Employee engagement - Free Essay Example

Structured Equation Modeling for testing the impact of Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement. ABSTRACT Communication Satisfaction plays a very critical role in achieving employee engagement in organizations. It becomes even more significant and relevant in the context of the recent global crisis wherein organizations focus on employee engagement was high and was aimed towards employee retention and motivation. While several researchers have studied the relationship between communication and employee involvement, very few studies have established a relationship between Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Using the second-generation analytical technique Structural Equation Modeling, the present study examines the relationship between various components of Organization Communication Satisfaction (Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality) and various components of Employee Engagement (Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition). A modified version of the Downs Hazens Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered on 235 personnel in the Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services industry in India. The scale was tested for reliability and validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The results indicate that Organization Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement. The study findings have strategic implications for organizations with regard to laying a greater emphasis on increasing communication satisfaction through various human re source interventions, both at macro and micro levels in the organization. Introduction Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. A global workforce study conducted by Towers Perrin in 2007-2008 revealed that only 21% of the employees were engaged. A more disturbing finding of the study was that 38% of the employees were partly to fully disengaged. The study also concluded that companies with the higher levels of employee engagement are able to retain their valued employees as also achieve better financial results. Similarly, Gallup has also conducted a study on employee engagement and found that 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 54% are not engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged. Many researchers have studied employee engagement and have found that employee engagement predicts employee outcomes, organizational success and financial performance (Bates, 2004; Harter et al., 2002,). Similarly, Hewitt Associates (LLC, 2005, p.1) have also established a strong relationship between employee engagem ent and profitability through higher productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and employee retention. Unfortunately though, a lot of literature available is only those from Consulting firms and there is very little theoretical or empirical research available on employee engagement. Today, as a result of continuous organizational restructuring (mergers, acquisitions, downturn imperatives), it is commonly observed that organizations are resorting to right sizing strategies. It certainly becomes the most critical priority of CEOs around the world to ensure that the employees who survive the layoffs are fully engaged. Research indicates that there is a decline in engagement levels and that there is deepening disengagement among employees today (Saks, 2006; Richman, 2006; Bates, 2004). It has also been reported that the majority of workers today, roughly half of all Americans in the workforce are not fully engaged or they are dis engaged leading to what has been referred to as an engagement gap that is costing US business $300 billion a year in lost productivity (Saks, 2006, Bates 2004, Johnson, 2004 Kowalski, 2003). Further, with the world becoming a global market place, where every thing is becoming a commodity, people and management of peoples talent are becoming very critical components of an organizations ability to service its customer. Managing dis-engaged employees or non- engaged employees in a customer facing role is therefore that much more critical to the success and profitability of the business. Lockwood explains, As organizations move forward into a boundaryless environment, the ability to attract, engage, develop and retain talent will hence, become increasingly important In addition to the various literatures available from consultants, there have been a few researches conducted on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement and also What is employee engagement. A very exhaustive analysis of employee engagement has bee done by Macey and Schneider (2008). In the study employee engagement has been explained as 3 facests viz., Psychological state engagement (Satisfaction, involvement, commitment, empowerment), Trait engagement (personality, conscientiousness) and Behavioural engagement (Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Personal initiative, role expansion). Another research indicates that employee engagement constitutes two aspects viz., job engagement and organization engagement (Saks, 2006). Saks (2006 further found that employee engagement was significantly positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour and negatively related to intention to quit. Organizational Communication plays a very critical part in ensuring employee engagement. It has been established that clear, consise and honest communication is an important tool for employee engagement (Lockwood). It is further established that lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism and unwanted employee turnover. Studies demonstrate that there is a significant influence of Interpersonal trust on individual, group and organizational achievements (Earley, 1986; Robinson, 1996), Job Satisfaction (Driscoll, 1978; Muchinsky, 1977), Job Involvement (Saks, 2006) and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (Konovsky Pugh, 1994; McAllister, 1995). Studies have also underlined the central role of communication in developing and maintaining Trust (Gail, Zolin, Hartman, 2009; Becerra Gupta, 2003; Muchinsky, 1977). With particular reerence to recession, downsizing has become a harsh reality over the past 2 decades. These downsizing strategies come with other negative consequences of attrition of employees who are not impacted by downsizing. The problem is more profound when the attriting employees are top performers or employees with skills critical to future growth plans of the organization. Various studies have proved that downsizing negatively affects attitudes of employees surviving the downsizing by reducing organizational commitment, morale, job satisfaction and also increasing intention to quit and job stress (Arnold and Feldman, 1982; Greenhalge, 1982; Kozlowski et. al, 1993). It is therefore, very important for organizations to find ways to retain the attriting employees afer downsizing. Managerial communication and Organizational support can be looked at as possible avenues to reduce the negative effects of downsizing. Communication becomes very critical because employees believe that their organization holds them in low regard and ignores their interest (Anderson, 1996; Mclean Parks and Kidder, 1994). They also suspect that management communication is not credible for tat information is being withheld (Noer 1993, ONeill and Lenn, 1995). Employees need to understand how they fit into the overall plans of the organization in terms of their roles and contribution to the growth plans of the organizations. Various surveys in this regard indicate that employees want more communication with their managers (Argenti, 1998). There are various studies that have established a positive relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction (Petit, Gori s and Vaught, 1997; Pincus 1996) and organization commitment (Varona, 1996). A communication ROI study by Watson Wyatt (2007-2008) revealed that firms that communicate effectively are 4 times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as firms that communicate less effectively. This study therefore, attempts to establish the impact of Organizational communication on mediating role of Trust in the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement in the Information Technology / Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) industry in India. We have selected the IT/ITES) industry because of the significance of the impact during the recent recessionary period. Literature Review and Research Hypothesis Organizational Communication Organisation communication constitutes many dimensions spanning from formal and informal means of internal communication and external communications. A review of literature in this area reveals that Organizational communication can be classified into four different levels (SHRM Magazine) (i) Overall Organizational communication (ii) Inter-organizational communication (iii) Group-level communication (iv) Interpersonal communication Further, review of the research in this area underlines the importance of organizational communication towards building commitment, satisfaction and retention of employees in an organization. A number of studies (Burhans 1971, Downs 1971, Jain 1970) studied the relevance and importance of satisfaction with organizational communication. Such examinations of the communication-satisfaction relationship have produced, a construct called communication satisfaction, which is becoming a common reference in organizational literature (Downs and Hazen, 1977). Downs and Hazen, introduced the Communications Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) and conducted a factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. This study established eight stable definitions of communication satisfaction, which has also been enumerated as follows in another study by Clampitt Downs, 1993: Communication Climate reflects communication on both the organizational and personal level. On one hand, it includes items such as the extent to which communication in the organization motivates and stimulates workers to meet organizational goals and the extent to which it makes them identify with the organization. On the other, it includes estimates of whether or not peoples attitudes toward communicating are healthy in the organization. Supervisory Communication includes both upward and downward aspects of communicating with superiors. Three of the principal items include the extent to which a superior is open to ideas, the extent to which the supervisor listens and pays attention, and the extent to which guidance is offered in solving job-related problems. Organizational Integration revolves around the degree to which individuals receive information about the immediate work environment. Items include the degree of satisfaction with information about departmental plans, the requirements of their jobs, and some personnel news. Media Quality deals with the extent to which meetings are well organized, written directives are short and clear, and the degree to which the amount of communication is about right. Co-worker Communication concerns the extent to which horizontal and informal communication is accurate and free flowing. This factor also includes satisfaction with the activeness of the grapevine. Corporate Information deals with broadest kind of information about the organization as a whole. It includes items on notification about changes, information about the organizations financial standing, and information about the overall policies and goals of the organization. Personal Feedback is concerned with the workers need to know how they are being judged and how their performance is being appraised. Subordinate Communication focuses on upward and downward communication with subordinates. Only workers in a supervisory capacity respond to these items, which include subordinate