 9 for job, . 89 for work group, and . 87 for organizational s tress). Interpersonal aggression engagement has been proposed as an antecedent of victimization on the basis of social exchange theory (Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Bandura, 1973), and Glomb and her colleagues (e. g. , Glomb, 2002; Glomb & Liao, 2003) provided empirical support for the idea of reciprocal aggression. Interpersonal aggression engagement was assessed by the AES-Engaged In scale (Glomb, in press; Glomb & Liao, 2003).The AES-Target (discussed above) and AES-Engaged In scales have the same item content except that one asks about behaviors that you were the target of and the others asks about behavior that you engaged in. We removed three items from the AES-Engaged In scale ( . 80) because of zero variance. Other CPI scales were excluded for one of two reasons: (a) They did not include the core dimensions of Extroversion–Dominance for agency or Agreeableness for communion, or (b) they included these dimensions but were contaminated by others as well.These â€Å"mixed † scales were the most likely reason for exclusion. Specific mappings of CPI scales to Big Five (i. e. , A: agreeableness, C: conscientiousness, ES: emotional stability, EX: extraversion, O: openness) characteristics are as follows: Self-Acceptance (ES EX), Empathy (EX O C), Well-Being (ES EX), Tolerance (O A), Achievement With Conformation (O C), Achievement With Independence (ES EX O C), Psychological-Mindedness (ES O), Flexibility (O C), Sociability (EX-Sociability), Intellectual Efficiency (O), Self-Control (ES C), and Good Impression (C). COGNITIVE ABILITY AND VICTIMIZATION 895 Results Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations are presented in Table 1. Cognitive ability is significantly correlated with victimization (r . 18, p . 05). Agency and communion are not significantly correlated with victimization. Several control variables—including age (r . 21, p . 01); job, workgroup, organizational stress (r . 41, . 24, . 41, respectively, p . 01); and aggressi on engagement (r . 54, p . 01)—are significantly correlated with victimization.The control variables of positive and negative affectivity and hierarchical status suggest nonsignificant associations with victimization. Table 2 presents the regression results using the broad operationalization of agency and communion (see Digman, 1997). Because individuals in the same work group are not independent, the independent assumption of traditional ordinary least squares regression is violated, causing biased estimators. Therefore, we used a clustered regression with a White-correction in STATA that allows covariance between individuals within groups and corrects for heteroscedasticity across groups (see W.H. Rogers, 1993). We report unstandardized regression coefficients and regular R2 because standardized coefficients and adjusted R2 are not valid with the cluster option (see Glomb & Liao, 2003; W. H. Rogers, 1993). We tested the degree of multicollinearity with the variance inflatio n factor; values ranged from 1. 05 to 1. 94, with an average variance inflation factor of 1. 37, suggesting it was not a critical problem. Control variables explain 42% of the variance in victimization (Model 1). Model 2 includes cognitive ability, agency, and communion.Results suggest a significant relationship between cognitive ability and victimization (b 0. 17, p . 01), supporting Hypothesis 1. Agency and victimization were also significantly associated (b 0. 08, p . 05), supporting Hypothesis 2. This association is different from the nonsignificant zero-order correlation, suggesting the association exists after controlling for other variables. Consistent with the zero-order correlations, communion was not significantly associated with victimization; Hypothesis 3 was not supported. These variables explain an additional 4% of the variance in victimization.Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Variable 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Gender Tenure (years) Age (years) Hierarchical status Negative affectivity Positive affectivity Job stress Workgroup stress Organizational stress Aggression engagement Agency (index) Communion (index) Agency (CPI–Dominance) Communion (CPI–Communality) Cognitive ability Victimization M SD 1 . 15 . 09 . 05 . 00 . 11 . 02 . 12 . 21 . 11 . 01 . 09 . 03 . 09 . 18 . 02 2 3 4 To test the moderating effects of personality traits, we used hierarchical moderated regression with centered interaction terms.Interaction terms explain an additional 4% of the variance in victimization (Model 3). Hypothesis 4, which predicts the moderating role of agency personality traits on the association between cognitive ability and victimization, was supported (b 0. 