Assessment Activity Week 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assessment Activity Week 6 - Essay Example One could say there is lack of synergy in the functioning of the company from a global perspective. The other issue in the case is that there is a disconnect with the way things are carried out, this is so because there are too many subsidiaries and fragmented teams that handle tasks which can be done by a single, core team. This would lead to information symmetry with is not the case currently. Although there is no doubt that there is going to be value addition to the company in the long run, to see significant results in the short run priorities have to be changed and looked at from a global perspective. The process has to be modified and restructured a bit to incorporate the current issues. For example the strategic team should look at the option of allocating funds based on criticality of the goal served and how the project would impact the overall development of the company. In fact a good way to evaluate a project is to see its weighted average score across the various goals sp ecified in the NRG.

Silent Spring - Rachel Carson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Silent Spring - Rachel Carson - Essay Example Thesis statement: Rachel Carson’s work Silent Spring exposes the unfavorable relationship between the government and chemical industry by creating awareness among the mass on the negative effect of pesticides on the living world. Background information Basically, the work deals with the after effects of the use of DDT as insecticide. Rachel Carson states that, â€Å"In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world-the very nature of its life† (6). To be specific, the inspiration behind the work was the author’s friend’s knowledge on environmental issues originating from the uncontrolled use of pesticides/insecticides. The use of DDT in author’s friend’s locality resulted in the death of thousands of living things, especially birds. So, she decided to attract the attention of the authorities towards the after effects of the us e of DDT on the living world. So, she decided to write a letter to a daily newspaper named as The Boston Herald, and forwarded a copy of the letter to Carson. This letter deeply influenced Carson’s mind and resulted in the work named as Silent Spring. Theme One can easily identify the fact that uncontrolled use of pesticides affects the sustenance of life on the earth. ... Charles Piddock makes clear that, â€Å"The book, which would be called Silent Spring, described the contamination of lakes, rivers, and oceans, and the death of countless life forms† (86). One can see that almost all the factors that create imbalance in nature are interconnected with the human tendency to exploit natural resources in an uncontrollable manner. Within this context, the uncontrollable use of DDT leads to large scale pollution and the same affects the peaceful co-existence of life on earth. In addition, the human war against insects is the war against life. The authorities are aware of the truth that insects help human beings because pollination is impossible without insects. Still, pesticides are used to kill harmless insects. On the other side, the author is aware of the fact that all the living things are connected and pesticides affect this connection. The use of harmful pesticides cannot be tolerated because human beings are not authorized to control nature. So, the work’s theme is related to the author’s effort to educate the mass on the problems related to pesticides. Significance The significance of the work is not limited to the context of pesticides. Instead, the work’s significance extends to the context of preservation of nature. Conor Mark Jameson opines that, â€Å"Silent Spring is said to have been the spark that ignited the modern-day environmental movement† (17). One can see that the effect of DDT is too dangerous to the living world because uncontrollable killing of insects create ecological imbalance. So, Rachel Carson’s effort is important because the chemical companies which produce DDT were forced to discontinue

Oscar Wilde, The Picture Of Dorian Grey

Oscar Wilde, The Picture Of Dorian Grey Content: I give my personal opinion of the picture of Dorian Grey and how the author Oscar Wilde depicted himself in the novel. This essay reads the novel from several aspects include beauty and art point of view of Wilde, the connection between the novel and the social background and how the author lives his own life in the novel. Key words: aestheticism, Victoria era, corruption, responsibility Oscar Wilde was born in 1854, when the Queen Victoria reigned and Victoria literature style was flowering. Wildes parents were successful Dublin intellectuals and when he was young he was tutored at home, where he became fluent in French and German. He was deeply interested in the rising philosophy of aestheticism when he was at Oxford led by his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin, who had a great influence on his writings later in his life. The prosperity in the Victoria era began to decline in the late 19th century. The hegemony of Great Britain was challenged by the rising Germany and domestic dispute with Ireland. Under the superficial vanity of the British society lies the corruption of the aristocracy. They led a dissolute life and their Vitoria values and beliefs began to vanish. Indulgence and hedonism took the place of a decent and respectable life style they used to live. Oscar Wilde was born to be a spokesman of this era in the field of literature. The picture of Dorian Gray is one and the only novel of his and, in my opinion, is a representative oeuvre of both his life and the declining era. The story starts on a beautiful day with Lord Henry Wotton observing the artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of a handsome young man named Dorian Gray. Dorian arrives later and meets Wotton. After talked with the libertine lord, Dorian begins to believe that beauty is the only thing that deserves to pursue in all his life. Distraught that his beauty will fade, he wishes that the beautiful and ever-lasting portrait can grow old instead of him, which finally comes true in some way. Later in his life, the portrait keep records of whatever he does and the portrait gets older and uglier once he does something criminal or corrupt. In the end, he thinks the only way to absolve him is to destroy the painting with a knife, which ends his horrible life instead. What is ironic is that his painting becomes what it used to be but Dorian himself dies with an aged and withered face. Acknowledged as the spokesman of the philosophy of aestheticism, Wildes doctrine was Art for arts sake. For Wilde, the purpose of art would guide life if beauty alone were its object. The picture of Dorian Gray reveals the belief that beauty on the surface can only exist in tragedies. As Henry said in the story -in the presence of off behind every beautiful thing there is some tragic things are (The picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1891), tragedy if the nature of beauty. Wilde, a pursuer of extreme art and beauty, combined the character of both Dorians and Basils. He once said that: Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry is what the world thinks me; Dorian gray is what I would like to be-in other ages perhaps. These three main characters in the story are the spirit of the story. Dorian Gray is a handsome young man who accepts Lord Henrys idea of hedonism. He indulges himself in all kinds of pleasure, moral and immoral. Like Oscar Wilde, Dorian thinks that beauty is the only object of life and that is why he would like to trade his conscience for life-long youth and beauty. Dorian is actually an extremist of aestheticism, a person that Wilde admires. Wilde highlights Dorians pleasure of living a double life and being an example of duplicity. Although Dorian is extremely indulgent, he replies take care, Basil. You go too far when Basil accuses him of making Lord Henrys sisters name a by-word. This indicates that Dorian still cares what he looks like in peoples eyes and his image in the Victorian society. 24 hours after committing a murder, he happily attends a party and feels keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life. Dorian enjoys this double life as an integration of good and evil. I think this kind of life is what Wilde dreams of. Actually Wilde is just like Dorian. His life is a paradox because he is both good and evil, both sophisticated and simple, both honest and hypocritical. Different from other writers, he leads a much more real life than others. Being accused of sodomite (gay person) by his lovers father, he has lots of scandals and was imprisoned for two year. He abandons his wife and children for his male lover again after he is released. But he does not get what he pursues at last. Different from other writers, he belongs to the upper-class instead of the impoverished known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversations. Wilde was one of the best known personalities of his day (On Characters in the Picture of Dorian GrayAn Interpretation of Oscar Wilde 2008). He converts to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed. All those experience are the reflections of his motto I want to live rather than survive. He himself is a living character in his own life story. Wilde gives what he wants and what he respects to this person-Dorian Gray. Another character in this story named Basil Hollward is also a reflection of Wilde himself. Wilde says that Basil Hollward is what he thinks he is. I think that is because Basil Hollward is a complete artist. Attracted by Dorians gorgeous face, he paints the portrait of Dorian which proves to be his finest work. Art is the only pursuit of basil and he does not want to believe that Dorian is evil although he was murdered by him at last. He still thinks that he is beautiful yet incomplete. What he commits is just a flaw in an apparently perfect thing. In my opinion, he knows what happened as the painting changes but he just does not want to believe. Once Basil acknowledges all the evil sides of Dorian, his dream of art was destroyed. Dorian is a work of art to Basil as well as a lover deep in his heart. Whod like to admit his or her lover is evil and corrupted? Wilde once said my life as an artist depends on him. This is because basil, as an artist, possesses all the doctrines of what Wilde think an artist should have. He is a perfect reflection of Wildes witticism: all that I desire to point out is the general principle that life imitates art far more than art imitate life. Disappointed to the society, Wilde gives all the social characteristics to this Lord. He tricks Dorian to become a half-human half-evil spirit with his corrupted lifestyle. What he does in the story is to lead Dorian to be destroyed in his ideology. As he says that the purpose of life is self development and the full realization of the nature of their requirements. His position in the story is best described by basil, as never says anything good but never does anything bad.(Aestheticism in the picture of Dorian grey, 2006) Besides the theme of aestheticism, this masterpiece also reveals the social situation and peoples sense of irresponsible at that time. When Dorian visit to the opium dens of London, according to what Lord Henry asserts crime belongs exclusively to the lower ordersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I should fancy that crime was to them what art is to us. In Henrys eyes, different social status has different world view and a tainted value must belong to the lower class. What ironic is that Dorian conflates criminal and aesthete. Back in the last stage of the Victoria era, people were crazy about indulgence and corruption but did not want to be responsible for their behavior. This theme is also reflected in the picture of Dorian Grey. In my opinion, Dorian uses his portrait to avoid his responsibility. He also justifies his actions according to the philosophy of the new hedonism. At the end of the novel, he chooses to destroy the painting as a way to confess. All these behavior depicts a spirit which aims to avoid all the commitments and condemnation. Professor John Sutherland once said in his lecture that this writing would have secured Wilde only a minor place in literature, but his status is elevated by his notoriety. I am not totally on board with this statement. Wilde may not be a very successful novelist but he is a successful living human being pursuing what he really wants for all his life. He thinks that it was the artists duty to rebel against precisely sacred orthodoxies. He and his novel are of total success in this sense as a perfect reflection of art and beauty.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail :: essays research papers

Monty Python and the Holy Grail In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, logic is used in an unfamiliar way. This logic does not deal with the nature of life, but deals with the more complex forms of logic that require the filling of blanks to make things work out. Although, for the most part certain things did not make sense, but yet they did express logic. They used environmental attributes to make sense of the complexities they had. The first application of logic found in the movie was in the first scene with the use of coconuts. They argued about how King Arthur had coconuts here in a moderate climate while coconuts only grow in tropical climates. King Arthur’s explanation for this was that a swallow brought it back when migrating. The peasant said that is impossible because a little bird cannot carry a coconut while it migrates. Hence with no other possibilities the peasant had concluded that it is impossible to have a coconut in England, which had been brought back, from a tropical area from a small migrating bird. This is a perfect example of how the movie breaks down logic and uses the settings environmental attributes and resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another example of this uncouth logic is seen with the town’s people’s belief of the woman being a witch. The town’s people said that she shall be burned for being a witch, but the knight, in his use of logic says that if she is a witch, and must be burned then she is made of wood. The knight goes on to say that if she is made of wood then she must float, and that if she floats she must be the same weight as a duck. So they weigh her and from the magic of movies she weighs the same as the duck, concluding that she is a witch. This shows the irrational logic that is being used in the movie, as well as the use of environment to draw a basis for conclusion. From this they arrive at the same conclusion they had in the beginning, that being that the women was a witch.