responsiveness to downward communication and the extent to which subordinates initiate upward communication. Crino White (1981) investigated Communication Satisfaction with 137 supervisors from textile mills. Similarly, Pincus (1986) used the CSQ in a study of nurses and their supervisors to investigate the relationship between communication and job satisfaction and job performance. These findings had resulted in the CSQ being the most widely used scale when measuring communication satisfaction. The notable aspect though is, that the studies by Downs Hazens (1977) and Crino White (1981) exploratory factor analysis rather than confirmator factor analysis for assessing the validity of the CSQ. Theerefore, the convergent and discriminant validity of the CSQ was under question. Further, until the introduction of CSQ, Communication was considered as an unidimensional construct. The underlying belief was that employees are either satisfied or dis-satisfied with communication. However, with the introduction of the CSQ changed it communication satisfaction to be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct wherein, employees could be satisfied or dis-sastisfied with one or more aspects of communication and be dis-satisfied. Gary and Laidlaw (2004) assessed the CSQ using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Their study used a series of congeneric measurement models to study the validity and reliability of the CSQ. Based on the study, Gary Laidlaw concluded, the results substantiate CSQ as a valid instrument for measuring communication satisfaction and supports the multi-dimensional aspects of the communication satisfacation construct. This study therefore, proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the CSQ for the purpose of IT/ITES sector in India. The study also proposes to establish the relationships between the individual dimensions of Organizational Communication Satisfaction using First order and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. H1 : Dimensions of Organisation Communication Satisfaction are inter-related H2 : Organisational Communication Satisfaction is explained by Organisational Integration, Supervisory communication, Personal Feedback, Corporate Information, Communication Climate and Media Quality. Employee Engagement Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. There have been few research works on employee engagement (Robinson et al, 200) and most of understanding comes from Consulting firms and Independent Research agencies. There have been various definitions of employee engagement. Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values (Vazirani, 2007). Engagement is the willingness and ability to contribute to company success, the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, brainpower and energy (Towers Perrin, 2007). Often used as a synonym for motivation or motivation and retention; engagement is really more fundamental. Engagement is an employees decision to apply his discretionary effort to the goals of the enterprise, to accept those goals as his own and wholeheartedly commit himself to achieving them. (Fineman Carter 2007) Though employee engagement as a concept has been drawing a lot of importance, it is still a term widely referred among consulting firms and independent research agencies. There have been very few empirical research initiatives in the academic world to establish the definition of the construct employee engagement. Mickey and Schneider (2008) have done a detailed study on the meaning of employee engagement and have established a series of propositions covering 3 facets : a) Psychological stage engagement b) Behavioural engagement c) Trait engagement. This research though will focus on the psychological state engagement facet since this has received maximum attention and is central to the engagement issue. Further, the scope of the research is focussed towards examining the impact of Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement. Past researches on similar subjects have all focussed on studying the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on individual aspects of State Engagement viz., Satisfaction, Commitment and Involvement. Mickey and Schneider (2008), while explaining the psychological state engagement have studied 4 different aspects viz., Job satisfaction, Organizational commitment, Psychological empowerment and Job involvement. They have further referred to various related research in each of the above aspects and thereby analyse each of the aboe aspects as a facet or antecedent or consequence of employee engagement. Their study and analysis is as follows : Engagement as Job Satisfaction In defining Job Satisfaction as a facet of employee engagement, the views of Erickson (2005) are noteworthy; Engagement is above or beyond simple satisfaction with the employment arrangement or basic loyalty to the employer. Engagement in contrast is about passion and commitment, the willingness to invest oneself and expand ones discretionary effort to help the employer succeed Therefore, it is beyond basic loyalty and is about the emotional aspect of Job satisfaction that triggers emotions and feelings of energy, enthusiasm and thereby constitutes a very important aspect of Engagement. Engagement as Organization Commitment In defining Organizational commitment as an important facet of employee engagement, the views from various contributions are noteworthy (Wellins and Concelman, 2005; OReilly Chatman, 1986; Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982; Meyer and Allens, 1997; Meyer, Becker Vanderberghe, 2004). These significant contributions lead to definitions; employees exert extra energy in support of the organization, feel proud as a key contrinbutor to the organization and its success and enjoy a personal identity with the organization. This leads to organization commitment being defined as a key facet of engagement (Mickey Schneider, 2008). While analysing organization commitment, there is also an analysis around organization / job withdrawal thereby suggesting that commitment as a state of engagement also relates to how long an employee stays as a result of commitment (The Corporate Executive Board, 2006) Engagement as Job Involvement The next aspect analysed by Mickey and Schneider (2008) is Job Involvement. Job Involvement has been defined as the degree to which an employee psychologically relates to his or her job and the work performed therein and specifically equated job involvement and job commitment (Cooper-Hakim and Visweswaran, 2005). Brown (1996), Mathieu and Zajacs (1990) have also come up the conclusion that job involvement is an antecedent to organizational commitment. Brown further concluded that organizational withdrawal decisions are less related to job involvement than to organizational commitment. Erickson (2005) described job involvement as a key antecedent of the state of engagement. Based on the analysis and significant well researched contributions, we identify Job Satisfaction, Organizational commitment and withdrawal as key facets of employee engagement. Further, Saks (2006) has conducted a good study on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. The research conceptualized engagement as being reflective of the extent to which an individual is psychologically present in a particular organizational role (Kahn, 1990; Rothbard, 2001). It was further conceptualized that there are two dominant roles attributable to most organizational members viz., their work role and their role as a member of the organization. These two roles led to the two components of employee engagement: Job and Organization engagement. Saks (2006) further found that that Job and Organization engagement were significantly positively related to Job satisfaction, organizational commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and negatively related to intention to quit. In summary, employee engagement is about ones emotional commitment towards the organization, being psychologically involved and willingness ability to walk that extra mile in achieving the Organizational goals and objectives. Based on the above review, it is understood that employee engagement mainly constitutes three aspects viz., Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intention to stay. This study aims at establishing a relationship between the facets / components of Employee Engagement using 2nd order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. This study further proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the various facets of employee engagement using First and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis H3 : Dimensions of Employee Engagement are interrelated H4 : Employee engagement is explained by Organisational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawl Cognition Organization Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement The next dimension studied was the relationship between Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement in organizations. Employees see managers as trustworthy when their communication is accurate and forthcoming. In addition, adequate explanations and timely feedback on decisions lead to higher levels of trust (Folger Konovsky, 1989; Konovsky Cropanzano, 1991; Sapienza Korsgaard, 1996). Evidently, managers who take the time to explain their decisions thoroughly are likely to be perceived as trustworthy. Finally, open communication, in which managers exchange thoughts and ideas freely with employees, enhances perceptions of trust (Butler, 1991; Farris, Senner, Butterfield, 1973; Gabarro, 1978; Hart, Capps, Cangemi, Caillouet, 1986). Lockwood states that lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism, cynicism and unwanted turnover. This is even more relevant in times of crisis as observed by Meyers in 1986 ; When a crisis occurs, employees are affected on a personal level, in ways and to an extent unlike in any other audience. Their immediate reaction is often to be stunned and lose a sense of common purpose and cohesiveness Gripped by fear, employees may stray from their sense of reality and turn inward, focusing exclusively on their personal needs and ignoring the organizations needs. Pincus Acharya, 1998 observed that Employees who are uncertain about their jobs, health, or safety may deny, misinterpret, selectively perceive, or tune out information from management about the crisis situation because they may be blinded by their own sense of a personal crisis. These studies lead us the understanding that clear, consice, timely and honest communication is a very important management tool towards building employee engagement in Organizations (Lockwood). As discussed earlier, there have been many consultants and independent research organizations, which have established communication as a very critical component in enabling employee engagement in organizations. Further, there have been individual studies relating organizational communication and the individual facets and antecedents of employee engagement. This study proposes to study the relationship of Organization Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement using second-generation analysis tecnique, Structural Equation Modelling. H5 : Organisation Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement.. Research Methodology Questionnaire Design The Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs and Hazens, 1977) was selected for the Organization Communication construct of the study. We have used on seven factors of the CSQ beause the eighth factor, subordinate communication since this study was not aimed at personnel in their role as employees and not supervisors. For the Employee Engagement construct, each of the individual facets was measured on borrowed scales. Job Satisfaction was measured on 5 items taken from the scale developed by Price and