Cultural Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Cultural Identity - Essay Example It creates a certain stereotype that is more often not well justified or has no basis at all. My cultural identity is shaped and influenced by an ancient cultural Chinese tradition of filial obedience based on the teachings of Confucius, a feeling of belonging and affiliation with the entire Chinese nation, including the overseas Chinese in many other countries, and it is because of the Chinese civilization being the oldest continuously existing civilization in the world today, with its unique language (the most difficult to learn and master) and system of its writing (based on characters), and pride in resurgent China after two centuries of being under Western colonial powers. There is equality among sexual genders although under the present regime, families prefer baby boys to baby girls because of its one-child per family policy to help contain its ever-increasing large population. Although the Chinese people is composed of many ethnic groups, there is only one national language, which is Mandarin, and despite its huge geographic size, China officially has only one time z one (it covers five time zones) for easier governance and administration. A Chinese person is able to connect and feel an affinity with another Chinese anywhere in the world due to this single language for communication. I have come over to the United States of America as an international student, and one of my subjects in school is inter-cultural communications. This is the first time I experienced the concept of white privilege, in which people of the white race feel a sense of entitlement to all the good things in life, and taking these things for granted as something that is due to them (Martin 55) in a daily pattern of dominance, subordination, and privilege. It is unspoken type of privileged class, with white males looking down on the females (regardless of skin color) as sexual objects, made of

Untying the Knot by Melanie Thernstrom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Untying the Knot by Melanie Thernstrom - Essay Example Monetary concerns played vital role for the outcome of their 11 years of marriage. The couple. Kate is an impulsive career-oriented woman who is not afraid of risks in whatever decision she might come up to, who happened to be wed to Max, a controlling man who preferred art rather than increase of salary. It's surprising to know that in eleven years of marriage none of the couple adjusted to one's flaw in order for the marriage to last. Though it seems that Kate did submit herself to her husband's term, it was her character as financially domineering in the marriage that held her back for total submission or to give way. It always boiled down to financial reason. Her impulsiveness often resulted in disappointments, and the result of her marriage to Max is a failure as expected. Was the marriage salvageable The former couple (not yet married at that time) was revealed as vacationing at the Costa Rica, where they had a serious argument for looking at different birds in the same tree. This incident depicted the seriousness of their indifferences to prolong being tied in a commitment. It was stated that Max still longed for reconciliation; the only problem is that, lately, they both realized that Kate doesn't wanted to get married not only to Max, but to anybody else. She longs for freedom and always had preferred it all along unconsciously.

Report on Housing Prices Statistics in Oregon from a Sample of 108 Houses Essay Example for Free

Report on Housing Prices Statistics in Oregon from a Sample of 108 Houses Essay From the eleven variables identified, area of living space in the house (sq_ft), age of the house in years (age) and selling price of the house in thousand dollars (price) were identified to be in the ratio scale for the level of measurement while number of bedrooms (beds), number of bathrooms (baths) and number of spaces for cars in the garage (garage) were identified to be in the ordinal. Lastly, the variables architectural style (style), school district were the house is located (school), method of heating the house (heat), presence of fireplace (fire) and presence of basement (basement) were identified to be in the nominal scale. These levels of measurement were the basis on what type of tests were done for the different analyses (See Appendices for table 1). On all the tests and comparisons with p-values, a 95% level of confidence is used. Descriptive Statistics on the Variables With the results gathered, most of the houses use the gas forced air method of heating. Out of the 108 houses, 96. 3% use this method while only 3. 7 use the electric baseboard heating. Also, most houses are of ranch architecture. Of the 108 houses, 40. 7% are of this architectural style, 36. 1% are of the tri-level style while 23. 1% are of the two-story type. Moreover, 84. 3% of the houses have basements. Similarly, 88. 9 of them have fireplaces. Lastly, the largest part sampled houses are located in the Apple Valley School District. From the 108 houses, 60. 2 are located in this school district while the rest are in Eastville (See Appendices for tables 2, 3, 4, 5 6). For the ordinal variables, the median number of bedrooms in the house is four which means that fifty percent of the houses have less than four bedrooms while the rest have more than four bedrooms. Similarly, fifty percent of the houses have less than three bathrooms while the other fifty percent have more than three bathrooms. In the number of spaces for cars in the garage, fifty percent of the houses can accommodate no more than two cars while the other fifty percent can. From the sample, most of the houses have three bedrooms, three bathrooms and can accommodate two cars. Since these three variables are rank variables, the means for each cannot be computed (See Appendices for tables 8, 9, 10 11). For the ratio variables, it was found out that the mean selling price of the house in Oregon is 97. 99226 thousand dollars. With a relatively small standard error of 2. 543183, the statistic for the selling price is considered accurate. Fifty percent of the houses are priced below 92. 46950 thousand dollars while the other 50% have selling prices greater than 92. 46950 thousand dollars. Having a variance of 698. 520, the data from the sample are considered to be extremely dispersed. On the average, the selling price of a house in Oregon deviates by 26. 429529 thousand dollars from the mean selling price of the house generated from the sample. The mean area of living space in the house in square feet is 1745. 72. However, the standard error of the mean, which is 42. 836, is sufficiently large. The data values for this variable are the most dispersed among the three ratio variables having a variance of 198173. 39. Fifty percent of the samples houses have areas which are below 1758. 00 square feet while the other fifty have areas greater than 1758. 00 square feet. On the average, the area of living space in the house deviates by 445. 167 square feet from the mean. For the last ratio variable, the mean age of the house in years is 11. 