Big Five Model of Leadership

Big Five Model of Leadership YONGKUN LI Â   Based on the results of your personality test, what do extant research say your leadership may or may not be like? Do you agree or disagree with the research findings? Identify some ways which you may be able to better develop your leadership potential. Is the leader born or made? For years, people was arguing about this question. With the development of the society, every organization or companies demand different skills and personal qualities in its leadership. Some researchers who advocate that personality traits are related to leadership emergence or effectiveness. In this essay, I will discuss the relationship between personality and leadership. There are different definitions of leadership have been presented over the years (Bass, 1998). Most definitions include one or more of the elements of goal achievement, teamwork or organization, and interpersonal reactions. According to Hogg, M (2001), leadership is a group process generated by social categorization and depersonalization processes associated with the social identity. In another word, leadership is kind of an ability to get other people to do what you want them to, willingly (Sendjaya, S., SpringerLink, 2015). However, leadership is kind of personal traits. According to Mayer, personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving (2015). Based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), everyone has a natural leadership style that related to their personality types. The more consistent the characteristic and the more frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important the trait. When executives position changing into new roles or environments, it may need to explore or rein in different facets of their personality. The famous theory study about personality is Big Five model, including openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Neuroticism Neuroticism reflects the individual emotional adjustment process. High neuroticism individuals tend to have psychological stress, unrealistic thoughts, excessive demands and violence impulses. And it is more likely to experience negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression and so on. On the contrary, people with low neuroticism scores are less troubled, less emotional, and more stable. Openness Openness means that generous heart, bold, adventurous, and dislike familiar things or routine. It is described as a persons cognitive style. It has different aspects of openness. The openness of experience is defined as seeking and understanding of experience proactively. It compares curious, novel, non-traditional, and creative individuals with those that are traditional, non-artistic, and non-analytical. Openness people prefer abstract thinking, a wide range of interests. Closed people are practical, preferring, more traditional and conservative. Leaders with this tendency should be working more on openness and push themselves out of their comfort zone. Extroversion Extroversion can be advantageous in leadership. It represents the number and density of interpersonal interactions, the need for excitement, and the ability to be pleasant. This trait contrasts cross social, active, individual-oriented and silent, serious, shy, and quiet among people. It aspect can be measured by two qualities: interpersonal and vitality. The former assesses the degree to which individuals like others, while the latter reflects individual rhythms and vitality levels. Outgoing people like to contact with others, full of vitality, often feel positive emotions. They are passionate, like sports, like to stimulate adventure. In a group, they are very talkative, confident, would be attracted by the attention of others. On the other hand, introverted people are relatively quiet, cautious, do not like too much contact with the outside world. Agreeableness Extroversion is to assess the degree of individual likes with others, while the agreeableness examines the attitudes to others. It including, on the one hand, close, compassionate, trustworthy, lenient and soft-hearted. On the other hand, it including hostile, cynical, manipulative, vengeful and ruthless. Those who are agreeableness are satisfied, friendly, generous, helpful and willing to give up their interests for others. For some positions, too high agreeableness is not necessary, especially tough and objective judgments, such as scientists, critics, and soldiers. Conscientiousness Conscientiousness refers to our control, manage and regulate our own impulsive way of assessing an individual goal-oriented behavior on the organization, persistence, and motivation. It compares the trustworthy, exquisite individual and the lazy, sloppy among individuals. One risk for highly conscientious is that their perfectionism can cause them to lose sight of the big picture. On the other hand, individuals who tend to be more responsibility and flexible would make right decisions, which can get them earn more trust. References: Bass, B. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hogg, M. (2001). A Social Identity Theory of Leadership. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(3), 184-200. Mayer, J. (2015). The personality systems framework: Current theory and development. Journal of Research in Personality,56, 4. Sendjaya, S., SpringerLink. (2015). Personal and organizational excellence through servant leadership: Learning to serve, serving to lead, leading to transform (Management for professionals).

ICT Hardware/Software report Essay

A Diagram to show the Structure of A Computer System A Diagram to show the System for Completing My Logo A Diagram to show the System for Completing My Spreadsheet A Diagram to show the System for Completing My Wage Slip A Diagram to show the System for Completing Mail Merge Storage Device Description Advantages Disadvantages Where did I use this device? How could I have used this device? Hard Disk Primary storage device of a computer. It has a large capacity of up to 1024 GB (160 GB on PC). Large capacity Reliable Durable Fragile Not infallible Not portable I used this device each time I needed to save my work. N/A Floppy Disk A 3. 5 inch disk quadrangular in shape. Obsolete form of data storage. Simple to use Compact Portable Small memory Easily damaged Unreliable N/A To take my data home Flash Drive (USB) A modern form of data storage. It connects via USB. Compact Portable Large memory (up to 2GB) Small-easily lost Not compatible with all computers Fragile To take work home N/A Output Device Description Advantages Disadvantages Where did I use this device? How could I have used this device? Ink Jet Printer These printers use cartridges which contain ink. Produce good quality printouts Fast Cheap to buy Laserjet Printer They print in the same way as photocopiers. Powdered ink, called ‘Toner’, is fused onto paper by heat and pressure. High quality printouts Cost per page low (cheaper than ink-jet or dot matrix printers) Most expensive printer to buy Large Expensive to repair Dot Matrix Printer First printer to be used in homes and schools. Cheap Low operating costs Can create carbon copies Noisy Cannot produce colour documents Very slow N/A I could have printed some of my work off with it. LCD Monitor Liquid crystal displays. Passes light through tiny crystals. Portable. High quality display More expensive than CRT monitors Screen is fragile To view my work N/A CRT Monitor Cathode ray tube. Coating of small phosphor dots glow when hit by electrons i. e. light. Cheap Simple Heavy (not portable therefore) Lower quality display N/A I could have used this to view my work rather than an LCD monitor Graphics Plotter Can produce large printouts e. g. 3†³x10†³ and of a high quality. The images are created by a pen controlled by the computer. High quality printouts Large printouts can be produced Slower than printers More expensive than printers Bad for printing text N/A. To print off large copies of my work. Will have improved quality of logo Input Device Description Advantages Disadvantages Where did I use this device? How could I have used this device? Keyboard It is the commonest and most widely used input device. The keys (buttons) are arranged alphabetically, numerically and there are computer specific keys (function-F1, F2 etc and: delete, page up home etc). Most computers have a keyboard packaged with them Simple to use Special keyboards available Mistakes are easy to make Keyboards are unsuitable for making graphs Handicapped people find them hard to use. All the way through the course every time I needed to enter data N/A Mouse Most common input device alongside the keyboard. Has 2-5 buttons. There are two types available: optical and roller; optical has a motion sensor under the mouse, and the roller operates with a ball. Perfect for desktop computers Simple to use Supplied with PC Need an even surface near the PC Overuse can lead to RSI (repetitive strain injury) Any time I needed to select a file, used for navigating the internet and programs Scanner Scanners convert physical data (text, image etc) into digital data. This allows the image to be edited. The most used scanner is the flatbed scanner which is used at home school etc. Higher quality than handheld scanners. Images can be edited/enhanced once digitised Very accurate and high quality Images can take up large amounts of memory The digital image loses some quality in the scanning process N/A I could have made my wage slip by hand and scanned it in Magnetic Stripe Reader A device which reads magnetic tape. Commonly used by bank machines and for security in buildings (acts as a key) Simple to operate Quick and easy to use Smudges on the magnetic stripe make it unable for the card to be read N/A N/A. Software Description Advantages Disadvantages Where did I use this program? How could I have used this program? Word Processing The method of creating documents on a computer. Also used to describe advanced shorthand techniques. Easy to edit Simple to correct mistakes Not all word processors allow the same formatting e. g. notepad doesn’t allow you to add images but Word does When I was mail merging, entering employee data and creating my wage slip N/A Spreadsheet Data is entered in rows and columns like a table. This is ideal for numerical data/registers etc, calculations can be carried out with ease. Formulae are easy to enter Cleary presented data Can use up a lot of memory Can be complicated at times When I entered the data for the employees N/A Database A collection of data. Files are fixed or variable length. Requires little memory Easy to get the hang of For it to work correctly you’ll need to design the files yourself. When mail merging. N/A Graphics There are programs used to create digital images e. g. Bryce 2 Dimensions of image can be altered (2D/3D) Many editing tools Takes time to create high quality graphics Can get complicated N/A To create my logo Internet Software Software on the internet e.g. search engines Simple to use Access to vast amounts of data Free to use Can be slow Filtering through the data can be very time consuming When I needed some help with the task To create my logo N/A Publishing General purpose software. Ideal for producing menus. Leaflets etc. Simple to operate Many tools Mistakes are hard to correct at times Files can take up a lot of memory N/A To design my logo Bespoke Software Programs that are tailor made to fit the customer’s needs. Customer gets exactly what they want More expensive to create Self maintained N/A Could have designed my own program to create a database.