02, p . 05). Hypothesis 5, which predicts the moderating role of communal personality traits on the association between cognitive ability and victimization, was also supported (b – 0. 05, p . 05). The interactions were plotted using Aiken an d West’s (1991) method and are shown in Figures 1 and 2.Figure 1 illustrates that as cognitive ability increases, for those high in agency, victimization increases compared with those low in agency. Figure 2 illustrates that as cognitive ability increases, for those low in communion, victimization increases, and for those high in communion, victimization decreases. These results suggest that agency traits exacerbate and that communion traits buffer the relationship of cognitive ability to victimization. We tested the same regression model using specific measures of agency and communion, which is consistent with Wiggins’s (1991) operationalization (i. e. CPI-Dominance for agency and CPI-Communality for communion). These results suggest similar empirical findings, which confirm the role of cognitive ability, agency, and communion on victimization at work. Table 3 presents the regression results. In Model 4, results suggest a significant relationship between cognitive abi lity and victimization (b 0. 15, p . 05), supporting Hypothesis 1. Dominance and victimization were significantly associated (b 0. 11, p . 05), supporting Hypothesis 2. Communality was also significantly associated with victimization (b – 0. 18, p . 05), supporting Hypothesis 3.This finding is different than the broad communion index, in which the association was not significant. These variables explain an additional 6% of the variance in victimization. In Model 5, interaction terms explain an additional 2% of the variance in victimization. Hypothesis 4, which predicts the moderating role of agency personality traits on the association between cognitive ability and victimization, 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0. 74 0. 44 1. 85 2. 21 23. 77 7. 41 0. 73 0. 45 19. 24 5. 22 37. 61 5. 63 11. 94 3. 81 9. 63 3. 63 14. 94 5. 02 21. 33 5. 06 55. 55 7. 98 55. 21 4. 25 58. 85 10. 3 54. 43 5. 34 25. 41 5. 40 23. 74 6. 41 .28 . 20 . 04 . 12 . 22 . 18 . 39 . 28 . 16 . 03 . 12 . 05 . 18 . 16 .19 . 10 . 06 . 33 . 31 . 28 . 05 . 03 . 06 . 09 . 01 . 08 . 21 .14 . 05 . 37 . 05 . 21 . 09 . 15 . 07 . 09 . 07 . 05 . 14 .19 . 06 . 15 . 02 . 19 . 10 . 23 . 07 . 18 . 05 . 00 .06 . 29 . 13 . 10 . 27 . 25 . 29 . 09 . 12 . 03 .45 . 55 . 25 . 03 . 01 . 01 . 05 . 03 . 41 .43 . 21 . 01 . 15 . 01 . 12 . 12 . 24 .31 . 22 . 04 . 21 . 01 . 07 . 41 .07 . 05 . 07 . 03 . 08 . 54 .16 . 87 . 11 . 13 . 04 .24 . 54 . 14 . 11 . 11 . 10 . 09 .05 . 09 . 18 1, male Note. N 133. Correlations greater than . 7 are significant at p . 05; those greater than . 21 are significant at p 0; Hierarchical status: subordinate 1, supervisor 0; CPI California Psychological Inventory. .01. Gender: female 896 KIM AND GLOMB Table 2 Results of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Victimization Victimization Variable Gender Tenure (years) Age (years) Hierarchical status Negative affectivity Positive affectivity Job stress Workgroup stress Organizational stress Aggression engagement Cognitive ability Agency (index) Commu nion (index) Cognitive Ability Agency Cognitive Ability Communion R2 R2 Model 1 0. 2 . 03 . 09 . 55 . 11 . 03 . 35 . 03 . 24 . 62 Model 2 1. 16 . 01 . 09 . 81 . 12 . 05 . 37 . 10 . 25 . 60 . 17 . 08 . 21 . 46 . 04 Model 3 1. 06 . 02 . 09 1. 09 . 15 . 04 . 43 . 18 . 27 . 60 . 15 . 06 . 26 . 02 . 05 . 50 . 04 .42 Note. N 133. Regression coefficients are unstandardized because standard regression coefficients are invalid with the cluster option (see Glomb & Liao, 2003; W. H. Rogers, 1993). Gender: female 1, male 0; Hierarchical status: subordinate 1, supervisor 0. p . 05. p . 01 (two-tailed test).Figure 2. The moderating role of communion personality traits on the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization. was marginally supported (b 0. 01, p . 10). Hypothesis 5, which predicts the moderating role of communion personality traits on the association between cognitive ability and victimization, was supported (b – 0. 03, p . 