23. Having a standard error of 0. 448 which is very small, this statistic is considered accurate. Fifty percent of the sampled houses are below 11 years of age while the rest are more than 11 years of age. The distribution of the variable is not that dispersed. With a variance of 21. 675, the age variable is the least dispersed among the three ratio variables. On the average, the ages of the houses deviates from the mean by 4. 656 years only (See Appendices for table 13). Summing up the descriptive measures obtained on the eleven variables, a typical home in Oregon has an area of 1745. 72 square feet, approximately 11 years of age, has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and can accommodate two car spaces in the garage. Furthermore, it is of ranch architecture and uses the gas forced air method of heating. It has a basement and a fireplace. It is located in the Apple Valley School District and its selling price is 97. 99226 thousand dollars. Correlation From the scatterplots, the selling price is identified to have a positive linear relationship with area of living and a negative, close to nonlinear relationship with age of the house (See Appendices for figures 12 13). Since the data do not follow the normal distribution Spearman’s rho was used to determine the correlation between the dependent variable, price, and the other ratio scale variables (See Appendices for table 24). With a correlation coefficient of 0. 828, there is a positive very strong linear relationship between the selling price and area of living space in the house. Moreover, even if there is a negative weak linear relationship between selling price and age of the house in years, both the correlations of selling price with area and age are significant with p-value equal to 0. 000 (See Appendices for tables 14 15). Also, though there is a negative weak linear relationship between the ratio variables age and area for the -0. 292 Pearson correlation coefficient, the 0. 000 p-value says that the correlation is significant. Pearson correlation was used for the two ratio variables because both are normally distributed (See Appendices for table 22). For the ordinal variables, all of them have a significant correlation with selling price with p-values 0. 007, 0. 000 and 0. 000 for number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms and number of car spaces in garage, respectively. The number of bedrooms in the house has a positive weak linear relationship with selling price having a correlation coefficient of 0. 259. Moreover, the number of bathrooms in the house has a positive strong linear relationship with selling price having a correlation coefficient of 0. 675. Also, the number of spaces for cars in the garage has a positive moderate linear relationship with selling price having a correlation coefficient of 0. 475 (See Appendices for table 16). Among the ordinal variables, the number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms, and the number of car spaces and number of bathrooms has a significant correlation, with p-values equal to 0. 000 and 0. 003 respectively, and has a positive weak linear relationship, with correlation coefficients of 0. 358 and 0. 283 respectively (See Appendices for table 23). Among the nominal variables, only the architectural style has a positive moderate association with selling price having an Eta coefficient of 0. 485 (See Appendices for table 18). The rest has either weak or very weak associations with selling price (See Appendices for tables 17, 19, 20 21). For the two categories of method of heating, it was found out that the use of gas forced air in the house, presence of basement and presence of fireplace increases the selling price of the house. The school district location also affects the selling price. Houses located in Apple Valley School District tend to have higher prices than that of Eastville School District. Moreover, there are no significant differences on the selling prices of houses with tri-level and two-story architectural style. However, houses that are of ranch architectural style tend to have higher selling prices than that of the tri-level and two-story architectural styles (See Appendices for tables 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41 43). Predictors of Selling Price Using the regression model, the selling price of a house, when all other factors are held constant, decreases by 16. 113. The interpretation for the intercept is significant since the confidence interval of the estimate includes zero. Holding other factors constant, the selling price is estimated to increase by 0. 042 thousand dollars for every square feet increase in the area of living space of the house. Also, there is an estimated increase of 3. 269 thousand dollars on the selling price for every unit increase in the number of bedrooms holding other factors constant. The selling price is estimated to increase by 13. 876 thousand dollars for every unit increase in the number of spaces for cars in the garage holding other factors constant. Similarly, an increase of 6. 953 and 4. 269 thousand dollars on selling price is estimated if there is a basement and a fireplace, respectively, in the house. The selling price is also estimated to increase by 4. 874 thousand dollars if the house is located in Apple Valley School District with other factors held constant. Furthermore, the selling price is estimated to increase by 11. 053 thousand dollars if the house is of ranch architectural style holding other factors constant. If the house is of a two-story type, there is an estimated increase of 1. 714 thousand dollars. If the architectural style is tri-level, then the value to be multiplied with the beta estimates for two-story and ranch will be equal to zero since the coded value for tri-level in the dummy variables is zero (See Appendices for table 44). With a Durbin-Watson statistic of 1. 746, then the residuals are independent. Having an adjusted R square of 0. 820, the variation in the selling price of the house can be explained by the eleven variables. A mean square error of 126. 070 implies that the sum of the squared deviations of the selling prices to the true value is relatively small. With a computed F statistic of 45. 169 and a corresponding p-value of 0. 000, then the regression adequately represent the data and can be useful for prediction (See Appendices for tables 45 46). To test, given the following data on a certain house: two-story house with 1600 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a one car garage, gas heat, a basement, no fireplace, is 9 years old, and is in the preferred school district, then the predicted selling price of the house is 60. 804 thousand dollars. Summary The larger the area sizes of the living space of the house, the more expensive the selling price. Also, more number of bedrooms and spaces for car in the garage would also increase the selling price. In terms of architectural style, the ranch type would increase the selling price of a house most than the other two styles. Finally, the house with a basement, a fireplace and which is located in the Apple Valley School District increases also the selling price.

