Sample Responses to a College Deferral Letter

Sample Responses to a College Deferral Letter If you applied to college through an Early Action or Early Decision option, you may find that youve been neither accepted nor rejected, but deferred. Many applicants despair when their application for early admission ends up in this frustrating limbo for it feels much like a rejection. It is not, and you can take steps to improve your chances of getting admitted with the regular admission pool. One easy step is to write the college a response to your deferral letter. Key Takeaways: Responding to a College Deferral If you have new information that could strengthen your application, share it with the admissions folks. This can include improved test scores, a new award, or a new leadership position.Be positive: reaffirm your interest in the school, and dont let your anger and frustration at being deferred darken your letter. Be careful not to suggest the admissions folks made a mistake.As with all written parts of your applications, pay careful attention to grammar, punctuation, and style. Colleges want to admit students who write well. Always remember that if the college did not think you had the qualifications necessary to be admitted, you would have been rejected, not deferred. Essentially, the school is telling you that you have what it takes to get in, but they want to compare you to the full applicant pool. You simply didnt stand out quite enough to be admitted with the early applicant pool. By writing to a college after being deferred, you have the opportunity to both reaffirm your interest in the school and present any new information that might strengthen your application. So, dont panic if you received a letter of deferral after applying to college through  early decision  or  early action. Youre still in the game.  First, read through these  7 tips on what to do if deferred. Then, if you think you have meaningful new information to share with the college that has deferred your admission, write them a letter. Sometimes you can write a simple  letter of continued interest  even if you dont have new information to share, although some schools explicitly state that such letters are not necessary, and in some cases, not welcome (admissions offices are extremely busy in the winter). Sample Letter from a Deferred Student Below is a sample letter that would be appropriate if deferred. Caitlin has a significant new honor to report to her first choice college, so she certainly should make the school aware of the update to her application. Note that her letter is polite and concise. She doesnt express her frustration or anger; she doesnt try to convince the school that theyve made a mistake; instead, she reaffirms her interest in the school, presents the new information, and thanks the admissions officer. Dear Mr. Carlos, I am writing to inform you of an addition to my  University of Georgia  application. Although my admission for Early Action has been deferred, I am still very interested in UGA and would very much like to be admitted, and therefore I wish to keep you up to date on my activities and achievements. Earlier this month I participated in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology in New York City. My high school team was awarded a $10,000 scholarship for our research on graph theory. The judges consisted of a panel of scientists and mathematicians led by former astronaut Dr. Thomas Jones; the awards were presented at a ceremony on Dec. 7. Over two thousand students entered this competition, and I was extremely honored to be recognized alongside the other winners. More information on this competition can be found through the Siemens Foundation web site: siemens-foundation.org/en/. Thank you for your continued consideration of my application. Sincerely, Caitlin Anystudent Discussion of Caitlin's Letter Caitlins letter is simple and to the point. Given how busy the admissions office will be between December and March, short is important. It would reflect poor judgment if she were to write a lengthy letter to present a single piece of information. That said, Caitlin could strengthen her letter slightly with a few tweaks to her opening paragraph. Currently she states that she is still very interested in UGA and would very much like to be admitted. Since she applied Early Action, we can assume that UGA was among Caitlins top choice schools. If so, she should state this. Also, it doesnt hurt to briefly state why UGA is a top choice school. As an example, her opening paragraph could state something like this: Although my admission for Early Action has been deferred, UGA remains my top-choice university. I love the energy and spirit of the campus, and I was truly impressed by my visit to a sociology class last spring. I am writing to keep you up to date on my activities and achievements. A Second Sample Letter Dear Mr. Birney, Last week I learned that my application for early decision at Johns Hopkins was deferred. As you can imagine, this news was disappointing to me- Johns Hopkins remains the university Im most excited about attending. I visited a lot of schools during my college search, and  Johns Hopkinss program in International Studies appeared to be a perfect match for my interests and aspirations, and I loved the energy of the Homewood Campus. I want to thank you and your colleagues for the time you put into considering my application. After I applied for early decision, I received a couple more pieces of information that I hope will strengthen my application. First, I retook the SAT in November and my combined score went from 1330 to 1470. The College Board will be sending you an official score report soon. Also, I was recently elected to be the Captain of our school Ski Team, a group of 28 students who compete in regional competitions. As Captain, I will have a central role in the teams scheduling, publicity and fund raising. I have asked the teams coach to send you a supplemental letter of recommendation that will address my role within the Ski Team. Many thanks for your consideration, Laura Anystudent Discussion of Laura's Letter Laura has good reason to write to Johns Hopkins University. The 110 point improvement on her SAT scores is significant. If you look at this  graph of GPA-SAT-ACT data for admission to Hopkins, youll see that Lauras original 1330 was on the lower end of the accepted student range. Her new score of 1470 is nicely in the middle of the range. Lauras election as Captain of Ski Team may not be a game-changer on the admissions front, but it does show more evidence of her leadership skills. Especially if her application was originally light on leadership experiences, this new position will be significant. Finally, Lauras decision to have a supplemental  letter of recommendation  sent to Hopkins is a good choice, particularly if her coach can speak to abilities that Lauras other recommenders did not. Don't Make the Mistakes in This Letter The letter below illustrates what you should not do. Brian asks to have his application reconsidered, but he does not present any significant new information for reconsidering the decision. The increase in his GPA from a 3.3 to a 3.35 is fairly trivial. His newspaper has been nominated for an award, but it has not won the award. Moreover, Brian writes as if he has been rejected, not deferred. The university will look at his application again with the regular pool of applicants. The biggest problem  with the letter below, however, is that Brian comes across as a whiner, an egotist, and an ungenerous person. He clearly thinks very highly of himself, placing himself above his friend and making much ado about a modest 3.3 GPA. Does Brian really sound like the type of person the admissions officers will want to invite to join their campus community? To make matters worse, the third paragraph in Brians letter essentially accuses the admissions officers of making a mistake in admitting his friend and deferring him. The goal of Brians letter is to strengthen his chances of getting into college, but questioning the competence of the admissions folks works counter to that goal. To Whom It May Concern: I am writing in regards to my deferral for admission to Syracuse University for the fall semester. I received a letter earlier this week informing me that my admission had been deferred. I would like to urge you to reconsider me for admission. As you know from my previously submitted admissions materials, I am a very strong student with an outstanding academic record. Since I submitted my high school transcript in November, I have received another set of mid-year grades, and my GPA has gone up from a 3.3 to 3.35. In addition, the school newspaper, of which I am assistant editor, has been nominated for a regional award. Frankly, I am somewhat concerned about the status of my admission. I have a friend at a nearby high school who has been admitted to Syracuse through early admissions, yet I know that he has a somewhat lower GPA than mine and has not been involved in as many  extracurricular activities. Although he is a good student, and I certainly do not hold anything against him, I am confused about why he would be admitted while I have not been. Frankly, I think that I am a far stronger applicant. I would very much appreciate it if you could take another look at my application, and reconsider my admissions status. I believe I am an excellent student  and would have much to contribute to your university. Sincerely, Brian Anystudent A Final Word on Responding to a Deferral As with any communication with a college, youll want to pay careful attention tone, grammar, punctuation, and style. A sloppily-written letter is going to work against you, not strengthen your application. Finally, keep in mind that writing a letter when deferred is optional, and at many schools it wont improve your chances of being admitted. You should definitely write if you have compelling new information to present (dont write if your SAT score went up just 10 points- you dont want to look like youre grasping). And if the college doesnt say not to write a letter of continued interest, it can be worthwhile to do so.