05). Discussion The primary purpose of this study was to examine the role of cognitive ability in workplace victimization, a topic that has received scant research attention.Cognitive ability predicts many job and real-life outcomes (see Brand, 1987), and thus, it is important to include in the portfolio of variables associated with victimization, such as personality, demographics, behaviors, and organizational characteristics (see Aquino & Thau, 2009; Bowling & Beehr, 2006). Consistent with a victim precipitation model, our results suggest that cognitive ability is associated with workplace victimization. We also tested the relationship between agency and communion—two interpersonally oriented personality dimensions—and victimization.Consistent with a negative reciprocity cycle and a provocative victim typology, our results suggest that individuals high in agency personality traits experience victimization at work. Counter to expectations, we did not find a significant relationship between communion and lower victimization in our primary analyses. This nonsignificant finding may be explained by the positive–negative asymmetry effect (see Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Fickenauer, & Vohs, 2001; Taylor, 1991), which would suggest that positive interpersonal interactions carry less weight than negative social interactions, and therefore, it may cause a nonsignificant finding.The nonsignificant findings may also be caused by the broad communion measure, the components of which might evidence differential relationships with victimization. A previous study found that victimization is significantly associated with agreeableness ( – . 21, p . 05) but is not significantly associated with conscientiousness and emotional stability ( – . 02 and . 10, respectively; Figure 1. The moderating role of agency personality traits on the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization. COGNITIVE ABILITY AND VICTIMIZATION 897Table 3 Supplemental Analysis Results of Hierarchical Regress ion Analysis for Victimization Victimization Variable Gender Tenure (years) Age (years) Hierarchical status Negative affectivity Positive affectivity Job stress Workgroup stress Organizational stress Aggression engagement Cognitive ability Agency (CPI Dominance) Communion (CPI Communality) Cognitive Ability Agency Cognitive Ability Communion R2 R2 Model 4 1. 33 . 01 . 11 . 46 . 11 . 00 . 34 . 14 . 28 . 61 . 15 . 11 . 18 . 48 . 06 Model 5 1. 24 . 02 . 08 . 36 . 14 . 00 . 35 . 18 . 30 . 61 . 12 . 10 . 18 . 1†  . 03 . 50 . 02†  outcomes, rather than the more distal individual difference of cognitive ability, that are mediating explanatory variables. Future work might explore whether high performance, ability, and achievement in other domains adhere to similar processes (cf. Feather, 1994, on tall poppies). Theoretical Implications This study contributes to the cognitive ability, personality, and workplace victimization literatures in a variety of ways. First, we extend the sc ope of the victim precipitation model by proposing and testing the possibility of smart victims.Second, contrary to the existing cognitive ability literature, our finding indicates a potential downside to high cognitive ability (e. g. , for another possible exception, such as clever concealer effects, see Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985). This study moves cognitive ability research in a new direction by positing and testing a potential downside to high cognitive ability in the workplace. Third, in our study we examined two broad interpersonally oriented personality dimensions— agency and communion—and their association with workplace victimization.Although personality researchers have confirmed that the agency and communion model is useful in terms of investigating interpersonally oriented outcomes (see Abele & Wojciszke, 2007; Bruch, 2002; Digman, 1997; Helgeson, 1994; Wiggins, 1991), this model is currently less popular than the Big Five model in organizational scholarship , perhaps because of the absence of an agreed upon operationalization of these multidimensional traits (see Helgeson, 1994; Saragovi et al. , 1997).Although the Big Five is certainly a useful taxonomy, because we are interested in workplace victimization and the interpersonal relationships between victims and perpetrators, the agency and communion framework may be useful for future victimization research. Fourth, the interplay of two key individual differences— cognitive ability and personality traits— on victimization provides an integration of two complementary theories, which adhere to the social and personality psychological models of social interactions. Although previous workplace victimization literature integrated the victim precipitation model with structural theory (e. g. Aquino, 2000; Aquino et al. , 