The Development of Arabic Scripts

1. Pre – Islamic Era Arabic script is probably one of the oldest in the world, having been widely spread across cultures as this was the language used to spread Islam in major territories. Its influence can be seen in various languages which adopted Arabic script to develop their own way of recording, like Persian, Pashto, Urdu and more. But Arab scripts have evolved with major historical events of these nations (AncientScripts. com). Various accounts of the history of Arabia, the ‘island of the Arabs’, give the impression that Arabic scripts started to take form at the height of Islamization or during the time of Prophet Mohammed.It is said to have originated from the fourth century, CE but there is evidence – an ancient document – that shows Arabic script was already a medium for recording even as early as 512 CE. Long before the Prophet Mohammed was born (some authors say even 700 years before Mohammed), the Arabs already had established a form of written language which originally was used by the Nabateans who once inhabited a territory which is now the kingdom of Jordan. This was called the Nabatean script, which evolved from the Aramaic language.The Nabataean script was an off – shoot of the Aramaic alphabet which developed in the first century CE on the Sinai Peninsula and in North Arabia. It differs conspicuously from other Aramaic varieties by making extensive use of ligatures. Stone inscriptions in the Nabataean script are found from Petra, the capital of the Nabataean Kingdon (c. 150 CE to 100 CE), to Damascus and Medina. The script is not attested in manuscripts, although its cursive character with letters frequently joined together indicates common use.The language of the inscriptions is Nabataean, a close cognate of Aramaic – other authors claim it s Aramaic and that the Nabataeans had dual language styles for communication: written in Aramaic, verbal in Arabic. Spread over a wide area, the script exh ibits considerable variation with highly diverse letter shapes. Its significance for the history of writing lies in its being the immediate forebear of the Arabic script. Certain features of the Arabic character, such as the existence of separate final forms for certain letters, are already foreshadowed in Nabataean writing.Its transformation into the Arabic script took place in the fourth and fifth centuries CE (Calmous 350). In the North of the Syrian Desert, the Arabs were involved in world politics very much earlier. Even under the Assyrian king Tiglath – Pileser III (745 – 728BC), there was an Arabi kingdom there with its capital in the Jawf, which was ruled by queens and remained one of the vassal states of Assyria until the time of Essarhaddon (689 – 669 BC). The Babylonian King Nabunaid (556 – 539 BC) had his residence for some time in the oasis of Tayma, which was the base of his expeditions against the west.An Aramaic inscription from the Persia n era found there indicates the organization of the city cult, with its priests and temple gods. Then as early as the period of the last Achaemenians, the Nabataean state sprang up (in a territory of modern day Jordan). This state controlled the caravan trade from South Africa to Medina and remained significantly independent since Alexander the Great’s plan of conquering Arabia by sea from east and west simultaneously was not resumed by his successors.At first, Petra’s commerce was drawn to Bostra, where caravans then proceeded to Chalcis, below Lebanon and Emesa, Edessa, and Hatra toward the north and east. The Nabataeans adopted the titles of their officials and military leaders from neighboring Hellenistic states. The Nabataean capital was Petra, a mountain fortress lying about halfway between the Dead Sea and the tip of the Arabian gulf (Brockelman 6).Numerous inscriptions and ruins found in the rock – cut tombs bear witness to the flourishing civilization o f the Nabataeans but in these inscriptions, Aramaic was used for it was then the official language dating as far back as the time of the Achaemenians. There are also accounts of other historians that Arabic was the spoken language of the Nabataeans but they write using Aramaic. Initially, they were considered by the Romans as allies until the time of Trajan but due to doubts over their ambiguity during the Jewish insurrection under Titus, the Nabataean Kingdom was absorbed as Provincia Arabia in 106 BC.The civilized areas – or the major cities where trades occur – were marked off from the deset by a chain of fortifications which were far from being strong as the Limes on the Rhine and on the Danube frontier (Brockelman 6). But in another Arab state, Palmyra, the Nabataeans found a more fortunate heir. In the wars between Rome and the Parthians, Palmyra was prudently neutral and by the time of Augustus, was able to extend its trade connections to Rome, Dacia, Gaul and S pain. The Severian Dynasty, also half – Semitic, showed favor on Palmyra.From 260 onwards King Odenat extended his rule over the entire Syria and was even acknowledged by the weak Roman Emperor, Gallienus, as co – emperor for the Orient. After his death in 268, his wife Zenobia maintained his power for a time but Aurelianus destroyed Palmyra in 273. This tragedy would be retold through generations even until the first centuries of Islam. (Brockelmann 7). Palmyra represented the last stance of Arab independence pre – Islam and its fall marked a loss of Arab independence.No other Arab state in the north remained free after this and they were used as vassals by the Romans and Byzantines to ward off incursions of the nomads (Bedouins, or Arabs) into the settled regions. This is probably why the Nabataeans retained their scripts even under Roman rule – because they continued with their trades and were also vassals to ward off their own kind from coming into ma jor cities of commerce (Brockelmann 7). In the 6th century, however, the Ghassanid dynasty ruled at Damascus, east of the Jordan.He was designated by Justinian in 529 as patricius and phylarch with supreme authority over all the Arabs in the northern Syria. But this power again dissolved into fragmentary principalities after his death and when they won over the Persians, the Roman Emperor let their officials rule until a Muslim onslaught brought another Ghassanid ruler of the Syrian Arabs (Brockelmann 8). Before and during these periods, the Arabs had been exposed to Christianity (Yah-weh / Judaism) at one time or another.First, from the Roman Empire Christianity exercising great power over them, down to the Lakhmid Dynasty in Hirah who once served the Persians and had finally gone to the Christian faith of their urban subjects, even the Bedouins in the north were in intimate contact with the indigenous Aramean population, who had long since been swallowed up by Christianity. Inner Arabia also due to their trading cities of the Hijaz must have also been permeated by a knowledge of Christian teachings and customs, however superficial, as a result of the steady traffic with related tribes in the north.The anchorites, whose cells must have spread from Palestine and Sinai Peninsula far into the desert, no doubt also made a great many contributions. In addition, the desert was an asylum from some sects persecuted by the established church, and precisely these may have spread their doctrines with more success than the Orthodox Church. During these times, however, the Aramaic language still remained the official and principal administrative language.Thus, most of the inscriptions on the Petra were in Aramaic but there have been evidence showing that the Nabataeans before used their own language for their local transactions and in oral exchange, but retained Aramaic for recording due to its value in trading with other countries. Other authors propose that some Arab na tions or states were actually oral groups; meaning, they hand down