The Constitution of Malaysia

Malaysia is known for its richness of multicultural and multi-racial country which is spread between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Despite being one huge political unit, it has different set of rules and law to comply with. Malaysia law can be classified into various sources, mainly are written law, unwritten law and Muslim law. Written law comprises The Federal Constitution which is the supreme law of the land and State Constitution, a range of constitutions regulating the governments of thirteen states in Malaysia.Second written law is the Legislation law which is endorsed by Parliament and Legislative Assemblies at the federal and state level respectively. Final source of written law is the Subsidiary legislation as states in the Interpretation Act ‘any proclamation, rule, regulation, order, notification, by-law or other instrument made under any Ordinance, Enactment or other lawful authority and having legislative effect’. Malaysia has huge amount of subsid iary legislation.Subsidiary legislation is referred to law made through powers delegated by the legislature mainly Ministers and local authorities. Only Subsidiary legislation made in a proclamation of emergency under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution is accepted , other breaching of either a parent Act or the Constitution is voided. Unwritten law under the Malaysian law is the law which is not written or found in Federal and State Constitutions. It is also not endorsed by the Parliament or the State Assemblies.Unwritten law comprises of Judicial decisions of the superior courts Principles of English Law and Customs law. Judicial decisions using the systematical method called `doctrine of binding judicial precedent` at the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court followed by Supreme Court can still be found in Malaysian law. Nevertheless the decisions made by Federal Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are still binding on the present court. Binding or p ersuasive is a process of adjudication, this is after argument and before the judge reaches the conclusion.The judge will formulate and apply a legal principle in accordance with certain rules to form a guide for future. The judge will provide reason for reaching a decision or the legal principles behind the decision; this may bind other similar disputes in future. Binding precedents depends on the court’s position in the hierarchy of the courts. These are binding until they are reversed or overruled, where else persuasive precedents are those which are not binding authorities. Another important unwritten law is the Principles of English Law.It consists of Common Law and Equity. The common Law is the body of rules developed by the old common law courts of England which no longer exist. It is established on customs common throughout England. On the other hand, Equity is the body of incomplete rules developed as a supplement to Common Law to correct defects and to reduce the ha rshness. Even though English Law forms part of the Malaysian law, the facts and rules stated are only part of the entire law of English common law and rules of Equity.Principles of English Common Law and rules of Equity received and applied in Malaysia Legal System is by virtue of the Civil Law Act 1956 (Revised01972) . Under Section 3(1) of the Civil Law Act, 1995 states that in Peninsular Malaysia, the courts shall apply the common law of England and the rules of equity as administrated in England on 7th April, 1956. As for Sabah and Sarawak, the courts shall apply the common law of England and the rules of equity, together with statutes of general application, as administrated or in force in England on 1st December 1951 and 12 December 1949 respectively.Application of common law of England is subjected to two limitations; firstly Local law takes priority over common law. Common Law is applied only in the absence of local statues. It is only meant to fill up gaps in the legal syst em in Malaysia. Secondly, part of common law which suits the local circumstances is applied. Common Law was initially introduced to the Straits Settlements through Royal Charters of Justice which was then extended to the Malay states through administrative arrangements. Finally the third unwritten law of Malaysian law is the Customary law.Malaysia is known as a multi-religious country, the multiracial local population of Malaysia is also a source of law which has been accepted by the Malaysian courts. Mostly family law limits, namely marriage, divorce and inheritance are given legal force by the courts of Malaysia. In peninsular Malaysia, `Adat` applies to Malays, there are two main diversities of Malay customary, the adat pepatih and adat temenggong. Adat pepatih is mainly known for the matrilineal system where else the adat temenggong is a patrilineal system of law.As for the Hindu and Chinese, prior to the enforcement of the Law Reform Hindu and Chinese customary law is applied t o Hindu and Chinese respectively. The Law Reform includes abolishing polygamous marriages, since then, Chinese and Hindu customs have become minimal to almost no effect as a source of law in Malaysia. In Sabah and Sarawak, native customary laws apply in land dealing over native customary lands and family matters where natives subject themselves to native customary laws. Other indigenous people of Malaysia apart from Sabah and Sarawak are the aborigines.There is an aboriginal customary law for the aboriginal people under the law of Malaysia. In contrast to the source of law discussed previously, Muslim law or Islamic law continues to grow in importance as another source of law just like the written and unwritten law as part of Malaysian law. Government policies of absorbing Islamic values in administration by introducing Islamic banking and Islamic insurance where Muslim law and Islamic principles are applicable is part of the renaissance of Islam in Malaysia.Also the Federal Constit ution has provided that State has the power to administer Muslim Law. The head of the Muslim religion in State is the Sultan. Muslim law is applied only to Muslims and the courts which enforce Muslim law are the Syariah Courts. Malaysian Islamic law is of the Shafii school jurisprudence, as modified by Malay adat, which was discussed under customary law, Malay adat law. This Islamic law falls into two main categories; the primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are Qur’an which is the Word of Allah and Sunnah is rules deducted from the traditions.The secondary sources are more to the means of discovering the law rather than source. These sources are Ijma which is consensus of jurists of any particular era on a juridical rule and Qiyas which are the deductions from reasoning by ijtihad or analogy. Initially Islamic law was not included in the definition of law; this was even after the independence of the Federation of Malaya. Federal Constitution was declared as the sup reme law . Before amendment in 1988, Article 121 Clause (1A) Syariah courts were excluded.However, upon recommendation from Alliance Party, a provision was added to the original draft of Reid Constitution Commission where Article 3 of Federal Constitution declares that ‘Islam is the religion of the Federation’. Article 3 appeared with necessary qualification that ‘other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation’. However there are clauses to ensure non-Muslim’s civil rights are also not affected. At any official functions, Islamic way of prayers is being offered.Islam being the official religion of the federation has two main consequences, firstly, the government (federal or state) may lawfully establish or maintain, or assist in establishing or maintaining, Islamic institution, or provide or assist in providing instruction in Islam, and incur the necessary expenditure for these purpose. Secondly, through annual Su pply Acts and Enactments, may spend money on the administration of Islamic law. Also in some of the cases for marriages where a non-Muslim is involved, Islamic law takes precedence over the common law.The religion of a child from previous marriage is determined by the parents of the child , in the case of where the consent is not given the minor will remain in the religion of the parent at the time of marriage . Furthermore polygamy marriages are allowed with judicial permission dependent upon application and court hearing should be with the existence of wife or wives. Judicial permission is requested only upon permission granted for marriages by the existing wife or wives. As Muslim Law is one of the main sources of law in the county, Malaysia became a member of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) when it was established in 1969.OIC is a major organization of Islamic States that voices and coherent Muslim opinion on issues which are affecting the Islamic States. Other asso ciations where Malaysia is involved will be ASEAN where Malaysia was one of the first five countries to establish ASEAN in 1967. It was established to work together amongst the members of the association to speedup the economic growth, social progress as well as cultural development jointly to strengthen and prosperous with peaceful in amongst Southeast Asian Nations.Also to support regional peace and stability for justice and the rule of law in relationship amongst the member’s countries, making sure it adhere to the principles of United Nations Charter. ASEAN also provides assistance amongst the members in form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres. Other Malaysian involvement in reference to Asia-Pacific concerning economic growth is APEC which aims to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. This is done by multiple different encouragement and enhancements.Apart from regional involvement, Malaysia does have collaboration with particular country which may not be part of ASEAN or APEC to jointly enhance for the benefits of both countries. Malaysia has jointly signed agreement to work together in multiple areas with many other countries. Malaysia has been involved in relationship with countries like China and India since before independence was declared in 1957. Till today Malaysia has been maintaining the well established relationship especially with these two countries by getting into agreement in multiple collaborations.Chinese is the second largest race in Malaysia followed by Indian since they were brought in by the British Empire before independence. Chinese migrated to Malaysia vastly as coolies in tin mining industry and rubber plantation. Although it is said that Chinese have been in â€Å"Malaya† since Malacca Empire in 15th Century . Today, 25% of the country populations are Chinese which are made up of various dialect groups suc h as the Hokkien, the Hakka, the Cantonese, the Teochew, the Hainanese, the Hokchiu and etc. who have intermarried extensively with each other.The Chinese have dedicated media and publication exposure for example daily newspapers, dedicated Chinese language radio stations and daily broadcast from all terrestrial television stations . Till date Chinese communities still perform traditional art, the lion dance and the dragon dance mainly during Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is declared as a national public holiday where there Chinese celebrate the New Year by fulfilling most of the tradition and cultural activities. However the fireworks or firecrackers are part of the Chinese culture which has been ban in Malaysia due to safety reason .For the Chinese, apart from the myth that says firecrackers are to frighten away the â€Å"Nian†, it also signifies a joyful time of year which is an important element of Chinese New Year celebrations . On the other hand, the Indians starte d migration to Malaysia for the purpose of plantation labour, traders, policemen and colonial soldiers. Some English-speaking Indians were also brought to work in the British colonial government . However just like the Chinese, it is said that the Indians have been here from more then 500 years ago.Initially the Arabs and the Indians mainly the Indian Muslims from Gujerat came to Malaya as traders and merchants. Now the Indian population in Malaysia is 8% which is made up from Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujerati and etc. Just like the Chinese, Indians also have dedicated media and publication exposure of daily newspapers, dedicated Indian language radio stations and daily broadcast from all terrestrial television stations. This is mainly in Tamil language as 80% of the Indian communities are the Tamils (South Indians) .Diwali aka Deepavali is the most significant celebration of Indian community where national holiday is acknowledged for. Fireworks during Diwali are to mark several significant , however in respect to the law it is not legally practiced in this country. Another tradition not being legally practice is gambling under Act 495 Betting ACT 1953. Among other tradition obstructed by the Malaysian law is the architecture of a Sikh Gurdwara should not have a dome to avoid the Muslims to mistaken that for a mosque .