Possible challenges and opportunities facing Argentina Research Paper

Possible challenges and opportunities facing Argentina - Research Paper Example For example, business people come together at an international level to brainstorm about business policies. Economic expansion is the increase in level of services and goods and increase in level of economic activities. Gross Domestic product (GDP) is used to measure level of economic expansion. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced within the country’s boarder. An increase in gross domestic product of a country implies that economy is expanding while decrease in GDP will imply decline in economy (Eitzen and Zinn 22). Challenges and Opportunities Facing Argentina One of the opportunities that exist in Argentina is the possibility of increased trade output. Though Argentina is facing a number of challenges, there exist an opportunity of a wider market that has opened up due to globalization. The country can now expand its production potential in various industries, especially, food processing sector to cater for the wider market. This will enable the country to improve its balance of trade, strengthen its domestic currency and improve its GDP. However, this opportunity gives rise to a challenge to the government in developing a sound economic strategy to create an environment for expansion of industries (Nayyar 94). The government can, however, take advantage of the greater access to knowledge and resource people to develop a sound strategy. Argentina has the opportunity to develop specialized skills among its population and utilize superior technology in its production. Globalization provides an opportunity for Argentina to access the latest technological improvement in the world. This provides it with the most effective methods of production. The producers are able to reduce the cost of production, apply specialization and improve the quality of the final product for both internal and external market. As a result the producers can hire more workers, and improve quality leading to better standards of living. The producers also face the ch allenge of high cost of acquiring external experts to impart skills to the citizens in the country. It is also a challenge to obtain the initial capital to obtain the superior equipment technology equipment due to high initial cost (Greenaway et al 51). Argentina can use globalization to obtain foreign investor to invest in the sectors identified as of key interest. This will enable the government to rip from the benefit of increased output and access of products in the country as well as training of the local citizens on technical knowledge. There exists an opportunity for government’s improvement of its transparency and accountability to its citizens. In the past Argentina has been faced with a challenge of rampant corruption within the government which has made growth and development in the country difficult task. Globalization has introduced external checks to the government operations pressuring the government to be accountable to its citizens. The government can therefo re not misuse its power over public resources (Greenaway et al 34). This leads to government acting in the interest of the citizens in all its dealings. As a result public properties are utilized to better the life of the citizens resulting into better pay, reduced poverty and improvement in the country. Globalisation and poverty go hand in hand especially in a country such as Argentina where we find that most peoples are farmers. Food processing industries are very important in Argentina economy since they employ most of the people in Argentina. The practices that occur in these industries play a key role in minimizing the level of poverty in the country (Eitzen and Zinn 43). In consideration of Argentina