Local Government In The Malaysian Context Information Technology Essay

Local Government In The Malaysian Context Information Technology Essay Customer satisfaction is a key issue for all organizations in both public and private sectors. This is a highly important challenge as service standards today relies on excellent service quality delivery and high customer satisfaction levels. All employees have a role in determining the degree of satisfaction experienced by their customers. In the public sector, due to increased levels of information dissemination, governments are expected to be more sensitive to the demands and needs of the peoples and societies they serve. Many public sector organisations are undergoing reforms in order to provide better, faster and even wider range of services to the people. The customer has a prominent place in these reforms. In recent history, much has been written on the subject of customer satisfaction, but comparatively little regarding customer satisfaction in the public sector. This is despite the issue of customer satisfaction in public services has been growing in importance, particularly in Malaysia due to the perception of deteriorating levels of satisfaction as perceived by most quarters of the public. In the past ten years with the explosive growth of broadband internet penetration levels in the country, public agencies have been increasingly placed in the spotlight for their shortcomings as larger segments of the public are made aware of the lack of satisfaction encountered by others. In most countries including Malaysia, local government has the most direct impact on the resources in the economy as they are most involved in the implementation of national and state government policies. The range of activities involving the local government sector is primarily labour intensive. There are therefore a number of reasons for the need of this research particularly in the Malaysian environment. Firstly, local government has a monopoly on the provision of most of their services, and do not have forces of competition and profit driving efficiency and effectiveness in meeting customers needs (Caruana, Ramaseshan, Ewing 1998). Members of the public who are unhappy with the local authority administering their premises or property are not able to change to another local authority or opt out of receiving services from that authority (and thus not paying taxes due) without moving to another area administered by another local authority. Secondly, demand for government services is on an increasing uptrend due to increased expectations by the people. More and more people expect the government to assist them in resolving various issues encountered. Such issues includes the provision or maintenance (or lack of provision or maintenance) of infrastructure and services. Thirdly , due to increasing pressure on governments as a service provider for an increasing range of services, local government has to set up and maintain competence in many aspects of performance. An instance of this can be seen with the advent of information technology (IT). Many local authorities responded by setting up an IT department which was put in charge of computerising operations. Hence local government organisations will be perceived to be competent, knowledgeable, courteous and reliable if and when their employees possess competencies to allow effective execution of their prescribed duties. This study will be undertaken with the objective of investigating the impact of employee competencies as perceived by customer satisfaction in the services provided by Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar (MBAS) or Alor Setar City Council. Additionally, this study will also evaluate the relationship between employee competencies and perceived customer satisfaction. It is important to undertake this research at this time particularly at MBAS because it is now in transition to move towards a new stage of increased employee competencies in the new era of internet-enabled services. 1.1 Local government in the Malaysian Context Local authorities in Malaysia are governed primarily by various national and state legislative provisions. At the national level, the Local Government Act of 1976 is the primary legislation that specifies the functions and responsibilities of local government bodies in Peninsular Malaysia. These functions and responsibilities not only include mandatory functions but also discretionary functions too. These functions include solid waste management, street maintenance and activities pertaining to public health. Examples of discretionary functions include development and infrastructure functions like providing amenities, recreational parks, housing and regulating certain aspects of commercial activities such as licensing. According to a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (2001), provisions of the Local Government Act 1976 grants local authorities in Malaysia the following roles in their respective jurisdictions or areas: Local planning authority Licensing authority Manage to impose certain kinds of taxes Take in charge housing, building and commercial construction (markets, hawker stalls and many others) Manage to perform urban planning, landscaping and management functions Manage public transport systems Manage to plan and provide public utilities. Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (2001). http://www.unescap.org/huset/lgstudy/country/malaysia/malaysia.html As can be see above, local authorities in Malaysia have a wide range of functions and responsibilities which has significant impact in the environment which they operate in. It is highly important for available competencies to be studied and further developed in order to improve the delivery of services to the people (their customers). The fact that the Malaysian government is aggressively pursuing economic growth can be seen with the introduction of the New Economic Model (NEM) initiative and 10th Malaysia Plan by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recently. As part of these initiatives, local authorities will play important roles in the further development of the country. As of July 2010, there are 147 local authorities in Malaysia as summarized in Table . Table Local Authorities in Malaysia Local Authorities Total City Councils 12 Municipal Councils 39 District Councils 96 Total 147 Source: Ministry of Housing and Local Government. http://jkt.kpkt.gov.my/en/main.php?Content=vertsectionsSubVertSectionID=59VertSectionID=43CurLocation=43IID= 1.2 The Background of Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar (MBAS) MBAS is one of the local authorities in Peninsular Malaysia. At its inception in 1735, MBAS was established as a sanitation board when the city was founded by Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin Muazzam Shah. The city of Alor Setar and the local authority body which oversaw it has grown in size and functions since then. MBAS is the local authority entrusted with providing services for the governance and development of Alor Setar. It is the only local authority in the state of Kedah with city council status which was awarded by the federal government on 31 December 2003. This upgrade of status came after Alor Setar officially became a city on 22 August 2002. From the Population, Household Living Quarters Malaysia 2009 publication by the Department of Statistics, we find that the district of Kota Setar (which includes Alor Setar) has a population of 429,900 people. Source: 1. Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar. http://www.mbas.gov.my/web/guest/background 2. Department of Statistic, Malaysia. http://www.statistics.gov.my/ccount12/click.php?id=294 According to the Local Government Department of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, a city council should meet the following criteria: Area under jurisdiction includes the administrative centre of the state Population above 500,000 Fiscally sustainable with annual revenues exceeding RM100 million capable of sustaining a balanced budget Provision of high level of services Sustainable development with an emphasis on tackling urban issues like squatters, illegal factory operation, security, housing for low-income groups and environmental conservation Achieves stable city classification under Malaysia Urban Indicator Network System (MURNInet) Availability of industrial centres, financial institutions, cultural centres, sports and recreational facilities and educational institutions Complete infrastructure provision and public utilities inclusive of public transportation facilities, traffic management system, efficient road network and ICT services, public areas which are disabled-friendly; and Recognition as a city either at national or international level in certain areas Source: Ministry of Housing and Local Government. http://jkt.kpkt.gov.my/en/main.php?Content=vertsectionsSubVertSectionID=65VertSectionID=43CurLocation=43IID=Page=1 The current mayor of Alor Setar is Dato Khazali Din. He has been in office since 1 December 2008. Besides the mayor, there are also 14 local councillors who are appointed by the State Government under provisions in the Local Government Act 1976 to administer MBAS. It employs approximately 250 employees ranked from Head of Departments to labourers. There are nine major departments and divisions in MBAS as follows: Treasury Development planning Engineering Assessment and Property management Management services Municipal services and Health Community development Law Buildings Source: Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar. http://www.mbas.gov.my/web/guest/jabatandanbahagian The main objectives of MBAS are as follows: Provide a comfortable living for the community of Alor Setar city from the aspects of services, planning and development; Transform the employees of MBAS to an efficient, clean, trustworthy and disciplined workforce; Increase and diversify the sources of revenue so that MBAS will become a financially strong institution; Management system which is of quality, dynamic and innovative; and Develop a caring society environment among the workforce through the provision of welfare, health and safety schemes Source: Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar. http://www.mbas.gov.my/web/guest/objective Throughout its 275 years of existence from a sanitation board up to the current incarnation as a city council, MBAS has been contributing a strategic role in the delivery of local government services in Alor Setar. Its official mission statement is to provide the highest level of services based on the latest technology. The primary functions of MBAS as a local authority includes development and operational functions such as solid waste management, cleaning of public areas and amenities, traffic system design and street maintenance, landscaping and beautification works, provision of shared public facilities and amenities like sports and recreation areas and infrastructure works. The most important secondary function of MBAS is to regulate business and commercial activities by means of licensing provisions. An example of the usage of these regulatory powers can be seen in the recent controversy regarding sports betting. While the federal government had approved a sports betting license to Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd, the state governments led by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had declined to issue licenses for premises to be used for sports betting activities. This was done by instructing the various local authorities in PR-controlled states not to issue premise and other business licenses for sports betting activities to Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd. This effectively ensured that Ascot Sports will not be able to operate sports betting activities in those states. Source: The Star, June 2010 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nationfile=/2010/6/7/nation/20100607155524 Other secondary functions of MBAS include the promotion of commercial and tourism activities and health and safety regulations of the community. This is done through the provision of infrastructure like roads and public facilities like parks, recreational areas, museums and the like. In terms of health and safety regulations, a commonly seen example would be the enforcement of laws against aedes mosquito breeding areas and building inspections and renovation regulations to ensure that such work is done within acceptable limits and meets minimum safety standards. 1.3 Background of the study There are many opinions with regards to the issue on how to manage service quality and delivery. In terms of service-based businesses, while the basis is similar to that of manufacturing-based businesses, the challenges posed are quite different. This is mainly due to the different attributes of both businesses. In manufacturing businesses, typically a product is made to certain specifications. The outcome of the process to create and manufacture a particular product should produce very little variation. This contrasts with service businesses whereby the outcome of services provided by the business can be significantly different due to the interaction between the business and its customers in the process. There are variations in expectation, expertise and material inputs from one customer to the next. Because of this, the outcomes of the process as perceived by customers can vary significantly even when businesses try to control for as many variables as possible. In terms of the public sector and civil service in Malaysia, the government has set up a number of agencies and undertook various measures to improve performance and service quality delivery. Some of these agencies and measures along with a brief history are mentioned below. One of the earliest attempts in post-independence Malaya to formalise and standardise training procedures for Public Services Department (PSD) employees is the setting up of the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN). It was set up in September 1959 as the Staff