Critical Thinking and Perception

Prepare a 700-1000 words essay on ‘Critical thinking and Perception. ’ Perception is Reality. Identify an instance in your life where your perception of the reality situation was different from actual reality. What did you think was going on? What was actually going on? Why was there such a difference? What did you learn and how has your thinking changed because of this? Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the purposeful and reflective judgment about what to believe or what to do in response to our observations, experience, verbal or written expressions, or arguements.It involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed, concerning a given inference or argument, determining whether there is adequate justification to accept the conclusion as true. Fisher & Scriven define critical thinking as â€Å"Skilled, active, interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information, and argumentation. † Parker & Moore defin e it more naturally as† the careful, deliberate determination of whether one should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim and the degree of confidence with which one accepts or rejects it. In simpler terms, Critical thinking is disciplined logical thinking governed by clear intellectual standards. Critical thinkers must always seek truth and reality. It employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance and fairness. While thinking critically we must give due consideration to the evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making the judgment correctly, the applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment, and the applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand.Critical Thinking and Perception Perception is an extremely common word used to define our own thinking and beliefs about certain situations and fa cts. The word â€Å"perception† comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means â€Å"receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses. † It is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. The classic question, â€Å"Is the glass half empty or half full? † serves to demonstrate the way an object can be perceived in different ways. People with different mindsets and different experiences in life will perceive it differently.Optimistic people and individuals with a positive outlook towards life will perceive it a glass half full. Whereas pessimistic people will view it as a glass half empty. Thus it can be maintained that Perception is unique to every individual and is simply one's interpretation of reality. When we view something with a preconceived concept about it, we tend to take those concepts and see them whether or not they are there. This problem of perception stems from the f act that humans are unable to understand new information, without the inherent base of their previous knowledge.Thus we always tend to perceive things based on their past experiences, previous knowledge, point of views and our socio cultural environment. Critical Thinking does not recognize perception as the correct reasoning technique and calls for evident, logical and accurate facts. It seeks to achieve and establish reality and truth as it is without any distortions. It also maintains that perceptions are not always coincidental with reality. Life Instance and ‘My Perception’ (What did I think was going on? ) Since childhood I had been quite an opinionated girl.Most of the times I strongly maintained my own point of view but I was never rigid. As all people I also had my own perceptions based on whatever I saw, read or heard about, experienced personally and experiences of people close to me. I grew up in a cozy and protected environment where I had very limited inte ractions with people from a socio cultural background different than mine. As a result I had my own pre-conceived notions about people from different religion especially about Muslims and their beliefs and lifestyle. As a child studying in a Convent school, I never had Muslim friends.The only interaction or limited exposure I had about Muslims been limited to bits of information passed on by my dad about his workers and the news channels. As a result of this I was wary of making friends. Somehow I had a weird theory in my mind where I perceived all Muslims to be an absolute different type of people with a very different lifestyle. I imagined Muslim men to be huge giantly men with strange beards dressed in white kurtas with keffiyah on their shoulders. I had also thought them to be mostly uneducated, orthodox and backward people.On my brief trips to old Delhi I had always seen Muslim women clad in burqas. I thought those women would feel restricted and oppressed all their lives since their contact with outside world is so limited. No body could see their beautiful clothes and accessories. I also thought of Islam as a rigid religion with strict rules forcing people to read Namaaz five times a day. In my ignorance, I perceived it to be an unfair social system for women as polygamy is acceptable. It is quite obvious that my perceptions were far from reality and were just those – narrow-minded perceptions.Rendezvous with ‘Reality’ (What was actually going on? ) My perception about the religion changed drastically changed with my growing up years and especially when I joined college. My graduation college (a leading fashion design college in Delhi) was truly cosmopolitan in nature. It was a melting pot of various cultures and lifestyles. It had students from all walks of life and varied socio cultural backgrounds. As a class all of us were supposed to interact with maximum number of people and work together as a team. There I met many new friends and made some for lifetime.One of them was Aslam- a lanky but a super stylish Muslim boy. He was an absolute contrast to my ill-conceived perceptions about Muslims. He did not wear ill fitted kurtas and had done his schooling from a leading school of Delhi. He belonged to a very educated family. I was surprised and I started changing my thinking. After some time when we became close friends I realized Islam is not a rigid religion and does not force people to read Namaaz five times a day. It is in fact the most misinterpreted religion, which only suggested that men could remarry to support helpless women in times of distress and war etc.I realized all the burqa-clad women I always saw in Old Delhi were not the only Islamic lifestyle. My friend’s mother is a businesswoman and his sisters lived their lives in a manner quite similar to mine. The biggest revelation was that he is a vegetarian by choice and very secular in nature. He also faced same late teenage issues as mine an d held similar political and social beliefs. In short his life was very similar to anyone else’s life of our age. The only difference lied in the gods we prayed to and the way we prayed. It was an eye opener as well as a heart-warming experience for me.And today he is one of my dearest friends whose friendship I will always cherish. His friendship has enriched me as a person in many ways. A Changed Me (What did I learn and how has my thinking changed because of this instance? ) My friendship with Aslam over a period of 4 years has changed me and made me a changed person today. I now realize my perceptions about Islam and Muslims were absolutely baseless and wrong. All my childhood years I was not thinking critically or correctly and I had fallen prey to unwarranted assumptions about Muslims, which were not based on any proofs or conclusive evidence.Based on my little and incorrect knowledge, I had mistakenly perceived and stereo typed a huge group of diverse people into an un educated, unaware and rigid community. I drew a wrong conclusion about a large group of people from an extremely small sample of very few Muslims I indirectly came across my brief Old Delhi trips and my father’s conversations. I learnt that one must not formulate their own theories and view point about people, situations and facts without confirming the logic behind it. Every individual is different and one must never stereotype a large group based on inaccurate information or perceptive theories.But since we are human beings and we are bound to perceive, it always helps to be a little flexible about our opinions and welcome rightful changes. The experience of getting to know someone from a completely different religion has changed my perspective towards people. Today I am not that narrow-minded girl anymore but a better individual with a broader thinking capacity and a deeper understanding of our Indian multi lingual religious and cultural social fabric. I am now open and me ntally well prepared to make friends from different backgrounds.This experience has also helped me to cope up with social life in MBA College where students belong to varied nationalities and milieu. As a matter of fact I now look forward to interact with new and different people and make as many friends as possible irrespective of their religion, nationality, ethnical backdrops etc. (*** PS : This is just to explain how I have changed as a person and not to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments. I am very glad I came across this experience as it has changed my wrong perceptions and opened my eyes to a new world full of new and good

Mexican Immigration in Los Angles 1990's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mexican Immigration in Los Angles 1990's - Essay Example In this new political and economic context, the 1982 and 1994 financial crises have contributed to a redefinition of the relations between unions and the state, especially with regard to labour market deregulation, but also regarding capital-labour relations (Zapata 6-10; Delgado 1-19). The direct effect of the new economic and labour context has been to make employment more precarious, with a general reduction in wages. This has been going on for nearly 20 years (Cortes 12-19). Income levels, already low in 1980, declined even further in the next few years. For example, the minimum wage shows an uninterrupted tendency to fall steadily over the last 20 years, and by 1998 it was worth only 31 per cent of its 1980 value. Average working incomes have also been badly hit and have continued to go down during this period. In the first half of the 1990s there was some improvement in average incomes, but not enough to restore wages to the values they had in the early 1980s. The crisis of December 1994 reduced salaries again, and this state of affairs has continued pretty much up until now (2002). The current value of average working incomes is still about 25 per cent less than it was at the start of the 1980s (see Figure 1). In addition, the number of people earning less than the minimum wage has increased, from 27.7 per cent of the working population in 1990 to 32.5 per cent in 1995 and 37.5 per cent in 1997. The proportion of those receiving between twice and five times the minimum wage has remained stable over the decade. Those who earn more than five minimum wages are in the curious position of having increased in number in 1995 only to go back to representing the same proportion of the workforce as in 1990 (see Table 1). In spite of this, the most important fact to emerge from the figures is that for the entire 1990s a third of the working population earned less than the minimum wage established by law, which is itself very meagre and insufficient to cover even basic needs. Furthermore, an additional 30 per cent of the working population earned between 1 and 2 minimum wages. This means that two-thirds of the workforce have been exposed to a precarious and vulnerable situation in which the movement of their wages has been, in fact, downwards. The persistence of this pattern of income inequity and insecurity for more than 20 years has made migration a real alternative for many. International migration (and remittances) has become a more attractive option than working in new industrial zones or in cities in Mexico, although job opportunities in urban areas are far superior to the limited chances in the Mexican countryside. As Figure 2 shows, the average amount sent back in remittances to Mexico by each migrant worker from 1995 onwards is 2.4 times the official minimum wage, which is two-thirds of the average working income in Mexico. In other words, migrant workers were able to bring to the family income as much money as