1999), and reciprocity theory with structural theory (e. g. , Aquino & Bommer, 2003), the integration of the victim precipitation model and reciprocity theory h as not received research attention. In this study, we take the first step by integrating victim precipitation with reciprocity theory to demonstrate the interactive effects of cognitive ability and agency– communion personality traits on workplace victimization. This approach is consistent with social psychological literature suggesting the multiplicative effect of competence and likeability on social interactions (see Casciaro & Lobo, 2008; Fiske et al. 2006). Note. N 133. Regression coefficients are unstandardized because standard regression coefficients are invalid with the cluster option (see Glomb & Liao, 2003; W. H. Rogers, 1993). Gender: female 1, male 0; Hierarchical status: subordinate 1, supervisor 0; CPI California Psychological Inventory. †  p . 10. p . 05. p . 01 (two-tailed test). Jensen-Campbell et al. , 2002), which are captured in our index. These results are consistent with our supplemental analysis; when we adopted the specific scale of Communion (i. e . CPICommunality for agreeableness; see Wiggins, 1991), we found a significant relationship between communion and victimization (b – 0. 18, . 15, p . 05). More studies are necessary to have greater confidence in the relationship between communion personality traits and victimization at work. Finally, our results demonstrate the moderating effects of agency and communion on the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization. Results suggest that the relationship between cognitive ability and victimization is exacerbated by agency personality traits, which is manifested in self-oriented behaviors (i. . , independence, dominance, capacity for status, and social presence) in a work group. Conversely, results suggest that the increased propensity to be victimized because of one’s high cognitive ability can be mitigated by communion personality traits, which is manifested in other-oriented or â€Å"team player† behavior (i. e. , communality, responsibility, and socialization) in a work group. We acknowledge that we do not study possible mediating mechanisms and that cognitive ability may be operating as a proxy for other variables relevant to workplace success.For example, it may be that high-performing individuals, rather than high-cognitiveability individuals, are those who are most likely to be the targets of interpersonal aggression. Similar theoretical processes of social comparison would also apply to high performance, but in this case, cognitive ability operates as a proxy for performance. As noted, cognitive ability is related to myriad positive outcomes on the job, and we acknowledge that it may be those proximal favorable job Organizational ImplicationsIn the 1950 movie Harvey, Jimmy Stewart’s character Elwood Dowd says, â€Å"Years ago my mother used to say to me . . . She’d say ‘In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant. ’ Well, for years I was smart . . . I recommend pleasa nt. † On the basis of our findings, we recommend that if you are going to be â€Å"oh-so smart† then you should also be â€Å"oh-so pleasant† to avoid workplace victimization. Beyond individual advice, the results also have important practical implications for managers. First, 898 KIM AND GLOMB managers need to be aware of this potential dark side of high cognitive ability at work.Managers are familiar with the positive side of high cognitive ability, but initial evidence of smart victims suggests managers may need to be on the lookout for and take precautions to deter the workplace victimization of smart employees. The strong and consistent relationship between cognitive ability and many elements of performance suggests that these individuals may be among the most important to keep satisfied, productive, and retained. Tactics helpful in preventing the victimization of high-cognitive-ability employees may reduce both the proximal and distal costs of workplace vic timization.Second, our results suggest that high cognitive ability does not predestine employees to be victimized—their personality also plays a role. Although managers attend to personality during the selection process because it predicts job performance (see Dunn, Mount, Barrick, & Ones, 1995), our results suggest that personality can also have either a protective (i. e. , communion) or intensifying (i. e. , agency) role in victimization. We do not suggest that organizations should not select applicants who are high in agency traits because they are more