Muellar (1986). Organization Commitment was measured on 6 items taken from the scale developed by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1997) while Withdrawal Cognition was measured on 3-item scale developed by De Conninck and Bachmann (2005). Since we are using borrowed scales for each of the constructs, it is important to first establish the validity and reliability of the scale. In other words, the items must reflect what they are intended to measure (face validity) and represent a proper sample of the domain of each construct (content valididty), and pass other tests of validity (discriminant, convergent and predictive validity) in order for a measure to have construct validity (Hardesty and Bearden, 2003). As a first step, we carried out a face validity of the constructs of the study. Based on the approaches discussed by Hardesty and Bearden, we identified a panel of 7 judges to assess the face validity. The judges were exposed to the definition of each construct, overall scope and objective of the study and the individual items under each construct (Total number of items was 49). Each judge was requested to rate the importance and relevance of the item to the constructs conceptual definition on a scale of 1-10 (1-Lea st important to 10-Most Important). (eg. How would items like I find real enjoyment in my job or I am seldom bored with my job). Additional remarks were also sought from the judges on whether multiple items under a construct mean the same and also which among the items was a better representative of the constructs conceptual definition. These results were summarized by Judge for each item and the items which were given a weightage of less than 8 were considered for reduction. During the content validity stage, the judges unanimously felt that co-worker communication, as a dimension was not too relevant from an engagement perspective since a lot of it was not largely under the control of the organization. However, one item in the co-worker communication was felt necessary to be included viz., Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies and hence, the same was retained and included in the dimension Communication climate. Similarly, the item viz., Information a bout changes in our organization and Information about company goals and policies were the only 2 items left under the dimenstion Corporate Information. Since it is required to have atleast 3 items under each dimension / factor for Structured Equation Modelling, these 2 items were grouped under the dimension Organizational Integration. Therefore, in the final questionnaire (total number of items 29), Organizational Communication Satisfaction was reduced to 5 factors viz., Organizational Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality. The factors under Employee Engagement were all retained viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawl cognition. In addition to the 2 sections representing the main constructs of the study, the questionnaire also covered a brief write up covering the purpose of the study as well as explicit statements of assurance to the respondents about the confidentiality of their responses and that the responses would be used for academic purposes only. Data Collection and Sampling : For this study, primary data was collected through structured undisguised questionnaires adminstered to the respondents. Questionnaires were administered through personal contacts / meetings and through mail as per the convenience of the respondent at home or in office. The respondents were requested to spare few minutes to provide categorical responses to items in the questionnaire The respondents for the study were selected from the personnel of organizations in Information Technology (IT) / Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry in India. A total of 275 questionnaires were administered to the respondents. 264 questionnaires were found to be complete in all respects, giving a response rate of 96.%. A further 29 invalid questionnaires were eliminated (those questionnaires where too many items were left unanswered or the same response was given to all the questions) and thereby 235 valid questionnaires were taken for further analysis. Measurements The study hypothesis covers 2 Constructs Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) and Employee Engagement (EE). OCS is measured for 5 key dimensions / Factors viz., Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality while EE is measured on 3 key dimensions / factors viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition. The 8 categorical dimensions were measured on the following items / variables: Factor / Dimenstion Items / Variables of measurement Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) Organization Integration Information about the requirements of my job Information about my progress in my job Information about company policies and goals Information about changes in our organization Supervisory Communication Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems Extent to which my supervisor trusts me Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas Personal Feedback Information about how I am being assessed Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates Communication Climate Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies Extent to which I receive in time the information need to do my job Media Quality Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right Employee Engagement Organization Commitment I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own I do not feel like part of the family at my organization (R) I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization (R) This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization (R) Job Satisfaction I find real enjoyment in my job Most days I am enthusiastic about my job I feel fairly well satisfied with my job Withdrawal Cognition I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high All the variables are categorical in nature and were measured on a categorical scale (5 point Likert). Data Analysis We have applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as the tool of analysis for maximum likelihood estimation for examining the proposed hypotheses. As suggested by many researchers (e.g. Anderson Gerbing, 1998), we have chosen the Two-step analysis method wherein in the first step, we conduct the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) based on the correlation coefficient matrix of each measurement item (i.e. dimenstions / factors of OCS and dimensions / factors of EE). In the second step, after confirming the fitness of the constructs, the structural model is examined futher based on the covariance matrix and the hypothesis is tested for the entire model (OCS EE). Results Measurement Model The study employed both First order and Second order Confirmator Factor Analysis (CFA) to confirm the fitness of the measurement model. The Latent constructs and their corresponding measurement items are listed in Table 1 to Table 4 covering the first order and second order CFA results for the 2 main constructs of the study; OCS and EE. Overall results show that the factor loadings for most of the items were above 0.7 (Except for one item under OCS Information about changes in our organization for the which the factor loading is 0.57 and for 1 item under EE I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own. We retained the item with factor loading of 0.57, because the judges as well as our literature survey had identified communication about changes in the organization as very critical to employee engagement and removal of this was actually reducing the model fit charcteristics of the OCS construct. We however, removed the item EE I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own from futher analysis because this removal was improving the model fit charactericts of the EE construct. The CR values of all the items reached the significant level (p.001). This finding confirmed the convergent validity of each of the items measuring the constructs of the study. We further analysed the Construct for each of the factors and they were all above 0.7 except one factor Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66. This implies a good internal consistency of the scale (Nunnally, 1978). We also analysed the Variance-extracted estimates for each of the factors and almost all of them are nearly equal to and greater than 0.5. These results therefore, provide adequate evidence of convergent validity. Hypothesis Testing Table-1 shows the Constructs and indicators of the measurement items of Organization Communication Satisfaction OCS on executing First Order CFA. For a sample size of 235, the factor loadings are all greater than 0.7, except two items of the Factor Organization Integration. The first item Information about company goals and policies has a factor loading of 0.65, which is marginally lower than 0.7. The second item Information about changes in our organization has a factor loading of 0.57. Though this is less as compared to the acceptable value of 0.7, we have retained it for the purpose of futher analysis since the judges as well as literature survey identified it as a very critical component of OCS. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7 and the Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The above results confirm the Convergent Validity and in ternal consistency reliability of the OCS construct. Table-2 shows the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and the squared correlations for the constructs in the First Order measurement model for OCS. All the Variance-extracted estimates are greater than the corresponding squared correlations estimates. This test confirms the Discriminant Validity. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.914, GFI=0.871 and RMSEA = 0.081 indicates an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 1 that the Factors / Dimensions of Organization Communication Satisfaction are inter-related. Table-3, shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of OCS on executing the Second-order CFA. In this case also the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the 2 items of the factor Organization Integration similar to first order analysis. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7 and the Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.909, GFI=0.866 and RMSEA=0.081 indicate an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 2 that Organizational Communication Satisfaction (OCS) is explained by the dimensions viz., Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality. Table-4 shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of EE on executing the first order CFA. In this case, the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the item, This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me, which was marginally lower at 0.67. In the first analysis, we executed the CFA with 5 items under the factor Organization Commitment. The item, I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own was removed from further analysis because the factor loading was less than 0.7. Further, removal of the item improved the overall model statistics. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7, except one factor, Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66. The Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The above results confirm the Convergent Validity and internal consis tency reliability of the EE construct. Table-5 shows the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and the squared correlations for the constructs in the First Order measurement model for EE. All the Variance-extracted estimates are greater than the corresponding squared correlations estimates. This test confirms the Discriminant Validity. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.964, GFI=0.942 and RMSEA = 0.081 indicates an acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 2 that the Factors / Dimensions of Employee Engagement are inter-related. Table-6, shows the constructs and indicators of the measurement items of EE on executing the Second-order CFA. In this case also the factor loadings of all the measurement items was greater than 0.7 except the item, This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me, which was marginally lower at 0.67, similar to first order analysis. The CR values for all the items reached the signicance level (p.001). Further, the Construct for each of the factors was greater than 0.7, except the one factor, Withdrawal Cognition which was marginally lower at 0.66, similar to the first order CFA. Average Variance Extracted for each of the factors was greater than or equal to 0.5. The other key model statistics and values, CFI=0.964, GFI=0.942 and RMSEA=0.081 indicate a good and acceptable level of model fit. These results clearly support Hypothesis 4 that Employee Engagement (EE) is explained by the dimensions viz., Organization Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition. Table-7 shows the results of the examination of the overall OCS-EE model. The overall model reached the range of acceptability, since the value of 2 / df equals 2.003, which is considered acceptable (Bollen, 1989). The other indices of model fitness and values, CFI = 0.91, GFI = 0.83, AFGI = .80, IFI = 0.91 and RMSEA = 0.065. These results achieve an acceptable level of Goodness of Fit (Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black). The results also show that OCS has a significant positive influence on Employee engagement ( = 0.76, p .001). Therefore, our Hypothesis 5 is supported that Organization Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement. Table I Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Organization Communication Ssatisfaction) First Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Integration 0.93 0.501 Information about the requirements of my job 0.767 0.59 Information about my progress in my job 0.752 0.098 0.56 10.805** Information about company policies and goals 0.650 0.085 0.42 9.359** Information about changes in our organization 0.566 0.090 0.32 8.116** Supervisory Communication 0.80 0.500 Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me 0.815 0.66 Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems 0.849 0.077 0.72 14.575** Extent to which my supervisor trusts me 0.788 0.065 0.62 13.272** Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas 0.774 0.070 0.60 12.951** Personal Feedback 0.86 0.501 Information about how I am being assessed 0.771 0.59 Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded 0.788 0.100 0.62 11.375** Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates 0.735 0.091 0.54 10.692** Communication Climate 0.80 0.495 Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals 0.825 0.68 Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it 0.797 0.066 0.68 13.023** Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies 0.720 0.065 0.52 11.551** Extent to which I receive in time the information needed to do my job 0.719 0.071 0.52 11.527** Media Quality 0.75 0.500 Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise 0.705 0.50 Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy 0.827 0.105 0.68 10.713** Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right 0.760 0.101 0.58 10.153** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 315.727 (125) GFI 0.871 AGFI 0.823 CFI 0.914 NFI 0.866 RFI 0.836 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 2 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and squared correlations for the Constructs in the First Order Measurement Model (OCS)*$ Organization Integration Supervisor Communication Personal Feedback Communication Climate Media Quality Organization Integration 0.501 Supervisor Communication 0.466 0.500 Personal Feedback 0.420 0.462 0.501 Communication Climate 0.453 0.230 0.417 0.495 Media Quality 0.456 0.402 0.411 0.349 0.500 * AVEs are shown along the diagonal of the matrix $ Squared correlations between each pair of constructs are shown in the left bottom of the matrix Note : Correlation Matrix for measurement items and Constructs in the model are available with the author upon request. Table 3 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Organization Communication Satisfaction) Second Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Integration 0.93 0.501 Information about the requirements of my job 0.761 0.58 Information about my progress in my job 0.757 0.100 0.57 10.729** Information about company policies and goals 0.652 0.086 0.42 9.298** Information about changes in our organization 0.566 0.091 0.32 8.061** Supervisory Communication 0.80 0.500 Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me 0.811 0.66 Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems 0.850 0.078 0.72 14.455** Extent to which my supervisor trusts me 0.787 0.066 0.62 13.146** Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas 0.778 0.071 0.61 12.956** Personal Feedback 0.85 0.486 Information about how I am being assessed 0.772 0.60 Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded 0.793 0.101 0.68 11.386** Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates 0.729 0.091 0.58 10.587** Communication Climate 0.80 0.494 Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals 0.818 0.67 Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it 0.793 0.068 0.68 12.751** Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies 0.725 0.067 0.53 11.491** Extent to which I receive in time the information needed to do my job 0.728 0.073 0.53 11.561** Media Quality 0.75 0.500 Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise 0.706 0.50 Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy 0.829 0.105 0.69 10.741** Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right 0.757 0.101 0.57 10.142** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 329.892 (130) GFI 0.866 AGFI 0.824 CFI 0.909 NFI 0.86 RFI 0.835 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 4 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Employee Engagement) First Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Commitment 0.80 0.501 I do not feel like part of the family at my organization 0.795 0.63 I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization 0.809 0.080 0.65 12.946** This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me 0.673 0.070 0.45 10.456** I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization 0.842 0.075 0.71 13.476** Job Satisfaction 0.75 0.501 I find real enjoyment in my job 0.880 0.77 Most days I am enthusiastic about my job 0.838 0.070 0.70 14.637** I feel fairly well satisfied with my job 0.774 0.065 0.60 13.422** Withdrawl Cognition 0.66 0.499 I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company 0.819 0.67 Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high 0.676 0.112 0.46 7.773** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 60.803 (24) GFI 0.942 AGFI 0.892 CFI 0.964 NFI 0.943 RFI 0.915 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 5 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and squared correlations for the Constructs in the First Order Measurement Model (EE)*$ Organization Commitment Job Satisfaction Withdrawal Cognition Organization Commitment 0.501 Job Satisfaction 0.254 0.501 Withdrawal Cognition 0.429 0.272 0.499 * AVEs are shown along the diagonal of the matrix $ Squared correlations between each pair of constructs are shown in the left bottom of the matrix Note : Correlation Matrix for measurement items and Constructs in the model are available with the author upon request. Table 6 Constructs and indicators of the measurement items (Employee Engagement) Second Order Measurement item Factor Loading Standard Error ej CR Value Construct Alpha AVE Organization Commitment 0.80 0.501 I do not feel like part of the family at my organization 0.795 0.63 I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization 0.809 0.080 0.65 12.946** This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me 0.673 0.070 0.45 10.456** I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization 0.842 0.075 0.71 13.476** Job Satisfaction 0.75 0.501 I find real enjoyment in my job 0.880 0.77 Most days I am enthusiastic about my job 0.838 0.070 0.70 14.637** I feel fairly well satisfied with my job 0.774 0.065 0.60 13.422** Withdrawl Cognition 0.66 0.499 I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company 0.819 0.67 Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high 0.676 0.112 0.46 7.773** Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 60.803 (24) GFI 0.942 AGFI 0.892 CFI 0.964 NFI 0.943 RFI 0.915 RMSEA 0.081 ** p0.001. Note : All the measurement items are guaged with Likert 5-point item Table 7 SEM results of Hypothesis Testing Hypothesis Coefficient CR-Value Organization Communication Satisfaction - Employee Engagement 0.76 5.734* Model Fit Index Chi-Square (df) 631.049 (315) Chi-Square / df 2.003 GFI 0.833 AGFI 0.800 CFI 0.907 NFI 0.832 IFI 0.908 RMSEA 0.065 * p.001 Discussion Managerial Implications The overall model is summarized in 5. All the 5 hypothesis proposed by us were confirmed thereby establishing the importance of Organization Communication Satisfaction in influencing Employee Engagement in organizations. This study therefore, serves as a means of empirically validating the understanding the concepts expressed in various literatures from consulting firms and independent research agencies. With the downturn and associated resource re-organization in various organizations, specifically in the IT / ITES sectors, it will become imperative for the organizations to ensure that their most valued employees are fully engaged. This study underlines the importance of communication satisfaction in building a sense of organizational commitment willingness to walk that extra mile to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Organizations would like to use communication as a strategic option to deliver focussed messages to segmented employee audiences in order gain their trust a nd make them highly engaged. This would help organizations reduce the uncertainity in the minds of their employees about their jobs, future in the organization, especially during uncertain times and thereby reduce attrition of high performing and most valued employees. Limitations and future implications for research This study was limited to the IT and ITES industry. While the effects of downturn and resource reorganisations are more profound in the IT / ITES industry, the other sectors are also feeling the heat with respect to employee engagement. Therefore, findings of the study may not be generalised and would need further research to check its relevance to all industries. This study has focussed largely on the Psychological Stage engagement facets of Employee Engagement. There are other facets like behavioural engagement and trait engagement (Macey and Schneider, 2008) that would need to be analysed. Further, this study has focussed on Organization Communication Satisfaction and its impact on Employee Engagement. There are other aspects of employee engagement that literature refers to as antecedents and consequences to employee engagement viz., Organization Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and Perceived Organization Support (POS) (Saks, 2006). Future studies could examine the impact of Organization Communication on OCB and POS. Lastly, there is a mention of trust in various literatures and the role of Organization Communication in developing trust among employees. There are also studies that mention the role of Interpersonal trust in positively influencing the various facets of employee engagement (Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawal cognition). This study did not examine the role of Organization communication in building interpersonal trust and its impact on employee engagement. Future studies could examine the mediating role of trust in the OCS EE relationship. References Anderson, L.M. (1996) Employee cynicism : an experimentation using a contract violation framework, Human Relations, Vol. 49 No. 11, PP. 1395-418 Anderson, J. C Gerbing, D. W (1988) Structured Equation Modeling in practice : a review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), pp. 411-423. Argenti, P.A. 