their stories by telling and re – telling it and still could keep it fresh in their memories but there are also groups who were visual, or those which could not keep a mental record of events thus, keep records in tablet form.Nomads, for instance, or Bedouins, often recite poetry in their gatherings inside their tents wherever they are in the dessert. But those engaged in trades, in the major cities, often would chose to write to keep a record of their transactions. Many believe that the ancient Arabs’ exposure to Christians / those practicing Judaism probably justifies the influence or traces of Sumerian, Greek, Akkadian or Aramaic system to an otherwise Semitic heritage in the Arabic scripts or written as well as spoken languages.But others argue that though there appear some points for seeming similarities, these actually represent the observed or practiced systems used by different countries at the time. While some authors attribute the variations to assimilation, others believe the language and therefore, the scripts, evolved following events in Arab history. But in the case of the Nabataeans from the former territory now called Jordan, they were able to keep both, Arab language and Aramaic scripts.This is perhaps because all Arabs, including the Nabataeans who were under Roman rule for many years, were used as vassals against their own Arab brothers. Thus they kept their language to communicate with each other, and for trading purposes, maintained Aramaic. The duality could perhaps be due to the fact that two somewhat differing entities formed their society then: the urban people and the nomads (whom they had to ward off from the center of civilization, as was their task as vassals for the Roman Empire).The former relied so much on writing for keeping records, while the latter, used word of mouth to communicate information, even recite poetry. Other authors though, believe t hat the Aramaic inscriptions on the Petra were in fact the written or Arabic script at the time. Prior to Mohammed’s birth, some Arabs were Christians, others primitive in their exercise of faith, as was their political life. Like they believed that their surroundings had forces superior to those of man.These forces were believed to be like the human soul but with dangerous powers that could turn them into demons. They, Semites, regarded trees, stones, caves, springs and large stones are inhabited by spirits. The Black Stone of Islam in a corner of the KaBah, Mecca, in Petra and other places in Arabia stones were venerated also. Every tribe has its own god but also recognized the power of other tribal gods in their own sphere. Individual clans sometimes named themselves after other gods than those of the tribe, and the same divinity was worshipped by various tribes.The gods had fixed abodes, after the tribe has departed, they enjoyed the worship of its successors; the tribes returned once or twice a year to worship (Brockelmann 9). Contrary to claims of the Jews and Christians, the Arabs already did believe in a God, creator of the world, in addition to the gods and goddesses – even before the birth of Islam. 2. The Prophet Mohammed The Prophet Mohammed, ergo, the birth of Islam has also brought about changes in the Arabic scripts. He has touched a cord in Arab history and left an influence that would govern every aspect of Arabian nations long after he had gone.The Arab ruling group began to identify its new order with a revelation by God to Mohammed, then a citizen of Mecca, in the form of a Holy Book, the Qur’an. This was a revelation which completed those given to earlier prophets or messengers of God and created a new religion, Islam, distinct and separate from Judaism and Christianity (Hourani 15). The most obscure part of his life was the early one. It is said he was born in Mecca, a town in Western Arabia, near or in the year 570. His family belonged to the tribe of Quraysh, although not to its powerful part.This tribe was composed of traders who had contacts with the pastoral tribes around Mecca, relations with Syria and south – western Arabia. He worked for – and later married – a widow and managed her business for her. One day he received a message from an ‘angel, seen in the form of a man on the horizon’ who called him to become a messenger of God. Affirmed by his wife, he them began relaying messages which he believed were revealed to him by an angel of God: that the world would end, that God would judge all men and the pains of Hell and delights of Heaven were vividly described.Gradually he had a following, including young members of the influential families of their tribe, Quraysh, members of minor families and clients of other tribes who had placed themselves under the protection of Quraysh, and some craftsmen and slaves. As his teachings developed, its difference fro m the teachings of the time became apparent and placed him more explicitly in the line of prophets of the Jews and Christian tradition (Hourani 1991). Mohammed demanded of his followers’ profession of belief in the One God and the surrender to God’s will, islam, after which his religion took its name.Probably very early he also levied a poor – tax for the maintenance of needgy members of the community but it was only later in Medina that it assumed greater significance. The chief duty of the faithful, by virtue of which they professed membership in the community, was praying at first twice, then three times, and only later five times a day. Mohammed’s teachings were not accepted by some of the Arabs, in fact, he and his followers were locked up in a ravine. When his wife and uncle died, he had to move to Mecca after his brother, a strong opponent of his religion, took his uncle’s place.But he was not accepted there as well and driven away by stonin g that he never returned to the place until he received assurance from a relative that he will be protected. Within his lifetime, Mohammed started his mission of religious and political unification of Arabia. He abolished the foothold of paganism in Mecca and later in all Arab states. Then after his death, he was succeeded by his father –in – law and started the caliphate. The caliphate succeeded in subduing and conquering neighboring places and spread Islam with it.There were oppositions to it, like people willing to follow the religion or Allah’s will but not pay taxes. In the long run, however, they were either driven by force, fear or respect for the Allah so that the religion flourished in almost all of Asia, the Mediterranean as well as some parts of Europe (Hourani 6). It was after the conquest of Mesopotamia that a school for the study of Islam and its development was built in the city of Kufa. Kufa is the place where the kufic script was developed / ori ginated, hence the name.Due to variations in the languages of peoples – converts – under Islamic rule, they felt the need to provide uniformity of religious concepts and practices so that scholars created some form of a dictionary which was later discarded. But that, to some analysts, was actually the first helpful step in Arab history for establishing the common literary standard of Islamic scholars (Brockelmann 15) The extent to which the intellectual life of the epoch was still dominated by Arabic and by the great past of the Arabs is also attested to by the two major focus of interest of the educated world: philology and history.The former had risen in connection with the Qur’an. It was necessary that the numerous new converts, born in communities of different speech, develop and perfect an understanding of the diving word and its proper application in effective prayer. It was just an urgent need to enable them to acieve a complete mastery of the nuances of Arabic and its excessively rich vocabulary (Brockelmann 119). It was in the city of Kufa and Basra where classes on history and literature were conducted.Kufa was also chosen as the