Art Three Main Types

Art: Representational, Abstract, and Nonrepresentational Art is a way to expression a memory, idea, and/or emotion. Art can come from the mind or you can draw it from another source such as media or nature. Art has very different meanings and attempts to get across to other in different ways. Art is virtually endless. Art can be be altered to look how the artist wants to make it appear or it can be made to look exactly as it appears in reality  . It is up to the artist to make the image as they desire. Artists usually do so by finding a type of art they are comfortable with doing.Some artists do not like to make art that looks like anything someone has seen before. There are hundreds of different categories of art. Those categories can fall into one of three main types. The three main types in which a piece of art can fall under are representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational. Representational art is art in which the artist attempts to capture the image exactly as it appear s. There are several different subcategories that fall under this such as realism and art made during the Renaissance.Artist who tend to make representational art usually are geared to think logically and analytically. Representational art contrasts with abstract art and nonrepresentational art. For instanse the Mona Lisa done by Leonardo Da Vinci is a work of representational art. It is a potrait done in oil to capture the image of Lisa Gherardini. Other works done by Leonardo Da Vinci are also representational. The picture captures what the artist sees in reality rather then what the artist want's to exaggerate upon.When trying to steer away from physical realities abstract art tends to cover the spectrum of emotions with shapes and lines. This art can vary on whether it contains things that are representation and things that are entirely nonrepresentational. This category of art is everything that falls in between representational art and nonrepresentational art. A great example would be just about any work done by Pablo Piccaso. Cubism is a sub form of abstract art, which is a type of art that Pablo Piccaso is known for.Cubism is when the artist uses geometric shapes to define their work of art in place of the natural organic shapes which would normally be made in representational art. However since the work still has some representation it is not entirely nonrepresentational which lands it in the abstract category. Art that makes no attempt to identify or represent something is called nonrepresentational art. This art does not depict any beings, places or things in the natural world. It is very much like abstract however there are absolutely no representations within this type of art.While the art is not intended to represent anything it usually appeals to emotions with the tone of colors and the way the artist uses their media. An example of this can be expressionism. However this type of art is tricky. Expressionism can also fall under the category of a bstract. Since abstract and nonrepresentational art can be closely related it is also easy to confuse the two. While expressionism shows a strong sense of emotions it can also have some representational items within it which allows it to fall into one of the two categories. Representational art can never be expressionism.Fighting Forms by Franz Marc is a good example of expressionistic nonrepresentational art. The artist makes a work from their desired media in order to produce an image or images they want to see in the world rather then allow it to remain in their head for no one to see. An artist usually uses a type of art that they can best relate to. There are sever different types of art to choose from but they all fall into one of three categories. Out of all the different categories of art all of them fall into three different types. They are representational, abstract, or nonrepresentational.

Marketing Emotiv

Emotiv Case BACKGROUND: By October 2007, Emotiv Systems Inc. had developed a mind reading device called EPOC, which had the ability to process brain signals in order to measure 30 different mental states. Founded in 2003 (with $1 million in startup money from four partners and $17 million in additional financing mainly from Technology Venture Partners and Epicure Capital Partners), the company's research and development team incorporated existing electroencephalography technologies to introduce a relatively inexpensive and effective cognitive and emotional recognition system.Management at Emotiv believed that video gaming applications represented a solid opportunity for the EPOC technology. EPOC would allow gaming users to move onscreen objects or support secondary features using their thought patterns. With the product ready to launch, the company had to decide how to market EPOC. Emotiv wanted to launch the product in 12 to 14 months, in time for the 2008 holiday season.Although it s new product was generating much interest across the gaming industry, it had yet to secure a partnership for the sale and marketing of EPOC with one of the three major video gaming consoles (Sony PlayStation3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii). The Nintendo Wii seemed like a perfect fit. The Wii was established to provide interactive movement games for casual users. Thought games seemed like the next natural step for Nintendo. In addition, Wii had a leading 42. 1% share of the gaming market in the United States. Partnering with the leader would certainly give Emotiv more exposure.However, the Wii was not compatible with the EPOC system because it lacked the computational power the run the advanced EPOC system. It would also have made sense for Sony to jump on board with Emotiv, as it was attempting to turn around plummeting sales. However, poor interorganizational conflict within Sony slowed talks between the two companies. Sony's European division did offer Emotiv a contract f or a dumped down version of EPOC, but that was never really a viable option for Emotiv (it would have hurt Emotiv's image and consumer perceptions of EOPC).Microsoft was highly interested, but did not want to be a first mover on the new technology. It wanted to wait for the EPOC to prove its popularity and worth. To further add to Emotiv's problems, there were no games incorporating EPOC yet. It would be very expensive for Emotiv to produce games internally, and the Electronic Arts (the leading gaming manufacturer) had a wait-and-see approach similar to that of Microsoft. It was now time for Emotiv to make decisions on its marketing strategy. Should it wait until it locked in a major gaming partner to launch EPOC?Or should it launch in the PC gaming market? Emotiv also faced many questions related to the price, distribution, and promotion of EPOC. Their choice and the success of the marketing plan would affect the future profitability of the company. RECOMMENDATION: My recommendatio n would be for Emotiv to initially enter to PC gaming market. Even though it was less lucrative than the console gaming market (only a fifth of the size) and continuing to lose market share, the PC market was easier to enter because games featuring EPOC would be relatively simple to produce.By merely releasing compatibility codes, independent users could easily build EPOC applications into new or existing games, representing a stark difference from the cumbersome game development process in the console market. The wide availability of titles would help promote adoption of the new technology and add to customers' perceived value of the product. Even if the company was able to immediately find a console partner, sales may be low due to a scarcity of games for EPOC. I believe Emotiv should price EPOC at the highest price point advised by retailers, which was $399. Emotiv should create an exclusive product and brand.From its price to its distribution to its positioning statement, the co mpany should portray that EPOC gives users a high customer value. On the distribution front, EPOC should be sold on its own website and at specialty electronics retailers such as Brookstone, which is known for offering the latest and most innovative high-tech gizmos. I think a positing statement that would indicate high value and resonate with consumers is â€Å"Imagine the Unimaginable. † (See Exhibit 1 for the ad containing this positioning statement). The statement conveys that EPOC offers a unique experience.This is important because a distinct user experience is the key point of difference that separates EPOC from other products. Brand value is often created through usage and the customer's overall experience. Thus, I would suggest Emotiv produce one game showcasing the best that EPOC has to offer. The game could be bungled in the sale of the EPOC, giving users an initial application and tutorial for the device. The company had a $2. 5 million offer from Demiurge Studios to develop a PC game to give the user a demonstration of the capabilities of mind-controlled interactivity.The game would feature a martial arts master lifting rocks or walking on water using the user's thoughts. Once the company had its EPOC headset and game ready to launch, it should begin to distribute these items to various influential opinion leaders. Distribution to employees at tech magazines and tech television stations would be ideal. Favorable reviews by sources such as PC Magazine as well as G4 TV and Tech TV would quickly spread word about EPOC. Advertising could also be done using these same mediums. The niche hard-core gamers segment routinely follows these media outlets.Therefore, it would make sense to concentrate on these sources. EPOC also had favorable reviews at industry tradeshows. To gain more exposure, I would advise Emotiv to continue to appear at various tradeshows across the nation, and maybe even host their own conference. The high-profile 2008 Game Devel oper's Conference was five months away. Emotiv should use the event to demonstrate their breakthrough product and create enthusiasm by announcing a launch date. The holiday season would be strategic time to launch, as discretionary consumer spending increases during that time.Management's plan was to release EPOC for the 2008 holiday season, and I would encourage Emotiv to stick with that idea. As the company generates attention and increases awareness for EPOC, it will likely gain a partnership with a major console as they had been seeking. At that time, Emotiv could move from the niche hard-gamers segment to a mass marketing strategy that would also target casual gamers that play for entertainment and fun. The inroads created by their initial strategy can help the company achieve this goal. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: The PC gaming market provides a solid first step or the company. There are significantly fewer barriers to entry in this market. Customers in the PC gaming market tend to be hard-core gamers that spend thousands of dollars upgrading their computers. As such, hard-core gamers would likely be the early adopters of EPOC anyway. In fact, the prospect of a brain computer interface was already creating buzz and generating excitement in online hard-core gamer blogs. I feel that the hard-core gamer segment is a strong target segment, and natural first step for EPOC. Gaming for hard-core users is a lifestyle.They use video games and peripherals for the experience and seek as much reality as possible. EPOC fits this group's needs perfectly, and provides substantial customer value. Thus, a high price tag would be warranted. The price skimming would give Emotiv more flexibility as it eventually moves into the mass market. From a cost benefit standpoint, the move is an optimal strategy. The PC market generates higher margins because the company does not have to pay royalties to console partners. The fee in the console market is usually between 3% and 4% of sa les.Selling the EPOC in Brookstone is a good strategy to target customer looking for the next cool gadget (Brookstone would attract this type of customer), but the company would also be able to negotiate much better terms than the 35% margins that Best Buy demands. Emotiv should be able to exploit hard-core gamers due to the concentrated nature of that market. Adverting costs would be kept minimal, as ads in tech magazines and on television stations command much lower rates than would primetime placements to target the mass market.At a price of $399, the company would need to sell 213,399 units by the end of 2009 in order the breakeven (See Exhibit 2 for a full breakeven analysis). This seems like an attainable sales level for the company. With time, I believe EPOC will become popular enough to move to the mass market. Following the successful launch of EPOC, Microsoft, Sony, and Electronic Arts would be more willing to work with Emotiv. The pace at which the industry adopts EPOC de pends on many factors. An opportunity for the company to accelerate the conversion from niche to mass markets would be a partnership with an influential company like Apple.Their products are widely recognized as being highly innovative. An iPad app that supported the EPOC system could drive sales, making EPOC mainstream quicker. (See Exhibit 3 for a full SWOT analysis for Emotiv). Once the EPOC technology is adopted by the major consoles, I believe its growth can be similar to that of Guitar Hero. Like Guitar Hero, EPOC is an add-on device that creates an interactive experience for the user. The video game industry is rapidly changing, and casual fans are increasingly demanding the kind of games that EPOC can provide.An optimistic sales forecast once the EPOC reaches the mass market could be estimated with an analogy to Guitar Hero (See Exhibit 4 for an optimistic EPOC sales forecast by analogy to Guitar Hero sales). Once EPOC becomes mainstream, sales could quickly increase to more than one million units annually. Although advertising expenses, distribution costs, and royalties paid to console and video game manufacturers would increase, the company would realize a cost savings for manufacturing. After one million units, the incremental cost per unit drops from $110 to $60.ASSUMPTIONS AND UNCERTAINTIES: In the breakeven analysis, I assumed that Brookstone would receive a 20% margin on the sale of EPOC, significantly lower than the 35% margin that Best Buy demands. I am assuming that hard-core gamers will pay an elevated price for a product that provides mainly secondary features, as hard-core gamers usually play fast-paced shooting games that have less of a need for EPOC in the main features of the game. There is also a huge assumption that EPOC will be successful enough to encourage a console maker to adopt the technology.Finally, comparing EPOC to Guitar Hero would be the best case scenario for Emotiv. Casual gamers are harder to reach than hard-core gamers . They could be highly price sensitive (EPOC will be priced at $399 compared to Guitar Hero's $99 price) and expensive to attract (because they are more fragmented and ad space on primetime television would be more costly). EPOC will also have to compete with demand for newer versions of Guitar Hero, which could cut into its sales. ACTION STEPS: Emotiv should immediately contact Demiurge Studios, so it can have the tutorial game ready as soon as possible.Emotiv should showcase EPOC at the 2008 Game Developer's Conference in March 2008. At this point, it should distribute the headset and game to influential opinion leaders across the gaming industry. Hopefully this will create buzz for the release of EPOC. The release should be slighly ahead of the holiday shopping season, in early November 2008. As sales build, the company should continue to target a partnership with a console maker and game producer. By the beginning of 2010, they should have won a contract and be positioned to mas s market EPOC.At this point, their marketing strategy would change. The increased demand facilitated by the console market will give the company higher revenues and profits, giving it more financial flexibility to advertise on primetime television and distribute its products in Best Buy stores. In time, perhaps the company could use its talented research and development team to build even more advanced devices for the gaming market, or even expand the distribution of EPOC for other uses, including applications in the medical, military, market research, and business sectors. See Exhibit 5 for a complete time line for Emotiv). Exhibit 1. Print advertisement for EPOC using its positioning statement. Imagine the Unimaginable Emotiv's EPOC Exhibit 2. Breakeven analysis for years one (2008) and two (2009). Fixed Costs| | | Startup investment | | $1,000,000 | Additional financing used *** | | +$9,500,000 | Cost to produce video martial arts games| | +$2,500,000 | Expected operating expense s for 2008 | | +$11,086,000 | Expected operating expenses for 2009| | +$20,557,000 | Expected total fixed costs| | $44,643,000 | | | Contribution| | | Price | | $399 | Retailers Margins (Price * 20%)| | -$79. 80 | Emotiv's Revenues| | $319. 20 | Cost of Goods Sold| | | (Manufacturing Cost is $110 per unit for the first million units produced)| -$110 | Total contribution per unit | | $209. 20 | | | | | | | Breakeven (fixed costs/contribution)| | 213,399| | | | | | | ***| | | Additional financing raised | $17,000,000 | | Capital still on hand| $7,500,000 | | Additional financing used | $9,500,000 | | Exhibit 3. SWOT analysis for Emotiv.Strengths * Superior quality * Emotiv's EPOC was the best mind- reading device on the market * Technological leader * Its research and development team was highly experienced and innovative, giving the company the ability to continue to improve EPOC and perhaps develop another product in order to move into another gaming category or market segment| Weak nesses * EPOC could be inconsistent * The human mind works differently on different days and times, which can confuse the algorithm behind EPOC * The EPOC is not compatible with the Nintendo Wii, hurting its growth chances since Wii has a leading market share in the console market * No games are currently available for EPOC, which could slow adoption rates by decreasing the value customers receive from the product | Opportunities * Efficiently target hard-core gamers since they are a concentrated group that would likely have an high interest in EPOC and act as early adopters of the technology * Eventually target the mass market once gaming console companies realize the value of the EPOC, allowing the company to experience robust sales similar to those of Guitar Hero * Could increase penetration rate sooner if an innovative leader such as Apple accepts ts technology | Threats * Although EPOC was the most advanced mind-reading device on the market, Emotiv still faced the threat of com petition from other firms * NeuroSky and OCZ Technology were both developing mind-reading devices (although inferior to EPOC) that could be marketing for video gaming applications, which could cut into its market share * Consumers may have unjustifiably high expectations from EPOC (someone once asked if it could move objects in real space), which could lead to customer disappointment and bad reviews| Exhibit 4. Sales Forecast for 2011 once EPOC is mass marketed to all video game players. Under an optimistic scenario, sales of EPOC will mirror sales of Guitar Hero. Exhibit 5. Time line for Emotiv. OCTOBER 2007: Sign a $2. 5 million contract with Demiurge Studios to develop a PC game to be sold with EPOC that demonstrates the capabilities of mind-controlled interactivity. MARCH 2008: Appear at the 2008 Game Developer's Conference. Showcase EPOC and announce that it will be released in November 2008.APRIL 2008: Begin creating buzz for EPOC's launch by sending headsets and the accompany ing PC game to influential opinion leaders at Tech TV and PC magazine. OCTOBER 2008: Create more consumer awareness through advertisements. Target hard-core video game players by running ads on Tech TV and in PC magazine. NOVEMBER 2008: Launch EPOC in time for the start of the 2008 holiday season. Commence its distribution agreement with Brookstone. MARCH 2009: Wait for sales figure for the fourth quarter. Then resume talks with Sony, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts for a partnership to market EPOC. Show them sales statistics for EPOC, which could help demonstrate the success and popularity of the product. JANUARY 2010: Hopefully sign a contract with one of the major console makers.OCTOBER 2010: Prepare to release EPOC for a gaming console. Start advertising on primetime television to capture the mass market. NOVEMBER 2010: Release EPOC for a gaming console in time for the start of the 2010 holiday season. Expand distribution to include Best Buy. MARCH 2011: Conduct research on EPOC upgrades. NOVEMBER 2012: Introduce a new and improved EPOC 2 model. If consumers are satisfied with the first model, repeat sales volume will be high. MARCH 2013: Begin research to expand its product line beyond video games, perhaps for medical, military, market research, or business applications. NOVEMBER 2015: Launch a new product in a new sector. Similar essay: Reed Supermarkets: a New Wave of Competitors

TNA - Navy Federal Credit Union Part II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

TNA - Navy Federal Credit Union Part II - Essay Example It was also identified that employees struggle with situations where they need to inform inquiring customers of information about the company that they least know about. This kind of unexpected performance can be associated with the lack of certain working techniques that are expected of employees servicing any financial institution. After research and extensive study, it was identified that an objective training program could instrumentally work towards generating desired worker qualifications at the federation. Allison Rossett and Lisa Schafer-2012 in Job Aids and Performance Support, cite objective training as a possible solution for under-performance of otherwise qualified employees (Rossett & Schafer, 2007). The actual performance of employees dictates the overall performance of a company. However, there is a set level of individual performance that is expected of employees at a company. This expected level of performance is rarely achieved. When the Actual performance is lower than the expected performance at whatever level of delivery, a performance Gap that is relatively more specific is normally created. This performance gap is a measure of the difference between the expected performance and the actual performance levels of a company. On an average scale, most of the tellers at Navy Union are giving in lesser input per day and this can be associated with customer relations and PR conditions at the company. The company’s Money’s and customer relations training program w ill work toward increasing the referrals of the tellers and generally raising their confidence levels when dealing with customers that creates an expected â€Å"good† name of the company (Blanchard& Thacker, 2010). After the identification of the performance gap and settling on training as a solution, the Navy Union could now provide its employees with a set of expected outcomes of the training so that when they go into the training program, they are aware