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Is Prime Ministers Question Time still an effective way to hold th UKe Government to account - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2235 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Politics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Prime Ministers Questions is a weekly event, taking place on Wednesdays at midday in the House of Commons, in which Members of Parliament ask questions of the Prime Minister which he/she is obliged to answer over the course of approximately half an hour. Prior to 1997, this was instead two fifteen minute slots (Seaton and Winetrobe, 1999). The Leader of the Opposition is allocated six questions during this period. In the past, the Prime Minister has been able to transfer questions to relevant members of his/her Cabinet, and the Leader of the Opposition has foregone the opportunity to ask his/her allocated number of questions. Since the changes made under Tony Blair in 1997, the third-largest party (since then the Liberal Democrats) has been afforded the chance to ask two questions (Thomas, 2004: 5). The event has a long tradition in British politics and is considered a central element in the adversarial thrust of the parliamentary system and the House of Commo ns. It provides an opportunity for Members of Parliament to address questions and issues directly to the Prime Minister, and to have those issues answered and responded to (Gimson, 2012). As such, it is considered a cornerstone of the British political system. This paper will argue that it alone is not an effective means of holding the government to account, but that it forms an important constituent part in the wider adversarial democratic process of ensuring government accountability. It will also be noted that an increasing emphasis on point-scoring, machoism and unruly contentiousness is something which has detracted from the democratic effectiveness of Prime Ministers Questions. One of the central emphases of Prime Ministers Questions is that the issues raised and questions put to the Prime Minister are ones which he/she does not know in advance. It is therefore seen as an opportunity for Members of Parliament to challenge the Prime Minister away from any prepared or scripte d response. For this reason, Prime Ministers Questions has been valued by the opposition and in some cases feared by the Prime Minister as it forces him or her to be very well briefed on the issues of the day, as well as to improvise and respond quickly and efficiently to unanticipated questions or issues which might be raised (Cowley, 2001: 820). However, it has been argued, both by politicians and by commentators, that the unruly nature of some Prime Ministers Questions has meant that, rather than being an important part of the democratic process and a chance to hold the government to account, it has become something of a spectacle and an uncivilised shouting match. This problem has indeed been raised by the current Speaker of the House, John Bercow, who has identified the histrionics and cacophony of noise associated with the event (Mason and Edgington, 2014, n.p.). Bercow suggested in the same interview that female Members of Parliament in particular are driven to not attend Prime Ministers Questions because of the machoism and unruliness of the behaviour in the House (Mason and Edgington, 2014). To the extent that the nature of the event discourages certain Members of Parliament from attending suggests that it is less than ideally effective as a democratic process. If not all Members wish to attend, not all the potential questions and issues which could or should be raised in Prime Ministers Questions are going to be addressed. In such circumstances, it is possible that the emphasis is more on presentation and cheap point-scoring than on actual political processes and accountability, and that the ability of the Prime Minister to make jokes, cutting ripostes and other style over substance elements in the debating process has taken centre stage. Given the relatively short duration of the event à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" half an hour per week à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the possibility for unruly behaviour and disruption to undermine the process and ensure that little is actually said or achieved in the questioning session is all the greater (Murphy, 2014). Bates et al. (2014: 243) addressed in their research of Prime Ministers Questions from Margaret Thatcher through to David Cameron, the question of whether or not the event has become increasingly a focal point for shallow political point scoring rather than serious prime ministerial scrutiny. They found some worrying evidence of Prime Ministers Questions as both rowdier and increasingly dominated by the main party leaders with Prime Ministers increasingly expected to be able to respond to a wider range of questions, female MPs as likely to ask helpful questions but less likely to ask unanswerable questions than male counterparts and Members of Parliament being less likely to ask helpful questions and more likely to ask unanswerable questions the longer their parliamentary tenure. These all suggest a less than ideal process of holding the government to account. Thus it is necessary to distingui sh between adversarial discourse which serves a political democratic process in holding the government to account on the one hand, and confrontational or aggressive behaviour which is simply point-scoring and face-saving on the other. Bull and Wells (2011: n.p.), in their study of adversarial discourse in Prime Ministers Questions, analysed the concept of face-threatening acts, and identified six distinctive ways in which FTAs are performed by the leader of the opposition in questions and five distinctive ways in which the PM may counter FTAs in replies were identified. They concluded that face aggravation in PMQs is not just an acceptable form of parliamentary discourse, it is both sanctioned and rewarded, a means whereby MPs may enhance their own status through aggressive facework. These face-threatening acts were ones which, without constituting non-parliamentary language (i.e. language which is deemed by the Speaker of the House to be directly insulting towards another Member of Parliament), nevertheless aimed at embarrassing or undermining the person at whom they were directed. This so-called aggressive facework may serve a political purpose, and may constitute a challenge to the government and its representatives, but it is one which is based more on personality than politics, and one which therefore serves more of an interpersonal role within the House than it does a wider political role in ensuring democratic accountability. Mohammed (2008: 380) characterises Prime Ministers Questions in terms of institutional conventions, arguing that it has a structured purpose and format which achieves its ends by being institutionally defined. In other words, such a format for adversarial exchange, where there are clear rules and conventions of behaviour, is one which makes it effective and efficient in achieving its goals i.e. holding the government to account. Mohammed (2008: 380) highlights the initial situation of Prime Ministers Questions as being a mixed d ifference of opinion concerning a proposition evaluating the performance of the government. This suggests that although the topical questions put to the Prime Minister may not be critical or aggressive in their nature, that what is presupposed in the questioning is nevertheless a process of accountability. The Prime Minister is recognised as the centre of the process, and he/she is called upon as the main protagonist of the positive standpoint, since he is expected to always defend his government (sic) (Mohammed, 2008: 380). The emphasis on a single individual as representing the government and addressing the issues which are raised, and the executive manner of the role within the eponymous questions session, means that Prime Ministers Questions does have a recognisable symbolic value as a means of holding the government to account. As well as being well-codified and formalised, Prime Ministers Questions is valued as a means of holding the government to account in terms of its im portance (Lovenduski, 2012). This is reflected in the fact that Members of Parliament are present at Prime Ministers Questions to a degree which far exceeds their presence during normal proceedings in the House of Commons. Salmond (2014: 321) has argued in favour of Prime Ministers Questions as a democratic tool of accountability on these grounds, noting that the data demonstrates how these open QTs are associated with higher levels of political knowledge, partisanship, and turnout. In that they attract a large number of parliamentarians, and therefore a wider gambit of democratic representation, they are a means of ensuring that the largest possible proportion of the electorate is represented during the session. Moreover, these members of the electorate are able to effectively have their issues put directly to the most important politician in the country. This was made explicitly evident recently by Jeremy Corbyn, whose first Prime Ministers Questions session as newly-elected Leade r of the Opposition involved him addressing questions to David Cameron directly from those members of the electorate who had put them to him in emails and letters. He went so far as to directly name these individuals and thereby to literally employ Prime Ministers Questions as a platform in which members of the electorate could directly address their Prime Minister (BBC News, 2015). In the same session, Labours new leader said he wanted the weekly sessions to be less theatrical and Mr Cameron agreed there should be more focus on substantial issues (BBC News, 2015). This returns to the issue raised earlier of the degree to which style and point-scoring at the personal level has taken precedent over substance and addressing issues at the political level. Indeed, this call for not only Prime Ministers Questions but the political process more generally to become more substantial and less personality-oriented is one which has dominated the discourse of the last decade or so. Indeed, D avid Cameron promised when he was elected Leader of the Opposition to end Punch and Judy politics, and responded to Corbyn by saying that no one would be more delighted than me if Prime Ministers Questions were made into more of a genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions (BBC News, 2015). As such, there is a continued recognition of the fact that political processes have to negotiate between personal and political, style and substance, in their practices. However, to the extent that both Corbyn and Cameron recognise this problem, and claim to be willing to change it, there is evidence that Prime Ministers Questions, if it has been less than ideal as a means of holding the government to account in the past, is likely to become more so in the future. To conclude, therefore, it can be argued that there are strengths and weaknesses to Prime Ministers Questions as a tool in ensuring government accountability to the electorate. Among the strengths, this essay has id entified three key elements. Firstly, it is a well-regulated, formal system