major place for studying Islam and mastering the Qur’an. Due to the various languages of the newly converted Islams, the kufic script was developed mainly as the medium to copy Qur’an and to create a vast collection of commentaries on the Qur’anic verses. This was done in order for converts of different languages to understand one common version of the Qu’ran. Angular, which was most likely a product of inscribing on hard surfaces such as wood or stone, kufic soon became the principal script for copying the Qu’ran.For the same reason (having a principal script for copying the Qur’an), the nakshi script, also known as the ‘Mecca – Medina’ script came about. It is thought to have been developed by Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn Muqlah (died 940) and intro duced in Baghdad, once the seat of literature in Arabia. The nakshi is one of the earliest book hands and is more cursive than the angular kufic script. Because of its elegance and legibility, the nakshi script as of the eleventh century gradually superseded kufic as the principal script for writing the Qur’an.Nakshi has also been widely used for languages other than Arabic, like Persian, Turkish, Malay, Kiswahili, Hausa, and Serbo – Croatian, among others. And from this script, other styles have also developed, the most popular of which are the riqa, diwani, and the thuluth (Calmous 351). Another off – shoot of the nakshi script is the nastaliq script, which was first seen in the thirteenth century CE, developed by Mir Ali, a calligrapher from Tabriz. It evolved as a combination of nakshi and taliq, hence the name nastaliq.While nakshi was primarily used for copying the Qur’an, the nastaliq, on the other hand, was widely used for manuscripts and architec tural monuments, particularly in Persia (Calmous 353). With the invasion of Persia came another development in language and scripts. Farsi, actually a combination of Arabic and European languages, was used by the Persians and Arab residents in that area. Other authors claim that Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn Muglah, a vizier in Baghdad, invented the sitta, a canon of six cursive scripts which include the thuluth, nakshi, rihani, muhaqqaq, tauqi and riqa.This was later augmented to include four more scripts, ghubar, tumar, taliq and nastaliq, which came to be used in the whole Islamic world. While these cursive scripts were popular with calligraphers and illuminators, they never replaced the kufic althogether, except for the nakshi – other writers claim it superseded the kufic by the eleventh century. Today, in many religious writings, kufic headings are still used, in combination with the main body of the text written in cursive script (Calmous 66). One cannot study the Arabic scripts without touching on Arabic calligraphy.Since the Prophet Mohammad stated God’s message in his native tongue, Arabic (scholars think he was actually using a combination of Aramaic and Nabataean languages, otherwise now known and indiscriminately described as Arabic), the Qur’an hence was also written in this language. Arabic, has therefore, been revered as God’s language and every letter of the Arabic alphabet is regarded as a manifestation of God (Calmous 64). Thus, for many Muslims the Qur’an should not be rendered in any other language.As the written version of the revelation, it must always be copied in Arabic. Since, in the wake of the Islamic conquest Islam as a religion was carried to regions of many different tongues, written Arabic acquired an important function as a unifying bond of the various Islamic peoples. Writing itself came to be regarded as an expression of faith. In this spirit it developed into a religious inspired art with a special s tatus that no other forms of aesthetic expression was able to attain – calligraphy (Calmous 64).A great variety of materials was used to receive calligraphic writing: stone, glass, ceramics, metalwork, woodwork, carpets and other textiles, as well as parchment paper and other surfaces of manuscript writing. The adaptability of Arabic scripts and their ability to be modified is attributed to the early use of such a variety of surfaces (Calmous 64). Because of its religious significance, great importance is attached to the literal contents of Islamic calligraphy. Yet, sometimes the verbal message is pushed into the background by the decorative function.As many students of Islamic calligraphy pointed out, there are a great number of inscriptions which defy easy reading. Orthographic mistakes and peculiarities as well as typographic idiosyncrasies render inscriptions on such sanctuaries as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (seventh century), the Qutab Minar in Delhi (eleventh cen tury) and the Masjid-i-Shah Mosque in Isfahan (seventeenth century) virtually impossible to decipher. This suggests that the viewer of these works was not always expected to read the text.In many instances of decorative writing, the symbolic message was conveyed by other means. For instance, an inscription on a tomb or the wall of a mosque would be recognized as a holy phrase, no matter whether it could actually be read or not (Calmous 66). History shows that the development of Arabic scripts, as opposed to Arabic calligraphy, was purely for a functional rather than decorative purpose. However, for many who find it impossible to decipher scripts or calligraphic art in Arabic, they would have to look deeper into the history of Arabic nations, with focus on the history of Islam.Those who wish to decipher and understand the numerous transitions the Arabic scripts have gone through across the centuries would better grasp, and maybe even be guided by the annals of history. For instance, while others think nakshi has superseded kufic being the principal language or medium of communication or transmitting the Qur’an, it would help them understand better or find out more if such is the fact by assessing the current or be updated with the present print media being used by Islam.On the other hand, as is occurring amongst Christians all over the world, with all the versions and different languages or Arabic scripts used to print the Qur’an, is there any chance that there may be issues of misinterpretations considering that there is not an exact equivalent of one word across the different scripts or languages? Or is it safe to assume that the later scripts developed (nakshi, kufic, thuluth) found exactly the same words from Arabic translated to these scripts in exact precision?It may not be humanly possible to decipher each and every variation of the Qur’an copied in the different scripts like nakshi and kufic to see if precisely the same words have t he same meaning in the original Arabic version. But if for the interest of curiosity one should start to do an inquest, maybe it would save him time to reflect on the following observations and then make his own inferences:First of all, in spite of the variations or the versions of Arabic scripts by which the Qur’an is written, it is amazing how there is only one version of Islam the religion and all things corollary to Allah’s orders are the same things every Muslim believes. Comparing the Islam faith with Christianity, there are thousands of types of Christians all over the world – some of which were formed on the basis of their understanding of some verses in the Holy Bible.Though both the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an have been translated or transliterated or written in different scripts, the uniformity of treatment and application of the religious concepts practiced by Islams all over the world is simply amazing. It therefore becomes easy to infer t hat the kufic and nakshi scripts, used in copying Qur’an, may have therefore been religiously developed. And the purpose therefore, of developing such scripts to help other Islamic converts understand it, was achieved.