Training Centre in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. The centre provided training in administrative areas such as financial, land, office management and local government administration. The Staff Training Centre became INTAN in June 1972 and now has a mission to develop human resources in the public sector though the provision of quality training programmes. Source: National Institute of Public Administration, Malaysia. http://www.intanbk.intan.my/i-portal/en/about-intan/intan-in-brief.html The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) was initially created as the Development Administrative Unit (DAU) in 1966. The DAU was created based on a report by Prof. John D. Montgomery dan Milton J. Esma in Development Administrative in Malaysia which called for steps to improve professionalism in the public service by providing training and conducting educational programmes for all levels of the civil service. DAU was responsible to spearhead improvements in the civil service. In 1972, DAU was merged with the Implementation, Coordination and Evaluation Unit (ICEU) to form the Implementation, Coordination and Development Administration Unit (ICDAU). MAMPU was set up in 1977 as a new agency which took over the responsibilities of modernising and human resources planning from the ICDAU. Source: 1. Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit, Prime Ministers Department. http://www.mampu.gov.my/mampu/sejarah1 2. Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Ministers Department. http://www.icu.gov.my/icuV9/pg/indexV9.php?pg=prof The Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) under the Prime Ministers Department was mooted by former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. It started operations on 2 August 1971 and is the leading organisation in Malaysia for the management and monitoring of public complaints regarding government departments and agencies (Suddle, 2009). Source: Suddle, 2009. Report on Study Tour of PUBLIC COMPLAINTS BUREAU MALAYSIA. http://www.asianombudsman.com/ORC/RETAreports/FTO_report.pdf Probably the most well known effort by the government to improve the civil service by reducing instances of corruption would be the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which was mooted by former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi which officially commenced operations on 1 January 2009. The history of MACC began as an agency when the National Bureau of Investigation was set up in 1973 to consolidate corruption and other special cases which were being handled by different teams in the police, Prime Ministers Department and the Law Ministry. The name was then changed to the Anti-Corruption Agency in 1982 to reflect its role as the main agency in Malaysia in the fight against corruption. Source: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. http://www.sprm.gov.my/ To improve civil service performance, former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in January 2005 had suggested various means on reinventing the civil service in Malaysian. According to him, to safeguard the image of civil service, public sector employees must be creative, inventive, fluid, consultative and free of corrupt practices. He addressed this issue to 3000 decision makers in public sector, ministers and chief executive officers of government-linked companies in order to have a free flow of ideas between top-level officers and their subordinates for the betterment of the service. He said civil servant must be able to think out of the box and make strategic adjustments so that they could act speedily when faced with adversity. On free flow of ideas within the service, department heads must be willing to acknowledge good suggestions which were given by their subordinates. Civil servants should be encouraged to provide feedback on approaches undertaken and these responses mu st be taken seriously by decision makers who should also institute changes whenever necessary. Source: The Star, January 2005 In February 2005, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reminded the civil service to increase emphasis on integrity, accountability and high work ethics in its efforts to improve efficiency in serving the people and the business community to safeguard the image of the public sector in order to enjoy the support and confidence of the people. Source: The Star, February 2005 The Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business (PEMUDAH) was established on 7 February 2007 under the Prime Ministers Department. Mooted by former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the terms of reference for the objectives and operations of PEMUDAH is as follows: To review the status of the public services delivery system in terms of processes, procedures, legislation and human resource towards introducing improvements; To study best practices in the private sector that can be adopted by the public sector; To coordinate programs across public sector agencies towards enhancing Malaysias competitiveness; To monitor the implementation of policies, strategies and procedures aimed towards improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the public delivery system; and To take appropriate action in addressing issues raised during Cabinet meetings regarding the public delivery system. Source: PEMUDAH Secretariat Office, Ministry of International Trade and Industry. http://www.pemudah.gov.my/297 On 13 April 2007, the government introduced the concept of One Stop Centre (OSC) for local government agencies under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. According to Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, the OSC was set up based on the concept of No Wrong Door whereby it will be a single point of entry which allows customers to obtain various services from multiple agencies using an integrated method. OSC will coordinate all stages from documentation submission until a decision is reached and provided to the customer. Source: The Office of Chief Secretary to the Government. About One Stop Centre. http://www.pmo.gov.my/ksn/?frontpage/speech/detail/1470 Within half a year of assuming office, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had mooted and established the Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) on 16 September 2009. A unit under the Prime Ministers Department, its main role and objective is to oversee the implementation and assess the progress of the government transformation programme (GTP) and to facilitate and support the delivery of both National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and Ministry Key Result Areas (MKRAs) of the various ministries and government agencies. Source: Performance Management Delivery Unit, Prime Ministers Department. http://www.transformation.gov.my/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=205Itemid=144lang=en On 1 January 2010, the MBAS Complaints Portal was launched as an online application to allow the public to lodge complaints to the local authority. The portal