with recognised rules and proceedings. This means that this regular event runs efficiently and can allow for a number of important questions to be asked directly to the most important politician in the land and direct representative of the government. Secondly, the fact that the Prime Ministers responses are not fully prepared in advance means that the session has an impromptu and spontaneous element which allows for potentially greater accountability. Thirdly, the session is well-attended by parliamentarians and well-recognised by people who follow politics (with its being broadcast on BBC2), and therefore it is also a high profile opportunity to raise issues and find the government accountable. However, whilst these benefits obtain, it is also notable that Prime Ministers Questions can be less than ideal as a means of holding the government to account. Causes of this include the relatively short length of the sessions, their comparative infrequency being held only once a week and, as identified above, the fact that cheap point-scoring and what has been identified in the literature as aggressive facework (Bull and Wells, 2011) constitute one of the central features of the questioning process. As such, there is the real possibility of what would otherwise be an effective means of holding the government to account descending into a competitive, mud-slinging match where the emphasis is on achieving personal goals rather than political ones. If the evidence of recent Prime Ministers Questions is reliable, it can be noted in closing, there is a suggestion that this emphasis is being decreased, and that Prime Ministers Questions may in the future become increasingly like the effective means of holding the government accountable that it has the potential to be. References Bates, S. R., Kerr, P., Byrne, C. and Stanley, L. (2014). Questions to the Prime Minister: A Comparative Study of P MQs from Thatcher to Cameron. Parliamentary Affairs, 67(2), 253-280. BBC News. 2015. Jeremy Corbyn asks David Cameron questions from public. BBC News 16th September 2015. Available online [accessed 19th October 2015] at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34264683 Bull, P. and Wells, P. (2011). Adversial Discourse in Prime Ministers Questions. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. https://jls.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/10/01/0261927X11425034.abstract. Cowley, P. (2001). The Commons: Mr Blairs Lapdog?. Parliamentary Affairs, 54(4), 815-828. Gimson, A. (2012). PMQs: Thats the Way to do It!. British Journalism Review, 23(3), 11-13. Lovenduski, J. (2012). Prime Ministers questions as political ritual. British Politics, 7(4), 314-340. Mason, C. and Edgington, T. (2014). Female MPs shunning PMQs, says John Bercow. BBC News. Available online [accessed 19th October 2015] at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27062577. Mohammed, D. (2008). Institutional ins ights for analysing strategic manoeuvring in the British Prime Ministers Question Time. Argumentation, 22(3), 377-393. Murphy, J. (2014). (Im) politeness during Prime Ministers Questions in the UK Parliament. Pragmatics and Society, 5(1), 76-104. Salmond, R. (2014). Parliamentary question times: How legislative accountability mechanisms affect mass political engagement. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 20(3), 321-341. Seaton, J. and Winetrobe, B. K. (1999). Modernising the commons. The Political Quarterly, 70(2), 152-160. Thomas, G. P. (2004). United kingdom: the prime minister and parliament. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 10(2-3), 4-37. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Is Prime Ministers Question Time still an effective way to hold th UKe Government to account?" essay for you Create order

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Analysis of the Relationship between Competition Policy and Economic Regulation Free Essay Example, 2250 words

Hence many countries and regions are now following the deregulation by trying to implement the best practices in other systems and avoiding the worst mistakes. A major problem with the deregulation is that it is based on a very weak logical foundation for improving efficiency. In the absence of competition, this may not be the case. It is important to note that the study of regulation cannot be done in isolation. It has to be studied in the social, political and economic context in which it exists. The relative powers of different interest groups play their part in formulating and shaping the regulations. Different regulatory mechanisms interact with each other and once implemented they play an important role as the motives of decision makers. A thorough understanding of the regulatory process is thus not possible without considering specific institutions, political structures and actors. According to this theory, government intervention or regulation is required only in case of mar ket failure when a market is unable to achieve a particular social object such as equality. Government intervention is needed to correct this failure. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of the Relationship between Competition Policy and Economic Regulation or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page The various tools of economic regulation are (Chris J Dolan)The two basic purposes of regulatory body are a promotion of conditions essential for the efficient working of marketplace and prevention of socially undesirable outcomes. These two purposes may not always be complementary.

Frederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life - 1516 Words

Grant Sumner Dr. Wiewora History 101 04/25/2017 Frederick Douglass To Douglass, freedom is more than merely freedom from the lash and cruel conditions. It also encompasses intellectual and emotional freedom. He sees that true freedom exists in the ability to read and reason and is a mental state; Douglass feels that slavery is not only a practice, but a mindset maintained through those practices. In Douglass’s Narrative of the Life, he maintains that slavery is an abhorrent practice that strips the humanity from both slaves and slaveholders alike, enabled by forcing ignorance onto the slaves. First, dehumanization of those enslaved in Douglass’s narrative can be separated into three categories: examples of the treatment of human beings in†¦show more content†¦In this situation, the slave owners have legal freedom to act upon their lusts; this results in slave women being helpless victims, and the mulatto children being subject to cruelty by their masters’s wives. In fact, this dehumanization goes back to the very constitution, where the Three Fifths Compromise can be seen in essence reducing someone to property, without rights, and only holding value in what the person can provide. The true method of dehumanization occurs in the forced ignorance that takes place: â€Å"By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant...They seldom come nearer to it than planting time, harvest time, cherry time†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (236). A birthday is a symbol of a person and their separation from animals. As Douglass mentions, they have just as much information in this regard as an animal, which is what they are being reduced to: animals bred for a specific purpose, to slave away for another person. The slaves only being able to identify their birth with a specific work related time of the year is evidence of this. Combining the lack of knowledge of one’s birth, they are stripped from their mothers at an early age â€Å"....hinder the development of the child’s affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child.† (237). This is the inevitableShow MoreRelatedThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick 1306 Words   |  6 Pagesthe practice slavery as neither good nor bad, but just part of Southern life going on for hundreds of years. Frederick Douglass, a slave who had escaped to the North, after years of abuse through slavery, knew that in order to stop slavery, he had to persuade all the people in the North to vehemently oppose it as much as he did himself. Through the â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†, which he published in 1845, Douglass focuses on the process of dehumanization he and thousands of others wentRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglas16 74 Words   |  7 Pagespopular in the southern states, among these slaves, one slave in particular impacted the 19th century was Frederick Douglass. Although he was a slave for most of his life, Douglass eventually became a freeman, a social reform, writer, and an abolitionist for slavery. However, before he became a freeman, Douglass experienced a brutal life as a slave. He faced dehumanization in his early life, but accomplished what most slaves we not allowed to do; which is getting educated, by self-educating himselfRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass1693 Words   |  7 Pagesin the city. Frederick Douglass the author of Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was born and raised on the plantation as a slave. From his early years Douglass experienced life as a slave on a plantation. He was soon relocated to Maryland at the age of seven to the slave owner’s brother Mr. Auld. Douglass is moved back and forth from the plantation to the city. The areas of food, treatment and punishment, and clothing were contrasting between plantation and city. His narrative reveals theRead MoreAn Analysis Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Essay1284 Words   |  6 Pagesof Frederick Douglass s NarrativeChristianity quite often, especially when associated to the system of slavery becomes even more of a contentious issue than it already is. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass presents the theme of perversion of Christianity by slaveholders as a way to bring out the contradiction that lie deep within slaveholders adulterated interpretation of the belief system. In this paper, I will highlight these perversions that Douglass discussesRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of A Slave1662 Words   |  7 Pages The life of a slave was brutal, demeaning and dehumanizing; it ripped them away from loved ones, their identity, any concept of hope and any ink ling of one s worth as a person. Escape from a life such as that was almost inconceivable; which brings about the question of how did Frederick Douglass manage to free himself from enslavement. Frederick Douglass s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave asserts that Douglass needed specific mental and environmental parameters toRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass1281 Words   |  6 PagesFredrick Douglass Outcomes of Sentimentalism In the â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, written in the month of August 1841, demonstrates the double purpose of the work as both a personal account and a public argument. Douglass introduces the reader to his own circumstances such as grief, sorrow and emptiness in his birthplace and the fact that he does not know his own age. He then generalizes from his own experience, by explaining that almost no slavesRead MoreThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass967 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States many slaves like Fredrick Douglass had to escape to fight for freedom to become abolitionists. To expose the terror and cruelties that he faced from his owners and overseers as a slave as narrated in â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass.† Being a slave was difficult from the beginning. In the case of Fredrick Douglass he was a product of unwanted love. Born into slavery with no record or â€Å"accurate knowledge of age.†(Douglass) He was the son of Harriet Bailey, who was â€Å"†¦theRead MoreThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass 983 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States many slaves like Fredrick Douglass had to escape to fight for freedom. To become abolitionists. To expose the terror and cruelties that he faced from his owners and overseers as a slave wrote in the â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass.† ​Being a slave was difficult from the beginning. In the case of Fredrick Douglass he was a product of unwanted love. He was born into slavery with no record or â€Å"accurate knowledge of age.†(Douglass) He was the son of Harriet Bailey, who wasRead MoreThe Slaveowner ´s Point of View in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass1118 Words   |  5 Pages In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass depicts his life as a plantation slave, offering misinformed northern Christians and reformers in-depth accounts of the physical and emotional cruelties of slavery. As Douglass recounts his relationship and interactions with the harsh Mr. Covey, he disputes the basis on which southern slaveowners defended slavery. Douglass dispels their claims of encompassing a Christian duty to civilize blacks who they deemed naturally inferiorRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave1434 Words   |  6 Pa gesAs the most famous abolitionist African American leader, Fredrick Douglass is a political, historical, and literary figure whose words still reverberate the true meaning of freedom and political, economic, and social equality for all. Born a slave, Douglass was able to recount his story to a pre-Civil War American public, which had a tremendous effect on the views whites had about slavery and its role in American society. Douglass became a self-educated man as he grew up within the entanglements