Mother-Daughter Relationship and Weight Concern Annotated Bibliography

Mother-Daughter Relationship and Weight Concern - Annotated Bibliography Example Ogden, J. and Steward, J. (2000). â€Å"The Role of Mother-Daughter Relationship in Explaining Weight Concern.† International Journal of Eating Disorders, Pages 78 – 83. Presented two distinct roles manifested by mother-daughter relationship in terms of modeling the concerns of the mother and interactive role that could either be facilitative or productive of the weight concern. The authors conducted a study that required the participation of thirty mothers with respective daughters (whose ages ranged from 16 to 19 years old) through administration of the questionnaire method. The questionnaire focused on delving into issues concerning weight, as well as perceptions of participants on their relationship. According to the authors, the present study â€Å"primarily aimed to assess the degree of concordance between mothers’ and daughters’ levels of weight concern†. The results revealed that â€Å"the mother-daughter relationship may be relevant to the study of weight concern, not as a forum for modeling but as an interaction between two individuals, which is itself either facilitative or protective of weight concern in the daughter†. The article is clearly relevant in terms of the information provided from the results of the conducted study. However, the date the article was published was already fairly old, more than 10 years from contemporary time and that the results, if conducted today, could have generated a different outcome. Further, the sample size was only small and validity could have been increased by conducting the research using a larger sample size. Still, the contents could be cited in the current research for relevance of information contained herein. Ogden, J. and Chanana, A. (1998). â€Å"Explaining the effect of ethnic group on weight concern: finding a role for family values.† International Journal of Obesity, Volume 22, Pages 641-647. Explored the effect of ethnic groups, particularly Asians, on weight concern; as well as determining the influence of values exhibited by families as inflicting on the weight issues. The authors conducted the study through the participation of 20 Asians a nd 20 White daughters through a questionnaire that solicited responses on profile characteristics, values, and perception of the female perfect body. Ogden and Chanana aimed to validate previous studies that indicated that there were no differences in views with regard to body dissatisfaction and eating restraints between the Asian and White groups. In terms of the role of the family, particularly all members: mothers and siblings, except the father, the findings revealed that they all placed crucial importance on physical appearance. The authors were found to be highly authoritative on the subject matter, especially Ogden who was reported to be a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology based in the London University. The article, though, was already outdated being published in 1998 and contemporary factors could have changed perceptions of both study groups, if the study is conducted recently. The information could therefore be cited only on areas where parallelism with current studie s would have been established. Otherwise, due to the outdated information, the results could fairly be used in the current research. Leichty, T; Freeman, P.A. and Zabriskie, R.B. (2006). â€Å"Body Image and Beliefs About Appearance: Constraints on the Leisure of College-Age and Middle-Age Women.† Leisure Sciences, Volume 28, Pages 311 – 330. Examine relevant relationships on three variables: body image, beliefs about appearance, and leisure constraints as solicited from the response of college-aged students and their respective mothers. A fairly large sample size of 116 female students and 76 mothers were used where participation required the use of computers to generate the needed information. Initially,

Leaderships and Ethics in healthcare (hospital mainly) Essay

Leaderships and Ethics in healthcare (hospital mainly) - Essay Example The ethical dilemmas in healthcare environments are further aggravated by factors like inadequate number of physicians to attend to patients, shortage of support staff, consolidation of healthcare organizations, downsizing and cost-cutting measures, and above all ineffective leadership. (Murray, 2010) The response of an individual to such ethical crisis is determined by their prior experiences with unethical behaviour, their individual personality traits, their ethical values and their knowledge of ethical principles (Clancy, 2003). Very few articles in today’s healthcare literature have addressed the issue of ethical leadership in the healthcare industry. This essay looks forward to providing a valuable insight into the twin concepts of leadership and ethics, enumerating the various approaches to ethical leadership and enlisting the criteria for assessing leader, with reference to the healthcare industry. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals.The trends in leadership studies reveal a plethora of the different aspects of leadership and yet there is no universally accepted definition or model of a leader. The first dominant framework on leadership was the Trait Theory or the â€Å"Great Men† Theory which was proposed in the early twentieth century. The theory considers personality, social, physical or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders. This theory ascribes conventional qualities like ambition and energy, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge to leaders and holds that leaders are born, not made. Mid-twentieth century saw the rise of the Behaviourist school of leadership which emphasized on the actions and dominant behaviour of the leaders and highlighted the leaders’ behaviour on the job, use of authority and task-relationship orientation. Later, scholars such as F red Fiedler realised that a leader must match his/her situation and leadership style should

Fashion of Men's Clothing in the Culture of Qatar Essay

Fashion of Men's Clothing in the Culture of Qatar - Essay Example The essay "Fashion of Men's Clothing in the Culture of Qatar" presents a business plan for the foundation of a fashion company of men’s clothing in Qatar overviewing all the important aspect of the culture in this country. Qatar is endowed with huge reserves of natural resources and is currently one of the most developing countries in the world. It is important to study the culture of Qatar before venturing in the market.Qatar people associate American companies with high capitalism and high-profit motives. Qatar people prefer to establish good relationships before starting any serious business conversation. It is important to understand the norms and values of Qatar people, especially while interacting with people of the opposite gender. The business will have to use professionals to analyze the similarities and differences of US and Qatar culture. The personnel must be able to communicate Arabic using Qatari accent to easily gain acceptance by the local population. Qatar men take pride in their culture and traditional clothing. Men wear a long thou with stylish collars and buttons. During winter, men prefer either heavy fabric for the thous which are mainly gray, brown or black color. Young men prefer embroidered caps and cover their heads with folded square cloth. During ceremonial occasions, Qatar men wear a black-gold cloak and keep one hand free in order to allow for handshakes. During the winter, men also prefer woolen sleeveless waistcoat that mainly contains camel hair. (Torstrick 88). The target market The business will sell new men’s clothing fashion to Qatar people. The clothes will be customised to Qatar culture in order to attract a lot of demand. Qatar is endowed with large gas and oil reserves and the per capita GDP is one of the largest in the world. Qatar enjoys political stability and cordial relationships with the USA government. The country is favorable for US exports and has no foreign exchange controls and has allowe d 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses in some sectors such as health, education and exploitation of the natural resources. The business will benefit from expanded market, reduced business risks due to diversification and increased global recognition. Qatar market offers viable opportunity from fashion men’s clothing due toe increase in the number of citizens living in the urban areas (Orr 198). Marketing strategy The target market consists of Qatar men who prefer customized clothing. Due to the increasing educated young men who prefer western clothing that is customised to their culture, the business will experience minimal resistance in penetrating the market. Customer satisfaction is key to the success of the business thus good relationships will be maintained with all the customers. The business will use Arabic language in the media advertisements and advertising themes will not be offensive to Islamic religion. In addition, the color in the advertisements will hav e to be grey or white in order to appeal to the culture of Qatar. The marketing staff will follow Qatar norms since male staff will not be allowed to shake hands with female customers. The business will avoid giving free gifts to first time customers since free gifts in the first business transactions may be declined by the customers. The

Memory and its contribution to understanding consumer behavioral Essay

Memory and its contribution to understanding consumer behavioral change. (Psychology in marketplace) - Essay Example (1999) Perception in consumer behaviour is guided by the awareness a consumer has with regards to his market and the products in the market.(Barry, 2010) This awareness comes from how a manufacturer or a producer advertises his/her products, so that the consumer becomes aware of those products, and then from there onwards he starts to demand the product which shall fulfil his needs of a comfortable life. (2009) Memory is one of the important factors in the determination of consumer needs and wants. Memory is shaped by a lot of other aspects which galvanize into one stream and help a consumer recall his desires, needs, and wants, modes of satisfaction, the affordability and finally the motivation to buy. Memory is characterised by all the knowledge the consumer has about a certain product. Obviously, memory is shaped when a consumer attaches himself to a product which fulfils his needs and desires. Therefore, it is pertinent for the producers to produce and market products which remain forever into the consumer’s sub conscious. The sub conscious is what guides the memory, and therefore it is very important to have a totally different, alien but attractive approach towards the marketing of the product, so that the consumer is reminded of the particular product when he goes to shop. Memory can be divided into two aspects: The short term memory and the long term memory. The short term memory is characterised by logos, trademarks, the firm’s name, the products name. Therefore, anything which is catchy may attract the attention of the consumer instantly. The long term memory is what counts for a specific producer in the long run to promote the products. Long term memory needs to be christened and rubbed on constantly by the producer with heavy marketing and advertising. (Flamand, 2010) Red Bull(2008) is a prime example of this. They have gone ahead with massive marketing of their product through