accepts submissions both online and though Short Message Service (SMS). The public can then follow up on complaints lodged though the portal. The portal also provides a forum for the council to receive feedback from the public. Source: MBAS Complaints Portal. About Complaints Portal. http://aduan.mbas.gov.my:2000/aduan/news.php 1.4 Research Problem Many business organisations these days would no doubt agree that the environments in which they do their businesses is becoming more and more complex and more challenging to understand due to rapid pace of change. There have been many studies which concluded that no business can be successful without taking the needs of their customers into serious consideration. There are several factors which have played significant roles which has changed the impact customers have on businesses. One of them would be the rise of consumerism in the 20th century. Rapid economic expansion due to the agricultural and industrial revolutions along with explosive population growth has rapidly increased the number of consumers in the market. Prior to this, only a small percentage of the population had sufficient disposable incomes to make an impact outside of their local societies. Due to rapid economic growth, more and more people earned enough to start having significant levels of disposable income which could be used for discretionary purchases. New inventions and improvements allowed businesses to transport goods faster and cheaper allowing more people to have increasing choices in the goods and services available to them. The services industry started being recognised as an arm of the economy in its own right and in more advanced economies, is more important t han manufacturing and trading industries. Customers now have more choices and could demand more from businesses. Any business which does not respond adequately to the rapidly changing business environments may face overwhelming challenges and can even go out of business. As a local authority and a government body, while it is very difficult for MBAS to go out of business per se, it is still a service organisation that provides multiple services to the people. MBAS cannot deny the expectations of its customers because their customers are taxpayers and voters. As a government body, it receives all income from public sources (i.e. taxpayers) and if they are not happy, they will show their displeasure during elections and effect changes through the government. We can thus surmise that employees in service organisations play an important role in ensuring that customers have a positive first impression. If customers are not provided with a level of service which they expect, this will lead to dissatisfaction and as a consequence, the number of complaints will increase. According to MBAS Public Relations Section, the authority receives on average 29 complaints per day sent by the public through various channels namely the MBAS Complains Portal, telephone, m ail and fax. In order to reduce dissatisfaction with its services and thus the number of complaints, it is necessary for MBAS to increase the quality of services it provides. It is highly important for them to plan, coordinate and then implement a comprehensive program to promote and disseminate the mindset of service quality excellence among employees in the organisation. It is imperative for MBAS to improve its services because its customers (the public) expect to interact with competent employees who are able to display high levels of professionalism and provide equally high levels of service quality whether in terms of explanation or physical services provided. Local authorities play an important role in the growth of both in the state they are located in and their own jurisdiction. You can go to virtually any part of Alor Setar and the name of the local authority administrating the city can be clearly seen. This has an effect of ensuring that services (or in contrast, the lack of services) provided by MBAS is always in the public eye. For example, a pedestrian bridge along Jalan Alor Setar-Sungai Petani at Batu 3, Tandop which has been in a state of disrepair for some time caused a scare when a large metal piece measuring 3 x 24 metres and a banner celebrating the Sultans recent birthdaye road isrepair for some time caused a scare when piecen of S is always in the public eye. t services or fell on the road underneath the bridge. While no vehicles or people were hurt in the incident, there has been several earlier incidents of smaller pieces of metal falling off the bridge. A road user claimed that he had informed MBAS about the earlier inc idents but thus far no action has been taken. A few questions had arose from the incident namely why the local authority did not take any action upon receiving complains about the bridge earlier? While there may be a lack of allocation at this time to repair the bridge, perhaps if MBAS had more competent staff, perhaps any loose metal pieces could have been removed and the bridge temporarily closed while awaiting allocation to fully repair the bridge. This would have helped to ensure no untoward incident happens. http://www.sinarharian.com.my/bterkini/4941.asp Landscaping and beautification activities of public areas and amenities are one of the local authorities primary functions. It was reported recently that the Taman PKNK football field has not been properly maintained for several months. This had made the field unusable due to the tall grass which has now became homes to poisonous snakes and other animals. According to the news report, MBAS follows a schedule whereby grass will be cut on fields located in residential areas every 21 days. The questions that are being asked is what had caused the oversight in maintaining the field? The oversight was not noticed by the council despite multiple 21 days cycles having passed. Could it be due to incompetence of MBAS employees that lead to the oversight in providing the required service? Employees should be more innovative and creative in overcoming obstacles faced when providing such services. http://www.sinarharian.com.my/utr/content/story5181294.asp The attitudes and procedures of MBAS once again came into question when a conflict occurred between the council and Chinese associations over what was felt as a new requirement to pay two different license fees for mahjong activities. The council had issued a letter on 7 July 2010 requesting payment for licensing fee but the associations had already paid a licensing fee to the Kota Setar district office for their mahjong activities. According to them, that is the only license they have always paid to conduct their activities. It was later clarified by Alor Setar Mayor Datuk Khazali Din that the license paid to the district office was to conduct mahjong activities but a separate license for the premises was also required to be paid to the council but was not enforced earlier. The questions raised in this incident relates to why if there were indeed such rules, it was not informed or explained to the Chinese associations earlier to prevent the misunderstanding from occurring in the fir st place. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/18/nation/6689157sec=nation As the mahjong activities has been going on for some time, the point now is that the attitude of the council and lack of tack in approaching the matter had caused the disruption of legitimate activities of other people. The approach used to approach the Chinese associations regarding the licensing issue reveals the inflexibility of the council. MBAS could have used more gentle approaches when approaching the associations and prevent the misunderstanding from occurring in the first place like giving them a suitable grace period rather than threatening immediate fines and legal action for non-compliance with its demands. MBAS will be categorised as a quality service provider if its employees have initiative, accountability, motivation and work as a team to accomplish their tasks or projects. Perhaps if the council had employees with the correct competencies in place, the various incidents mentioned above would not have happened? MBAS has to provide sufficient skills, ability, and the correct knowledge and resources to their employees and place them at the right positions. At the same time, the council should also adopt new forms of work organisation such as work teams, management delayering, job sharing, reengineering and downsizing redundant employees. In this context, MBAS should not only improve business performance but must also focus itself on making the necessary management changes related to combination of factors such as employee competencies, new computing and communications technologies and measure the productivity of service staff and knowledge workers. There is precious little studies in the past to measure perceived service quality in MBAS. As a service provider, MBAS is expected to be more competent and innovative. Given the situation that the council now finds itself in, service quality will be an undoubtedly interesting area to study. 1.5 Research Objectives The objective of this study is to determine if service quality at MBAS is driven by employee competencies. To be more specific, we want to: Identify employee competencies which is important for MBAS to improve customer satisfaction; Examine customer satisfaction as perceived by the public at MBAS; and Investigate the relationship of employee competencies in relation to perceived customer satisfaction in MBAS. 1.6 Research Question This study was motivated by our determination to answer the following questions: What are the competencies that employees at MBAS should have? What is customer satisfaction as perceived by the public? What are the relationships between employee competencies and perceived customer satisfaction? 1.7 Definition of Terms Local Government Employee A worker who is employed to provide services to a company on a regular basic in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an independent or self-employed business. Competencies A cluster of related knowledge, skills and attitudes that affects a major part of role or responsibility that correlates with performance on the job, that can be against well accepted standards, and that can be improved via training (Competencies Workgroup, September 2002). Service Service can be defined as any primary com

The Progressive Era Essay example -- essays research papers

The Progressive Era   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Progressivism in the United States took place in the period between the Spanish-American War and the entry of the United States into the great World War. It was a time for change in America in all walks of life, as well as a time for reform. It was marked by Theodore Roosevelt's 7 and a half years in office, the Rough Rider put it upon himself to make the first strides towards reform. These reforms included the cracking down on illegal monopolies and so forth. During this era large cities transformed into large metropolises, small towns into large cities and new towns sprang up nearly everywhere. Reforms also included the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth amendments. The progressive era really had significant impact in America's history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The progressive movement had many origins. One of these was the battle against governmental corruption and inability, in other words a struggle for civil services reform. The progressive movement was initiated by liberals in both political parties, the fight for government reform can be traced back to Liberal Republicans(An Oxymoron, Mr. Jetel?) during the Grant administration and Mugwumps. Citizens were enraged, with big businesses' growing influence in all branches of government and sought ways to purify it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Big Business was also a target of progressivism. During this time presidents like Roosevelt and William Howard Taft tried to regulate and control big business. Many well educated people of the time, as well as moderately prosperous businessmen and members of other professions(middle class) felt threatened by the increasing power of big business and the tycoons. These people were also disturbed by the Big business' influence in politics, making a mockery of the democratic system. Then with the failure of the interstate commerce act and the Sherman act, made big business look unstoppable. As the middle class in America began to develop and grow, they gained power. They were the people who wanted change and ultimately they won with the start of progressivism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Henry Lloyd all made significant contributions to the start of the Progressive movement with their writings. These people and others similar to them were labeled as muckrakers. These Muck... ...ormally in American society. Because of the stereotype they were regulated to minimal paying unskilled jobs. Blacks on the other hand made great strides during the Progressive era. Blacks wanted to be equal and lift them selves up in their own way instead of conforming to white society as Washington suggested. They marched on Washington and demanded the unrestricted right to vote as well as an end to all forms of segregation, equality of economic opportunity, higher education, equal justice in courts and an end to trade union discrimination. These demands stirred many whites abroad and set the groundwork for the civil rights movement. Blacks also became proud of themselves forming organizations to create pride for black heritage. The Progressive era came about as the result of several motives. The forces behind it ranged from the common man to the politicians as well as intellectuals. The era's true progress is sometimes contended, while in some instances reform measures did come about. Big business finally became somewhat regulated and the governmental power somewhat shifted back to the people. The progressive era evidently shaped up to be quite a significant part of our history.