Quality Control of Car Seat

To All Valued Customers: Tchou Tchou is fully committed to serving the product needs of infants and children.   As such, we want to address a recent market development of our infant car seat model number: 0907-888-TTICS. As you may know, Tchou Tchou has issued a voluntary product recall of all infant car seat purchased in the last three months. In the wake of this development, we are offering to replace your newly purchased infant car seat with one of our earlier model at no extra cost on your part. To ensure the safety of your children, we would like to request you to either return the infant car seat at the store where you purchase the product or email us at [email  protected] and we would be glad to arrange for a pickup. We recognize the inconvenience this causes you.   However, this action reflects Tchou Tchou’s commitment to high quality standards and ensuring that our products fully meet your expectations. Please know we are working hard to provide you with the high-quality products and customer service you have come to expect from Tchou Tchou.   If you have any questions, please contact our toll free 24/7 customer service hotline at 1-800-82468. Sincerely, (Your Name) Manager, Sales and Marketing Analyst Date:   January 4, 2008 To :   Fred Lucas, Manager, Manufacturing Department From:   (Your Name), Manager, Sales and Marketing Analyst Subject:   Quality Control of Car Seat Model Number: 0907-888-TTICS English Language Training Due to the recent complaint that we have received from our client with regards to the tiny fragment of glass in the upholstery of the infant car seat, we have voluntarily recalled the products that were purchased within the past three months.   This step was undertaken to give us the opportunity to thoroughly check the quality of our recalled product. Although our overhead cost would be greatly affected we would like your department to replace the upholsteries of all the recalled infant car seats.   In addition to the quality control inspection that we have been doing prior to the release of all our products, our engineering department will also perform a thorough check on all the machineries and equipments that are being used in the production of all our products. We appreciate the suggestion made by some employees to improve the workplace in your department.   The management officers have considered their suggestion and have recently made an arrangement with a language instructor who could provide a program that would facilitate ease of communication and learning of a second language among employees in the department.   The in-house language instructor will visit your department tomorrow and will present the program to you and your staff. Please keep me posted on any development.   Thank you very much. Hi Ms. Kathy, I have recently written a letter addressed to all our customers who have purchased the infant car seat model number: 0907-888-TTICS.   I have informed them about the company’s decision to recall the product and our willingness to replace the infant car seat with one of our earlier model at no extra cost on their part.   This is in line with our commitment to provide them with the best quality products which our company has been noted for. I have also written the manufacturing department and asked them to replace all the upholsteries of the recalled infant car seat.   The engineering department will likewise conduct a thorough inspection on all the machineries and equipment in the production area to ensure that none of the fragment of glasses came from our production area.   Furthermore, the language instructor will be coordinating with Fred Lucas in line with the in-house language program that will be provided to the employees. Although the complaint of one customer is an isolated case, the company’s overhead expense will be greatly affected as a result of the product recall.   However, the reputation of Tchou Tchou and our customers’ satisfaction is our foremost concern.   This may be the first time that we have recalled a product in our six years of existence but given the time, the public will be fully aware that we have been at par with our product standard. Please be assured that I will use my skills and expertise in projecting the good image of the company and to make the public aware that this problem did not arise from our company. I will keep you posted on any development. Sincerely, (Your First Name)   

What are acid rains?

What are acid rains? â€Å"Acid rain is another side-effect of civilization. As soon as acid rain was discovered and understood, it was attributed to human action.† (Jurgen Stock, Arthur R. Upgren, p.4)Acid rain can be called any atmospheric precipitate (rain, snow, smog, rain with snows, etc) which has the following characteristics: the increased level of acids (mainly sulphuric acid); and the hydrogenous index of pH is less than average index of rain water (average pH for rain water is 5.6), mainly it is rain with pH

The New SAT What You Need to Know

The New SAT What You Need to Know The New SAT: What You Need to Know Originally called the â€Å"Scholastic Aptitude Test,† the SAT is a standardized test used for college admissions in the US. Understanding the SAT is therefore essential for anyone looking to enroll at a US college. However, starting this month (or May 2016 for international students), the SAT has changed. And if you’re thinking of applying to college this year, you’ll need to know the difference. Main Changes In terms of structure, the new SAT still focuses on math and English skills, but with an ‘evidence-based reading and writing’ section replacing the separate writing and critical reading components of the old test. The essay component is now also optional and scored separately, rather than compulsory. Old SAT New SAT 1. Critical reading 2. Writing 3. Math 4. Essay 1. Evidence-based reading and writing 2. Math 3. Essay (optional) On top of these structural differences, some of the main changes include: Scores will now be given on a 1600 point scale (800 for math; 800 for reading/writing) instead of the old 2400 point scale Incorrect answers will no longer be penalized on multiple-choice questions Less focus on obscure vocabulary, more on understanding words in context and evidence-based reasoning Math component now only permits use of a calculator on some sections Preparing for the New SAT Since this new SAT differs significantly from the old one, it’s vital to prepare accordingly. This might involve: Learning the New Test Format The simplest and most important thing you can do before sitting the new SAT is learning exactly how it has changed; knowing the general structure and format of the SAT will allow you to focus your revision and ensures you won’t be surprised when the test day arrives. Honing Your Critical Reading The new SAT focuses more on evidencing your claims, critical analysis and understanding information in context (rather than answering sentence completion questions). This makes it essential to work on your reading skills as well as your vocabulary. Taking a Practice Test As ever with exams, the best way to prepare is taking a practice paper. For the new test, your best option is the Khan Academy Official SAT Practice site.

Moral and Gener in Antigone essays

Moral and Gener in Antigone essays As the course Athens to New York begins, four questions are drilled into our heads as the foundations of the course. These questions might as well be Greek to us, for many college freshmen have never been asked these questions before, not to mention required to take a course that is focused mainly on these questions. The questions force us to look deep within ourselves, to investigate what our beliefs and morals consist of and how they originated. The questions in relation to the readings also force us to compare our beliefs and morals to those of other civilizations. Two of these questions have a strong meaning in the book Antigone by Sophocles. These questions are how do individuals and communities respond to differences in race, class, gender and ethnicity and what does it mean to be moral, ethical or just. Not only do these questions pertain strongly to the book, but todays society can strongly relate to these questions and the impact they have in the book as well. In ancient Greece, women were inferior to men, for they were expected to stay home all the time and keep the house. In fact, the only women who were ever outside of their house were usually courtesans or hereartas. The families of ancient Greece were very strong, for the poleis consisted of many extended families. Gender issues are very apparent in Antigone, and these issues lead to why Antigone breaks Creons man-made laws and followed the divine laws that Antigone felt was moral and just. The gender problems in ancient Greek society and Antigones refusal to follow the man-made laws of the land are important aspects of the play, for the gender and class problems in her society were the reasons that she did what she felt was moral, ethical, and just and therefore lead to her death for the honor of being able to bury her brother. One of the questions for the course Athens to New York is how do individuals and communities re...

Bio 135 Anatomy and Physiology

Simple Diffusion 1. The following refer to Activity 1: Simulating Dialysis (Simple Diffusion). Which solute(s) were able to pass through the 20 MWCO membrane? None According to your results, which solute had the highest molecular weight? Albumin Which solute displayed the highest rate of diffusion through the 200 MWCO membrane? NACI_ Using the data from Chart 1, explain the relationship between the rate of diffusion and the size of the solute. The smaller the solute particle, the greater the rate of diffusion. Facilitated Diffusion 2. The following refer to Activity 2: Simulating Facilitated Diffusion. Did any of the substances travel against their concentration gradient? Explain why or why not. No – In facilitated diffusion, substances can only move down their concentration gradient. Using your results from Chart 2, what was the fastest rate of facilitated diffusion recorded? 0. 0038 . Describe the conditions that were used to achieve this rate. 8mm glucose with 900 glucose carrier proteins. Name two ways to increase the rate of glucose transport. Increase amount of glucose solute and increase number of glucose carrier membrane. Did NaCl affect glucose transport? No Did NaCl require a transport protein for diffusion? Why or why not? No because if its small size it can diffuse without a transport protein. Osmotic Pressure 3. The following refer to Activity 3: Simulating Osmotic Pressure. For NaCl, which MWCO membrane(s) provided for the net movement of water without movement of NaCl? 20 Explain how you determined this. (Hint: Correlate your results to the data in Chart 3. ) Osmotic pressure building up because of non-diffusable NACI in the solute causes water to diffuse its concentration gradient. For glucose, which MWCO membrane(s) provided for the net movement of glucose without net movement of water? 00 Explain how you determined this. No buildup of osmotic pressure shows glucose is able to diffuse down its concentration gradient. Is osmotic pressure generated if solutes diffuse freely? No Explain how the solute concentration affects osmotic pressure. The higher the solute concentration, the higher the osmotic pressure. Filtration 4. The following refer to Activity 4: Simulating Filtration. Usi ng your results in Chart 4, which MWCO membrane had the greatest filtration rate? 200 Explain the relationship between pore size and filtration rate. The larger the pore size – the greater the filteration rate. Which solute did not appear in the filtrate using any of the membranes? Powdered charcoal What is your prediction of the molecular weight of glucose compared to the other solutes in the solution? Greater weight. What happened when you increased the driving pressure? The filteration rate is increased. Explain why fluid flows from the capillaries of the kidneys into the kidney tubules. Because the pressure in the capillaries is higher than that of the kidney tubules. How do you think a decrease in blood pressure would affect filtration in the kidneys? Lower pressure would result in slower filtration rate. . The following refer to Activity 5: Simulating Active Transport. With 1 mMATP added to the cell interior (left beaker) and the extracellular space (right beaker), was all of the Na_ moved into the extracellular space? Why or why not? No, ATP was depleted in 3min. Describe the effect of decreasing the number of sodium-potassium pumps. Rate of active transport decreases. Describe how y ou were able to show that the movement of sodium was due to active transport. Sodium moved from left beaker to right beaker against its concentration gradient in active transport but not in diffusion.