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Human resource management - Essay Example The Humphrey Group not only would not be irresponsible bringing an HR representative into their corporate responsibility and bonus scandal meeting, they would in fact be irresponsible not to. In fact, it seems to be absurd to say that the solution is anything but a human resources issue. Human resources determine how wages and bonuses are controlled, given and filed; they control the hiring, firing and promotion of employees. Bonus scandals and compensation ethics begin at human resources giving bad offers to bad people after not weeding out the dishonest and end with paying those bonuses to those bad people. When a corporation makes a bad decision, one always has to ask, â€Å"Why were there bad apples in that barrel?† Picking the apples and replacing the rotten ones is the job of HR. Further, given that most companies do not end up violating the law in such an egregious manner, it's clear that illegality is the province only of a few corporate cultures and therefore a few pe ople. How is this anything but an HR problem? Well, superficially, the paying of bonuses and the detection of fraud thereof do fall under the purview of accounts payable, auditing, accounting and payroll, which are relevant non-HR departments. More importantly, it is true, although misleadingly so and far less crucially so than many think, that a company is more than the sum of its parts. Ultimately, a corporation is just twenty or a hundred or a thousand people, but there are three factors that make it more than just an aggregation of those people in a random setting such as a park: 1. Past organisational culture, especially for long-lasting companies 2. Institutional roles changing people's behavior (Zimbardo, 2006) 3. Shared goals and objectives created by legal responsibilities; bureaucratic and institutional coordination A company like General Electric or even Microsoft has had far more people in it throughout its history than it does now. People are fired, replaced, quit, demo ted, hired, promoted, forced into resignation, and retire. Every person who works at a company makes a mark on its institutional culture, which means that looking at a corporation at any given moment is misleading because the institutional culture goes farther back in the past. But at the same time, it is people who choose to ignore, defy or abide by that institutional culture. Aside from that, it is clear that people in certain bad circumstances don't do those things out of them being sheer evil. The torturers at Abu Ghraib were not torturing people for fun back in the States; corporate leaders and hucksters like Ken Lay and Madoff do not mug old ladies. People in an institutional setting, as Zimbardo discovered in his famous Stanford prison experiment, begin to adopt the behavior of their roles (Zimbardo, 2006). Even if it is a pretend prison, the pretend prisoners, pretend guards and pretend warden (who are students and a psychology professor in their day-to-day lives) act like p risoners, guards and wardens for real. The Zimbardo experiment had normal, well-adjusted students of a variety of backgrounds, yet all of them began to fall into their roles startlingly quickly. Yet, again, human resources can

Discussion Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

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Marketing of Samsung Galaxy Gear (Smart Watch) Assignment

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Sustainable tourism strategic plan

Sustainable tourism strategic plan Executive Summary Tourism is the main generator of revenue in the Hawaiian economy. Therefore the state markets itself primarily as a tourist destination. In keeping with this image the Hawaii Tourism Association (HTA) has developed the Hawaiis Tourism Strategic Plan: 2005-2015. This is a comprehensive plan which is inclusive of and addresses the needs and responsibilities of all stakeholders in Hawaiis tourism product. The purpose of this essay is to conduct an analysis into the sustainability of Hawaiis tourism product by evaluating their policies, principles and sustainability practices as outlined in the plan. A SWOT analysis will be presented identifying Hawaiis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as it pertains to their tourism product. The product will also be assessed based on the criteria which embody the four pillars of sustainable tourism which are economic, ecological, cultural and local sustainability. The principles governing Agenda 21 will also be used as a guideline to evaluate Hawaiis tourism product. Recommendations will then be made based on the limitations of the product that were identified and a conclusion based on the results of the analysis. Hawaii, the 50th state of the Unites States of America is an archipelago which comprises of eight major islands known as Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, Niihau and Kaho olawe. This group of volcanic islands is located in the Northern Pacific Ocean at approximately 2,400 miles West South West of San Francisco (City-Data.com, 2010). The islands tropical climate coupled with its beautiful scenery which comprises of lush rainforest, exquisite beaches and sensational mountain ranges has made it a very attractive destination for tourist. In addition, its multicultural society has resulted in a rich cultural diversity which also adds to the distinctiveness of the archipelago. As a result, the main revenue generator is tourism which contributes the most jobs, income and growth to the Hawaiian economy. According to the Department of Business, Economics, Development and Tourism, (2009) the number of stay over tourist for 2009 was 6, 514,382 which contributed to approximately 20% of Hawaiis GDP. This is a clear indication as to how important tourism is to the Hawaiian economy. The importance of sustainable tourism in the current global climate cannot be underscored. According to the World Tourism Organization (2004), any type of tourism destinations should develop sustainable tourism guidelines and policies in order to strike a balance between the socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects of tourism so that environmental resources are efficiently utilized, the unique aspects of the culture are preserved and respected, and all stakeholders in the economy benefit. Therefore, it is important that Hawaiis Strategic plan for tourism incorporates all of these aspects in order to be effective. The vision that Hawaii formulated for its tourism product by the year 2015 is as follows: Honor Hawaiis people and heritage; value and perpetuate Hawaiis natural and cultural resources; engender mutual respect among all stakeholders; support a vital and sustainable economy and provide a unique, memorable, enriching visitor experience. (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2005) Although this vision contains the key aspects of sustainable tourism development, it is important to consider in detail whether the policies, practices and principles which are included in the strategic plan are reflective of their vision. It is imperative that even before a strategic plan is formulated that a SWOT analysis is done in order to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses of product and the external opportunities that the product is exposed to. The following SWOT analysis is a more detailed version of the one that was prepared by the Hawaii Tourism Authority[1]. As identified by the tourism strategic plan, Hawaiis strengths as a tourism product are: Hawaii is branded internationally as a prestigious exotic vacation spot. The islands experience consistent warm climate throughout the year with an average variance of about 4oC. Native Hawaiians have a unique Polynesian Culture and History. The idea of a tropical volcanic island covered in diverse flora and fauna adds allure and appeal to the islands as a tourist destination. Most visitors claim to be satisfied with their time spent in Hawaii. The islands are blest with rich volcanic soil that supports the islands flora, fauna and lush vegetation. Natives are very friendly and welcoming which makes visitors feel more appreciated. Top class resorts provide varied quality accommodations. Airport and local security is excellent which propagates a feeling of safety. Hawaii offers a variety of activities and attractions to keep guests occupied, from surfing in the summer to skiing in winter. Hawaii is geographically isolated in the Pacific Ocean therefore there are no other islands in the world like it. The plan also highlights the following as weaknesses of Hawaii as a tourism product: Hawaiis geographic isolation makes it an expensive travel destination. There are inadequate public and private infrastructures such as restrooms and roads which makes visitor stay more uncomfortable. Visitors to Hawaii spend little time interacting with native residents especial in the rural areas Hawaii offers the same types of activities it has for the past decade which has become monotonous for tourists and declined repeat visitors. Inaccurate pre- and post-arrival Information on accommodation and Hawaiian culture have been a source of complaint and an expression of visitors dissatisfaction. There is inadequate Stakeholder Consensus in the tourism industry currently and as such there is much dissatisfaction amongst key stakeholders especially amongst the native communities. Businesses usually run slowly in Hawaii which increases visitor frustration for prompt service. Insufficient pre-visit information has often resulted in a mismatch between visitor expectation and product delivery. Hawaii has a very volatile inter-island transportation services. Taxis and tours are expensive and drivers often have very limited knowledge of the islands. In addition, many taxi and tour vehicles are not properly maintained. All together, this situation delivers poor service to visitors. Airlift to Hawaii can become problematic. Apart from being expensive, most airlines have limited their flights to or pulled out of the islands totally, as a result of financial strain placed on the industry by increased fuel costs and the need for added security features since the 911 