Motivating Pharmaceutical employees in Kuwaits Public Sector - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6368 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Health Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The pharmaceutical sector in Kuwait has never been considered by the Government to be as important as the other healthcare or even many other professional sectors, like engineering for example. It has always been viewed as a less important profession with a very small number of professionals relatively to other jobs in the country. However, Pharmacy is a necessity in Kuwait and in every country, in addition to the obvious increment of the number of pharmacists who join the field every year, especially since the beginning of the last decade after Kuwait University launched its first pharmaceutical department in 1997. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Motivating Pharmaceutical employees in Kuwaits Public Sector" essay for you Create order Therefore, these pharmacists must be heard and understood like every other profession in Kuwait, they have potential and needs which must be considered and met whenever possible by the Government. One of these needs or even necessities is motivation. The practice of motivation is critical for every successful organization, just like other important measures to increase performance; it is a tool that must be present in every healthy working environment. Being a previous pharmacist working in the public sector in Kuwait, the Author has come across this subject numerous times with different pharmacists, who had negative views of the matter in most times. However, there was no clear study which shows the true level of motivation that is being experienced in the sector, which is the reason for conducting this research. 1.2 Problem Definition The experience of motivation for pharmacists who work in the public sector is poor, compare with other healthcare professionals such as doctors , and compare to the pharmacists who work in the private sector in Kuwait. Therefore, the Author chose to examine the level of that motivation in a deeper manner to have clearer and more reliable view of the concept within the public sector of pharmacy, in addition to finding new methods which could improve the implementation of such practice. 1.3 Research Objective The main objective of this thesis is to define the level of motivation that is experienced within pharmacists working in the public sector in Kuwait. The sub-objectives can be classified into the following three measures: The first one is to determine the level of motivation that is experienced in the public pharmaceutical sector in Kuwait. The second objective is to determine whether there is an effect of motivation on the overall performance of pharmacists. The third and final measure is to explore new techniques and motivational methods that can be used in order to satisfy public pharmacists and fulfill their needs. 1.4 Research Questions The research shall consist of one major question and three minor ones. The major research question is: What is the experience of motivation for pharmacists who work in the public sector in Kuwait? The minor questions are as follows: What is the level of motivation that is experienced in the public pharmaceutical sector in Kuwait? What are the effects of motivation on the overall performance of pharmacists? What can be used as new techniques or new methods of motivation in order to satisfy public pharmacists and fulfill their needs? 1.5 Research Methodology For the research method, we will conduct personal interviews, which shall be done face to face to get the most reliable responses from pharmacists. The proposed methodological framework for this study, will be based largely on several motivational models that would be described later in chapter two, they are Maslow Hierarchy of needs, achievement motivational model, the two factor theory, the expectancy theory and the equity model. From those five models, a guiding criterion will be extracted and compared with the responses of the research questions. In addition to that, the role of management and supervisio n and its effects on motivation will be examined and compared to the characteristics of a motivational management which will be addressed in chapter 2. And finally, the interviewees will be asked for their recommendations and suggestions for newer and better motivational techniques and methods, to be implemented by the Ministry of Health. 1.6 Data Analysis Method After collecting the qualitative data, they will be analyzed using different criteria. The analysis will basically list the answers of the participants and find the relationships between them with the assistance of weighing frequencies of repentant responses to reach a better conclusion. The conceptual framework will be based on five motivational theories (Maslows hierarchy, achievement model, two-factor theory, the expectancy theory, and the equity theory), which is the base for analyzing the findings. The impact of positive motivation implementations will also be discussed with the selected pharmacists, in additi on to an interpretation of their recommendations on improving the motivational process within the Ministry of Health. 1.7 Thesis Structure The structure of the thesis will be based on five main chapters, they are listed below: Chapter one: Introduction. Chapter two: Literature Review. Chapter three: Research Design and Methodology. Chapter four: Data Analysis, Findings and Discussion. Chapter five: Conclusion, Recommendations and Further Research. The next chapter will present our literature review. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Motivation is a global concept, recognized worldwide today; it is a necessary tool for all different kinds of organizations to survive and grow, and most importantly to succeed. Below is a literature review for the term motivation. It includes different definitions of the term in addition to other terms related to motivation. Different theories on motivation will be mentioned and reviewed briefly to better understand the meaning and limitations of the term motivation. Successful tools to achieve the desired motivation will also be addressed and explained, as well as a review on the different mechanisms used by organizations to motivate their employees. And finally, there will be a review on employee motivation techniques used including a few examples from the best motivational companies in Kuwait. 2.2 Motivation So, who are the motivated workers? According to Myers (1964), when Texas Instruments Incorporated conducted a six year of research and study on the subject of motivation during the 1950s, they came up with the following conclusion1: Employees are motivated to work more effectively when they have a job that is challenging, because it might give them some interest in the job, more enjoyable work, a possibility of recognition, and a since of achievement when they accomplish the task. They become dissatisfied when those noted factors are missing from their jobs. They may also become dissatisfied by some negative factors related to the job itself including astringent rules, no breaks, low status, and low levels of salary or fringe benefits. This study was conducted by a company which experienced a tremendous growth in the 1950s, their annual sales rose from $2 million to over $200 million, along with their employee force which had risen from 1,700 to 17,000 in that decade. This success was accomplished because of their brilliant management philosophy, which provided employees with opportunities that allowed them to explore their works and efforts, and even set their own goals. In addition, the culture was a very friendly and informal one, as employees had very close relationships and strong communication links. Despite that success, the growth was not for long after those years, and employees were no longer highly motivated as before, because there were poor managerial skills in understanding the concept of motivation and how each employee can be motivated. This was in the 1950s; today the main idea or the concept of motivation still have the same old parameters, but with some improvements and modifications after many long studies by many of scientists and philosophers. To best understand the term motivation, one must start with the definition. 2.2.1 Definition of Motivation For the purpose of this thesis, we will keep the definition of (The Collins business Dictionary, 2002) regarding the concept of motivation. In that perspective, motivation is defined as the force or process which impels people to behave in the way that they do. In a work setting, motivation can be viewed as that which determines whether workers expand the degree of efforts necessary to achieve required task objectives2. Furthermore, here is another explanation of the term: motivation represents the forces acting on or within a person that causes the person to behave in a specific, goal-directed manner3. In addition, the online business dictionary (business dictionary , 2009) defines it as the Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal. Motivation is the energizer of behavior and mother of all action. It results from the interactions among conscious and unconscious factors such as the (1) intensity of desire or need, (2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and (3) expectations of the individual and of his or her significant othe rs4. Since the term motivation is being defined, one must address some terms which are highly related to motivation, including: job satisfaction, job commitment, and job loyalty. Job satisfaction is the satisfaction that an individual gains (or does not gain) from his or her job. It is generally believed that satisfied employees will be more highly motivated and will work more productively than dissatisfied employees. Job dissatisfaction may lead to absenteeism, job turnover, industrial actions, and etc2. Commitment is the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons2. It is a well known fact that job satisfaction strongly leads to job commitment, which later leads to loyalty. Furthermore, job loyalty is another state led to by motivation, and it is a measure of commitment based on obligation or, in consumer preferences, degree of satisfaction2. 