Group Dynamics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Group Dynamics - Essay Example On then other hand, Jung & Sosik (2002) indicate that group dynamics ahs been beneficial to the organization since it aids the management in devising problem solving skills in the workplace. Through group dynamics, the management has been able to create team work among its employees; thus, creativity and cooperation in the workplace. A group is inclusive of several people who come together with the aim of achieving a common objective. Group dynamics refers attitudinal and characteristics in behaviour of a given group (Robbins, 2007). Group dynamics are relevant to the organization in the HS engineering firm where there are several group dynamics in the Leeds firm that work together with the aim of achieving organizational objectives. The study of group dynamics within an organization will enable one understand the status of an organization (Cheringtan, 2004). However, group dynamics can only be successful if the management organizes the various aspects of groups in the workplace (Lov elace, Shapiro & Weingart, 2001). Among these attributes include the size of the groups, the characteristics of the members of these groups, their norms beliefs, and finally, the nature of tasks that they perform so as to be successful in their quest to create team work. Through categorization of these attributes in the organization gives the management an opportunity to strategies the kind of activities that ought to be performed in the workplace ands at what pace. From the HS engineering firm case study, group dynamics has not been alienated from the functioning of the organization. In the Leeds firm for instance, several aspects of group dynamics have been put in place to see to the success of the organization. Through analysis of the group dynamics of the organization, the management has been able to clearly understand what aspects to apply so as to understand the entire organization (Marcus, 1998). With the HS engineering company having other branches in other parts of the coun try, there was dire need by the company to understand the functionality of all the branches in the workplace. A closer scrutiny of the case also indicates that the company has gone through massive changes all in attempt to survive in the market. In the long run, the company has experienced massive losses in some of its branches that led to the closure of the same. This indicates that the management has dedicated a lot of efforts in understanding the operations of the company. Social identify theory states that individual group dynamics help to obtain a sense of identity and acquire self actualization. This reduces the rate of conflict within the organization. As an illustration from the HS engineering sample the major conflicts that arise due to the change taking place within the organization include; loss in manufacturing industries, there is an expectation of 30% reduction in the financial status of the company. The different group dynamics established had their own needs that lea d to the closure of some of them due to poor management. Mangold & Miles (2002) and Moritz &Watson (1998) indicate that leaders of organizations can only implement the aspects of group dynamics if the management of the organization is well conversant with the occurrences in the organization, no matter how minute they may seem. All organizations

How the Impact of Culture Affects Ethical and Moral Communications Research Paper

How the Impact of Culture Affects Ethical and Moral Communications - Research Paper Example The basic process of communication has many barriers that impact its effectiveness and cultural is one of the elements of â€Å"noise† that can distort the understanding and interpretation of the message (John). Cultural differences in understanding, as well as message delivery, can become barriers to effective communication. And these differences have become more profound by the proliferation of mass media and social media promoted through the increasing use of the internet (Lauring). The impact of culture on meaningful business and inter-organizational communication is dependent upon the nature of cultural context, a theory proposed by Edward Hall. Based on his findings, people in organizations rely on other sensory and behavioral cues in sending, receiving and interpreting messages. The filters are socially constructed and so are these sensory cues thus each individual’s communication process is greatly influenced by the norms and value of his cultural context (Chita kornkijsil). In high context cultures, such as Chinese, Korean and Indian, people rely less on verbal cues and more on nonverbal elements like voice, facial expressions, tone and the implied meaning of the message rather than the literal meaning. In low context cultures including the American, Australian and the English cultures, on the other hand, the sender and receiver are more oriented towards the direct and literal meaning of the messages implied (Karin). Likewise in individualist cultures place more importance on personal goals rather than group interests in communication. On the other hand, the collectivist cultures induce people to think of themselves an extended part of the organization thus making inter-organizational communication more effective (Caroline). Hence, culture has the tendency to impact the moral and ethical dimensions of communication in a business as well as a social setting, this is because of the cognitive constraints which pertain to the different framing of the same idea and differing value systems. Secondly, there exist behavioral constraints in terms of the everyday behavioral practices including standards of proximity, eye contact, shaking hands etc. for example, in America culture, it is against the social etiquette to not look the other person in the eye while speaking to him while in Asian cultures, looking in the eye can mean disrespect. Likewise, while in American culture, greeting someone with a smile is again a social etiquette; in Germany, this can send a flirtatious sign to the opposite gender. Thirdly, the emotional constraints hinder and can impact the social and moral dimensions of communication. For example, in Japanese culture, silence is an integral part of work ethics, in Asian cultures silence is taken to be affirmation irrespective of the actual state of mind of the person whereas the American managers are more talkative and consider talking imperative to convey the right messages to their subordinates and co-w orkers (Sunita).

How Modern Terrorism Uses the internet Research Paper

How Modern Terrorism Uses the internet - Research Paper Example The Internet provides terrorists with several advantages. For example, terrorists could operate in a clandestine manner from a distance. Such endeavors could be across national and continental borders, and could be conducted without fear of detection or regulation. The expenditure and risk involved in cyber – attacks are significantly lower than a physical attack. Furthermore, cyber – attacks tend to attract the attention of the media to a considerable extent (Why Terrorists Use the Internet, 2005). These advantages are off setted by several disadvantages. For instance, the intricacy and distributed nature of the Internet makes it very difficult to control a terrorist attack and achieve the sought for objectives. Terrorist attacks on the Internet chiefly cause economic damage, and there is very little scope for employing such attacks to cause physical harm (Why Terrorists Use the Internet, 2005). As such, a terrorist attack that does not entail death and injury attracts less attention and is therefore less effective in spreading terror. Moreover, terrorists host websites that display terrifying videos of their brutal murders. One such video showed the brutal killing of an American journalist by the Islamic terrorists. The Islamic terrorist group, Al Qaeda employs advanced communication technology in conjunction with multimedia, in order to engage in a highly sophisticated form of psychological warfare (Weimann, 2004). The al Qaeda has unremittingly declared; via its websites that its attack on the World Trade Center served to significantly damage the US economy, in addition to causing severe psychological damage to the populace. This contention has been borne out to some extent by the weakening of the dollar and the diffidence generated in the US economy, at the national and international level (Weimann, 2004). Moreover, the Internet provides a convenient means for raising funds for not only political organizations, but also terrorist groups. In a ddition, terrorist groups employ the Internet to recruit and mobilize cadres. Terrorist organizations not only use the various web technologies to enhance their allure, but they also collect information about the entities that browse through their websites (Weimann, 2004). In addition, technical information regarding the manufacture and use of explosives is readily available on the Internet. For instance, there are several websites that post The Anarchist Cookbook and The Terrorist’s Handbook. These are detailed manuals for manufacturing a vast array of explosive devices (Weimann, 2004). A major use of the Internet made by terrorist groups is for planning and coordinating terrorist attacks. The September 11 attacks were witness to the large scale use of the Internet by the al Qaeda to mount its murderous attacks. A large number of encrypted messages were retrieved by federal officials from the computer of the al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah, the monster who had masterminded t hese iniquitous attacks (Weimann, 2004). Realizing the benefit being derived from the Internet, by the terrorists, the US Government embarked upon a counterterrorism strategy. This strategy was aimed at infiltrating the message boards of the Islamic terrorists. In addition, the staunch ally of the US, namely the UK was successful in hacking an English language online magazine of the al Qaeda (Ackerman, 2011). Moreover, in the UK, the Home Office had proposed that filtering software was

Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels Essay

Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels - Essay Example The essay "Gender Discrimination in Five Star Hotels" talks about the gender discrimination in five-star hotels and its impact on their career. Hotels are a part of the hospitality industry which is one of the oldest industries in the world. A hotel provides a temporary stay for its customers.A hotel provides a carefree atmosphere for its customers. It is a very sociable industry; its employees have a very high exposure to the customers. Looking at its contribution to the economy we can say that it is one of the most fast growing and biggest industries of the world. Almost 10% of the gross national product is due to this hotel industry. In 2005, it gave revenue of almost  £27 billion. After 2000 there was an increase of almost 4.5% in the hotel sector. In 2004, it gave almost  £11.5 billion revenue. This huge increase shows that it is one of the fastest-growing industries. In 2002, there were almost 280 000 employees in almost 40 000 establishments. London is the hub of hotel est ablishments in the UK.In recent years we can notice that the hotel sector has been growing very fast. The main reasons for this are mergers and acquisitions. Sheraton Park Tower Hotel, Marriott London Park Lane, The London Hilton on Park Lane, Intercontinental etc are all five-star hotels in the UK. There are many big names in this sector of the hospitality industry, there is almost nothing being done in case of human resource management. Employment opportunities in the hospitality profession abound all over the world.

Choose a country fromLatin America and explain how globalisation has Essay

Choose a country fromLatin America and explain how globalisation has affected it in the last 10years - Essay Example Napoleonic wars led to the political independence of Brazil in the start of the 18th century. Brazil was affected by the Asian financial crisis of the year 1998 as its economy was put into turmoil (Ross, 2013). Brazil had reasonably recovered from the crisis caused by its currency’s devaluation as it entered the 21st century (Jaguaribe, n.d.). â€Å"While the US remains a major market and supplier for Brazil, economic strength and diverse interests have propelled the nation to focus on membership in regional organizations, notably the Latin American and Caribbean Community of States, a bloc that excludes US and Canada† (Casas-Zamora, 2010). In spite of a long history of the influence of globalization, Brazil is far less globalized than a vast majority of the developing countries in general and the Latin American countries in particular. In spite of the fact that Brazil is improving trade with a lot of countries around the world, it happens to be the least globalized country among all Latin American countries (LBC, 2012). As per the survey conducted by the Latin Business Chronicle, Brazil has remained the least globalized Latin American country for the second consecutive year (eTurboNews, 2012). The eighth annual Latin Globalization Index analyzed the globalization of the Latin American countries with respect to six factors that are mentioned below: The data used by the index was drawn from the year 2011, that was the most recent full year. The exports of services and goods in the year 2011 accounted for 11.9 per cent of the GDP of Brazil whereas the imports of Brazil made 12.6 per cent of its GDP (PR Newswire, 2012). An increase was noticed in both of these figures from 2010 to 2011. This apparent lack of connection from the world trade flow indicates the fact that the growth of Brazil is caused, to a considerable extent, by the domestic investment and consumption. The score of globalization in Brazil was 7.25