NAS Airlines Proposed Marketing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NAS Airlines Proposed Marketing Strategy - Essay Example The company has the capacity to evolve to a hybrid operation model with business class seating. The airline company serves 13 domestic destinations and 11 international destinations. Some of the international destinations include the Sana’a route to Yemen in 2009, direct route to Kochi and Kozhikode, India in 2010, Sharm el Sheikh and Assiut in Egypt, in Turkey the airline started services in 2011 in Istanbul, Antakya, and Adana. The company started its services in Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan in 2011,and in 2013 started operations in Dammam and Yanbu in Khartoum, Sudan (Saudi Arabia Tourism Report 33). The company has recently introduced Global Flights program to offer low cost rates between flights in Jeddah and other regions in Asia, Europe or Africa. The launch of Jeddah-London Gatwick services enabled the firm to become the first low-cost carrier to provide service in United Kingdom market. Flynas is the leader of lost cost carrier in Saudi airline since it sets a new s tandard of efficiency in the region. This year the company has had some key developments that include the launch of global flights route program from Jeddah to London and a daily service between Jeddah and Abha to support the increasing capacity of the domestic routes that will drive economic growth in major cities in the kingdom. The expansion program has been possible since the firm has added 3 airbus aircrafts fitted with business economy cabins that amount to a major leap for the firm in the airline industry. Saudi Arabia Tourism Report Q4 2012 (3) says that Saudi Arabia’s FlyNas ends the domestic monopoly market strategy and currently aims to break in the international circles like other airlines. The low cost operator has managed to launch flights between Riyadh-Gatwick and has plans to build long haul operation from the kingdom. In 2014, the company has been successful in the establishment of flights to Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Surabaya, Casablanca, and Jakarta

Outline and illustrate two ways in which an action may be both self-interested and altruistic Essay Example for Free

Outline and illustrate two ways in which an action may be both self-interested and altruistic Essay Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping ot hers. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self  interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping ot hers. Another way in which and action can be both altruistic and self interested is aided by the concept that altruism may lead others to think more highly of you, which is in beneficial for you and makes you feel better about yourself, so is therefore also in your self interest. An example of this is giving to charity. This may give you positive feelings as you enjoy helping others and seeing that your own actions can benefit people other than yourself. Therefore you’re being altruistic and still acting in your self interest. This then illustrates that being altruistic coincides with your self interest as you get positive outcomes by helping others.

Cirque Du Soleil Essay Example for Free

Cirque Du Soleil Essay Cirque du Soleil began in Quebec with two street performers (Guy Lalibert and Daniel Gauthier) back in 1982 and called their small group of young street performers ‘The High Heels club’ and decided to put on a small festival for the audience. By 1984 Cirque du Soleil was born, the name meaning ‘Circus of the sun’ in French. The main philosophy or aim of Cirque du Soleil is creativity and innovation of the circus to redefine the entertainment landscape, and thrill audiences around the world. Since its inception, Cirque du Soleil has created a lot of shows with incredibly different themes and issues. The most popular of these shows are: Saltimbanco- explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms, Alegria-explores power and the handing down of power over time, the evolution from ancient monarchies to modern democracies, old age, youth. Quidam-it could be anyone, anybody. Someone coming, going, living in our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. Dralion- Dralion derives much of its inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its perpetual quest for harmony between humankind and nature. Varekai- production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to the infinite passion of those whose quest takes them along the path that leads to Varekai. Cirque du Soleil captures many dramatic forms including acts from contortionists, jugglers, feats of strength, clowning, dance, mime, light climates, puppeteers, stage maneuvers, comedy, interaction with public, acrobats and trapeze artists. An example of your typical act, is a man in a mouse wheel, being spun around in 360Â ° circles, doing tricks that amaze the audience because of the manipulation of gravity. Also, Cirque du Soleil does not make use of any such animals. Traditionally, Cirque du Soleil shows do not use pre-recorded music, with exceptions; all music is played live and in many circumstances sung live by singers with magnificent voices. The costumes used in the show are always very elaborate, or if flexibility is needed the costumes can be plain but are usually colourful and creative, matching the theme of the show. The sets for the shows are typically amazing again always matching the culture being performed on stage. Cirque Du Soleil has a vast range of characters in the huge number of performances and the company itself has over 4000 employees and 1000 artists. Characters in the performance are always bright, colourful and extremely skillful and always are doing amazing tricks that depict the theme of the show or that can lighten and entertain the audience. As the performance goes on most of the time you enter the life of some of the characters as they tell their life story (normally the host) and interact more and more with the audience.

Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour

Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour CHAPTER 2 Employee innovation behaviour has been defined as the intentional behaviour of an individual to introduce and/or apply new ideas, products, processes, and procedures to his or her work role, unit, or organization (West Farr, 1989, 1990b). Examples of employee innovative behaviour in the workplace include introducing new technologies and techniques, suggesting new ways to achieve objectives, trying new ways of performing work tasks, and facilitating the implementation of new ideas. Several points in the definition on employee innovation proposed by West and Farr (1989, 1990b) are worth noting. Firstly, employee innovative behaviours include behaviours pertaining to both the introduction and the application or implementation of new ideas, products, processes and procedures by the employees. This definition thus includes a variety of behaviours pertaining to the innovation processes in an organisation. Secondly, this definition takes into account both technical innovations (the introduction or application of new technologies, products, and services) and administrative innovations (the introduction or application of new procedures and policies) (Van de Ven, 1986). Technical innovations are innovations that occur in the primary work activity of the organization; administrative innovations are innovations that occur in the social system of an organization (Daft, 1978; Damanpour Evan, 1984). Examples of technical innovation include the implementation of an idea for a new product or the introduction of new elements in an organizations production process. Examples of administrative innovation include the implementation of new policies of recruitment, allocating resources, and reward. Individual innovative behaviours could be behaviours pertaining to the introduction or implementation of both technical and administrative innovations. Thirdly, the new ideas, products, processes, and procedures being introduced or implemented do not have to be absolutely new to the field. They only need to be new relative to the unit of adoption. For example, an employee is innovating when he introduces an IT system that has not been used in his organization before. This technology doesnt have to be a new invention and could have been used in other organizations before. And finally, innovative behaviours include not only those behaviours leading to innovations within the individuals work role but also behaviours that initiate or facilitate innovations in higher level units such as the individuals work group, department, or the entire organization (West Farr 1989. 2.2 Construction of the Terminology Used in the Dissertation Several similar terminologies to employee innovation exist in the literature. A brief discussion about how those terminologies are similar to and different from the framework of employee innovative behaviour will prevent potential confusion and help our understanding of employee innovative behaviour. One similar construct is individual creative behaviour. Creativity refers to the production and introduction of novel and useful ideas, products, or processes (Amabile, 1988; Oldham Cummings, 1996; Shalley, 1995; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993). Individual creative behaviours are behaviours pertaining to the generation of such novel and useful ideas, products, or processes. Creative behaviour is closely linked to innovative behaviour and it can be considered as one type of innovative behaviour. However, innovative behaviours include a broader range of behaviours than just creative behaviours. Innovative behaviours include both the introduction of self-generated ideas (creative behaviou r) and the introduction and implementation of new ideas generated by other people and organizations. Creativity requires absolute novelty of the idea whereas innovation only requires relative novelty of the idea to the unit of adoption (King, 1990; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993).Therefore, adopting a new policy from another organization to the current organization would be innovative but not creative. Also, the definition of creativity includes an inherent requirement for the idea or product to be useful. The phenomenon of innovative behaviour doesnt include a usefulness judgment in itself. An innovative attempt could result in different possible consequences for the organization. Yet an ineffective innovation is still an innovation. Also, creative behaviour concerns the generation of ideas whereas innovative behaviour includes both the generation or introduction and the application or implementation of the new ideas (Amabile, 1988; Scott Bruce, 1994; Zhou, 1998, 2003). Another related concept to employee innovation is role innovation. Role innovation is the introduction of significant new behaviours into a pre-existing role (West, 1987a, 1987b). Role innovation is usually studied in the context of job change and relocation (e.g., Allen Meyer, 1990; Ashford Saks, 1996; Munton West, 1995; Nicholson, 1984; West Rushton, 1989). The reference for comparison in role innovation is the pre-existing job role. It is considered an act of role innovation, if the way the current job holder does his job is different from the way the previous job holder did it or from the way other people currently do the same job in the same organization. Role innovation is related to innovative behaviour in the sense that introducing new behaviours and procedures into an existing work role is one type of innovative behaviour. However, these two concepts are still different. Role innovation only changes processes within an individuals work role. Innovative behaviours, however, is not limited to innovations occurring in the work role alone but also in the department, unit, and the organization. In addition, all innovative behaviours cannot be considered as role innovation. For example, developing new ideas and products is part of the job profile for some organizational positions (e.g. the RD department). People in those job positions routinely introduce new products and procedures into the organization and therefore frequently engage in innovative behaviour. However, since it is part of their existing job or work role, those behaviours are not considered as role innovation. Another similar concept is personal initiative. Frese, Kring, Soose, and Zempel (1996: 38) defined personal initiative as a behavior syndrome resulting in an individuals taking an active and self-starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a given job. More specifically, personal initiative is characterized by the following aspects: it (1) is consistent with the organizations mission; (2) has a long-term focus; (3) is goal-directed and action-oriented; (4) is persistent in the face of barriers and setbacks, and (5) is self-starting and proactive. Some individuals behaviour in the workplace such as voluntary suggestion of new ideas to the organization can be seen as both personal initiative and innovative behaviours. However, not all personal initiative behaviours are innovative behaviours. Personal initiative could include both quantitative and qualitative initiatives. Quantitative initiatives are those activities that only require additional energy. Those activities do result into the application of new ideas, products, and procedures into the workplace and therefore are not innovative behaviours. Moreover, personal initiative is voluntary in nature of the behaviour whereas innovative behaviours do not have to be beyond the formal job requirement. In a nutshell, creative behaviour, role innovation and personal initiative are all related to but different from the construct of individual innovative behaviour. Differentiating these constructs will further clarify the concept of employee innovative behaviour. At the same time, the existing similarities suggest the possibility that the literatures devoted to these related constructs could inform research on innovative behaviours. 2.3 Employee Innovation and Image Outcome Expectations Why do employees innovate in an organisation? A piece of wisdom reiterated by learning theories and motivation theories is the importance of outcome expectations in determining human innovative behaviour. The operant conditioning theory of learning stresses the importance of the Law of Effect, which states that behaviour which appears to lead to a positive consequence tends to be repeated, while behaviour that leads to a negative consequence tends not to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Banduras social learning theory (1977) proposed that people learn about the consequences expected for certain behaviours not only from their own experiences but also from observing others in the workplace. To summarize, operant conditioning theory and social learning theory advocates that people develop outcome expectations of certain behaviours either from direct experiences or from vicarious learning. The outcome expectations, in turn, guide their future behaviour in the workplace. The effects of outcome expectations on behaviour are more directly addressed in Vrooms expectancy theory of motivation (1964). The renowned expectancy theory of motivation suggests that an individuals motivational force to perform an act is determined by his expectancies that the act will be followed by the attainment of certain first-level outcomes (expectancy), that these first-level outcomes will lead to certain second-level outcomes (instrumentality), and the value of these second-level outcomes (valence). The importance of outcome expectations is depicted by the concept of expectancy, which is a subjective belief concerning the likelihood that a behaviour will lead to particular first-level outcomes (Vroom, 1964). A similar observation of the importance of outcome expectations in affecting individual behavioural intentions can also be found in Ajzen and Fishbeins theory of reasoned action (1980). Outcome expectations guide innovative behaviours in the workplace. In the case of employee innovative behaviour, what are the major outcome expectations that affect employee innovation at work? Two major types of outcome expectations will impact employees decision to engage in innovative behaviours: expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes. Expected performance outcomes are employees expectations of how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the performance or efficiency of the employees work role or unit. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect other organization members perceptions of him or her. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the perceptions of the other members of the organisation towards him or her. The linkage of performance and image outcomes at the individual level is comparable to the differentiation between organization efficiency and legitimacy as suggested by institutional theory (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The organizations compete for social as well as economic fitness in the institutional perspective (DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Whereas the economic fitness or organization efficiency frontier enhance the organizations profits and competitive advantages, social fitness brings legitimacy which helps the organization gain stability, resources and hence survival. Several studies have recently brought such an institutional perspective into the study of innovation processes by highlighting the impacts of both efficiency outcomes and potential legitimacy outcomes on innovation adoption decisions. Tolbert and Zucker (1983) found that an early adoption of civil service is related to internal organizational requirements while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legit imate structural form Westphal, Gulati and Shortell (1997) in their research work found out that early adopters can customize Total Quality Management (TQM) practices for efficiency gains, while later adopters gain legitimacy from adopting the normative form of TQM programs. Results from both the empirical studies conclude that an organizations decision to adopt an innovation is influenced by both internal efficiency considerations (i.e., the efficiency outcome) and external legitimacy considerations (i.e., the image outcome). The results not only supports the importance of considering both outcomes in the innovation process but also suggests that their relative impact on innovation adoption will vary in different situations. Abrahamson (1991) suggested a typology that highlights the dominant efficient choice paradigm and other less dominant perspectives that can be used to guide innovation research. The dominant paradigm is the efficient choice perspective (i.e., the efficiency-oriented perspective), which conceptualises organizations as rational entities who always adopt innovations that can improve organization efficiency or performance. On the other hand, two other perspectives the fashion and fad perspectives stresses on the importance of social-political processes by suggesting that organizations sometimes adopt innovations for their symbolic meaning, signalling innovativeness, rather than to boost organizations economic performance. The impacts of expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes on employee innovative behaviour represents the efficiency-oriented and the social-political motives for employee innovation, respectively (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Outcome Expectations and Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for those marked with negative signs, all links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a). 