incident in New York. Hawaiis public facilities such as its park benches, public restrooms, etc are poorly maintained, which provides an unsightly attraction and uncomfortable feeling to tourists. Tourists are often unaware of and have little access to many new activities available to them owing to communication and transportation limitations. There is a shortage of professional (Certified) guides on Hawaii which results in poor service delivery to touring tourists and adds to the dissatisfaction visitors feel when in Hawaii. Hawaiis strategic plan identifies the following as opportunities for Hawaii as a tourism product: Hawaii can further develop itself as a tourism product in terms of sustainable tourism. The increasing patronage of cruise lines promises an opportunity for future enhancement in that industry. Hawaiis native Polynesian culture is unique to Hawaii and it offers a chance to experience an alternative culture to tourists. Geographic market segmentation information affords Hawaii the chance to better customize their marketing efforts to meet the needs of their international customers. As such Hawaii can market themselves in different regions of the world, highlighting the vacation needs of these regions that it can fulfill. Health, sports and eco tourism are only a few of the recent tourism markets that are evolving. Hawaii has already hosted the PGA tour and hopes to capitalize on these other new markets that are showing up. Additional ferry services can certainly improve Hawaiis inter island transportation system, allowing more efficient and cheaper transportation between islands, thus reducing the total cost of the Hawaii vacation experience. A sustainable tourism approach will allow Hawaii to more prudently utilize and protect its resources thereby maximizing economic benefits from them whilst conserving them for future use. Improving public and private infrastructure affords Hawaii to provide a more comfortable, sanitary and attractive destination to visiting tourists thereby reducing visitor dissatisfaction. Sustainable tourism also allows Hawaii to impart ownership of their tourism product to all stakeholders. Such inclusion leads to greater satisfaction and purpose on behalf of the stakeholders which in turn maintains morale and motivation to deliver a good product. Since Hawaii will be engaging culture tourism, it means that its culture must be preserved and perpetuated for future display. As a consequence, Hawaiian native Polynesian culture will be conserved over the distant future. Hawaii recognizes the following as threats to their tourism product: Most public and private infrastructure in Hawaii is quite old and as such they are becoming unattractive and possibly unsafe for use. 43% of native Hawaiians feel that tourism is negatively impacting on Hawaii and as such there is a disturbing level of anti tourism mentality in Hawaii. As tourism have developed in Hawaii so has crime and drug use, if this trend is to persist security will soon become a deterrent for visitors. Disruptive world events such as, 911 terrorist attacks, world financial crisis, H1N1 virus, etc , continue to placed added financial strain and fear on travellers and airlines. As such, travel is compromised and less persons car willing to or can afford a Hawaiian vacation. Limited state funding is quickly becoming an issue because sustainable tourism is a costly framework to operate and Hawaiis current funding is insufficient to fully engage the concept. Hawaii is now receiving increased global competition from other destinations such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Seychelles, Caribbean, etc as alternative vacation hot spot offering a wide range of services and unique cultural experiences. Increased Homeland Security measures from the U.S makes travel to Hawaii frustrating and as such visitors are often repulsed by the extensive searches and long lines that result, from the enforcement of these measures. The volatility of the airlines continues to remain a problem for the foreseeable future for Hawaii. With over 6 million visitors expected annually and even a greater number in the future, airlift to Hawaii is simply insufficient. However, Hawaii has no control over the added expenditure constraints faced by the airlines that are faced with no choice but to increase airfares or decrease flight numbers. At present there is a level of internal disagreement and complacency as it pertains to tourism management. Some feel that native Hawaiian culture and identity is being threatened along with their environment. Others feel that the Hawaii brand is strong enough to sustain Hawaiian life and there is no need to undertake such immense spending. If these types of attitudes continue to prevail, Hawaii as a tourism product will soon be in trouble. Many natives feel that Hawaii has been so focused on tourism they have not realized that Hawaiians themselves have become a lot like the tourists that visit, in terms of their dress, speech, lifestyle, foods, etc. As such, some feel that Hawaiians are losing their identity and sometimes its difficult to tell who the tourist is from who the native is. The current cost of the Hawaiian experience is too expensive. It is the number one deterrent for potential visitors. Unfortunately, with the volatility of the airline industry that cost is more than likely to get even higher. The first aspect of sustainability that will be looked at is economic sustainability. According to Mckercher (2003), economic sustainability should be beneficial to all stakeholders involved both presently and in the future. Principle 3 of Agenda 21 declares that the right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of future generations. Hawaii incorporates many economically sustainable practices in its tourism product which are highlighted in the strategic plan. The diversity of the product in order to provide a wide variety of activities for the tourist to enjoy is addressed. They have ensured that the product is diverse enough to cater to the family, a couple on a romantic getaway and even extreme sports fanatics. With this diversity comes a wide range of activities for the tourist to engage in while they are vacationing in Hawaii. Some of the activities include; hiking, golfing, scuba diving, horseback riding, spa massages etc ( Hawaii Activities, 2010). However, because Hawaiis image of being a leisure destination lacks appeal to the business tourist this limitation affects sustainability of their product since it limits the types and amounts of visitors that come to their shores. Another important aspect that is covered in the strategic plan which is of extreme importance to the economic sustainability is access to the destination. Hawaii has encountered some major challenges regarding access to its product. Maintaining an adequate amount of airlift to the islands has become an issue as a result of the airline industrys increase in volatility. Also, their airport and port facilities are aging and unable to adequately cater to the needs of a growing industry. The facilities at the airport have negatively impacted the total visitor experience coupled with the fact that the immigration process is very burdensome (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2010). According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority it takes approximately 71 minutes per passenger to be processed through customs and immigration. Highways, roads and ground transportation systems are also problematic on the island. Maintenance of the roads and highways as well as the high levels of congestion is very inconvenie nt to the local populations as well as visitors (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2010). Additionally, they have recognized the importance of communication and outreach, marketing, research and planning and further product development and have incorporated it in their plan. With regards to communication and outreach, the Hawaii Tourism Authority is cognizant of the fact that the attitudes of all the stakeholders involved in the development and maintenance of their product is critical if success is to be achieved. They have identified the stakeholders as residents, government agencies, visitors and private businesses. As a result they have put measures in place to raise awareness, increase knowledge, participation, collaboration and interactions among all the stakeholders. For example, one of their policies is to conduct outreach programs and provide forums in order for all stakeholders to exchange ideas, concerns and queries regarding their tourism product (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2010). Visitor input in this regard is limited since these forums and programs do not inc lude visitors. In relation to marketing, the focus is on increased visitor spending instead of increased visitor arrivals because they have recognized that accommodation capacity is limited. They have segmented their marketing efforts to cater to the differences in the conditions and needs of specific geographic markets such as Europe, Latin America, Japan, Asia etc. However, this cannot be done in isolation and must be coordinated with their product development programs. Some of the areas that have been recognized as being important to visitors are a clean environment, intriguing culture and history, a wide variety of accommodations and, safety and security. In 2009, their Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report revealed that more than half of their visitors thought that the Hawaiian experience was excellent and would revisit the destination (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2009). In spite of this, visitors are still requesting new and unique experiences to be added to the tourism product. This aspect is addressed by their research and planning initiative in their strategic plan and should address the development and improvement of their tourism product through research and proper planning initiatives. This is important in light of the fact that tourism is not a stagnant industry and in order to keep up with the trends and events that affect the industry proper research and planning must be done. Also, because of the growing concerns of visitors about their safety and security, this aspect is also addressed. This is an important aspect of economic sustainability because a negative perception held about visitors safety and security in any destination could adversely affect visitor arrivals and expenditures. The second pillar that will be looked at is ecological sustainability. According to Mckercher, (2003) ecological sustainability should promote developmental practices which are compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity and biological resources. Ecological sustainability is a very important aspect of sustainable development and must be an essential part of any plan aimed at achieving sustainable development (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 1992) Tourism puts a lot of strain on the natural resources of the state because of the continuous demand by tourist for recreation and tourism-related activities. Hawaii State Parks Survey, (2007) showed