How Modern Terrorism Uses the internet Research Paper

How Modern Terrorism Uses the internet - Research Paper Example The Internet provides terrorists with several advantages. For example, terrorists could operate in a clandestine manner from a distance. Such endeavors could be across national and continental borders, and could be conducted without fear of detection or regulation. The expenditure and risk involved in cyber – attacks are significantly lower than a physical attack. Furthermore, cyber – attacks tend to attract the attention of the media to a considerable extent (Why Terrorists Use the Internet, 2005). These advantages are off setted by several disadvantages. For instance, the intricacy and distributed nature of the Internet makes it very difficult to control a terrorist attack and achieve the sought for objectives. Terrorist attacks on the Internet chiefly cause economic damage, and there is very little scope for employing such attacks to cause physical harm (Why Terrorists Use the Internet, 2005). As such, a terrorist attack that does not entail death and injury attracts less attention and is therefore less effective in spreading terror. Moreover, terrorists host websites that display terrifying videos of their brutal murders. One such video showed the brutal killing of an American journalist by the Islamic terrorists. The Islamic terrorist group, Al Qaeda employs advanced communication technology in conjunction with multimedia, in order to engage in a highly sophisticated form of psychological warfare (Weimann, 2004). The al Qaeda has unremittingly declared; via its websites that its attack on the World Trade Center served to significantly damage the US economy, in addition to causing severe psychological damage to the populace. This contention has been borne out to some extent by the weakening of the dollar and the diffidence generated in the US economy, at the national and international level (Weimann, 2004). Moreover, the Internet provides a convenient means for raising funds for not only political organizations, but also terrorist groups. In a ddition, terrorist groups employ the Internet to recruit and mobilize cadres. Terrorist organizations not only use the various web technologies to enhance their allure, but they also collect information about the entities that browse through their websites (Weimann, 2004). In addition, technical information regarding the manufacture and use of explosives is readily available on the Internet. For instance, there are several websites that post The Anarchist Cookbook and The Terrorist’s Handbook. These are detailed manuals for manufacturing a vast array of explosive devices (Weimann, 2004). A major use of the Internet made by terrorist groups is for planning and coordinating terrorist attacks. The September 11 attacks were witness to the large scale use of the Internet by the al Qaeda to mount its murderous attacks. A large number of encrypted messages were retrieved by federal officials from the computer of the al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah, the monster who had masterminded t hese iniquitous attacks (Weimann, 2004). Realizing the benefit being derived from the Internet, by the terrorists, the US Government embarked upon a counterterrorism strategy. This strategy was aimed at infiltrating the message boards of the Islamic terrorists. In addition, the staunch ally of the US, namely the UK was successful in hacking an English language online magazine of the al Qaeda (Ackerman, 2011). Moreover, in the UK, the Home Office had proposed that filtering software was

Choose a country fromLatin America and explain how globalisation has Essay

Choose a country fromLatin America and explain how globalisation has affected it in the last 10years - Essay Example Napoleonic wars led to the political independence of Brazil in the start of the 18th century. Brazil was affected by the Asian financial crisis of the year 1998 as its economy was put into turmoil (Ross, 2013). Brazil had reasonably recovered from the crisis caused by its currency’s devaluation as it entered the 21st century (Jaguaribe, n.d.). â€Å"While the US remains a major market and supplier for Brazil, economic strength and diverse interests have propelled the nation to focus on membership in regional organizations, notably the Latin American and Caribbean Community of States, a bloc that excludes US and Canada† (Casas-Zamora, 2010). In spite of a long history of the influence of globalization, Brazil is far less globalized than a vast majority of the developing countries in general and the Latin American countries in particular. In spite of the fact that Brazil is improving trade with a lot of countries around the world, it happens to be the least globalized country among all Latin American countries (LBC, 2012). As per the survey conducted by the Latin Business Chronicle, Brazil has remained the least globalized Latin American country for the second consecutive year (eTurboNews, 2012). The eighth annual Latin Globalization Index analyzed the globalization of the Latin American countries with respect to six factors that are mentioned below: The data used by the index was drawn from the year 2011, that was the most recent full year. The exports of services and goods in the year 2011 accounted for 11.9 per cent of the GDP of Brazil whereas the imports of Brazil made 12.6 per cent of its GDP (PR Newswire, 2012). An increase was noticed in both of these figures from 2010 to 2011. This apparent lack of connection from the world trade flow indicates the fact that the growth of Brazil is caused, to a considerable extent, by the domestic investment and consumption. The score of globalization in Brazil was 7.25

American lifestyle Essay Example for Free

American lifestyle Essay In your opinion what are the two most significant characteristics of modernist literature? Use any TWO texts from the course to substantiate and illustrate your argument. In my opinion, the two most significant characteristics of modernist literature are the pessimistic view of modern society or modern doubt, expressed through alienation and fragmentation, and the technique of stream of consciousness. In this essay I will discuss these characteristics and several important texts to illustrate my argument. Gertrude Steins work is a perfect example of fragmentation, or rather in her case, literary cubism. In art, cubism means showing multiple perspectives, taking a form and breaking it down to rebuild it on canvas (analytical cubism) or taking materials to create a sort of collage (synthetic cubism). In modernist literature the same process occurs: people, feelings, locations are fragmented, only bits and pieces are described instead of the whole picture. As Picasso said: I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them. Stein was inspired by modernist artists such as Picasso, and wrote a series of literary portraits, including one on Picasso. She defended the representational nature of Cubism and believed that through the distortion, repetition and altering of a subject one could get a resemblance of human perception. The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a good example of both alienation and fragmentation. Both Prufrock and his world are fragmented. He cannot really connect with the women he sees, the conversations he hears, the city he walks through, or the mermaids he hears. The descriptions of the women he meets are not realistic, but fragmented, the poem never visualizes the woman with whom Prufrock imagines an encounter except in fragments: Arms that are braceleted and white and bare Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. But not only the women and his environment are described in fragments, Prufrock himself is growing old, fading in a fragmented way: I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. / Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? Even his voice is a fragmentation of voices past and present ( Dante, Shakespeare) that somehow harmonize. The fragmentation in the poem the worries, the interruptions, the repetitions all sum up his relation to the world. The images are used to convey meaning, coherence can be established from the ruins of fragments. Prufrocks thoughts may perhaps move from one to another, but they do so in a way that mimics our thought process. He moves from one doubt to another, and his seemingly random observations are rooted in his past and his insecurities, just like ours are. This poems fragmentation to some extent serves to display Prufrocks indecisive, second-guessing, and pessimistic nature, but it more importantly reflects the fears and uncertainties we all posses. Moreover, Prufrocks question Do I dare//Disturb the universe? mirrors his insecurity and anxiety about his social standing. From the fragmented images provided by Eliot we come away with a coherent analysis of Prufrocks character. He is the typical modern man, and his fragmented and often unsure voice is proof of it. The other issue raised by this poem is the modernist feeling of alienation. Prufrock alienates his emotions from those around him. He is scared to show the real him for fear of being rejected or alone. He cannot connect with people on an emotional level. There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet. In this particular quote Prufrock tells us how he is not himself, but someone people want him to be. Prufrock experiences feelings of exclusion and alienation from the modern world and industrialised society, which becomes clear in his low self-esteem and his inability to form relationships, and makes him worry about what people think of him. He even claims he should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas and feels pinned and wriggling on the wall when people scrutinise him. With the lack of self-confidence, his alienation grows stronger. The quote: Do I dare? is repeated often throughout the poem. He asks himself time after time whether he should be himself or the person other expect him to be. Because of his alienation Prufrock feels unable to act on his desires, since he feels that people will automatically reject him. This can be seen as a reflection of the fast-paced modern American lifestyle, with people feeling trapped and unable to connect with other people and to society. Another example of the alienation evident in modernist literature is Heart of Darkness. Modernist writers often present the world as desolate, and Conrads Heart of Darkness is no exception. As Marlow describes: My isolation amongst all these men with whom I had no point of contact, the oily and languid sea, the uniform sombreness of the coast, seemed to keep me away from the truth of things, within the toil of a mournful and senseless delusion (p.30)

Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users

Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION What is an Office? Offices are workspaces designed for regular use to achieve personal, group or organizational goals through the accomplishment of tasks. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) go on to state that these tasks can be grouped into cognitive, physical, social or procedural tasks. The office provides a location for contact and could also be a repository for tools, information and other resources required to meet business objectives. It is also a business resource, this a point most people fail to understand thus, the failure to properly design and evaluate work spaces. The work place or office is one of the places the modern man spends the bulk of his waking hours. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) say almost half of ones waking hours are spent in and around the office. This would provide explanation for research efforts into the design and utilization of offices. According to Myerson and Ross (2003) the office grew out of the factory and then followed the trend of bureaucratization of industry. Thus, offices have been viewed differently by users and companies. Some view it as an address, others as a necessary evil but to others it is considered to be an asset. Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) noted that the design of an office was mostly considered as a cost and done to support quiet work and also show peoples status. While the purpose of the â€Å"New office† is to be that of attracting and retaining staff as well as to revolutionalize corporate culture. Work places or offices have been described variously as; conventional, traditional, and closed or open plan offices. Some, group them as large or small, landscaped etc. (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). The general descriptions of workspaces fall under the categories of open plan and cellular offices and this is based on the architectural and functional features of the work spaces (Duffy, Laing and Crisp, 1992). Other descriptions and categorization of offices include the hive; which is suited to individual processes. The den; suited to group processes. The cell; designed for concentrated study while the club supports transactional knowledge (Sailer, Budgen, Lonsdale, Turner and Penn, 2009). There are other descriptions of office types for example, Myerson and Ross (2003) from an architectural point of view, showed that views of property and space as related to the office environment have been evolving and as such, they identify four thematic categories of offices namely: narrative which presents the â€Å"office as a brand experience.† Nodal where the â€Å"office as knowledge connector.† The neighborly theme sees the â€Å"office as a social landscape† and lastly nomadic â€Å"office as distributed work space† these grouping reflect more of necessity and corporate culture not necessarily a collection of generally practically replicable models. In another categorization of offices by Myerson and Ross (2006) is based on the fact that the offices evolved to suit knowledge workers, as such, the categories match each of the four â€Å"realms† of knowledge work namely: the academy â€Å"is likened to the corporate realm which is a more collegiate and collaborative approach to work†, guild â€Å"the professional realm in essence a professional cluster of peers sharing a skill or specialization†, agora â€Å"the public realm where the corporation is open to the city or the market place† and the lodge â€Å" the domestic or private realm more of the live and work setting†. In the general scheme of things offices are still broadly classified into open plan and private or cellular offices all other forms are variations of the two. Cellular Offices Also called closed offices, this type of offices are the traditional or conventional offices which are usually closed and private workspaces (Maher and von Hippel, 2005) i.e. they are designed with floor to ceiling walls, a door and dimensioned for a single user. This type of office is also called a cell-office and can be a shared room office, used by 2-3 persons (Danielsson, 2008). This has been the generally accepted, traditional or popular understanding of the place called an office. Open Plan Offices These are found to be a common workspace shared by a group of employees. The original concept of the open plan office has continued to evolve, but it is the absence of floor-to-ceiling walls that is said to be the primary characteristic of open-plan offices. The arrangements of office furniture, partitions, screens, office equipment, or plants mark out individual and functional work areas (Valesny and Farace, 1987). One of the strengths of the open plan office according to Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) is the openness and flexibility allowing one to move to where things are happening and allowing for â€Å"overhearing and over-seeing† (p. 207) thus enhancing peripheral participation. Other types of the open plan office include the bull pen office, action offices, landscaped offices (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). In the bull pen offices, the work desks are arranged in neat row as far as the eyes can see. In reality, most firms have a mix of office typologies ranging from cellular units designed for a single user to a small room office shared by a few people then the spaces shared with a large group with or without specifically assigned work places and with varying measures of visual and audio privacy. Recent Developments in Open Plan Offices It is safe to argue that, the open plan office has become increasingly popular (de Korte, Kuijt-Evers and Vink, 2007; Ding, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pejtersen, Allermann, Kristensen and Poulsen, 2006 etc.) and several reasons could be advanced to explain the widespread adoption and use of the open plan offices and its variations. There is also a move to wards a reduction in open plan office workspaces especially in the United States of America due to the understanding that smaller workstations are cheaper to maintain (Dykes, 2011) this according to Veitch, Charles, Farley and Newsham (2007) is because there is a failure in understanding the full value of the physical office environment and related issues in open plan offices in particular. Advantages of open plan offices Searches through literature (Danielsson, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pan and Micheal, 2007; Roper and Juneja, 2008; Valesny and Farace, 1987 etc.) present the following as reasons for the adoption of open plan offices. They include; Reduction in office space and cost decline: The price of real estate is predicated on the area rented and utilized. With organizations using rental spaces, it is cheaper to use the rented floor or floors as open plan offices. In most cases, the cost of partitioning is saved if an open plan set up is deployed fully or partly. Flexibility for organizational changes: The open plan office lends itself to easy restructuring of work areas. In most cases, it is easier to fit in one more members of staff (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). More efficient work flow and communication: Some jobs require continuous team work, face to face interaction and a relatively high level of routine procedures. For such work groups, the open plan office or variations thereof are usually recommended and deployed. The enhancement of some level of peripheral participation is one of the strengths of the open plan office. Possible enhancement of social facilitation: The enhancement of collaboration i.e. the fostering of a team spirit, where, work teams or task forces are close to one another and can quickly form a huddle to sort out problems without resorting to information technology provisions like the intercom, emails, phones, video conferencing or even the walk up to another office. Oldham and Brass, (1979) specifically examined interpersonal issues that included; intradepartmental and interdepartmental interaction, friendship opportunities, noting that supervisor and co worker feed back could be improved. Ease of supervision: There is an ease of supervision, in that, a look over the landscape of the office can give an idea as to who is present and what each member of staff is doing. Limitations of open plan offices. Regarding the limitations of open-plan office designs, Maher and von Hippel (2005) rightly point out the fact that in open plan office layouts â€Å"distractions and overstimulation are intrinsically linked to the design.† These issues have consistently been themain down sides of open plan offices and some of them include: Increased workplace noise (Pan and Michael, 2007). Increased disturbances and distractions. Increased feelings of crowding and loss of privacy. There is a reduction in autonomy and task identity and a reduction in supervisor and co worker feedback in certain cases (Oldham and Brass, 1979). One point of agreement in open plan office research is that there is a generally low level of perceived privacy in open plan offices, as interruptions and distractions of the visual and acoustic kind occur frequently in open plan offices. (Pejtersen et al. 2006; Roper and Juneja, 2008) Furthermore, researchers have observed that these negative outcomes resulting from the adoption of the open plan office design tends to result in dissatisfaction with work and the workplace thus, reducing functional efficiency, decreasing performance, especially, for non routine tasks and also, reduced feedback from supervisors due to some complexity with the freedom of communication (de Korte et al. 2007; Pejtersen et al. 2006; Sundstrom et al. 1982; Vischer, 2007 ). This understanding has led some organizations to begin returning to the traditional private offices i.e. with floor to ceiling partitions assigned to an individual (Roper and Juneja 2008). Evolving nature of office work Also worthy of note, is the evolution of work patterns. An increasingly large number of persons work mainly at or from home and visit the office sparingly. This has given rise to the several types of offices one of which is the flex-office, which is dimensioned for less than 70% of the total company staff to be in at the same time. Another design is the combi-office; where a member of staff is not assigned to a specific desk but sharing of common facilities provides the spatial definition of such an individuals work space i.e. the task and personnel at hand may determine the sitting arrangement of persons in the office (Danielsson, 2008). Thesis Overview The thesis is organized in to 5 chapters; Chapter one provides an introduction the concept of an office, its major types and variations. It then focuses on the open plan office and then highlights the strengths and limitations of the open plan office. Chapter two provides a literature review of the concept of privacy perception; it reviews the perceived benefits of privacy and then traces the expectation that privacy perception could be influenced by culture. Significant studies related to dissatisfaction with open plan offices are examined for possible links to culture. The discussion then moves to culture, its definition and then the attempts made in the classification of culture. The Hofstede paradigm is then discussed and some studies employing the paradigm are reviewed. The research motivation and hypotheses are presented. Chapter three discusses the methodology of the study, the survey method, issues noted and the challenge expected. The source and design of the questionnaire was presented and the analysis methods proposed. The statistical analysis tool was briefly introduced. Chapter four shows the procedure of the survey, documents the responses received, analyzed the data collected from the general information part of the questionnaire and then chronicles the statistical analysis of the second part of the questionnaire designed to elicit privacy perception in open plan office environments. Chapter five provides a discussion of the results obtained in chapter five and then presents the limitations of the current study while providing directions for further work. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This part of the thesis discusses the links between privacy perceptions and culture. It also includes definitions and explanations of some related terms. Lastly, it includes a presentation of some ideas relevant to the work and results of related studies. The chapter concludes with the research question, research hypothesis and the motivation for the study. Privacy Perception In order to facilitate a better understanding, the term â€Å"privacy† is defined firstly then the concept called â€Å"perception. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2011), privacy is said to be â€Å"the quality or state of being apart from company or observation†. Wikipedia defines perception as â€Å"the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.† It goes on to say â€Å"what one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of the perceived.† Privacy is a very difficult concept or construct to define not to talk of evaluating, it has commanded interest from the fields of anthropology, architecture, cultural geography, environmental design, ethology, history, law, philosophy, and sociology, as well as branches psychology such as; clinical, counseling, developmental, educational, environmental and social psychology (Newell, 1995; 1998). Newell (1995) in her extensive review of the concept of privacy divided the perspectives of privacy into, people centered, place centered and the person-environment or the person-place interaction with the primary interest on the place, people or equally on the person and place and or with the interaction itself. Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001 p. 664) in another review of literature on privacy noted that perspectives applied to the analysis of the concepts of privacy to be: The units experiencing privacy. They go on to note â€Å"the unit experiencing privacy can be either an individual or a group, or both.† Desired – Achieved privacy. This is explained by the understanding that the concept of privacy is either seen as a subjective state or studied as an achieved state (Newell, 1998). Reactive – Proactive privacy. This is to say the control of communication and also the control of knowledge. Furthermore, they describe the dimensions of privacy to include: physical, psychological, social and informational thus, suggesting privacy dimensions to be made up of four quadrants of the diagram as shown in figure 2.1 below.. Source: Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001) It would be seen that in an open plan office all the dimensions of privacy as enumerated Figure 2.1 above are impinged upon; First, physical accessibility to the person is unrestricted. Secondly, the cognitive intrusions abound due to audio and visual distractions. Thirdly, it is more difficult to control social contacts for example, the choice of participants for interaction, the interaction frequency, length and content of the said interaction. Then finally, the ease with which certain private pieces of information about the person is easily accessible is a problem in open plan offices, after all, most open plan offices do not have a single route of access or a door to the work space. So, it is difficult to mark and protect ones territory and as such protect some form of private information from would be trespassers (Anjum, Paul and Ashcroft, 2004). In the light of these perspectives, one of the definitions of privacy suggested is that â€Å"privacy is a voluntary and temporary condition of separation from the public domain† (Newell, 1998, p. 357). Oldham, Kulick and Stepina (1991) highlighted the fact that individuals reacted negatively to environments characterized by few enclosures, closeness and high density because such environments exposed individuals to too many unwanted or uncontrolled intrusions. It is also agreed that, the perception of the work environment leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the work and the work environment. Fischer, Tarquinio and Vischer (2004, p.132 ) posit that the there are three major categories of mediating influences on workplace satisfaction and these are, â€Å"individual differences like culture, age, professional or status, organizational context and environmental features.