Integrity Free Essays

Danielle Shingleton Exemplification essay 10/3/10 Integrity We are presented with choices every day. Many are easy to make and cause very little stress, but some choices can be extremely difficult and have significant consequences. The difference between making the right choice or the wrong one is often determined be a persons character, which is based upon the qualities of integrity, responsibility, and honesty. We will write a custom essay sample on Integrity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gaining an understanding of these three character traits and how to build them is critical to creating a lifetime of positive outcomes. Honesty is the quality or fact of being honest. Finding a pen off the floor and giving it to a teacher is honesty. Not keeping the pen was respectful and honest, in order to reach self actualization and have integrity, you have to have needs met like food and water, love and care from friends and family, especially self confidence. Honesty means basing one’s actions on an internally consistent outline of principles. Depth of principles and devotion of each level to the next are key determining factors. One said to have integrity to the extent that everything they do and believe is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person’s actions that determine their integrity. The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility. Responsibility is acknowledging that you are solely responsible for the choices in your life. Taking on a job while still in high school and maintain good grades if very possible. Accepting that you are responsible for what you choose to feel or think. Accepting that you cannot blame others for the choices you have made. And protecting and nurturing your health and emotional well being. When a person is trustworthy, he or she can be relied upon to be honest, reliable, and loyal which means they have integrity. But its equally important to be respectful, responsible, fair, caring, and demonstrate good citizenship. Good citizenship can be viewed in many ways. Hitler viewed his actions as reliable, honest, fair, and thought he was demonstrating good citizenship by eliminating a different race. The Nazis saw Hitler as a man with integrity. We saw Hitler as a cruel unfair man without integrity. Good character and integrity are easiest to demonstrate when facing public disapproval, but the true test comes when you can potentially get away with anything because then nothing is at stake but your own conscience. Trustworthy is very similar to truthfulness, uprightness, and honor. Truthfulness is when a person consistently tells the truth, and is honest. Honor is the equality of being honorable, and to show respect for others. These simple but powerful words are components of integrity. A person of integrity does exactly what he says and says exactly what he means. There is no conflict between his thoughts and actions. His actions are consistent with the values he professes. According to Dr. William Manninger, A building without integrity may receive structural damage, or even collapse, in a storm. Similarly, people without integrity are blown about by the winds of misfortune and destroyed by catastrophes, for they lack the firmness, solidity, and strength of character to weather any storm. This means that integrity is one of the six essential qualities that are the key to success. The other five are sincerity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, and charity. Integrity is about doing what is right rather than what is appropriate. Not everyone has integrity; the family life has a major impact on a person’s values and principles. When you have integrity you know it as much as everyone else around you does. Just because someone makes a few simple mistakes here and there doesn’t mean they have no integrity. Low integrity is when people get punished, they feel guilty, and lose respect from family and friends. You have a bad reputation, your actions result in problems, accidents, injuries, even death. You also get other people into trouble, by blaming everyone else but yourself. There are benefits to having high integrity, such as; being happy and making other people happy, you have peace of mind, and no guilt feelings. You feel good or satisfied at having done the right thing. As you gain respect from family and friends, you may become an inspiration to others. A person with integrity will have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. it’s not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what profess but what we practice that gives us integrity. † â€Å"A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times. † â€Å"Living with integrity mean: Not settling for less than what you kn ow you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking the truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are harmony with your personal values. Making choices based on what you believe, and not what other believes. † You cannot become â€Å"Integridized† in one day. In order to have integrity, you have to go through milestones in your life. No one can persuade you to become integridized. It’s all personal beliefs and doing the right thing. The majority of integrity comes from the home life. Family and friends play a major role in a person’s life. Being though the right things and to be honest and have goals and be true will have more integrity in life than anyone else. Let’s say one day you find one hundred dollars in your school. Would you keep it, or would you hand it to the teacher? You don’t lie, and you are reliable. You can always be depended on you are trustworthy; people are able to put their trust in you. That is integrity, by not keeping the money and turning it in. That little person talking to you in the back of your head telling you turn it in is part of having integrity! According to Mark D. Rasche, in his Biblical Integrity days of praise article, â€Å"let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. † â€Å"Some have said that integrity can be measured by what a person does when no else is looking. While this may be an indicator of integrity, it is not the real litmus test. According to scripture, the true gauge of a man’s integrity is his heart. The worlds evaluates a person’s integrity from hat it see’s in a man’s outward behavior. God judge’s integrity from what he sees in a man’s heart, for â€Å"every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondered the hearts†. In other words, man measure integrity from the outside, and God measure integrity from the inside. † I truly believe integrity is not lost in America. Integrity is not found on the surface you have to dig deep within in to uncover it. You hear all the time people saying the, â€Å"There are no men of integrity left. † This is not true. Men and women of integrity are everywhere. Think about this, how many people pass your car, house, and your place of business each day and do not steal from it? We spend too much time focusing on people without integrity and we forget to celebrate and show gratitude to those who do what is right every day. What you focus you attention and actions on you will receive. If you search the world for examples of people failing you will find all the examples you are looking for. The same is true for those that seek examples of integrity. If you focus your attention on discovering people that do what is right you will find integrity everywhere you look. You might not have to look very far to find what you are searching for. Chances are you will only need to look inside yourself. Yourself improvement blog, article: the most important trait of successful people! States that â€Å"a life lived with integrity-even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shining star in whose light others may follow in the years to come† says author of article Denis Waitley How to cite Integrity, Papers Integrity Free Essays When Corona goes out in public people stop and stare at his nose. Some even make mean comments about it. Corona demonstrates courage by facing them and standing up for himself not letting them get away for them being hateful. We will write a custom essay sample on Integrity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Corona is insecure about his nose but he does not let that Stop him from his everyday life actions with Roseanne. He builds courage by expressing how he feels towards her by his writing. Corona writes letters every day to Roseanne even though she thinks it is coming from a different man hat she loves. He has courage by giving his love away because she seems happy with the other man. He does not every admit his feelings because he fears the rejection of Roseanne. Overall, Corona exhibits courage by loving her so much that he does not want to see her hurt so, he hurts himself so she can be happy. The ability to have honesty is to do the right thing even if it may be hard. Honesty starts with a vision of what is right, not based on what somebody says is right but on what you feel in your heart is right. A year ago, en of my best friends wanted to participate in a talent show at school. She always had a thing for singing and she sang all the time. Where ever she went she had a song in her head. Unfortunately she did not have the best voice to carry out her songs. So one day sat her down before the show and I told her my opinion about the talent show. I cared for her and did not want her to get hurt or embarrassed so I told her that thought she should rethink the performance. I knew my best friend very well and I knew she would understand where was coming from, because she knew I would want her to o the same. Either way if she did it or not she knew would be there right in front of the stage encouraging her. I just wanted her to know how felt about her and her voice. She ended up taking my advice and decided not to participate. To this day, she brings up how thankful she was that had told her my opinion. Even though the truth may hurt, we tell the people we love our opinion so we can prevent them from being hurt. The ability to have morality is to stand in what you believe in even if you are the only one standing. Morality is beliefs about what right behavior is and what wrong behavior is. Rosa Parks, an African American woman is the definition of morality in my eyes. She was a Civil Rights activist. She refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of the public. She was tired of being divided with the rest of the world. She thought life was so much more than who sat where or who is allowed her. Rosa showed that she believed in equality and wanted a change. She became that change by showing that is okay to stand up for what you believe in. She taught and encouraged others to take action on what they thought was right. It takes a special person to stand up for what they believe in and show their morals when you know half of the world is against you. In conclusion, courage, honesty, and morality play a huge part in defining integrity. It is the ability to stand up for yourself, do the right thing, and stand up for what you believe in even if you are standing alone. I believe that anyone can have integrity, it just about who has the courage to stand up to the world and have your own voice heard over everyone else’s. How to cite Integrity, Papers