that approximately 10.1 million people visit the state parks within a particular year. As a result sustainable practices that pertain to their natural resources have become a necessity. The Hawaii Tourism Authority has placed a lot of emphasis on the upkeep and restoration of t he national parks, beaches, trails waterfalls etc. They have embarked on initiatives to find methods of maintaining, repairing and improving their natural resources. Some of the initiatives are; charging entry and user fees and the provision of security on their sites in order to regulate the activities of tourist (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2005). Another very important aspect of ecological sustainability is the identification and promotion of acceptable and responsible tourist behaviors. This is important in order that visitors enjoy the natural resources of the destination without destroying them. The Hawaii Tourism Authority has embarked on initiatives geared at raising awareness regarding the responsible and acceptable utilization of the Hawaiis natural resources. This initiative is not only targeted at the tourist but at all stakeholders involved. Some of the areas of focus are educating all stakeholders about water and energy conservation practices, recycling and safety conditions of hiking trails and beaches. This education takes the form of in-room videos, brochures, website postings and warning signage (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2005). It is also imperative that appropriate legislation be put in place so that the sustainability of the ecology/natural environment can be maintained in a realistic fashion. Environmental protection laws such as article XI, section 9 of the Constitution of the state of Hawaii allows all Hawaiian the right to a healthy environment and gives everyone the authority to legally persecute another party for violating this right (Hawaii Legislative Reference Beureau, 1978). The third pillar that will be looked at is cultural sustainability. According to Mckercher (2003) cultural sustainability should increase the control that people have over their lives, coincide with the values and culture of the communities affected and strengthen the identity of the community. Agenda 21, Principle 22 further purports that the culture and identity of the people should be recognized and supported in order to achieve sustainable development (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development). Hawaiis uniqueness is built on the great amount of value that is placed on the native culture. According to the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, (2004) many native Hawaiians believe that their cultural integrity is being compromised as a result of increase in the number of tourist that visit the islands. As a result, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has identified ways of honoring and sustaining Hawaiian culture and as such has included it in their strategic plan . As with any operation, there are challenges to be faced. An important aspect of cultural sustainability that has been raised is; the gap between the tourism industry and the Hawaiian natives. The Hawaiian culture is used to appeal to visitors, however natives feel isolated because they are not a part of the process and in turn, they feel threatened. Agenda 21 (UN, 1992) views this situation as a weakness based on its view that partnerships must be developed with all stakeholders with an aim of constructing collective responsibility for planning, decision-making, solutions development, program execution and appraisal. In short, authority over sustainable tourism must be shared with the native stakeholders. Another issue mentioned in their plan was the way in which hawaiian culture is being marketed to the outside world. The Hawaiian culture, is sometimes, merged with cultures of other islands, thus, tainting its authenticity. Some also feel that there is a need for the Hawaiian culture to be highly appreciated, and most of all, preserved. According to McKercher, (2003), cultural sustainability should aim to ensure the protection of native cultures and traditional knowledge. Hawaiis musicians, craftsmen, artists etc. are those who keep the Hawaiian culture alive, as such they should be incorporated as key stakeholders in the tourism development and decision making process. One of the aspects that were recognized for action was that they needed to foster closer relationships between the community and the tourist in order to promote interaction and shared understanding among the groups. The Hawaii Tourism Authority, in their strategic plan, identified some objectives, which, if achieved should bring favorable sustainable results. Initially, there would be a bridging of the gap among the natives and the tourism industry through direct collaborating and engaging efforts between the two parties. Another stated objective would be to foster the Hawaiian culture by incorporating all aspects of it to gain positive results. Thereby, educational programs on Hawaiian culture, training in various aspects of Hawaiian culture such as boat building, art, music, etc, information on job opportunities available through manifestations of Hawaiian culture, will all be initiated to guarantee protection and continuance of Hawaiis culture and traditions. The last stated aim i s to support cultural, programs, artists and organizations in their work, thus bringing them together with the tourism industry and sharing a common understanding and support system for each other. According to Robinson and Picard (2006) based on the objectives and design quality of a tourism strategic plan and the implementation of policies and activities that hold culture and sustainability in regard should include the communal participation in preserving and enriching of cultural heritage over the long term. Hawaiians seems to have taken this point of view deeply into consideration, as its essence has manifested itself into the Hawaii Tourism Strategic Plan. Native Hawaiians and their host culture are a major part of what continue to make Hawaii unique (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2010). Sustainable tourism appears to be a potent weapon in the fight to protect, revitalize and economically benefit from it. The final pillar that will be looked at is local sustainability. According to McKercher, (2003) local sustainability should be designed so that the local communities benefit from tourism activities. Principle 1 in Agenda 21 indicates that human beings are the primary concern in all aspects of sustainable development (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development). Local sustainability is very important in order to ensure that the benefits derived from tourism are retained in the local communities. In order to ensure that the local community cooperates with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, they must ensure that they involve them in the decisions regarding tourism development. MeKercher, 2003 states as one of his principles governing local sustainability that the local community should maintain control over tourism development. In order to ensure that the community is actively involved in tourism development ongoing community meetings and surveys are held in order to ensure tha t the local community actively participates in tourism planning and policy development. The Hawaii Tourism Authority has addressed this issue in their workforce development initiative aspect of their strategic plan. The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism has estimated that tourism provides jobs to one out of every five people in Hawaii. As a result they have recognized the importance of providing employment and opportunities for advancement to locals within the tourism industry. Some of the ways they have ensured that the community contributes and benefits from tourism are; by having outreach programs in order to educate community members about opportunities for them within the industry. Some of the opportunities available for locals in the community are the provision of agricultural products to hotels and restaurants, cultural practitioners, arts and craft and musicians. Additionally, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has pledged support to various internship programs and initiatives organized by locals which offer opportunities for them within the ind ustry. There are also measures in place to provide organize programs and activities aimed at motivating the local workforce. Based on the limitations identified with regards to Hawaiis tourism product and their strategic plan, the following recommendations have been made. Firstly, a communication strategy should be developed. Although the Hawaiis strategic plan speaks of sustainability, responsibility, accountability, etc, as guiding principles behind it, however, there is limited mention on how information is going to be communicated to the population and what channels are to be used. According to USAID (2006) a fully developed communications strategy for the implementation of sustainable tourism can help to facilitate the process much easier. USAID (2006) says that stakeholders have both a right to partake in the administrative process and a responsibility to adopt environmentally, communally and financially sustainable behaviours and practices. They add that the effective communication can create consciousness of these responsibilities and convince stakeholders the long-term benefits of sustainable tour ism (USAID, 2006). Moreover, USAID (2006, P.2, Para. 2, 3.) highlights that a communication strategy that identifies how information, awareness creation, advocacy, network building, conflict mitigation, and communication platforms will be supported can be considered comprehensive and is critical to the success of any sustainable tourism event. Secondly, a new instrument for measuring the success of the Strategic plan should be created. Hawaii have, resident sentiments, state and county tax receipts, visitor spending and visitor satisfaction, as its major instruments for measuring the success of its plan. These instruments however do not measure how well present resources are being preserved, to what extent Hawaii is meeting its transportation needs, to what degree is its culture being maintained and developed as a product, how much tourism earned directly and indirectly, to what extent are communities responding to and being developed by tourism, to what extent native human resources have been trained professionally and otherwise, in the industry? Each of these areas have been cited in the plan as key developmental areas in sustainable tourism yet none of them can be measured by the instruments laid out in the plan. According to the UKs Department for culture, media and sports (DCMS) (2002), Sustainable Tourism Indicators are needed to provide measures for observing the impacts of tourism and to record advancement towards attaining set sustainable tourism goals and objectives. Nonetheless, the department cautions that before considering what indicators could best be used in relation to monitoring and measuring change, it is necessary to