† All these issues could be further grouped into two; internal and external factors as relates to the individual. These two descriptions could be mapped to the two ingredients required for a need for privacy to exist i.e. a person or persons and a place. Sanders and McCormick (2002, p. 485) also point out that apart from the physical features of the built environment, â€Å"people are influenced by nonphysical features like social, cultural, technological, economic and political factors characteristic of the environment.† External Factors These are the place factors, usually described as the environmental or design issues which can lead to noise distractions, visual distractions, interruptions, crowding and accessibility issues (Ding, S. 2008). Due to the absence of internal walls, the low height of walls or partitions in open plan offices influences privacy; the more enclosures, the lower the people per given space and the higher the partitions, the higher the privacy perceived (Danielsson 2008; Oldham, G. R et al. 1991; Sundstrom, Herbert and Brown, 1982 etc.). Organizational context is also considered to be an external factor. This involves the type of industry involved by the organization. For example doctors consulting rooms should provide more audio privacy compared to an architectural firms offices or design studios. Internal Factors This grouping is based on the person factors or what goes on within the person, the suggestion that individual differences related to but not restricted to personality traits, gender, individual experience etc. affect ones perception of, and hence the evaluation of the work environment (external or place factors). Some studies have found that variations exist across gender in perception of privacy in the open plan office (Yildirim, Akalin-Baskaya and Celebi, 2007). Also, in a different cross cultural study of privacy, Newell (1998) found that privacy was more a condition of the person thus, the duration of the experience and the change on the person as a result of the experience leads to its suspected therapeutic effect. In general perceptions and attitudes to privacy, she found that gender also played a part especially within cultures. Maher and von Hippel (2005) and others before them showed that individual differences in the ability to handle overstimulation by the application stimulus screening and inhibitory abilities influenced the perceptions of the work environment. These inhibitory skills are cognitive in nature and such inhibitory skills are found to vary between individuals and even especially across cultures. For example, Hall (1966) points out that the Japanese are said to be content with paper walls as acoustic screens while the Dutch and Germans require thick walls and double doors to serve as acoustic screens. Benefits of Privacy in the work Environment Newell (1998, p. 359) relates the need for privacy to help in â€Å"maintaining healthy internal physiological and cognitive functioning subjectively described as ‘wellbeing’†. The study concluded that achieving the perceived privacy had some therapeutic effects. On the area of performance, especially for knowledge workers like engineers, accountants, software designers, decision makers etc., auditory and visual distraction have been found to be a cause of stress and even performance impairment (Roper and Juneja, 2008). Furthermore, Oommen, Knowles and Zhao (2008) point to the likelihood of aggression and increased instances of eye, nose and throat irritations while working in open plan environments. This in turn affects productivity. Culture Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. This, among other things covers their beliefs, values, norms and rituals. Specifically, Hofstede (2009 p. 1) points out that â€Å"culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from the others and it manifests itself in the form of symbols, heroes, rituals and values.† Earlier, an American anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his books, talked about language and especially modes of communication as a point of differentiating cultures (Hall E.T 1966; 1976). He even considered language to be the core of culture while, Geert Hofstede considers language as a part of the rituals of a particular culture (Hofstede, 2010). This goes to point out some of the existing disagreements about what culture is and even how it comes about. Culture is thus, studied as a means of understanding or shedding light into the behavior or reactions of individuals or people groups. Edward Hall in his book; the hidden dimension writes that â€Å"people from different cultures inhabit different sensory worlds, so that experience, as it is perceived through one set of culturally patterned sensory screens is quite different from experience perceived through another.† (1966, p. 2). This highlights and explains the link between culture and perception generally and in spatial terms especially. Classifying Cultures There have been several descriptions and models of culture (Matsumoto and Yoo, 2006; Hall, 1966; 1970), for example, Hall (1966) alludes to contact and non-contact groups or cultures in relation to spatial meanings and preferences within people groups . This is related to the social dimension of privacy (Leino-Kilpi et al. 2001), but he especially specifies high and low context cultures according to their ways of communicating. For the high context (HC) culture or communication for that matter, much of the information is implicit while, in the low context (LC) culture, nearly everything is explicit. He also wrote about the concept of time among cultures (Hall, 1976). Where there are polychronic (P-time) and monochronic (M-Time) cultures; the M-time society or culture would prefer to do only one thing at a time when serious i.e. for such persons, time is linear and segmented with each activity scheduled while, the individuals in a P-time culture can juggle several activities, they emphasize the involvement of people and the completion of tasks rather than schedules. Edward T. Hall coined the term â€Å"Proxemics† which he describes as â€Å"interrelated observations and theories of mans use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture† Hall (1966 p. 1). In explaining his observations in proxemic behavior (Hall, 1963 p. 1003) he notes that â€Å"what is close to an American may be distant to an Arab.† Many other researchers and individuals apart from Edward Hall had worked on other frameworks and dimensions of culture. Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006) lists some of these frameworks which are interestingly identified by the names of the researchers that discovered them and this list which is not exhaustive, includes; Hofstedes (1980) with subsequent revisions and dimensions added; Schwartz (2004) who presented seven universal value orientations, Smith, Dugan and Trompenaars (1996) had two universal value orientations; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman and Gupta (2003) came up with nine value orientations related to leadership; Inglehart (1997) had two attitude-belief-value orientations, Bond et al. (2004) is said to have reported two social axioms. All cited in Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006 p. 239). The listing above does not mention each of the dimensions. The dimensions of each framework listed are found in Table 2.1 below. Table 2.1 Six Theoretical Frameworks for Universal Dimensions of Cultural Variability Framework Dimensions Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of  work-related values Individualism vs. collectivism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Masculinity vs. femininity Long- vs. short-term orientation Schwartz’s (2004) dimensions of  values Embeddedness Hierarchy Intellectual autonomy Affective autonomy Egalitarianism Mastery Harmony Smith, Dugan, and Trompenaars’s  (1996) dimensions of values Egalitarian commitment vs. conservatism Utilitarian involvement vs. loyal involvement House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, and  Gupta’s (2003) dimensions of  leadership values Performance orientation Assertiveness orientation Future orientation Human orientation Institutional collectivism Family collectivism Gender egalitarianism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Inglehart’s (1997) dimensions of  attitudes, values, and beliefs Traditional vs. secular-rational orientation Survival vs. self-expression values Bond et al.’s (2004) dimensions  of social axioms (beliefs) Dynamic externality Societal cynicism Source: (Matsumoto, D and Yoo, S. H, 2006 p. 240) National versus Organizational culture As a society has a culture, so do organizations and such organizations employ staff who come from a particular culture(s). The organizations then require these individuals to work in offices. Apart from the culture description related to national boundaries, there is a culture that seems to characterize workplaces or organizations and this is called organizational or corporate culture. Barney (1986) notes that like culture itself, organizational culture has many competing definitions and then goes on to suggest that a generally acceptable definition of organizational culture to be â€Å"as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business.† (p. 657). He goes on to point the pervasive nature of organizational culture in that, it helps to define the relationship of the firm to parties it comes in contact with through its business. This simply shows that culture within the work place especially geared towards profitability or the conferment of advantages could be termed organizational or corporate culture. Generally it will be assumed that the national culture will also play a part. Guidroz, Kotrba, and Denison (2009) from results of a study of multinational companies, claim that their study seems to point to organizational culture superseding national culture in diversity management practices. The issue in question in this thesis is not exactly a management matter but the individual perception of privacy in the open plan office environments and would suggest that both national and organizational cultures playing a part because according to (Brand, 2009) the design of the workspace or workplace communicates the corporate culture of the organization meaning, the adoption of the open plan environment can be tied to the organizations corporate culture. Hofstedes’ Cultural Dimensions This is a hugely popular cross-cultural model (Gerhart and Fang, 2005; Hofstede et al, 2010; Sivakumar, Nakata, 2001) currently in use, with its roots in industrial psychology (Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede, 2009) is called the Hofstedes model of culture named after Geert Hofstede a Dutch emeritus Professor of organizational anthropology and international management in the Netherlands. Hofstedes work highlighted the fact that culture is manifested through symbols, heroes, rituals and values. But, Hofstede argues that values form the core of culture as represented by the Hofstede culture â€Å"Onion† in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.2 shows the onion structure graphically illustrating the manifestation of culture at different levels and even the interactions therein. As seen from Figure 2.2 above symbols, heroes and rituals are by themselves visible to all observers. It is the cultural meanings of the practices that are open to interpretation by the observer while, values are unseen or embedded within the person but they still subtly determine choices and much more (Hofstede et al., 2010). Hofstedes research studied value survey responses of similar respondents from different countries as to their approach, as related to four basic problems prevalent in most societies (Meeuwesen et. al, 2009) these included; Handling social inequalities in the society. The approach to dealing with uncertainty in general. The structure of the relationship between an individual and the group. The emotional role division between the male and females in a society. The initial data for Hofstedes culture study came about through an analysis of International Business Machine Company (IBM) staff surveys at a time, the company was called Hermes. He utilized the responses from routine staff surveys about values and related matters to provide ratings for countries on each of what he then called the four dimensions of culture. This was achieved by examining correlations between mean scores of questionnaire items at the level of countries. Other approaches, like analysis at the individual level did not provide much useful information (Hofstede, 2009). Later, certain studies showed the need for another dimension and this lead to the inclusion of a fifth dimension called, long term orientation. Each dimension of culture score for a country is calculated using a scale of roughly 0 to 100 for each dimension. A dimension of culture is an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures (Hofstede, 2009 p. 6) and the higher the score of a dimension, the more that dimension is exhibited in the society or nation in question while for lower scores the opposite pole of the dimension is more pronounced. Thus, the scores are therefore bipolar (Jones, 2007) In a 2010 book, Greet Hofstede, his son Gert Jan Hofstede and a research collaborator Micheal Minkov reviewed earlier works, alongside their recent studies and added a sixth dimension called indulgence versus restraint (IVR) to the previously known Hofstedes five dimensions of culture. The sixth dimension was largely as a result of the work of Micheal Minkov (Hofstede et al., 2010). The six dimensions of Hofstedes cultural model now include power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), long term orientation (LTO), and the recently added indulgence (IVR). Power distance (PDI). This indicates the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among the persons with and without power i.e. the leadership versus the followership respectively as normal and legitimate in any given society. If the power distance scores are high, it indicates a pyramidal or hierarchical system where the power is resident at the top while, lower scores indicate greater equality suggesting power is shared and spread within the group. Individualism (IDV). This is related to the se Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION What is an Office? Offices are workspaces designed for regular use to achieve personal, group or organizational goals through the accomplishment of tasks. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) go on to state that these tasks can be grouped into cognitive, physical, social or procedural tasks. The office provides a location for contact and could also be a repository for tools, information and other resources required to meet business objectives. It is also a business resource, this a point most people fail to understand thus, the failure to properly design and evaluate work spaces. The work place or office is one of the places the modern man spends the bulk of his waking hours. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) say almost half of ones waking hours are spent in and around the office. This would provide explanation for research efforts into the design and utilization of offices. According to Myerson and Ross (2003) the office grew out of the factory and then followed the trend of bureaucratization of industry. Thus, offices have been viewed differently by users and companies. Some view it as an address, others as a necessary evil but to others it is considered to be an asset. Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) noted that the design of an office was mostly considered as a cost and done to support quiet work and also show peoples status. While the purpose of the â€Å"New office† is to be that of attracting and retaining staff as well as to revolutionalize corporate culture. Work places or offices have been described variously as; conventional, traditional, and closed or open plan offices. Some, group them as large or small, landscaped etc. (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). The general descriptions of workspaces fall under the categories of open plan and cellular offices and this is based on the architectural and functional features of the work spaces (Duffy, Laing and Crisp, 1992). Other descriptions and categorization of offices include the hive; which is suited to individual processes. The den; suited to group processes. The cell; designed for concentrated study while the club supports transactional knowledge (Sailer, Budgen, Lonsdale, Turner and Penn, 2009). There are other descriptions of office types for example, Myerson and Ross (2003) from an architectural point of view, showed that views of property and space as related to the office environment have been evolving and as such, they identify four thematic categories of offices namely: narrative which presents the â€Å"office as a brand experience.† Nodal where the â€Å"office as knowledge connector.† The neighborly theme sees the â€Å"office as a social landscape† and lastly nomadic â€Å"office as distributed work space† these grouping reflect more of necessity and corporate culture not necessarily a collection of generally practically replicable models. In another categorization of offices by Myerson and Ross (2006) is based on the fact that the offices evolved to suit knowledge workers, as such, the categories match each of the four â€Å"realms† of knowledge work namely: the academy â€Å"is likened to the corporate realm which is a more collegiate and collaborative approach to work†, guild â€Å"the professional realm in essence a professional cluster of peers sharing a skill or specialization†, agora â€Å"the public realm where the corporation is open to the city or the market place† and the lodge â€Å" the domestic or private realm more of the live and work setting†. In the general scheme of things offices are still broadly classified into open plan and private or cellular offices all other forms are variations of the two. Cellular Offices Also called closed offices, this type of offices are the traditional or conventional offices which are usually closed and private workspaces (Maher and von Hippel, 2005) i.e. they are designed with floor to ceiling walls, a door and dimensioned for a single user. This type of office is also called a cell-office and can be a shared room office, used by 2-3 persons (Danielsson, 2008). This has been the generally accepted, traditional or popular understanding of the place called an office. Open Plan Offices These are found to be a common workspace shared by a group of employees. The original concept of the open plan office has continued to evolve, but it is the absence of floor-to-ceiling walls that is said to be the primary characteristic of open-plan offices. The arrangements of office furniture, partitions, screens, office equipment, or plants mark out individual and functional work areas (Valesny and Farace, 1987). One of the strengths of the open plan office according to Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) is the openness and flexibility allowing one to move to where things are happening and allowing for â€Å"overhearing and over-seeing† (p. 207) thus enhancing peripheral participation. Other types of the open plan office include the bull pen office, action offices, landscaped offices (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). In the bull pen offices, the work desks are arranged in neat row as far as the eyes can see. In reality, most firms have a mix of office typologies ranging from cellular units designed for a single user to a small room office shared by a few people then the spaces shared with a large group with or without specifically assigned work places and with varying measures of visual and audio privacy. Recent Developments in Open Plan Offices It is safe to argue that, the open plan office has become increasingly popular (de Korte, Kuijt-Evers and Vink, 2007; Ding, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pejtersen, Allermann, Kristensen and Poulsen, 2006 etc.) and several reasons could be advanced to explain the widespread adoption and use of the open plan offices and its variations. There is also a move to wards a reduction in open plan office workspaces especially in the United States of America due to the understanding that smaller workstations are cheaper to maintain (Dykes, 2011) this according to Veitch, Charles, Farley and Newsham (2007) is because there is a failure in understanding the full value of the physical office environment and related issues in open plan offices in particular. Advantages of open plan offices Searches through literature (Danielsson, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pan and Micheal, 2007; Roper and Juneja, 2008; Valesny and Farace, 1987 etc.) present the following as reasons for the adoption of open plan offices. They include; Reduction in office space and cost decline: The price of real estate is predicated on the area rented and utilized. With organizations using rental spaces, it is cheaper to use the rented floor or floors as open plan offices. In most cases, the cost of partitioning is saved if an open plan set up is deployed fully or partly. Flexibility for organizational changes: The open plan office lends itself to easy restructuring of work areas. In most cases, it is easier to fit in one more members of staff (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). More efficient work flow and communication: Some jobs require continuous team work, face to face interaction and a relatively high level of routine procedures. For such work groups, the open plan office or variations thereof are usually recommended and deployed. The enhancement of some level of peripheral participation is one of the strengths of the open plan office. Possible enhancement of social facilitation: The enhancement of collaboration i.e. the fostering of a team spirit, where, work teams or task forces are close to one another and can quickly form a huddle to sort out problems without resorting to information technology provisions like the intercom, emails, phones, video conferencing or even the walk up to another office. Oldham and Brass, (1979) specifically examined interpersonal issues that included; intradepartmental and interdepartmental interaction, friendship opportunities, noting that supervisor and co worker feed back could be improved. Ease of supervision: There is an ease of supervision, in that, a look over the landscape of the office can give an idea as to who is present and what each member of staff is doing. Limitations of open plan offices. Regarding the limitations of open-plan office designs, Maher and von Hippel (2005) rightly point out the fact that in open plan office layouts â€Å"distractions and overstimulation are intrinsically linked to the design.† These issues have consistently been themain down sides of open plan offices and some of them include: Increased workplace noise (Pan and Michael, 2007). Increased disturbances and distractions. Increased feelings of crowding and loss of privacy. There is a reduction in autonomy and task identity and a reduction in supervisor and co worker feedback in certain cases (Oldham and Brass, 1979). One point of agreement in open plan office research is that there is a generally low level of perceived privacy in open plan offices, as interruptions and distractions of the visual and acoustic kind occur frequently in open plan offices. (Pejtersen et al. 2006; Roper and Juneja, 2008) Furthermore, researchers have observed that these negative outcomes resulting from the adoption of the open plan office design tends to result in dissatisfaction with work and the workplace thus, reducing functional efficiency, decreasing performance, especially, for non routine tasks and also, reduced feedback from supervisors due to some complexity with the freedom of communication (de Korte et al. 2007; Pejtersen et al. 2006; Sundstrom et al. 1982; Vischer, 2007 ). This understanding has led some organizations to begin returning to the traditional private offices i.e. with floor to ceiling partitions assigned to an individual (Roper and Juneja 2008). Evolving nature of office work Also worthy of note, is the evolution of work patterns. An increasingly large number of persons work mainly at or from home and visit the office sparingly. This has given rise to the several types of offices one of which is the flex-office, which is dimensioned for less than 70% of the total company staff to be in at the same time. Another design is the combi-office; where a member of staff is not assigned to a specific desk but sharing of common facilities provides the spatial definition of such an individuals work space i.e. the task and personnel at hand may determine the sitting arrangement of persons in the office (Danielsson, 2008). Thesis Overview The thesis is organized in to 5 chapters; Chapter one provides an introduction the concept of an office, its major types and variations. It then focuses on the open plan office and then highlights the strengths and limitations of the open plan office. Chapter two provides a literature review of the concept of privacy perception; it reviews the perceived benefits of privacy and then traces the expectation that privacy perception could be influenced by culture. Significant studies related to dissatisfaction with open plan offices are examined for possible links to culture. The discussion then moves to culture, its definition and then the attempts made in the classification of culture. The Hofstede paradigm is then discussed and some studies employing the paradigm are reviewed. The research motivation and hypotheses are presented. Chapter three discusses the methodology of the study, the survey method, issues noted and the challenge expected. The source and design of the questionnaire was presented and the analysis methods proposed. The statistical analysis tool was briefly introduced. Chapter four shows the procedure of the survey, documents the responses received, analyzed the data collected from the general information part of the questionnaire and then chronicles the statistical analysis of the second part of the questionnaire designed to elicit privacy perception in open plan office environments. Chapter five provides a discussion of the results obtained in chapter five and then presents the limitations of the current study while providing directions for further work. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This part of the thesis discusses the links between privacy perceptions and culture. It also includes definitions and explanations of some related terms. Lastly, it includes a presentation of some ideas relevant to the work and results of related studies. The chapter concludes with the research question, research hypothesis and the motivation for the study. Privacy Perception In order to facilitate a better understanding, the term â€Å"privacy† is defined firstly then the concept called â€Å"perception. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2011), privacy is said to be â€Å"the quality or state of being apart from company or observation†. Wikipedia defines perception as â€Å"the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.† It goes on to say â€Å"what one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of the perceived.† Privacy is a very difficult concept or construct to define not to talk of evaluating, it has commanded interest from the fields of anthropology, architecture, cultural geography, environmental design, ethology, history, law, philosophy, and sociology, as well as branches psychology such as; clinical, counseling, developmental, educational, environmental and social psychology (Newell, 1995; 1998). Newell (1995) in her extensive review of the concept of privacy divided the perspectives of privacy into, people centered, place centered and the person-environment or the person-place interaction with the primary interest on the place, people or equally on the person and place and or with the interaction itself. Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001 p. 664) in another review of literature on privacy noted that perspectives applied to the analysis of the concepts of privacy to be: The units experiencing privacy. They go on to note â€Å"the unit experiencing privacy can be either an individual or a group, or both.† Desired – Achieved privacy. This is explained by the understanding that the concept of privacy is either seen as a subjective state or studied as an achieved state (Newell, 1998). Reactive – Proactive privacy. This is to say the control of communication and also the control of knowledge. Furthermore, they describe the dimensions of privacy to include: physical, psychological, social and informational thus, suggesting privacy dimensions to be made up of four quadrants of the diagram as shown in figure 2.1 below.. Source: Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001) It would be seen that in an open plan office all the dimensions of privacy as enumerated Figure 2.1 above are impinged upon; First, physical accessibility to the person is unrestricted. Secondly, the cognitive intrusions abound due to audio and visual distractions. Thirdly, it is more difficult to control social contacts for example, the choice of participants for interaction, the interaction frequency, length and content of the said interaction. Then finally, the ease with which certain private pieces of information about the person is easily accessible is a problem in open plan offices, after all, most open plan offices do not have a single route of access or a door to the work space. So, it is difficult to mark and protect ones territory and as such protect some form of private information from would be trespassers (Anjum, Paul and Ashcroft, 2004). In the light of these perspectives, one of the definitions of privacy suggested is that â€Å"privacy is a voluntary and temporary condition of separation from the public domain† (Newell, 1998, p. 357). Oldham, Kulick and Stepina (1991) highlighted the fact that individuals reacted negatively to environments characterized by few enclosures, closeness and high density because such environments exposed individuals to too many unwanted or uncontrolled intrusions. It is also agreed that, the perception of the work environment leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the work and the work environment. Fischer, Tarquinio and Vischer (2004, p.132 ) posit that the there are three major categories of mediating influences on workplace satisfaction and these are, â€Å"individual differences like culture, age, professional or status, organizational context and environmental features.