2.4 The Efficiency-Oriented Perspective of Expected Performance Outcomes: The efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding employee innovation behaviour suggests that one major reason people innovate is to bring performance gains. Although assumed to be one of the major motivational reasons in this dominating paradigm, few studies have directly tested the effect of such expected performance outcomes on innovative behaviour. This dissertation provides a hypothesis for testing the outcome of the effects of such expectation and on employee innovation behaviour at work. Expected image outcomes have been considered different from the concept of subjective norm in the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen Fishbein, 1980) in this study. The subjective norm concept refers to a persons belief about whether significant others think that he or she should engage in the behaviour. Although both the concepts are related to potential social outcomes of employees behaviour, expected image outcomes refer to expected perceptions from a potential audience (i.e., other employ ees in the organization) rather than the concern for the approval or disapproval of others. Image outcome expectations can be influenced by other factors as well such as relationship quality, peer expectations, and job requirements. The Literature available on impression management provides an interesting distinction between defensive and assertive impression management (Arkin, 1981; Schlenker, 1980). Tetlock Manstead (1985:61) provides a good discussion on this distinction: Defensive impression management is to protect an employees established social image; it is triggered by negative affective states such as embarrassment and shame. Whereas assertive impression management is designed to improve an employees social image; it is triggered by perceived opportunities for creating favourable impressions on others. Therefore the difference between avoiding image risks and pursuing image enhancement represent different affective states and individual motives. Consulting the impression management literature, the dissertation hypothesizes two major types of image outcome expectations that may affect an employees decision to engage in innovative behaviour. Firstly, expected image loss risk will constrain people from demonstrating innovative behaviour. An employee may decide to play it safe and try and avoid being innovative in order to look socially appropriate and prevent potential image loss. Showing such a tendency to avoid negative evaluations represents the protective self-presentation (Arkin, 1981) or defensive impression management motive (Tetlock Manstead, 1985). The self-protective motive shows that expected image risks will restrict the tendency of an employee to engage in innovative behaviour (refer Figure 1). On the other hand, people may feel the need to innovate because they may see potential opportunity to enhance work efficiency. For example, a high-performing employee may want to introduce a new work technique because he or she perceives opportunities to further improve efficiency. Contrary to the problem-driven construct this latter construct is consistent with the more contemporary vision-guided change model (Cooperrider Srivastva, 1987; Cummings Worley, 2005; Watkins Mohr, 2001) and possibility-driven logic of change (Ford Ford, 1994). This approach suggests that changes can be initiated not only to solve existing problems but also to pursue further improvement toward an ideal vision. Efficiency and performance improvement increases the competitiveness and success of an employee. Regardless of the purpose being is to fix existing performance problems or to explore potential benefits, people will be more likely to engage in innovative behaviour if they expect that the introduction of new ideas, products, procedures, or processes would bring positive performance outcomes to his or her work or job role (refer Figure 1). Therefore expected performance outcomes represent the efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding innovation. This approach suggests that people innovate because they expect positive results in performance gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the efficiency-oriented perspective of expected performance outcomes: Hypothesis 1: Expected positive performance outcomes are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.5 The Social-Political Perspective of Expected Image Outcomes Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviour would impact the perceptions of the other members of the organisation about him or her. Ashford, Rothbard, Piderit, and Dutton (1998), consider expected image outcomes as Employees may engage in innovative behaviour as a conscious effort to improve image. The employees engaging in innovative behaviour to pursue image gain depict the assertive impression management motive (Rioux Penner, 2001). An apt example will be employees suggesting new ideas to managers to appear competent and conscientious. Sutton and Hargadons (1996) designed a study to analyse self-enhancing motive and engineers competitive behaviours in brainstorming sessions. The self enhancing motive suggests that expected image gains will increase employee innovative behaviour at work (refer Figure 1). In line with the social-political perspective in understanding innovation, both avoiding image risks (the self-protective imp ression management motive) and pursuing image gains (the self-enhancing impression management motive) emphasize the importance of social-political considerations in determining employee innovative behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 2(a): Expected image risks are negatively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 2(b): Expected image gains are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6 Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Performance and image outcome expectations are proximal determinants which determine employee innovation in the workplace and also serve as intermediate processes by which more distal individual differences and contextual antecedents affect employee innovation capabilities (West Farr, 1989). An analysis of how distal antecedent factors influence expectations of outcomes and therefore employee innovative behaviour is important for at least two reasons. Firstly, it addresses the question of how distal individual differences of employees and contextual factors affect employee innovation behaviour by examining the intermediate psychological processes. Secondly, it explains the sources of variance in employee performance and image outcome expectations across individuals and situations. Without the intention of providing an all exclusive list, the following five distal antecedent factors were considered as especially important for employee innovation behaviour: Perceived organization support for innovation, supervisor relationship quality, innovativeness as job requirement, reputation as innovative, and dissatisfaction with the status quo. These aforementioned antecedents were chosen because they are among the most studied in the literature and they represent different angles to understand employee innovative behaviour. The five proximal antecedents were taken together to form the conceptual model for testing employee innovation behaviour in this dissertation. Figure 2 Diagram of Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for all those links marked with negative signs, all other links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a) 2.6.1 Perceived Organization Support for Innovation Organization support for innovation in terms of pro-innovation climate, resources, and time allocation, is one of the primary environmental qualities that promote innovation and creativity (Amabile, 1988; Kanter, 1988). This dissertation explores performance and image outcome expectations as important intermediate processes and tries to explain why such organization support affects innovative behaviour. If an organizational environment favours change rather than tradition for its growth and development, its members will seek to initiate change in order to be culturally appropriate (Farr Ford, 1990: 73). Similarly, an organizational climate that promotes innovation will encourage employee to engage in innovative behaviours because such climate legitimates experimentation (West Wallace, 1991) and reduces image risk involved in such behaviours (Ashford et al., 1998). An organization climate promoting innovation delivers expectancies and instrumentalities (Scott Bruce, 1994) so that the employees in that organization understand that being innovative is a desirable image. Reduced potential image loss risks and increased potential image gain environment encourage employees to engage in more innovative behaviours when perceived organization support for innovation is high. Employees in an organization supporting innovation may want to engage in more innovative behaviours not only because of the potential image outcomes but also because they have higher expectations for positive performance outcomes resulting from such innovative behaviours. A favourable organization climate for innovation demonstrates the belief that innovation will benefit the organization in developing and achieve the pinnacle of success. Having such beliefs embedded in the culture of the organization will influence individual attitudes and beliefs through the organization and boost innovation processes. Schneiders (1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework suggests people attracted to and remaining in the organization are likely to be those individuals who share basic beliefs with the organization. Hence, it is logical to expect that compared with organisations not promoting innovative behaviours, people in organizations with pro-innovation climates are also more likely t o have pro-innovation individual beliefs. In other words, they are more likely to be satisfied and believe that initiating innovations will benefit the efficiency and performance of their work. Such beliefs in positive performance outcomes serve as another motive for employee behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 3(a): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(b): Perceived organization support for innovation is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(c): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.2 Supervisor Relationship Quality A quality manager-employee relationship has been found out to be an important contextual factor on employee innovation and creativity (Scott Bruce, 1994; Tierney, Farmer, Graen, 1999). The prevalence of a quality relationship with supervisor will influence employee innovative behaviour indirectly through its influence on performance and image outcome expectations. A quality relationship between the managers and the employees will increase an employees belief that his or her innovative behaviour will result in performance and efficiency gains. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory suggests that subordinates who have high-quality relationships with their supervisors are provided greater resources in the workplace (e.g., privileged information, work support) and decision latitude in return for greater loyalty and commitment (Dansereau, Graen, Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen, Novak, Sommerkamp, 1982). Therefore, employees with high-quality supervisor relationships are more likely to engage in innovative behaviour and be confident that their actions will result in performance and efficiency gains. Desire and motivation of the employees influence what he or she perceives (Gilbert, 1998; Markus Zajonc, 1985; Postman, Bruner, McGinnies, 1948). Research studies undertaken previously shows that supervisors tend to evaluate the employees they like and trust in a more positive way (Cardy Dobbins, 1986; Judge Ferris, 1993; Wayne Liden, 1995). When a supervisor likes and believes in the employee, he or she is more likely to think positively about the employees ideas and believe such ideas are meaningful and significant (Zhou Woodman, 2003). Previous research on attributions concept indicates that when the supervisor likes or empathizes with his sub-ordinates, he or she is more likely to attribute positive outcomes to the sub-ordinatess dispositional causes and negative outcomes to situational causes (Green Mitchell, 1979; Regan, Straus, Fazio, 1974; Regan Totten, 1975). It is expected that good people will perform good actions, and bad people will perform bad actions. Thus whe n liked characters do good things or disliked actors do bad things, we attribute the action to characteristics of the character (Heider, 1958). Therefore, when perceiving a good relationship with the supervisor, an employee will feel more confident that his new ideas will receive acceptance and favourable evaluations from his supervisor, resulting in higher possibilities for image gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the supervisor relationship quality Hypothesis 4(a): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(b): Supervisor relationship quality is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(c): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected image gains associated with innovative behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.3 Innovativeness as a Job Requirement The requirements of a job have been identified by researchers as an activating force for innovation (Kanter, 1988) and a primary factor in inducing employee creativity (Shalley, Gilson, Blum, 2000; Tierney Farmer, 2002). This dissertation explores the mechanisms through which perceived job requirement for innovativeness encourages individual innovation by its influences on both expected performance and image outcomes. The innovative requirement of a job is determined not only by the objective nature of the job position (e.g., RD scientists versus technicians) but also by the subjective attitude of the job holder, which can be influenced by factors including the job holders social environment as suggested by the social information processing theory (Salancik Pfeffer, 1978). Perceived innovativeness as a part of job requirement will also encourage innovative behaviour by minimising the concerns for image risks and increasing image gain expectations. Firstly, it validates innovative behaviours as officially acceptable and socially appropriate. The job requirement serves as a contextual influence that justifies the employees innovative behaviour. Thus, the employees do not need to provide reasons to explain their innovative behaviours and do not need to be concerned about being seen as behaving inappropriately. Secondly, previous research evidence shows that an audience is less critical and more receptive to change-initiated or innovative behaviours from people whose functional background or job position supports such innovative behaviours. Ashford and colleagues (1998) found out in their research that functional background-issue fit negatively related to image risk from selling issues. In the same way, Daft (1978) found out that organizations appeared to adopt technical ideas from professionals (in that case, teachers) and administrative ideas from administrators. Applying the same logic here, managers and fellow co-workers will be more receptive to the innovat ive behaviours of employees in positions requiring innovativeness and will consider their new ideas as more valid and well-grounded, resulting in lower image risk and higher potential of image gain for the innovative employees. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on reputation of an employee as innovative Hypothesis 5(a): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(b): Innovativeness as job requirement is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(c): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.4 Reputation of an Employee as Innovative The employees are considered as more socially appropriate and legitimate when their behaviours match categorizations and expectations of the organisation where they work in (Zelditch, 2001). The existing literature on impression management suggests that the impressions people try to create are affected by their current image in the society (Leary Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker, 1980). Behaviours which are consistent with the expectations and reputations (especially desirable ones) are socially legitimized, and behaviours against those expectations run the risk of being looked down upon by the people in the society. The employees who are not expected to be Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour Definition And Description of Employee Innovation Behaviour CHAPTER 2 Employee innovation behaviour has been defined as the intentional behaviour of an individual to introduce and/or apply new ideas, products, processes, and procedures to his or her work role, unit, or organization (West Farr, 1989, 1990b). Examples of employee innovative behaviour in the workplace include introducing new technologies and techniques, suggesting new ways to achieve objectives, trying new ways of performing work tasks, and facilitating the implementation of new ideas. Several points in the definition on employee innovation proposed by West and Farr (1989, 1990b) are worth noting. Firstly, employee innovative behaviours include behaviours pertaining to both the introduction and the application or implementation of new ideas, products, processes and procedures by the employees. This definition thus includes a variety of behaviours pertaining to the innovation processes in an organisation. Secondly, this definition takes into account both technical innovations (the introduction or application of new technologies, products, and services) and administrative innovations (the introduction or application of new procedures and policies) (Van de Ven, 1986). Technical innovations are innovations that occur in the primary work activity of the organization; administrative innovations are innovations that occur in the social system of an organization (Daft, 1978; Damanpour Evan, 1984). Examples of technical innovation include the implementation of an idea for a new product or the introduction of new elements in an organizations production process. Examples of administrative innovation include the implementation of new policies of recruitment, allocating resources, and reward. Individual innovative behaviours could be behaviours pertaining to the introduction or implementation of both technical and administrative innovations. Thirdly, the new ideas, products, processes, and procedures being introduced or implemented do not have to be absolutely new to the field. They only need to be new relative to the unit of adoption. For example, an employee is innovating when he introduces an IT system that has not been used in his organization before. This technology doesnt have to be a new invention and could have been used in other organizations before. And finally, innovative behaviours include not only those behaviours leading to innovations within the individuals work role but also behaviours that initiate or facilitate innovations in higher level units such as the individuals work group, department, or the entire organization (West Farr 1989. 2.2 Construction of the Terminology Used in the Dissertation Several similar terminologies to employee innovation exist in the literature. A brief discussion about how those terminologies are similar to and different from the framework of employee innovative behaviour will prevent potential confusion and help our understanding of employee innovative behaviour. One similar construct is individual creative behaviour. Creativity refers to the production and introduction of novel and useful ideas, products, or processes (Amabile, 1988; Oldham Cummings, 1996; Shalley, 1995; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993). Individual creative behaviours are behaviours pertaining to the generation of such novel and useful ideas, products, or processes. Creative behaviour is closely linked to innovative behaviour and it can be considered as one type of innovative behaviour. However, innovative behaviours include a broader range of behaviours than just creative behaviours. Innovative behaviours include both the introduction of self-generated ideas (creative behaviou r) and the introduction and implementation of new ideas generated by other people and organizations. Creativity requires absolute novelty of the idea whereas innovation only requires relative novelty of the idea to the unit of adoption (King, 1990; Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993).Therefore, adopting a new policy from another organization to the current organization would be innovative but not creative. Also, the definition of creativity includes an inherent requirement for the idea or product to be useful. The phenomenon of innovative behaviour doesnt include a usefulness judgment in itself. An innovative attempt could result in different possible consequences for the organization. Yet an ineffective innovation is still an innovation. Also, creative behaviour concerns the generation of ideas whereas innovative behaviour includes both the generation or introduction and the application or implementation of the new ideas (Amabile, 1988; Scott Bruce, 1994; Zhou, 1998, 2003). Another related concept to employee innovation is role innovation. Role innovation is the introduction of significant new behaviours into a pre-existing role (West, 1987a, 1987b). Role innovation is usually studied in the context of job change and relocation (e.g., Allen Meyer, 1990; Ashford Saks, 1996; Munton West, 1995; Nicholson, 1984; West Rushton, 1989). The reference for comparison in role innovation is the pre-existing job role. It is considered an act of role innovation, if the way the current job holder does his job is different from the way the previous job holder did it or from the way other people currently do the same job in the same organization. Role innovation is related to innovative behaviour in the sense that introducing new behaviours and procedures into an existing work role is one type of innovative behaviour. However, these two concepts are still different. Role innovation only changes processes within an individuals work role. Innovative behaviours, however, is not limited to innovations occurring in the work role alone but also in the department, unit, and the organization. In addition, all innovative behaviours cannot be considered as role innovation. For example, developing new ideas and products is part of the job profile for some organizational positions (e.g. the RD department). People in those job positions routinely introduce new products and procedures into the organization and therefore frequently engage in innovative behaviour. However, since it is part of their existing job or work role, those behaviours are not considered as role innovation. Another similar concept is personal initiative. Frese, Kring, Soose, and Zempel (1996: 38) defined personal initiative as a behavior syndrome resulting in an individuals taking an active and self-starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a given job. More specifically, personal initiative is characterized by the following aspects: it (1) is consistent with the organizations mission; (2) has a long-term focus; (3) is goal-directed and action-oriented; (4) is persistent in the face of barriers and setbacks, and (5) is self-starting and proactive. Some individuals behaviour in the workplace such as voluntary suggestion of new ideas to the organization can be seen as both personal initiative and innovative behaviours. However, not all personal initiative behaviours are innovative behaviours. Personal initiative could include both quantitative and qualitative initiatives. Quantitative initiatives are those activities that only require additional energy. Those activities do result into the application of new ideas, products, and procedures into the workplace and therefore are not innovative behaviours. Moreover, personal initiative is voluntary in nature of the behaviour whereas innovative behaviours do not have to be beyond the formal job requirement. In a nutshell, creative behaviour, role innovation and personal initiative are all related to but different from the construct of individual innovative behaviour. Differentiating these constructs will further clarify the concept of employee innovative behaviour. At the same time, the existing similarities suggest the possibility that the literatures devoted to these related constructs could inform research on innovative behaviours. 2.3 Employee Innovation and Image Outcome Expectations Why do employees innovate in an organisation? A piece of wisdom reiterated by learning theories and motivation theories is the importance of outcome expectations in determining human innovative behaviour. The operant conditioning theory of learning stresses the importance of the Law of Effect, which states that behaviour which appears to lead to a positive consequence tends to be repeated, while behaviour that leads to a negative consequence tends not to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Banduras social learning theory (1977) proposed that people learn about the consequences expected for certain behaviours not only from their own experiences but also from observing others in the workplace. To summarize, operant conditioning theory and social learning theory advocates that people develop outcome expectations of certain behaviours either from direct experiences or from vicarious learning. The outcome expectations, in turn, guide their future behaviour in the workplace. The effects of outcome expectations on behaviour are more directly addressed in Vrooms expectancy theory of motivation (1964). The renowned expectancy theory of motivation suggests that an individuals motivational force to perform an act is determined by his expectancies that the act will be followed by the attainment of certain first-level outcomes (expectancy), that these first-level outcomes will lead to certain second-level outcomes (instrumentality), and the value of these second-level outcomes (valence). The importance of outcome expectations is depicted by the concept of expectancy, which is a subjective belief concerning the likelihood that a behaviour will lead to particular first-level outcomes (Vroom, 1964). A similar observation of the importance of outcome expectations in affecting individual behavioural intentions can also be found in Ajzen and Fishbeins theory of reasoned action (1980). Outcome expectations guide innovative behaviours in the workplace. In the case of employee innovative behaviour, what are the major outcome expectations that affect employee innovation at work? Two major types of outcome expectations will impact employees decision to engage in innovative behaviours: expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes. Expected performance outcomes are employees expectations of how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the performance or efficiency of the employees work role or unit. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect other organization members perceptions of him or her. Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviours would affect the perceptions of the other members of the organisation towards him or her. The linkage of performance and image outcomes at the individual level is comparable to the differentiation between organization efficiency and legitimacy as suggested by institutional theory (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The organizations compete for social as well as economic fitness in the institutional perspective (DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Whereas the economic fitness or organization efficiency frontier enhance the organizations profits and competitive advantages, social fitness brings legitimacy which helps the organization gain stability, resources and hence survival. Several studies have recently brought such an institutional perspective into the study of innovation processes by highlighting the impacts of both efficiency outcomes and potential legitimacy outcomes on innovation adoption decisions. Tolbert and Zucker (1983) found that an early adoption of civil service is related to internal organizational requirements while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legit imate structural form Westphal, Gulati and Shortell (1997) in their research work found out that early adopters can customize Total Quality Management (TQM) practices for efficiency gains, while later adopters gain legitimacy from adopting the normative form of TQM programs. Results from both the empirical studies conclude that an organizations decision to adopt an innovation is influenced by both internal efficiency considerations (i.e., the efficiency outcome) and external legitimacy considerations (i.e., the image outcome). The results not only supports the importance of considering both outcomes in the innovation process but also suggests that their relative impact on innovation adoption will vary in different situations. Abrahamson (1991) suggested a typology that highlights the dominant efficient choice paradigm and other less dominant perspectives that can be used to guide innovation research. The dominant paradigm is the efficient choice perspective (i.e., the efficiency-oriented perspective), which conceptualises organizations as rational entities who always adopt innovations that can improve organization efficiency or performance. On the other hand, two other perspectives the fashion and fad perspectives stresses on the importance of social-political processes by suggesting that organizations sometimes adopt innovations for their symbolic meaning, signalling innovativeness, rather than to boost organizations economic performance. The impacts of expected performance outcomes and expected image outcomes on employee innovative behaviour represents the efficiency-oriented and the social-political motives for employee innovation, respectively (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Outcome Expectations and Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for those marked with negative signs, all links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a). 