generate a set of measures to provide a baseline against which to assess change (DCMs, 2002, P.16. Para. 1). In addition, the DCMS (2002) says that measurement indicators must carry therein the capacity to identify trends and have a longevity that extends beyond the life of the programmes under consideration. Thirdly, the vehicular emission standards for imported vehicles should be regulated. Transportation on Hawaii has also been highlighted as one of its biggest weaknesses and much is being considered to address the problem in the strategic plan. Vehicular exhaust however, has been noted as a major polluter of the environment. With an increase in transportation on the islands, the probability of air pollution also increases. If appropriate emission standards are put in place, Hawaii can ensure that the effect is minimized. According to the Uks Department for Transport (DFT) (n.d), many people are still unaware of the impact of road vehicles on the environment and our health but if proper regulatory measures are enforced the environmental impact of vehicles can be dramatically lessened (DFT, n.d). Fourthly, local investment in transportation services should be promoted. Tax incentives can be offered to persons invest given they adhere to local licensing requirements. These requirements should include certified training for public and private transport operators as a prerequisite for an operators license that allows you to operate transportation in the tourism industry, given that you maintain certain operational standards. As previously mentioned, inadequate transportation and poor service while being transported have been cited as two outstanding weaknesses and areas of focus in the strategic plan. Promotional incentives like tax breaks can encourage persons to offer that type of service to not only help ease the problem but also create employment opportunities for themselves. However, these persons must be trained to offer quality service and their operations must meet regulatory standards that enable them to lighten their footprint on the environment. Fifthly, waste management programs should be developed and implemented. Nowhere in Hawaiis strategic plan does it mention addressing waste management from tourism but it does speak of protecting the environment. Increased quantities of sewage and garbage are two major threats to every environment resulting from tourism. Programs must b

Impact of Job Stress on Employee Performance

Impact of Job Stress on Employee Performance CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND People at work worry about all sorts of things like increasing competition for jobs, change in culture, globalization, terrorism, new technology looking after aging parent and relatives, annual performance appraisals, outsourcing of jobs along with increased demand of employer for higher productivity. At times, these and some other different factors make the employees to go through certain pressures when they have to meet deadlines, cope up with some kind of strange but critical situations. They need to become accustomed to the cultural changes of the organization, learn new procedures and timely attend meetings along with being innovative. Looking at these situations, at first hand, appear to be the integral part of any job but when we look deeper and closer at all these, they are nothing but stressors which cause hindrance to the performance thus causing damage to the productivity and performance of the organization on the whole. All the good organizations take necessary concern an d exerciseextreme care and foresightwith reference to job stress. So they, in their own larger interest, take very good care of their employees, value them, invest in them and work extra mile to cope their problems and fulfill their needs. Work place pressure is growing day by day, people face changing economic and business situations, changing customer expectations and changing expectations from their own role and position in the organization (Moten, 2009). Therefore, there are three issues that arise in considering effect of job-related stress on individual organizations and the economy in general which are: how should work-related stress be specified, what determines its presence at the workplace and what is its importance as a predictor of individuals behavior? Nearly everyone agrees that job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of work. Views differ, however, on the importance of worker characteristics versus working conditions as the primary cause of job stress. These differing viewpoints are important because they suggest different ways to prevent stress at work. Performance is defined as the results and accomplishments cherished by the organization or system that one works in. It is natural that the working environment of the system where people work directly affects performance of human beings. People need work that motivates them with healthy working conditions, and the chance to play a part in social surroundings of work and to feel valued. Stressful working situations and conditions, arising from any of above mentioned factors, can directly or indirectly effect on job performance of the employee. Work place pressure affects the performance at a greater extent and it need to be dealt with carefully. Stress at a greater level on the other hand is harmful and has a negative effect on performance of employees over the long term as it wears down an individual and underutilizes his or her energy resources. High levels of stress can cause, low morale at work, fatigue, late comings, absenteeism and trouble in getting along with other team members or co-workers. Recently many organizations are becoming responsive towards increasing cost of occupational stress, not only in human and financial terms but also to the national economy in general. The cost of replacing an employee who is underperforming owing to stress is between 50 to 90 % of his salary (Personnel Management, Factsheet 7, July 1998). Job stress is as much a corporate business issue as it is a health issue for organizations. Job stress charge American businesses billions of dollars a year in employee burnout, low morale, turnover, higher absenteeism, lower performance and increased health care costs. The American Psychological Association estimates that 60 percent of all absences and late comings are because of issues related to stress, costing American companies about $57 billion in a year. Thus the study aims to find the impact of job stress on employees performance. As it is obvious that no one can work to its optimum level when s/he is under stress. Under severe stress, an individual fails to take clear-cut decisions, reevaluate and reassess the priorities and lifestyles, and ultimately, tend to fall into unproductive distractions. This can be described as a classic case of burnout. The burnouts often engage in reckless or risk-taking behaviors. Starting from glamour and sport celebrities to common men, burnouts are found everywhere. Often burnout will manifest itself in a reduction in motivation, volume and quality of performance, or in dissatisfaction with or departure from the activity altogether. PROBLEM STATEMENT Moten suggested that employee performance is declining due to the on the job activities and managerial policies. On the basis of her findings we are researching that Work activities and culture effect the work performance and behavioral performance in positive or negative way. RATIONAL FOR THE STUDY The framework of this project is inspired by the work of Motens research conducted in 2009. Her work consisted of several variables and its effect on employees. Our aim to conduct the research is to verify the effect of work activities and culture on the work and behavioral performance of employees. These variables have several dimensions. Thus it will help PTCL, in particular, and other organization to find the reasons of the difference in actual performance and the expected performance. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The macro objectives of this study are: To determine the causes of job stress in a workplace. To find out the effect of job stress on the performance of the employees. To determine the factors that can reduce the job stress at PTCL. How Stress at work can be prevented or reduced? The micro objectives are: To determine the effect of work activities on the work performance and behavioral performance of employees of PTCL To determine the effect of culture on work performance and behavioral performance of employees at PTCL. THEORATICAL FRAME WORK Independent Variables Work activities and culture were the independent variable of the study. All the job conditions that may lead to stress are the result of stressors and can be used to measure the stress. Work activities Includes multi-tasking, strict deadlines and work load on employees Culture It includes support from Boss/ Supervisor and Management style of Boss/ Supervisor. Dependent Variables Dependent variable for the study is Work Performance and Behavioral Performance of the employees. Performance is the outcomes and accomplishments of the employees that are valued by the organization. It determines the success of the organization or we can say that success of any organization depends on the performance of its employees. The different dimensions of work performance are: Completion of given tasks Sense of Responsibility And the dimensions of Behavioral Performance are: Satisfaction level Low Morale For more clarity see the model (1.5.1) given below. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Type of Study The study being conducted is descriptive in nature. Using this mode of analysis is favored to smooth the progress of study, establish and be able to describe the characteristics of a group in a situation. Descriptive study used helped to present and analyze the data in significant form. It also helped to understand the effects of job stress on the employee performance at PTCL. Type of Investigation The study is co-relational. The researcher identified the factors that cause stress among employees in PTCL and in turn how the performance of these stressed employees gets effect. Many factors were known as vital reason of the stress depending on the host as well. Any of these factors can cause stress but at times they all act as stressors. Sampling Method and Type of data collected Non-Probability sampling method was selected to collect the data from the population and the data gathered was qualitative in nature. Population and Sample size The study is about the performance of employees under job stress. The population for this study will be employees of PTCL. The sample size for this study is 100 employees of PTCL. Research Instrument Research approach was basically qualitative. But data was analyzed by both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Research topic was related to the Employee Performance under Job Stress. The research type was quantitative because after getting the response from sample through questionnaire the results extended from data were in numerical form and presented in the form of charts and graph. The research type was qualitative since it included literature review industrial and organizational analysis along with survey analysis. Data collection Data for this research was collected in two phases. Firstly data was collected for the use of literature review. For this purpose all the secondary sources like books, Internet, magazines, articles etc were consulted. Previous researches of many researchers regarding stress and performance were studied. Data was gathered from several journals, books, articles, reviews and Internet. Then a questionnaire was prepared to collect the data from the sample regarding the impact of these stress factors/variables on employee performance. The primary data was gathered from the sample personally. The permission from the organization was sought with reference to university. Questionnaire was distributed among the employees and was requested to fill it in within 3 days. Participants were free to inquire anything regarding the material on questionnaire or the research. This helped to trim down their doubts. LIMITATTIONS Regarding the limitations of the study, it may be reiterate due to scarcity of the resources and time constraints. A nationally representative sample could not be used. The study must cover the nation to obtain finding, which can be generalized with confidence. The study is designed to focus on the employee performance under job stress in one organization it cannot be generalized on the whole industry. Due to the significance of the topic, research carried out should be on national level. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This part of the study provides the literature available on the research topic. It includes the citation from the previous works and theories done by different researchers. This helps to assist the research process and gains insight and in-depth knowledge about the subject and problems that are considered critical to this whole work. The sources of literature, studies, information, surveys and reports through articles have indeed enlighten and given us as a researcher proper direction to work and move into. By the help of the review the most important fact that came to researchers knowledge is that very little has been done in regard to cope with Job/workplace stress in Pakistan. To the researchers best knowledge, the current research is the first detailed and comprehensive study that shows the effect of job stress on employee performance in the business field of Pakistan. Occupational stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or need of the worker (Sauter and Murphy. 1999). Porter and Streers, (1973) presented the study of occupational stress and its health consequences. It constitutes a major area of research in the behavioral sciences. Studies of specific stress-related illnesses feature prominently in the medical literature, while in occupational psychology work-related stress has been linked to both physical and psychological health problems across a broad section of the working population. Individuals under stress are reported to suffer adverse personal health, including ulcers, high blood pressure, heart attacks or even death and studies in the behavioral sciences have shown that poor employee performance, absenteeism and high labor market turnover are all linked to worker stress. According to James Tighe (June 2000) in his article Stress affecting mental health and physical health contributes that when people experience and feel under impossible pressure at work, meeting dead lines, unsupportive boss, being undervalued and lack of control over the work they lean to work harder and harder to try to close the gap between what theyre achieving and what they think they should be achieving. They stop taking breaks and lose touch with their own needs which creates stress not only in the organization but also disturbs their personal lives. Due to the increased popularity of Call centers Ruyter, K. et al. (2001) examined the causes and outcomes of role stress in a call center setting as a result of the conflicting demands of the company, supervisors, and customers. The participants of the study were 1200 employees of Insurance industry of Netherlands. The findings were that role stress is an originator of job satisfaction that, in turn, is an originator of poor job performance and turnover intention. Both empowerment/autonomy and competence were found to be antecedent conditions for role stress. They also found that while autonomy leads to role stress that leads to job satisfaction, competence has no direct impact on role stress. Another finding was that leadership had less impact in the model. So the researchers suggest that empowerment autonomy seems to have a relatively strong impact in terms of role stress reduction. Thus the employees should be given the freedom to influence pace, working method, and sequence of t asks in dealing with customers. In stressful work environments, it has been emphasized that job rotation and reinforcement of employees faith in their own competencies and skills are particularly useful in increasing job satisfaction. Employee recognition by management as well as strengthening employees confidence in their competence through task-related training programs may be the key to keeping high-performance call center employees. Another research by Lambert, Alysa D. et al. (2008) suggest that employees are so much strained due to different stressors that they readily give up some part of their salary even job. The study was conducted by taking 211 employees of two different organizations as sample. It was a two part on-line survey. Data was analyzed with the help of regression analysis. End results were that many work related factors induce employees to imitate the behavior of their co-workers to seek ways that can make the work schedule a bit flexible. The idea that people who are using flexible working arrangements were more productive is supported by this research also. Mubashir T. and Ghazal, S. (NA) conducted a research identify role of different contributing factors of job stress and to investigate level of stress on those factors among different departments of Walls Unilever Pakistan. And also to find that how job performance is affected by job stress. The sample for the study consisted of 65 employees having different levels of job in five different departments of Walls ICF. The data from the sample was collected through questionnaires. They concluded that Workload, co-workers and repetitive work are the major factors causing stress however a strange finding was that there was no affect of stress on job performance in the selected organization. Moten (2009) is of the view that workplace pressure comes from various factors and is expressed by employees in various behaviors. According to her, job stress is shaped through a range of ways such like interpersonal demands, role demands. Though the sources of these aforementioned types are different, their impacts are the same i.e. Low level of performance. She found out that employees are often thought to complete certain tasks which normally are not their job requirement. Most organizations impose multitasking upon their employees to cope with the recession and cut costs but unintentionally they are doing vice versa. Posing strict deadlines, requiring them attend meetings in very short notice, forcing them work late hours and making them prone to cut-throat competition and mounted work can lead to stress and anxiety. Workers may show signs of fatigue, absenteeism, and low morale. So at workplaces, friendly relations are very much important. Bosses should give their employees som e space to help them cope with the pressure and determining success at work. Stranks (2005) states in his book that stress is a pressure placed on a person beyond his ability to handle. It has a major hidden cost to employers. There are many direct and indirect causes of stress. Anxiety and depression is manifestations of stress so employer should be aware of the fact that employees experience certain types of stress in their lives. Particularly female workers can be subject to many stressors that male colleagues are not prone to. Changes in the organization can be a major reason for stress. There are techniques available for the measurement and evaluation of stress in organizations. So employers must give attention to various forms of human errors and violation at workplace and must find way to identify the traces of stress among their employees. This could be done by analyzing the standards of performance, staff attitude and behavior, relationships at work and sickness absence levels. His investigations in this line area brought out the fact that there is a direct relationship between stress-related human failure and accidents occurring at work. Strategies must be designed and considered at both individual and organizational level. Stress management programs and trainings should be introduced. Glazer Gyurak (2008) carried out a cross-cultural study to find the sources of stress among the nurses of various countries with respect to and free of the cultural influence. They filled a questionnaire regarding stress sources. Results were obtained by performing Chi-square analyses and t-tests. They found that quantitative workload might be a source of stress or anxiety in each country. Similarly leadership, lack of resources, low salary, negative rewards, certain patients and performing certain tasks can lead to stress. So there is a need to tailor occupational stress interventions to deal with the needs of nurses in a specific country, by addressing the specific stressors. Stress management includes taking care of organizational issues like leadership, peer support, organizational culture and policies, work design and reporting arrangements as well as job analysis, staff selection and training to enhance role clarity such that there is a balance between the individual and his work environment. Effective systems for motivation and performance management are essential (Jennifer et al, 2006). Kim (2002) conducted a research to show that participative management has positive effects on the job satisfaction and better communication can improve the performance of employees. The questionnaire was circulated among 4,097 employees of local government agencies. After running the regression analysis on the data collected, researcher found that employees who believe that their managers use participative style of management were more satisfied with their jobs. Also those mangers who applied strategic planning process found their employees to be more productive and easy to deal with. At the end, the researcher relates his findings with job stress and says that if employees are more satisfied they will eventually be less stressed and more productive. Zahavy Freund (2007) examined team effectiveness under stress. The author says that in case of stress team can lose cohesion, members may become dependent on others to avoid faults or lay off their burden or that they may become less effective. In order to avoid these troubles, team structure must be considered a vital aspect. For this purpose, data were collected from 643 members of 73 primary healthcare teams randomly selected