† All these issues could be further grouped into two; internal and external factors as relates to the individual. These two descriptions could be mapped to the two ingredients required for a need for privacy to exist i.e. a person or persons and a place. Sanders and McCormick (2002, p. 485) also point out that apart from the physical features of the built environment, â€Å"people are influenced by nonphysical features like social, cultural, technological, economic and political factors characteristic of the environment.† External Factors These are the place factors, usually described as the environmental or design issues which can lead to noise distractions, visual distractions, interruptions, crowding and accessibility issues (Ding, S. 2008). Due to the absence of internal walls, the low height of walls or partitions in open plan offices influences privacy; the more enclosures, the lower the people per given space and the higher the partitions, the higher the privacy perceived (Danielsson 2008; Oldham, G. R et al. 1991; Sundstrom, Herbert and Brown, 1982 etc.). Organizational context is also considered to be an external factor. This involves the type of industry involved by the organization. For example doctors consulting rooms should provide more audio privacy compared to an architectural firms offices or design studios. Internal Factors This grouping is based on the person factors or what goes on within the person, the suggestion that individual differences related to but not restricted to personality traits, gender, individual experience etc. affect ones perception of, and hence the evaluation of the work environment (external or place factors). Some studies have found that variations exist across gender in perception of privacy in the open plan office (Yildirim, Akalin-Baskaya and Celebi, 2007). Also, in a different cross cultural study of privacy, Newell (1998) found that privacy was more a condition of the person thus, the duration of the experience and the change on the person as a result of the experience leads to its suspected therapeutic effect. In general perceptions and attitudes to privacy, she found that gender also played a part especially within cultures. Maher and von Hippel (2005) and others before them showed that individual differences in the ability to handle overstimulation by the application stimulus screening and inhibitory abilities influenced the perceptions of the work environment. These inhibitory skills are cognitive in nature and such inhibitory skills are found to vary between individuals and even especially across cultures. For example, Hall (1966) points out that the Japanese are said to be content with paper walls as acoustic screens while the Dutch and Germans require thick walls and double doors to serve as acoustic screens. Benefits of Privacy in the work Environment Newell (1998, p. 359) relates the need for privacy to help in â€Å"maintaining healthy internal physiological and cognitive functioning subjectively described as ‘wellbeing’†. The study concluded that achieving the perceived privacy had some therapeutic effects. On the area of performance, especially for knowledge workers like engineers, accountants, software designers, decision makers etc., auditory and visual distraction have been found to be a cause of stress and even performance impairment (Roper and Juneja, 2008). Furthermore, Oommen, Knowles and Zhao (2008) point to the likelihood of aggression and increased instances of eye, nose and throat irritations while working in open plan environments. This in turn affects productivity. Culture Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. This, among other things covers their beliefs, values, norms and rituals. Specifically, Hofstede (2009 p. 1) points out that â€Å"culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from the others and it manifests itself in the form of symbols, heroes, rituals and values.† Earlier, an American anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his books, talked about language and especially modes of communication as a point of differentiating cultures (Hall E.T 1966; 1976). He even considered language to be the core of culture while, Geert Hofstede considers language as a part of the rituals of a particular culture (Hofstede, 2010). This goes to point out some of the existing disagreements about what culture is and even how it comes about. Culture is thus, studied as a means of understanding or shedding light into the behavior or reactions of individuals or people groups. Edward Hall in his book; the hidden dimension writes that â€Å"people from different cultures inhabit different sensory worlds, so that experience, as it is perceived through one set of culturally patterned sensory screens is quite different from experience perceived through another.† (1966, p. 2). This highlights and explains the link between culture and perception generally and in spatial terms especially. Classifying Cultures There have been several descriptions and models of culture (Matsumoto and Yoo, 2006; Hall, 1966; 1970), for example, Hall (1966) alludes to contact and non-contact groups or cultures in relation to spatial meanings and preferences within people groups . This is related to the social dimension of privacy (Leino-Kilpi et al. 2001), but he especially specifies high and low context cultures according to their ways of communicating. For the high context (HC) culture or communication for that matter, much of the information is implicit while, in the low context (LC) culture, nearly everything is explicit. He also wrote about the concept of time among cultures (Hall, 1976). Where there are polychronic (P-time) and monochronic (M-Time) cultures; the M-time society or culture would prefer to do only one thing at a time when serious i.e. for such persons, time is linear and segmented with each activity scheduled while, the individuals in a P-time culture can juggle several activities, they emphasize the involvement of people and the completion of tasks rather than schedules. Edward T. Hall coined the term â€Å"Proxemics† which he describes as â€Å"interrelated observations and theories of mans use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture† Hall (1966 p. 1). In explaining his observations in proxemic behavior (Hall, 1963 p. 1003) he notes that â€Å"what is close to an American may be distant to an Arab.† Many other researchers and individuals apart from Edward Hall had worked on other frameworks and dimensions of culture. Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006) lists some of these frameworks which are interestingly identified by the names of the researchers that discovered them and this list which is not exhaustive, includes; Hofstedes (1980) with subsequent revisions and dimensions added; Schwartz (2004) who presented seven universal value orientations, Smith, Dugan and Trompenaars (1996) had two universal value orientations; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman and Gupta (2003) came up with nine value orientations related to leadership; Inglehart (1997) had two attitude-belief-value orientations, Bond et al. (2004) is said to have reported two social axioms. All cited in Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006 p. 239). The listing above does not mention each of the dimensions. The dimensions of each framework listed are found in Table 2.1 below. Table 2.1 Six Theoretical Frameworks for Universal Dimensions of Cultural Variability Framework Dimensions Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of  work-related values Individualism vs. collectivism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Masculinity vs. femininity Long- vs. short-term orientation Schwartz’s (2004) dimensions of  values Embeddedness Hierarchy Intellectual autonomy Affective autonomy Egalitarianism Mastery Harmony Smith, Dugan, and Trompenaars’s  (1996) dimensions of values Egalitarian commitment vs. conservatism Utilitarian involvement vs. loyal involvement House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, and  Gupta’s (2003) dimensions of  leadership values Performance orientation Assertiveness orientation Future orientation Human orientation Institutional collectivism Family collectivism Gender egalitarianism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Inglehart’s (1997) dimensions of  attitudes, values, and beliefs Traditional vs. secular-rational orientation Survival vs. self-expression values Bond et al.’s (2004) dimensions  of social axioms (beliefs) Dynamic externality Societal cynicism Source: (Matsumoto, D and Yoo, S. H, 2006 p. 240) National versus Organizational culture As a society has a culture, so do organizations and such organizations employ staff who come from a particular culture(s). The organizations then require these individuals to work in offices. Apart from the culture description related to national boundaries, there is a culture that seems to characterize workplaces or organizations and this is called organizational or corporate culture. Barney (1986) notes that like culture itself, organizational culture has many competing definitions and then goes on to suggest that a generally acceptable definition of organizational culture to be â€Å"as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business.† (p. 657). He goes on to point the pervasive nature of organizational culture in that, it helps to define the relationship of the firm to parties it comes in contact with through its business. This simply shows that culture within the work place especially geared towards profitability or the conferment of advantages could be termed organizational or corporate culture. Generally it will be assumed that the national culture will also play a part. Guidroz, Kotrba, and Denison (2009) from results of a study of multinational companies, claim that their study seems to point to organizational culture superseding national culture in diversity management practices. The issue in question in this thesis is not exactly a management matter but the individual perception of privacy in the open plan office environments and would suggest that both national and organizational cultures playing a part because according to (Brand, 2009) the design of the workspace or workplace communicates the corporate culture of the organization meaning, the adoption of the open plan environment can be tied to the organizations corporate culture. Hofstedes’ Cultural Dimensions This is a hugely popular cross-cultural model (Gerhart and Fang, 2005; Hofstede et al, 2010; Sivakumar, Nakata, 2001) currently in use, with its roots in industrial psychology (Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede, 2009) is called the Hofstedes model of culture named after Geert Hofstede a Dutch emeritus Professor of organizational anthropology and international management in the Netherlands. Hofstedes work highlighted the fact that culture is manifested through symbols, heroes, rituals and values. But, Hofstede argues that values form the core of culture as represented by the Hofstede culture â€Å"Onion† in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.2 shows the onion structure graphically illustrating the manifestation of culture at different levels and even the interactions therein. As seen from Figure 2.2 above symbols, heroes and rituals are by themselves visible to all observers. It is the cultural meanings of the practices that are open to interpretation by the observer while, values are unseen or embedded within the person but they still subtly determine choices and much more (Hofstede et al., 2010). Hofstedes research studied value survey responses of similar respondents from different countries as to their approach, as related to four basic problems prevalent in most societies (Meeuwesen et. al, 2009) these included; Handling social inequalities in the society. The approach to dealing with uncertainty in general. The structure of the relationship between an individual and the group. The emotional role division between the male and females in a society. The initial data for Hofstedes culture study came about through an analysis of International Business Machine Company (IBM) staff surveys at a time, the company was called Hermes. He utilized the responses from routine staff surveys about values and related matters to provide ratings for countries on each of what he then called the four dimensions of culture. This was achieved by examining correlations between mean scores of questionnaire items at the level of countries. Other approaches, like analysis at the individual level did not provide much useful information (Hofstede, 2009). Later, certain studies showed the need for another dimension and this lead to the inclusion of a fifth dimension called, long term orientation. Each dimension of culture score for a country is calculated using a scale of roughly 0 to 100 for each dimension. A dimension of culture is an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures (Hofstede, 2009 p. 6) and the higher the score of a dimension, the more that dimension is exhibited in the society or nation in question while for lower scores the opposite pole of the dimension is more pronounced. Thus, the scores are therefore bipolar (Jones, 2007) In a 2010 book, Greet Hofstede, his son Gert Jan Hofstede and a research collaborator Micheal Minkov reviewed earlier works, alongside their recent studies and added a sixth dimension called indulgence versus restraint (IVR) to the previously known Hofstedes five dimensions of culture. The sixth dimension was largely as a result of the work of Micheal Minkov (Hofstede et al., 2010). The six dimensions of Hofstedes cultural model now include power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), long term orientation (LTO), and the recently added indulgence (IVR). Power distance (PDI). This indicates the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among the persons with and without power i.e. the leadership versus the followership respectively as normal and legitimate in any given society. If the power distance scores are high, it indicates a pyramidal or hierarchical system where the power is resident at the top while, lower scores indicate greater equality suggesting power is shared and spread within the group. Individualism (IDV). This is related to the se