2.4 The Efficiency-Oriented Perspective of Expected Performance Outcomes: The efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding employee innovation behaviour suggests that one major reason people innovate is to bring performance gains. Although assumed to be one of the major motivational reasons in this dominating paradigm, few studies have directly tested the effect of such expected performance outcomes on innovative behaviour. This dissertation provides a hypothesis for testing the outcome of the effects of such expectation and on employee innovation behaviour at work. Expected image outcomes have been considered different from the concept of subjective norm in the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen Fishbein, 1980) in this study. The subjective norm concept refers to a persons belief about whether significant others think that he or she should engage in the behaviour. Although both the concepts are related to potential social outcomes of employees behaviour, expected image outcomes refer to expected perceptions from a potential audience (i.e., other employ ees in the organization) rather than the concern for the approval or disapproval of others. Image outcome expectations can be influenced by other factors as well such as relationship quality, peer expectations, and job requirements. The Literature available on impression management provides an interesting distinction between defensive and assertive impression management (Arkin, 1981; Schlenker, 1980). Tetlock Manstead (1985:61) provides a good discussion on this distinction: Defensive impression management is to protect an employees established social image; it is triggered by negative affective states such as embarrassment and shame. Whereas assertive impression management is designed to improve an employees social image; it is triggered by perceived opportunities for creating favourable impressions on others. Therefore the difference between avoiding image risks and pursuing image enhancement represent different affective states and individual motives. Consulting the impression management literature, the dissertation hypothesizes two major types of image outcome expectations that may affect an employees decision to engage in innovative behaviour. Firstly, expected image loss risk will constrain people from demonstrating innovative behaviour. An employee may decide to play it safe and try and avoid being innovative in order to look socially appropriate and prevent potential image loss. Showing such a tendency to avoid negative evaluations represents the protective self-presentation (Arkin, 1981) or defensive impression management motive (Tetlock Manstead, 1985). The self-protective motive shows that expected image risks will restrict the tendency of an employee to engage in innovative behaviour (refer Figure 1). On the other hand, people may feel the need to innovate because they may see potential opportunity to enhance work efficiency. For example, a high-performing employee may want to introduce a new work technique because he or she perceives opportunities to further improve efficiency. Contrary to the problem-driven construct this latter construct is consistent with the more contemporary vision-guided change model (Cooperrider Srivastva, 1987; Cummings Worley, 2005; Watkins Mohr, 2001) and possibility-driven logic of change (Ford Ford, 1994). This approach suggests that changes can be initiated not only to solve existing problems but also to pursue further improvement toward an ideal vision. Efficiency and performance improvement increases the competitiveness and success of an employee. Regardless of the purpose being is to fix existing performance problems or to explore potential benefits, people will be more likely to engage in innovative behaviour if they expect that the introduction of new ideas, products, procedures, or processes would bring positive performance outcomes to his or her work or job role (refer Figure 1). Therefore expected performance outcomes represent the efficiency-oriented perspective in understanding innovation. This approach suggests that people innovate because they expect positive results in performance gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the efficiency-oriented perspective of expected performance outcomes: Hypothesis 1: Expected positive performance outcomes are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.5 The Social-Political Perspective of Expected Image Outcomes Expected image outcomes are an individuals expectations about how his or her innovative behaviour would impact the perceptions of the other members of the organisation about him or her. Ashford, Rothbard, Piderit, and Dutton (1998), consider expected image outcomes as Employees may engage in innovative behaviour as a conscious effort to improve image. The employees engaging in innovative behaviour to pursue image gain depict the assertive impression management motive (Rioux Penner, 2001). An apt example will be employees suggesting new ideas to managers to appear competent and conscientious. Sutton and Hargadons (1996) designed a study to analyse self-enhancing motive and engineers competitive behaviours in brainstorming sessions. The self enhancing motive suggests that expected image gains will increase employee innovative behaviour at work (refer Figure 1). In line with the social-political perspective in understanding innovation, both avoiding image risks (the self-protective imp ression management motive) and pursuing image gains (the self-enhancing impression management motive) emphasize the importance of social-political considerations in determining employee innovative behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 2(a): Expected image risks are negatively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 2(b): Expected image gains are positively related to employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6 Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Performance and image outcome expectations are proximal determinants which determine employee innovation in the workplace and also serve as intermediate processes by which more distal individual differences and contextual antecedents affect employee innovation capabilities (West Farr, 1989). An analysis of how distal antecedent factors influence expectations of outcomes and therefore employee innovative behaviour is important for at least two reasons. Firstly, it addresses the question of how distal individual differences of employees and contextual factors affect employee innovation behaviour by examining the intermediate psychological processes. Secondly, it explains the sources of variance in employee performance and image outcome expectations across individuals and situations. Without the intention of providing an all exclusive list, the following five distal antecedent factors were considered as especially important for employee innovation behaviour: Perceived organization support for innovation, supervisor relationship quality, innovativeness as job requirement, reputation as innovative, and dissatisfaction with the status quo. These aforementioned antecedents were chosen because they are among the most studied in the literature and they represent different angles to understand employee innovative behaviour. The five proximal antecedents were taken together to form the conceptual model for testing employee innovation behaviour in this dissertation. Figure 2 Diagram of Conceptual Model for Employee Innovation Behaviour Note: Except for all those links marked with negative signs, all other links in the model are hypothesized to be positive. Source: Diagram adapted from Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational strategies by West Farr (1990a) 2.6.1 Perceived Organization Support for Innovation Organization support for innovation in terms of pro-innovation climate, resources, and time allocation, is one of the primary environmental qualities that promote innovation and creativity (Amabile, 1988; Kanter, 1988). This dissertation explores performance and image outcome expectations as important intermediate processes and tries to explain why such organization support affects innovative behaviour. If an organizational environment favours change rather than tradition for its growth and development, its members will seek to initiate change in order to be culturally appropriate (Farr Ford, 1990: 73). Similarly, an organizational climate that promotes innovation will encourage employee to engage in innovative behaviours because such climate legitimates experimentation (West Wallace, 1991) and reduces image risk involved in such behaviours (Ashford et al., 1998). An organization climate promoting innovation delivers expectancies and instrumentalities (Scott Bruce, 1994) so that the employees in that organization understand that being innovative is a desirable image. Reduced potential image loss risks and increased potential image gain environment encourage employees to engage in more innovative behaviours when perceived organization support for innovation is high. Employees in an organization supporting innovation may want to engage in more innovative behaviours not only because of the potential image outcomes but also because they have higher expectations for positive performance outcomes resulting from such innovative behaviours. A favourable organization climate for innovation demonstrates the belief that innovation will benefit the organization in developing and achieve the pinnacle of success. Having such beliefs embedded in the culture of the organization will influence individual attitudes and beliefs through the organization and boost innovation processes. Schneiders (1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework suggests people attracted to and remaining in the organization are likely to be those individuals who share basic beliefs with the organization. Hence, it is logical to expect that compared with organisations not promoting innovative behaviours, people in organizations with pro-innovation climates are also more likely t o have pro-innovation individual beliefs. In other words, they are more likely to be satisfied and believe that initiating innovations will benefit the efficiency and performance of their work. Such beliefs in positive performance outcomes serve as another motive for employee behaviour in the workplace. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the social-political perspective of expected image of expected image outcomes Hypothesis 3(a): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(b): Perceived organization support for innovation is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 3(c): Perceived organization support for innovation is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.2 Supervisor Relationship Quality A quality manager-employee relationship has been found out to be an important contextual factor on employee innovation and creativity (Scott Bruce, 1994; Tierney, Farmer, Graen, 1999). The prevalence of a quality relationship with supervisor will influence employee innovative behaviour indirectly through its influence on performance and image outcome expectations. A quality relationship between the managers and the employees will increase an employees belief that his or her innovative behaviour will result in performance and efficiency gains. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory suggests that subordinates who have high-quality relationships with their supervisors are provided greater resources in the workplace (e.g., privileged information, work support) and decision latitude in return for greater loyalty and commitment (Dansereau, Graen, Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen, Novak, Sommerkamp, 1982). Therefore, employees with high-quality supervisor relationships are more likely to engage in innovative behaviour and be confident that their actions will result in performance and efficiency gains. Desire and motivation of the employees influence what he or she perceives (Gilbert, 1998; Markus Zajonc, 1985; Postman, Bruner, McGinnies, 1948). Research studies undertaken previously shows that supervisors tend to evaluate the employees they like and trust in a more positive way (Cardy Dobbins, 1986; Judge Ferris, 1993; Wayne Liden, 1995). When a supervisor likes and believes in the employee, he or she is more likely to think positively about the employees ideas and believe such ideas are meaningful and significant (Zhou Woodman, 2003). Previous research on attributions concept indicates that when the supervisor likes or empathizes with his sub-ordinates, he or she is more likely to attribute positive outcomes to the sub-ordinatess dispositional causes and negative outcomes to situational causes (Green Mitchell, 1979; Regan, Straus, Fazio, 1974; Regan Totten, 1975). It is expected that good people will perform good actions, and bad people will perform bad actions. Thus whe n liked characters do good things or disliked actors do bad things, we attribute the action to characteristics of the character (Heider, 1958). Therefore, when perceiving a good relationship with the supervisor, an employee will feel more confident that his new ideas will receive acceptance and favourable evaluations from his supervisor, resulting in higher possibilities for image gains. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on the supervisor relationship quality Hypothesis 4(a): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(b): Supervisor relationship quality is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 4(c): Supervisor relationship quality is positively related to expected image gains associated with innovative behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.3 Innovativeness as a Job Requirement The requirements of a job have been identified by researchers as an activating force for innovation (Kanter, 1988) and a primary factor in inducing employee creativity (Shalley, Gilson, Blum, 2000; Tierney Farmer, 2002). This dissertation explores the mechanisms through which perceived job requirement for innovativeness encourages individual innovation by its influences on both expected performance and image outcomes. The innovative requirement of a job is determined not only by the objective nature of the job position (e.g., RD scientists versus technicians) but also by the subjective attitude of the job holder, which can be influenced by factors including the job holders social environment as suggested by the social information processing theory (Salancik Pfeffer, 1978). Perceived innovativeness as a part of job requirement will also encourage innovative behaviour by minimising the concerns for image risks and increasing image gain expectations. Firstly, it validates innovative behaviours as officially acceptable and socially appropriate. The job requirement serves as a contextual influence that justifies the employees innovative behaviour. Thus, the employees do not need to provide reasons to explain their innovative behaviours and do not need to be concerned about being seen as behaving inappropriately. Secondly, previous research evidence shows that an audience is less critical and more receptive to change-initiated or innovative behaviours from people whose functional background or job position supports such innovative behaviours. Ashford and colleagues (1998) found out in their research that functional background-issue fit negatively related to image risk from selling issues. In the same way, Daft (1978) found out that organizations appeared to adopt technical ideas from professionals (in that case, teachers) and administrative ideas from administrators. Applying the same logic here, managers and fellow co-workers will be more receptive to the innovat ive behaviours of employees in positions requiring innovativeness and will consider their new ideas as more valid and well-grounded, resulting in lower image risk and higher potential of image gain for the innovative employees. The following hypothesis has been developed based on analysing the above literature on reputation of an employee as innovative Hypothesis 5(a): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected positive performance outcomes associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(b): Innovativeness as job requirement is negatively related to expected image risks associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. Hypothesis 5(c): Innovativeness as job requirement is positively related to expected image gains associated with employee innovation behaviour at the workplace. 2.6.4 Reputation of an Employee as Innovative The employees are considered as more socially appropriate and legitimate when their behaviours match categorizations and expectations of the organisation where they work in (Zelditch, 2001). The existing literature on impression management suggests that the impressions people try to create are affected by their current image in the society (Leary Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker, 1980). Behaviours which are consistent with the expectations and reputations (especially desirable ones) are socially legitimized, and behaviours against those expectations run the risk of being looked down upon by the people in the society. The employees who are not expected to be