vulnerable to victimization at work.Personality traits have their own bright and dark sides (see Judge & LePine, 2007). For example, although our results show that employees who are high in agency traits are more likely to be victims at work, research also shows that traits under the agency umbrella are associated with being a leader (e. g. , extraversion; Judge, Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002). Further, although high-abilit y employees who are also high in communion are less likely to be victims at work, research also suggests that traits under the communion umbrella are associated with the use of more lenient standards to evaluate coworker performance (e. . , agreeableness; Bernardin, Cooke, & Villanova, 2000). Thus, organizations need to consider both the benefits and costs of the communion and agency personality traits of employees and to be aware of their correlates, both favorable and unfavorable. Regardless of the composition of agency and communion in the workforce, organizations can attempt to modify individual behaviors by creating strong situations (e. g. , human resource practices, organization culture) that minimize the link between personality and behaviors and that enhance positive reciprocity norms between employees.Limitations and Future Directions This study is not without limitation. First, range restriction in cognitive ability may cause reduced sample correlations. However, given th at range restriction reduces the strength of relationships because of limited variance (Sackett & Yang, 2000), this seems to be a minor issue. Further, the degree of variability of cognitive ability is similar to that in other studies (e. g. , Chan, 1997; Mumford, Van Iddekinge, Morgeson, & Campion, 2008; Sackett & Ostgaard, 1994). Second, the external validity of these findings is limited.This data set is small and is from a predominantly Caucasian sample of health care workers. The sample is also predominantly female, which may have influenced effects; women high in cognitive ability and agency may be particularly prone to victimization because of gender stereotypes (see Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1972). The context of a health care home is interesting because employees may be more empathetic and less competitive given self-selection into this caring profession.They are also more likely to be exposed to victimization; the health care industry continually reports some of the highest levels of workplace aggression and victimization (see Rippon, 2000), though victimization is often perpetrated by patients, and in our study we examined victimization from coworkers and supervisors. Examining our relationships in other business contexts and groups is necessary. Third, the construct validity of our agency and communion measures may be questioned.Given that there is not a generally accepted method of transforming the CPI scales into the broad indices of agency and communion, we created our own measures guided by previous literature and linkages of the content of the scales (e. g. , Digman, 1997; Gough & Bradley, 1996; Hough & Ones, 2001). In the field of personality psychology, there have been calls for the development and study of agency and communion scales (see Helgeson, 1994); we concur and believe the development of valid and concise measures of agency and communion traits might promulgate the use of these interpersonally oriented per sonality constructs.Fourth, measures were self-report from a single source, and thus, common method bias is a potential problem. However, cognitive ability and personality traits were measured for personnel selection, and perceived victimization was measured 22 months later, on average (i. e. , average tenure is 22 months). Because there are large temporal and psychological distances between cognitive ability and perceived victimization measures, the impact of common method bias is not a major concern (see Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003).We also controlled for positive affectivity and negative affectivity, which also impact the cognitive perception and reporting processes (Bowling & Beehr, 2006; Isen, 1987; Podsakoff & Organ, 1986; Schmitt, 1994; Spector, 1994; Watson & Clark, 1984). As Schmitt (1994) suggested, the appropriateness of methods should be based on the stage of development of the research; given the lack of research in this area, self-report data would be deemed acceptable. Further, as noted by others (e. . , Aquino & Lamertz, 2004; Spector, 1994), it is difficult to envision circumstances in which non-self-report data w