from 1200 primary care clinics of the largest health maintenance organization in Israel. Participants filled the questionnaires as advised by the researcher. As a result this study differentiated among qualitative and quantitative stress, suggested that quantitative stress holds back team effectiveness, it also indicated that qualitative stress can enhance team effectiveness. In addition, the results also prove the fact that structure of the team really matters. Researcher suggests that organizations must support standardized routines to block the negative i mpact of quantitative stress on team commitment and effectiveness, and put into practice the ways that encourage self-sufficiency and a systems approach to enhance the positive effects of qualitative stress on team effectiveness. Glazer Beehr (2005) conducted a research to find out the correlation between stressors and how it leads to absenteeism or induce an individual to leave the job. These stressors can include workplace conditions, role ambiguity, role overload and role conflicts or any other issues that can cause anxiousness and strain among employees at workplace. The purpose of study was to observe the effect of these stressors from cultural aspect. So nurses working at hospitals of various countries were the population. Researchers distributed questionnaire among the sample through mail. After filling, nurses mailed back the questionnaires. The results supported the hypothesis that turnover is related to stress at some extent. However culture affects the tolerance level of the stress. Researcher is of the view that some cultures are more prone to stress but people take it for granted and as part of their job. But at some places stress has a great influence over employee and it affects their performa nce as well as expectations from their workplace. Whatever the reason may be to this fact, researcher suggests more investigation in this line. Anxiety Disorders Association of America (2006) conducted a survey research and observed the effect of anxiety disorders and the level of everyday stress in the workplace also. Findings of survey showed that majority of Americans experience stress and anxiety on a daily basis. And this stress is not without impact. For the four in five working persons who say they experience it daily, job stress often takes a toll on performance, quality of work, relationships with bosses and interactions with coworkers. A number of factors were indicated by employees that cause stress. These include deadlines, interpersonal relationships (i.e., interacting with superiors, coworkers, subordinates), staff management and dealing with problems. They also explained that stress affects their performance, relationship with co-workers/peers, quality of work and relationships with immediate superiors. Survey results suggested that people found sleeping a common relief practice for stress. Others are eating, talking to friends, or/and taking drugs. The only thing that people avoid is talking and asking their bosses. This is due to fear of being perceived as incompetent person, poor performer. Pearsall, M. J. et al. (May 2009) investigated the situations where both challenge and hindrance stressors coexist. They took interest in this topic because on the grounds that the positive motivational effects of challenge stressors might to some extent balances the harmful effects of interruption stressors on team outcomes. In an extremely stressful situation, team members will be incapable to split a range of stressors into positive and negative facets, and take into account multiple methods of coping. They are also of the view that in the presence of challenge and hindrance at the same time, team members will appraise the situation as strongly threatening and withdraw to accomplish their task and team responsibilities, reducing their motivation, effort and emotional connection to the team. This response will further hamper the recognition and exchange of expertise- specific information within the team as communication channels shut down and team members struggle to manage their own responsibilities and demands. 332 students from Southwestern University participated in the research and were grouped into 83 four-person teams. Teams had to operate an integrated, computerized, multi-person Distributed Dynamic Decision-making (DDD) simulation task. The results supported the use of the challenge hindrance framework at the team level as well as the central role of transactional theories of stress. That challenge stressors and hindrance stressors stimulate different forms of coping. The results also imply that team members adoption of a collective coping response signifies the team-level techniques underlying the differential effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on behavioral, cognitive, and affective outcomes. The aforementioned line of investigation supported the study conducted by Umiker (1992) which illustrated that Individuals who feel that they are in control of their jobs and their futures, are better able to handle stress. Also that these empowered workers become more productive out of being in control. Results of another study presented by Bushe et al. (1996) authenticate the positive and encouraging affects of employee empowerment which were congregated from increased customer satisfaction and innovation regardless of occupational grouping. Further he says that stress was reduced when a person did no longer have to report to someone daily. When employees are empowered, they take the control over their work which gives them a higher sense of accomplishment. The purpose of empowered work teams in Bushe et al. (1996) research was to reduce costs through fewer overheads and to speed up problem resolution. The organizational outcomes were increased productivity and efficiencies mainly because of quicker response rates through empowerment and removal of organizational barriers. The research also concluded that automation has left workers virtually on call 24 hours a day and has shortened the turnaround time from project conception to completion. Many workers work ten hours a day and co rporate restructuring makes them anxious about their job security. Symptoms of these stressed workers included drops in productivity, changes in work attitude, low morale and increased absenteeism. Reese (1997) Stress is a mental and physical condition, which have an effect on an individuals productivity, effectiveness, personal health and quality of work. Job stresss victims go through lowered quality of work life and job satisfaction. The harmful and costly consequences of stress demonstrate the need of strategies to limit stressors within the organization. Organizations that do not adopt strategies to alleviate stress may find their employees looking elsewhere for better opportunities. The impact of stress from overwork, long hours at work and work intensification has had a major and often devastating effect on organizations of developed nations. In America job stress alone costs American business an estimated $200 billion annually, the UK Â £63 billion and Australia $15 billion. This is the cost for compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, added health insurance costs and direct medical expenses for stress related illnesses. A recent American Management Asso ciation survey of 292 member firms revealed that per capita disability claims tend to increase when positions are eliminated. The survey, which dealt with layoffs between 1990 and 1995, found that the illnesses disabled workers sought treatment for gastrointestinal problems, mental disorders and substance abuse, hypertension and the like were stress related. Shahu Gole, (2008) have conducted a study to examine the effect of job stress and job satisfaction on performance. The participants for this study were those managers who either currently or previously held a managers post at different manufacturing companies. In total 100 managers from 15 private manufacturing companies completed assessments. The tools for this study were two different assessments. The first tool is job satisfaction instrument (developed by Mishra, R.S., Tiwari, and Manorama). The second tool is occupational stress index. The scale consists of 46 items with 5 alternative responses. The other instrument was a current (2005) performance evaluation that was completed by the executives of the each company. The participants were asked to fill the questionnaire and performance evaluation form. The analysis was conducted through multiple regression analysis and ANOVA. Results showed that job stress is negatively correlated to performance. He found working conditions and r ole overload to be major agreed upon stressors in various organizations and business sectors and low stressed employees tend to give maximum output as compared to high stressed groups. He laid great stress on organizations to seek remedies and work in this particular area in order to improve productivity. According to Melissa Bushman (2007) the common causes of low morale include stress, negativity and gossip within the workplace along with lack of incentive programs. The projected solutions to deal with low morale is increasing employee attitudes and improving attendance. Stress is the most frequent cause of low employee morale. Numerous factors may increase the stress levels of employees, but the major reason that employees experience stress is their relationship with their manager, and it has been proved that highly authoritarian managers are likely to cause an increase in level of absenteeism. Therefore, when absenteeism rates are high in a certain department of company, poor employee relationships with the manager or bosses should be considered. For this purpose management training could be used resolve the issue and avoid problems. Jamal (2005) observed the relationship of job stress and Type-A behavior pattern with employees personal and organizational outcomes in Canada and mainland China. It indicated that job stress is significantly related to burnout, low morale, health problems, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover motivation. Findings also replicated the findings that job stress is related to personal and organizational outcomes. The results also indicated that job stress factors such as work overload, ambiguity and conflict were significantly related to overall burnout. The economic aspect of job stress was studied by Leontaridi Ward (2002). They discussed the factors that can have impact on the performance of employees in an economics context by bringing together all the relevant personal and socio-economic variables while working environment and employment conditions were considered to be contributing to work-related stress resulting in absenteeism, intentions of quitting behavior and turnover. Particularly, the stressful impact of occupation, hours of work and workplace relations on worker with focus on the labor market costs of stress by estimating the importance of work-related stress as a predictor of individuals quitting behavior and rate of absenteeism. The respondents were from 15 OECD countries. Results identify that certain physical and psychologica