2.3 Theories of Motivation Over the years, many researchers h ave looked into the human psychology and studied the human nature to understand the process of motivation. They have come up with many theories which are being thought now to millions of students around the globe. Below this paragraph there is an overview of some of the most recognized theories of motivation worldwide, starting with the need theories: Maslows hierarchy of needs, and David C McClellands achievement motivation model. 2.3.1 Motivating Employees through Satisfying Human Needs 2.3.1.1 The Needs Hierarchy Theory The hierarchy of needs theory is one of the most recognized theories in the subject. It was found by Abraham Maslow, who published an article in 1943 under the title A theory of human motivation, which was developed later into the hierarchy of needs theory in Maslows Motivation and Personality book in 19545. The hierarchy model is shown in figure 2.1, as presented in the following website (making it clear.com, 2007)6: (Figure 2.1) Maslows Needs Pyramid or Maslows Needs Triangle Taken from (making it clear website, 2007) Maslow has based his theory on the fact that people are motivated by certain types of needs, he classified them into five levels based on their importance to people, and they are in ascending order: physiological, security, affiliation, esteem and self-actualization. He then arranged them in a hierarchy showing the order in which these needs are fulfilled from bottom to top5. According to Maslow, these human needs can be classified into lower and higher levels of needs, the lower levels or factors of needs has to be satisfied and fulfilled before the higher ones, which means they must be satisfied in order, so that a person can be motivated, and reach a high level of achievement in life5. The model indicates that when one need is satisfied, another one becomes important, which means that the lowest level of needs  (physiological)  must be  fulfilled  in  order to   move to the higher one (security), and so on, until one reaches  self-fulfillment 3. In other words, each level of needs is a motivator, which when satisfied, does not motivate anymore, and the higher level is now the motivator5. Firstly, Physiological needs. They are the first and lowest level of the hierarchy, they are the most basic needs which are necessary for the continuation of life, and they include: the desire for food, water, air, and sleep3. It can safely be said that no human being can live without the physiological needs, which is why they are sometimes called survival needs. They must be satisfied in order for a person to move up the hierarchy, and be motivated by the next level of needs5. Secondly, security needs. They occupy the second level of the pyramid, and are sometimes called safety needs, as they include the need for safety, stability and absence of pain, threat or illness3. When it comes to work, these needs may cause the preference for a saf e and secure job, with a health insurance benefit for example. They include financial security, as they may cause people to open savings accounts for the security of their future, or to take different types of insurances for example, the insurance against accidents4. When this level is satisfied, a person may move to the next level5. Thirdly, Social needs, which can be explained as the needs someone wants from society, such as friendship and the feeling of belonging3. This level of needs deals with the emotions of the human being, every person needs to feel accepted and loved by others, and as most people do, a human may belong to a group, which can be a small one like family and friends, or a large one such as clubs, religious parties, or even gangsters. In the case that this emotional need was not fulfilled, a person may be lonely and experience some mental disorders such as anxiety or depression3. Esteem is the next level in the pyramid, and it is the desire to feel respect ed and self worthy, and thereby boost the self-esteem. People need to be valued by other people, they need to be accepted by what they are and recognized for their activities and contributions in order to feel self-valued. The imbalances of this need can lead to low self-esteem, which can cause psychological conditions such as depression3. The highest and last need is Self-actualization, which only appears when all the levels have been satisfied, and involves people recognizing their full potential, and be the best as they can be at what they do3,which can be best seen with self-employed people3. 2.3.1.2 The Achievement Motivation Model This model of motivation has been identified by David C McClellands in 1961. He proposed the idea that there are three important types of needs; they are achievement, authority/power, and affiliation needs. These needs were found to be present in every worker especially within managers, and the degree of which need is dominant can be seen in the workers attitude and behavior at work, which is based on their motivational status7. The ones, who are motivated by achievement, can be seen competing against a high standard, having difficult and challenging goals, and always seeking achievements and advancements in their jobs3. The authority/power motivated ones always strive for authority and leadership. They need to be leaders and have their ideas prevail. In addition, they want to be influential, make an impact in work and on other workers, and reach high personal status3. The affiliation motivated persons are team players; they are motivated by friendly relationships with others, as they need to be liked and always have close friendships7. The McClelland theory proposed that all people have a combination of these needs, however not in the same level. The level of which particular need is dominant can be seen in someones attitude and behavior at work. He thinks that the managers, who are strongly affected by aff iliation motivation, always need to be liked, which in turn affects their decision-making criteria. While authority motivated workers will posses a high level of commitment and work ethics, and in most cases are managers or leaders, unless they do not have the required skills or flexibility for the job. In addition, McClelland thinks that the best leaders are the ones with strong achievement motivation, however they may have some difficulties in leading their staff into believing and having as much dedication to what they want to achieve7. In his theory, McClelland proposed that achievement-motivated people are characterized by the following attitudes3: They set their own goals, because of their high selectivity of matters; they cannot accept other people to draw goals for them. They take full responsibility in their decisions and results, if they succeed they want the credit, and if they do not, they do not mind the blame. To them, Achievement is valued more than financ ial reward. They prefer achieving their goals to receiving praise or getting recognition. They do not consider a financial reward as a goal; to them it is just a measure of success. They are not highly concerned about Security, or about their status. They like nothing more than a reliable feedback for their work, not to get an appraisal or something of that matter, but to measure their work and see how successful they have been. They always seek better ways to do things, and improve their methods. they are highly selective for jobs which have higher satisfaction for their needs, which means they choose jobs which have greater responsibilities and opportunities for them to set their own goals and achieve them, for example they can work as managers, or in the sales department, in addition to many of them work as entrepreneurs. Next, there is a description of another category of motivation models, which is based on job designs. 2.3.2 Motivating Employees through Job Design 2.3.2.1 The Two-Factor Theory In 1959, Frederick Herzberg and his associates developed a famous theory of motivation known as the two-factor theory, or the motivator- hygiene model of motivation. He studied people to know what the factors that causes them to be satisfied at work, and the ones that causes dissatisfaction to them. He then came up with a list of factors and classified them in two categories: motivators and hygiene factors8. Motivators are the factors that satisfy people at work, in addition to generating positive feeling; they include recognition, achievement, advancement, responsibility, and challenging work. They are called intrinsic factors, because they are related to the job itself 3. Hygiene factors on the other hand, are factors which usually gives negative feelings to individuals, and may affect job dissatisfaction if they were absence, hence the term hygiene, because in the absence of hygiene, health can deteriorate. They include: job s ecurity, working conditions, salary, relationship with co-workers and supervisors, company policy and fringe benefits. They are called extrinsic factors because they are external to the job, not directly related to the job itself 8,3. 