President FDR’s New Deal Essay -- The New Deal Franklin Delano Rooseve

The 1930’s were one of the most difficult times in American history. It was the time of the Great Depression. Millions of Americans suffered hardships as the economy was in a free fall. Many Americans were unemployed and lost almost everything they had owned. In 1932, America realized it was time for a change, and elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a landslide vote. Roosevelt promised to help end the depression and with his New Deal. The New Deal was Roosevelt’s plan to end the Great Depression. Through increased government spending, FDR enacted numerous public works programs in an effort to simulate the economy. The New Deal’s â€Å"alphabet soup† (this was the nickname for the numerous programs FDR enacted) was FDR’s plan to people out of the depression. The New Deal affected different industries and groups of Americans in unique ways and helped save the nation. One of the groups hardest hit by the Great Depression were the farmers. Due to overproduction and under consumption after World War I and during the 1920’s, the prices of crops fell dramatically. Because of the low prices, Farmers’ incomes fell. The farmer was in a crisis as the Great Depression hit. The farmers were crucial to the American economy and FDR and the New Deal intended to help them. In the first one hundred days of the New Deal, Roosevelt attempted to help the farmers by establishing the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA was intended to help restore purchasing power of farmers. It restored the price takeoff that helped farmers make all that money during the war. Its’ main plan was to reduce the size of crops by paying farmers to plow their crops under. This, in theory, would shoot the price of the crops. There were a few problems with the AAA though. It seemed as cruel because the government was destroying crops that could be used to feed all the starving people. The AAA also didn’t do much to help tenant farmers and sharecroppers. This was because the money that the government was paying the owners of the farm to plow the fields under was never shared with the tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Even though the farmer owners were told to give some of the money to the people who worked their land they never did. The New Deal also set up other agencies to help farmers. FDR set up the Farm Resettlement Administration, the Rural Electrification Administ... ...al aid for the elderly, but it was not meant to be the main source of retirement. It also provided unemployment insurance, aid for persons who were blind or crippled, and aid to dependent children. Roosevelt would pay for this act with a tax on corporations and rich people. This act gave the people comfort because they now believed that the government would help them financially when they needed it. It also gave unions more initiative to strike because the government has security for them. FDR’s New Deal gave American hope during a time when there was little optimism. It gave Americans jobs; it put food on the table, and started to restored confidence in the economy. FDR’s New Deal might not have ended the Great Depression, but it left a legacy. A legacy that you can see in the unions, in the numerous public works projects, in the big government we have today, in the acts like Social Security, and most importantly in the people whose lives it changed forever. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1) Encarta ® Concise Encyclopedia Article. (http://encarta.msn.com) 2) Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com) 3) Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal (http://www.geocities.com)

Business Enviroment Assignment Essay

Pl- Describe the type of business. M. Whitfield Pharmacists LTD M. Whitfield pharmacists are a large company around the north east of England. They are situated at seven different branches, Gilesgate, Thornley, Coxhoe, Blackhall, Wheatley Hill, Horden and Victoria Rd. The pharmacists and there staff are members of your local healthcare team. They aim to provide you with the highest quality of healthcare. To do this they need to keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you. We know that you value your privacy and he security of personal information held about you. You can download our information leaflet here which explains how we safeguard information about you. M. Whitfield LTD offer a wide range of drugs that can be offered either over the counter or prescribed by a consultant at your local medical surgery or hospital, this is depending on the strength and reason of the drug. Also inside the chemist it has advertisements for mobility scooters and other helpful things that can aid elderly or sick people around the local area. Inside all of the branches there is a consultant oom where one of the fully qualified Pharmacists will have a one to one about what drug is best for you. The purpose of this company is that it delivers high quality medical drugs and health care which is proscribed by a doctor or a medical consultant. Medical care is given either paid or free depending on financial status or education. M. Whitfield is a sole trader this means that the company is not very large however it has a large amount of branches around the northeast of England. To make this company bigger the owner will need to bring in some investors which could expand the company and ove more branches around the nation. The owner will have to work a lot of hours and he will find it hard to take holidays as he has a lot more responsibility then if he was in a partnership. P3 – Describe how two business are organised M. Whitfield LTD is organised as a small company, most of the branches are occupied with four to five assistance to control the branch whilst two to three pharmacists working on the behind the counter packing the drugs. All of the staff in the chemist will have different set shifts usually Monday to Friday. M. Whitfield is a private company not run by the government and will not be on the stock pile. The owner will have to maintain regular check-ups to make sure everything is running smoothly in all branches and the staff are doing their Job correctly. However the NHS is a much larger company and is run by the government. There is no actual owner of the NHS it is set out in departments which have directors in each department. Compared to M. Whitfields the NHS employs a lot more employees in for all citizens, based on need, not the ability to pay. The NHS is made up of a wide range of health professionals, support workers and organisations. The NHS is funded by the taxpayer and is therefore accountable to Parliament. It is managed by Department of Health – which is directly responsible to the Secretary of State for Health. The Department sets overall health policy in England, is the headquarters for the NHS and is responsible for putting policy into practice. It also sets targets for the NHS and monitors performance through its four directors of health and social care. Around one million people work for the NHS in England and it costs more than E50 billion a year to run. This will rise to E69 billion by 2005. Regional assemblies control health services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The NHS aims to bring about the highest level of physical and mental health for all citizens, within the resources available, by: promoting health and preventing ill-health diagnosing and treating injury and disease caring for those with a long-term illness and disability P4- explain how their different style of organisation helps them to fulfil there purpose The NHS is a fast paced