Assignment Sample on Diverse Marriage Practices

QUESTION- A compare and contrast analysis how the two cultures approach the topic from a culturally relativistic perspective? INTRODUCTION Marriage is a lawful unification of woman and man for life. The definition of marriage differs around various dimensions like; it is defined as commitment, an overall change in life or covenants and also intimate relationship among woman and man. Some cultures regard marriage as the societal backbone (Chakrabarti, Gupta-Mukherjee Jayaraman, 2009). The aim of marriage differs among the individuals and thus is considered as a transition in an individuals life. Marriage is segregated according to different communities and cultures in diverse regions of the globe like it is divisible in the form of Muslim, Indian, Xhosa, Chinese, Jewish, Christian, etc. All these cultures have diverse customs and have different sentiments involved with the marriage practice. This paper aims at understanding the different customs involved in the marriage practices of Islam and Christianity culture. OVERVIEW OF THE CULTURES Christianity Christianity is at present the biggest religion on the planet (Faelli, 2006). It has commanded western society for quite a long time and remains the dominant part religion of America and Europe. Christian conviction focuses on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, an instructor and healer of 1st-century Palestine. Christian is the biggest world religion right now (Lockard, 2007). It has in excess of 2 billion devotees (James, 2004), who order themselves under 34,000 separate categories (Religioustolerance.org, 2014). At first, Christianity was gotten from Judaism, as Jesus Christ was a Jew, as were his twelve devotees. Christianity is based for the most part around the life, passing and revival of Jesus Christ, and is monotheistic (Benedict, 2004). Christians trust in the Bible being the expression of God, and albeit some decide to take it more truly than others, it is for the most part thought to be enlivened by the Holy Spirit (Freedman, Myers Beck, 2000). Christians accept that Jesus Ch rist is the anointed guardian angel of the world and that his vicinity on earth was the satisfaction of the predictions made in the Old Testament about the Messiah who was to come and spare mankind from their wrongdoings (Gibbs, n.d.). Christian practices differ by division; however basic components incorporate a Sunday love administration, private and corporate supplication to God, study and perusing of the Scriptures, and interest in customs, for example, absolution and accord. Unique Catholic practices incorporate distinguishment of seven aggregate ceremonies, Sunday mass, commitment to the Virgin Mary and the examples of piety, and adoration of relics and spots connected with heavenly figures. Eastern Orthodoxy holds numerous practices in a similar manner as Catholicism, however is particularly recognized by the focal part of symbols: fancy pictures of Christ and the examples of piety accepted to give an association with the profound world. Islam Islam is the term that is mainly utilized in the secular academia to explain the different cultural practices among the Islamic people. The early form of culture of Muslim is associated with Arab. However with the drastic expansion of the empires of Islam, the culture has been influenced by Chinese, Pakistani, Persian, Somali, Egyptian, Filipino, Spanish, etc. The saying Islam signifies 'accommodation to the will of God'. Islam religion is the second biggest religion on the planet with in excess of 1 billion adherents (Esposito, 2003). In 2001 enumeration it is recorded that around 1,591,000 Muslims stay in UK, constituting around 2.7% of population (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). Muslims accept that there is one and only God. Allah is the word in Arabic word for God. As indicated by Muslims, God sent various prophets to humanity to show them how to live as per his law (Sturgis, 2009). Jesus, Abraham and Moses are regarded as Gods prophets. The Muslims accept that the last clairvoyant was Muhammad. Muslims accept that Islam has constantly existed, however for date and commonsense purposes, from the time of Muhammads relocation (Kaser, 2011). Muslims build their laws in light of their sacred book the Sunnah and Qur'an. Muslims accept the Sunnah is the handy case of Muhammad Prophet and that there are five fundamental Pillars of Islam. These columns are the presentation of confidence, supplicating five times each da y, offering cash to philanthropy, fasting and a journey to Mecca (atleast once) (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). COMPARE AND CONTRAST ANALYSIS Christianity Marriage Practices The first Christians traditionally accepted the Roman marriage structure. The Christian marriage is not a contract instead it is covenant relationship that the couples share with each other. Thus due to this reason, they see the symbol of Gods pledge with Abraham in Genesis in their marriage tradition. They believe that it is God gift process and the right atmosphere to build family and engage in sexual relations. In their custom it is very important for them to get marry in Church in front of God. Christian feels that marriage is a declaration of commitment and love in front of pubic thus the couples make this promise to each other in front of their family and friends (Geddes Griffiths, 2002). There are various covenant symbols of Christian marriage practices like: The friends and families of the groom and the bride are made to seat at two different sides of the church symbolizing the blood covenant, where many of them have made sacrifices to bring the couples together. The white runner in their marriage symbolizes the holy ground and the center aisle symbolizes the meeting ground. The seating tradition of bride and the grooms parents symbolizes they are responsible for the union of couple. In Christian marriage, the groom enters the church first, because it is believed that God took the initiative with Christ and came and called for his bride in the church (Manokaran, 2011). In Christian custom, the father escorts his daughter and gives away the brides hand which demonstrates that there is blessing of parents on the couples union and now it is the responsibility of the husband to take care. The bride mainly wears a white dress which signifies the purity of life and heart of the girl. In their wedding, the groom and the bride face each other, j oining hands which showing their commitment and covenant relationship publicly. Then the couples exchange rings which symbolizes that they are giving their talents, emotions, possessions and wealth to other. Then the groom removes the bridal veil which shows that couple has full right on each other (Hastings, Mason Pyper, 2000). Islamic Marriage Practices The marriage ritual or in general known as Nikah, is very simple in Islam culture. But many Muslims conduct multi-day celebrations for their wedding. The groom and the bride are separated from each other during their wedding and can see each other after their family permits (Brockway, 2010). The officiant goes and asks the bride and groom separately about their marriage consent for each other. Then a marriage contract is signed as a witness in front of witnesses from both the sides (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2010). Once they sign the contract the couples are declared as husband wife. During the marriage process the bride wears a bright red a pleated skirt with blouse, ghagra that is embroidered in gold and a man generally wears a sherwani with a turban on their head. This is generally worn in Asian countries. But, majority of the brides go for white wedding dresses. In some cultures the Islam marriage encourages singing, dancing, lots of hilarity and noise which is generally kn own as dholki (Lapidus, 2014). The marriage ceremony of Islam includes reading Quran and exchange of Vows. In Islam unlike Christianity, the marriages are not union of soul-mates, or are not god gift instead they are social contracts that bring obligations and rights for both the parties and is only successful if they mutually cherish and respect each other. In some of the Islam communities, divorce is frequent and unlike other faiths a Muslim women need to have only one husband and a Muslim husband can have more than one wife maximum up to 4 wives (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). CONCLUSION In conclusion, it can be said that this paper has successfully identified the difference between Christianity and Islam culture by giving a brief overview of both the cultures. Since, the aim of this paper was to compare and contrast the marriage practices among the Christianity and Islamic culture, it is identified that there is huge difference between among both the cultures. The Christianity marriage is more of sacraments and the Islamic marriage is more of legal contract. The Christianity marriage takes place in front of their families and friends and the Islamic marriage is takes place initially in two separate areas and then the couples are permitted to see each other. The similarity between these two cultures is that they focus more on the purity and virginity of the bride or the female they are marrying with. There are various traditional practices that are carried out differently based on their rituals and beliefs. However, marriage in both the cultures still acts as a react ions and views across various aspects and changes the individual socially, economically and also intellectually. Traditionally it is the right that is given to the couples to share their lives with each other without any hesitation. This is the stage where the couples start taking major responsibilities of their life and also make choices and decisions for each other. REFERENCES Bbc.co.uk,. (2014). BBC - Religions - Islam: Islam at a glance. Retrieved 30 October 2014, Bbc.co.uk,. (2014). BBC - Religions - Islam: Weddings. Retrieved 30 October 2014 Benedict,. (2004). Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco, CA: Communio Books. Brockway, L. (2010). Your interfaith wedding. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger. Chakrabarti, R., Gupta-Mukherjee, S., Jayaraman, N. (2009). MarsVenus marriages: Culture and cross-border MA. Journal Of International Business Studies, 40, 216-236. Esposito, J. (2003). The Oxford dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. Faelli, R. (2006). Christianity: History, Beliefs, Worship and Celebrations (pp. 5-7). Blake Education. Freedman, D., Myers, A., Beck, A. 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