2.3.2.2 The Job Characteristic Model This is one of the most famous models of motivation, proposed by Hackman Oldham (1976), and it is highly used in designing jobs in many organizations5. It is related to Herzbergs model to a great degree, as it proposes the use of motivation factors at a workplace, and limiting the hygiene factors to minimum9. The model includes five main characteristics of any job, they are: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and job feedback. It proposes that the levels of all these characteristics should be increased in order to create a motivational environment at the workplace3. The first characteristic is skill variety, which is the amount and the types of skills and competencies required by a certain job. Some jobs are a daily routine activity and require too little from an employee to get them done, while other jobs require certain competencies and skills from individuals which can make them more interesting. Next is task identity, and it is the identification of the complete work needed to complete a task by an employee, from beginning to end, with an identifiable outcome3. Task significance is another characteristic, and it is described as the amount of importance and necessity of a given task, and whether it is worth doing and would have an impact on other people and society, or if it would not make a big difference when it gets done. The fourth characteristic is autonomy, and it is the amount of empowerment and control provided in certain jobs, which increases their importance in peoples minds. The last one is job feedback, which gives indications on an employee performance and effectiveness; therefore a job should be formulated in ways which allow superiors to measure the performer as simply and accurately as possible3,9. The model proposes that the levels of these five characteristics should be increased, because they have strong effects on three psychological aspects in humans, they are3: Experienced meaningfulness of the tasks performed. Experienced personal responsibility for task outcomes. Knowledge of the results of task performance. In the end, the model states that if these three status were raised in a human being, that individual will be highly satisfied at the job and strongly motivated to work. Next, there is another category of motivation models, which is based on performance expectations. 2.3.3 Motivating Employee through Performance Expectation 2.3.3.1 The Expectancy Theory The link between motivation and the expectancy theory was defined by Condrey as: Motivation is a product of the individuals expectancy that a certain effort will lead to the intended performance, the instrumentality of this pe rformance to achieving a certain result, and the desirability of this result for the individual, known as valence10. The theory was found by Victor Vroom in 1964, a business professor at Yale School of Management , it proposes the idea that people become motivated to do a certain job when they believe they will get a certain reward that they want and expect. They make an estimation of the desired results, and based on that they act and behave in a way which will help them get to those results. It predicts that individuals within an organization can be motivated when they believe that10: More effort exerted will yield better performance at a job. Better performance will result in desirable organizational rewards, such as salary increment. These rewards are valued by the performer and satisfy the needs Satisfying the need is worthwhile doing better and giving the required effort to the proposed job. However, Victor Vroom together with his associates Edward Lawler and Lyman Porter thought that the link between peoples behavior at work and their goals was not exactly as simple as previous scientists had proposed. He believed that the performance of an employee is based on three major psychological factors, which can create a strong motivational force to that employee, they are9: Valence: refers to how people feel about and the level of satisfaction they get from the outcomes and rewards of completing their jobs, such as money, promotion, and satisfaction. On the one hand, an outcome is said to be a positive valent if an employee prefers having it. On the other hand, an outcome which an employee does not want to have is known as a negative valent. An outcome which an employee is indifferent about are said to have zero valence. Expectancy: it is the belief of employees that their actions will lead to certain outcomes, and their confidence in what they can do. Instrumentality: This is the belief of employees that they will get what has been promised to them after completing the task successfully. Vroom proposed that the belief of an employee in these three factors helps psychologically in building a motivational force which makes that employee happy and avoiding negativity. Hence, the theory describes the mental procedure of motivation, as people make choices based on their understanding and behavior 3. 2.3.4 Motivating People through Equity 2.3.4.1 The Equity Model The Equity Theory was developed by J. Stacy Adams in 1962; it describes how an employee perceives that the outcome reward of a certain job is being fair, after completing one which is expected to be satisfying9. The theory can be measured against other employees in a work place, or even employees from different organizations. Normally this measurement results in three different perceptions: they will feel they are fairly rewarded, under rewarded, or over rewarded. Unless they feel fairly rewarded, they will act in a way as to reduce inequity. B ecause they always try to measure what they put in a job (input) and what they get from it (output). Examples of employees inputs and outputs can be found in table 2.1 3: Table 2.1 Examples of employee inputs and outputs in a job: Inputs Outputs Attendance Recognition Personal skills Fringe benefits Commitment and effort Responsibility Level of education Sense of achievements Past experiences Job perquisites (parking space or office location) Performance Job security Personal appearance Promotion and growth Social status Salary Technical skills Seniority benefits Training Status symbols Support of collogues Working conditions (Taken from J Slocum, Jr. (2007) Fundamentals of organizational behavior) The Equity Theory is built on the belief that, employees who think their rewards are fair and equal to their contributions, are the most motivated ones, The same goes for the ones who belief they are being re warded in a similar manner as their peers. On the other hand, employees may become demotivated when they belief that their input is greater than the output. They may become depressed and not satisfied with their status, and show many negative reactions9. Therefore, managers must be fair and give their employees their fair share of rewards, based on their actions and inputs. They should understand how to balance inputs and outputs fairly, so that they give each employee fair and deserved rewards, which in turn improves employee motivation and thereby gives them more job satisfaction9. As mentioned before, managers must understand the balance of inputs and outputs of their employees; because employees measure their inputs differently, in addition to the fact that they may prefer different types of rewards. For example, a working mother may prefer more flexible working hours to an incentive9. At the end, managers should make sure their employees do not feel under rewarded, bec ause then they will be demotivated, which should be avoided in any organization that wants to be successful. They should reward them fairly and equally based on their efforts, contributions, expectations, and peers 11. 2.3.4.2 The Procedural Justice Theory This theory was proposed by Rawls (1971), and it is based on fairness just like the previous equity model; however it is not based on the outcomes or the outputs, but on the fairness of the process of making decisions5. The theory measures the procedure of making decisions in an organization, which can be fair or unfair, and affects employee motivation and job satisfaction9. Procedural justice can be very important and essential to every company or organization, because it has a great effect on employees. When they perceive a procedure as fair, they become highly motivated to work and improve their inputs at their jobs. On the other hand, if they think the procedure is unfair they may be dissatisfied and demotivated to wo rk9. A good example can be seen in most companies is pay raise determination, if employees perceive fairness of the decision, they will be satisfied, and visa versa. Sometimes, the fairness of such decision can be more satisfying than the raise itself, because the human being highly values equity and fairness. Employees may also judge the process of layoffs within a company, as the survivors would judge the fairness of the decision and become highly affected by it, and if it was a fair decision, they would become highly satisfied and more committed to their job. However if the decision was unfair, they may become demotivated and even have fear about their job status, which usually leads to seeking jobs elsewhere 3. Another examples is students, especially hard workers who put so much efforts in their studies, they expect to get good grades for their hard work, but sometimes they are misjudged or marked unfairly, which can be seen when they compare their results or marks with e ach other, and when they think the marking procedure was unfair, they become hugely dissatisfied9. 2.3.5 Other Theories of Motivation There are many theories and models of motivation, which are not widely recognized as the ones explained before; here is a review of some of them: 2.3.5.1 The Incentive Theory of Motivation According to Kerr (1995), a reward can be very effective in boosting employee motivation. Whether it was tangible or intangible, when a reward is presented to an employee after a certain behavior or performance, it is more likely that the same desired performance will occur again. In addition, the sooner the reward is given the better, as its effect would be larger in employees minds, and later on, this performance becomes a habit by that employee12. However, as the author has noted, there might be some difficulties applying the technique efficiently by managers, because they should make sure that the reward is not just a simple reward, it should be s ome kind of a reinforcer, which is like a reminder to employees of the incentive they get for what they did, and later on this becomes embedded in their behavior, and a continuous source for motivation, and job satisfaction. 2.3.5.2 The Drive-Reduction Theory The theory was proposed by C. Hull (1940), who suggested that when a person experiences some kind of a biological drive or arousal to do something, that person will experience a driving force to do that thing. And whenever that person does the action, then the action would be reinforced. For example: when a person is hungry and wants to eat, there would be a drive to do so, but as soon as that person eats, the forced drive becomes reduced. However, the theory was not considered very successful because it did not explain clearly the motivation process9. 2.3.5.3 The ERG (Existence, Relatedness and Growth) Theory Suggested by Clayton Alderfer in 1969, who followed up on Maslows needs theory. He reestablished the order of needs into three categories: the existence category including Physiological and safety needs, the relatedness category including affiliation and esteem needs, and the growth category including self-actualization and needs 13, 9. 2.3.5.4 The Goal Setting Theory This is based on the idea that when an employee sets a goal for oneself, he/she will have to increase performance to achieve that goal. And whenever there is a difficult goal to attain, the performance will definitely increase to reach that goal and attain the desired outcomes 11. 2.4 Practices Companies may use in order to motivate their Employees in General Most successful organizations around the world motivate their employees. There are many methods a company or an organization may come up with to assist in doing so. A powerful new model to increase workplace motivation has been developed by Nohria and Groysberg, of Harvard Business School, and Lee, of the Center for Research on Corporate Performance14. T hey have conducted a survey on a wide range of employees from many companies, and came up with results which can identify how an organization can motivate its employees and satisfy their needs. They proposed that a motivating organization should implement several motivational techniques, including the following: It must provide an environment at the workplace that meets workers expectations and needs. Establish a fair Reward system for good performances. Create a culture that is full with collaboration and openness in order to improve bonds and communications between employees. Create meaningful and challenging jobs which help increasing workers motivations. Allocate resources fairly, and manage the processes and performances in a fair and transparent way. Furthermore on the practice of motivation within companies and organizations, below are guidelines for managers that can be used in order to motivate employees. They are based on the motivating people book (2009) written by Mike Bourne and Pippa Bourne15: Creating a motivating environment Managers must Support the performances of employees, by setting the goals of the organization clearly to them and directing their efforts into achieving those goals. They should boost their enthusiasm, provide them with the needed tools and resources, remove any constraints they may face, develop their training and skills, and supervise them in a positive way. They should create a high performance culture, and maintain the right working conditions. Recruiting the right people is necessary, and so managers must have successful criteria for recruiting. They should Measure employees motivation, by getting feedback from them, and by using a survey to show their motivation level, how they feel about their jobs, and what they need and expect from their jobs. Building processes for motivation Managers must design motivating jobs for their employees and continuously improve these jobs, which should be meaningful and have important outcomes. They should conduct appraisals and measure the progress of given tasks through feedbacks. In addition, they must set clear, important, and achievable objectives for their employees, and make sure they understand them. They should always provide the proper Training and development for their staff, and prepare them to grow within an organization. They must Recognize good performances by many ways including thanking them by emails or giving them some time off for example. Furthermore, they have to make sure that employees are paid and rewarded according to their performances, as their bonuses should be linked to their achieved targets, their pay should be linked to their performances, their incentives should be linked to their achieved goals, and the paying scheme should always be reviewed to make any necessary changes. Developing the skills for motivation Managers must be good motivators by sharing their visions with their teams, setting a ttainable and clear goals, always giving feedback to staff, rewarding good performances, and sharing the success with everyone involved in making it. They should make people feel valued by promoting or rewarding them, recognizing their efforts, and investing in their training and development. They should delegate tasks effectively to their employees, and be able to coach successfully on a daily basis, and therefore they have to develop their coaching skills constantly. 2.5 Practices Companies may use in order to motivate their Employees in Kuwait (Culture) According to a study of employee motivation in the Middle East (Bayt.com, 2009), 61% of Kuwaitis feel they are motivated at their work, ranging from highly to slightly motivated, which looks to be acceptable especially when compared with the average of all the other countries in the study which was 45% 16. When it comes to Kuwait, it is very difficult to find examples on how companies motivate their employees within, beca use there are not many studies conducted in the field. However, a number of companies understand the concept of motivation and follow strategic guidelines in doing so. First of all, Kuwait has two working sectors, the governmental and the private one. In the governmental sector, there are standard methods of motivations, which are very similar to a great degree, in all the ministries in Kuwait; they include some of the following parameters (Al-Watan newspaper, 2007)17: Yearly bonuses for excellence performers. providing scholarships for post graduate studies to superior workers training courses in Kuwait or abroad for high performance workers promotions for deserving workers sending special employees abroad to attend conferences and workshops Other fringe benefits including mobile phones, and cars with drivers. On the other hand, the private sector offers much more valuable and attractive rewards and benefits, which can be much more motivational to employees, including all of what the government can provide, but at higher levels. For example, yearly bonuses are highly dependant on the workers achievements, while in the governmental sector it is normally a fixed yearly bonus. Therefore, if a worker was affective in making a company a worthy amount of profits, there would be a large and satisfying reward awaiting, while if a governmental worker achieved the same outcomes; there will be the same yearly bonus which is given to any hard working employee, regardless of the size of the achievement. In addition, there could also be other types of rewards in the private sector such as the highly recognition of superior workers, as can be seen in the example of Zain telecommunication company, which sets very good standards for motivations that all other successful companies should follow (Al-Watan newspaper, 2007). Other companies which are highly motivational are the banks, especially before the economical crises in 2008. Banks always reco gnize good employee performances and apply excellent standards of motivational tools, which are one of the reasons why they are the most successful services sector in Kuwait (Global Magazine, 2009)18. Another example can be seen in successful investment companies such as Alimtiaz Investment. According to business news magazine (2009), there is a mystique when it comes to Alimtiaz, the culture is very friendly and loving, you can find workers from different departments helping and supporting each other, which is the theme of the company. It provides employees with the best rewards and fridge benefits compare to all investment companies in Kuwait. The yearly bonuses are very satisfying however based on productivity, in addition to other benefits like incentives and health insurance. An employee is able to complete studies and take courses on the expenses of the company, and regular courses are constantly provided to all employees. Basically, the management of the company, led by th e best professionals in Kuwait, has set an excellent example of excellence that should be followed in companies in Kuwait and worldwide19. 2.6 Pharmacists Motivation in the Public Sector in Kuwait When it comes to pharmacists in the public sector in Kuwait, not many efficient previous studies can be found. However, there is a study conducted by a previous Kuwaiti public pharmacist named Noura Al-Qenaee in 2009, she concluded a number of facts which could shed the light on the motivational status within the pharmaceutical public sector in Kuwait, including20: Firstly, Pharmacists working in the public sector may earn a fair salary compare to those working in the private one. They enjoy a good stream of relations, better working environment, and preferable job locations. On the other hand, they may experience inadequate career development, and lack of growth in the public pharmaceutical sector. Many of them agreed to have tremendous mental tension caused by heavy workload, working condition, unprofessional supervision, job stress, and lack of means to perform their job, which all are highly demotivational. The research also concluded that many pharmacists leave working for the Ministry of Health, and open their own private pharmacies, which can be very motivational for a number of advantages. It could be very profitable, especially if the location of the pharmacy was cleverly selected. It would provide more flexible work timings for the pharmacist, in addition to the possibility of having some challenges, which usually makes an entrepreneur motivated to improve performance, and succeed in the business. The next chapter will describe our methodology and research design.