Project 1 Case Analysis (CCJS321) Digital Forensics Study

Project 1 Analysis (CCJS321) Digital Forensics - Case Study Example The second case study involves the need for the use of computer forensics in general. The first case study is titled Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders, Second Edition. The intention of the guide is to enable individuals understand the importance of using electronic devises during criminal investigations at the scenes (Ec-Council, 2009). It intends to make work easier for the forensics to know the cause of the crime easier at the scene without taking the samples to the lab for analysis. This would mean that they would have all the required electronic devises at the crime scenes. The guide starts by introducing individuals to digital evidence to be the data, which is important during investigation and is transmitted and received through electronic devices (Holland, 2004). They may include DNA evidences and fingerprints. The importance of securing these digital evidences is because of their vulnerability of crossing to the wrong jurisdictions and borders. It is also explained that these evidences might be altered, destroyed and damaged i f they are not secured properly. It has been noted that criminal scenes are sometimes complicated for the first respondents at the scene. The use of electronic devices would enable the adjustments of the practical situations and circumstances at the scenes. These situations can be viewed from different perceptions. For instance, the investigation officer at the scene might not have the experience for such situations. The use of electronic devices would make it easy for them to make comparison of the situation to the identical criminal activity, which is on the database. The first responders may require the digital devices and evidences at the crime scene through application of different principles required by the police divisions of different regions. The collection of the digital evidence is applicable to the agents who ensure that everything follows the correct

The Sign of Four and Murder on the Orient Express Research Paper

The Sign of Four and Murder on the Orient Express - Research Paper Example When you ask for the name of the most famous of detectives from literary history many people would probably say the clever, remarkable and rational 19th century British detective, Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and who was the basis for a number of Doyle’s novels. Another famous detective, that might rank a close second, popular among literary circles is Hercule Poirot, the rather quirky Belgium detective dreamt up by writer Dame Agatha Christie. These two authors set precedents in plot courses, mystery literature, developed classic characters, and earned them, both a large amount of notoriety and fame. The best way to understand these main characters is to compare and contrast their similarities and differences in two specific works: â€Å"Sign of Four† by Doyle and â€Å"Murder on the Orient Express† by Christie. Through these means we can compare and contrast their story styles and themes, their development of their protagonists, and the a uthors themselves. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in May of 1859 to a strict Irish-Catholic family. Doyle’s father had little success in life and was struggled with alcoholism. His mother was an educated woman who enjoyed reading and telling stories.

Testing Organizational Communication Satisfaction

Testing Organizational Communication Satisfaction ABSTRACT Communication Satisfaction plays a very critical role in achieving employee engagement in organizations. It becomes even more significant and relevant in the context of the recent global crisis wherein organizations focus on employee engagement was high and was aimed towards employee retention and motivation. While several researchers have studied the relationship between communication and employee involvement, very few studies have established a relationship between Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Using the second-generation analytical technique Structural Equation Modeling, the present study examines the relationship between various components of Organization Communication Satisfaction (Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality) and various components of Employee Engagement (Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition). A modified version of the Downs Hazens Communica tion Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered on 235 personnel in the Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services industry in India. The scale was tested for reliability and validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The results indicate that Organization Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement. The study findings have strategic implications for organizations with regard to laying a greater emphasis on increasing communication satisfaction through various human resource interventions, both at macro and micro levels in the organization. Introduction Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. A global workforce study conducted by Towers Perrin in 2007-2008 revealed that only 21% of the employees were engaged. A more disturbing finding of the study was that 38% of the employees were partly to fully disengaged. The study also concluded that companies with the higher levels of employee engagement are able to retain their valued employees as also achieve better financial results. Similarly, Gallup has also conducted a study on employee engagement and found that 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 54% are not engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged. Many researchers have studied employee engagement and have found that employee engagement predicts employee outcomes, organizational success and financial performance (Bates, 2004; Harter et al., 2002,). Similarly, Hewitt Associates (LLC, 2005, p.1) have also established a strong relationship between employee engagem ent and profitability through higher productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and employee retention. Unfortunately though, a lot of literature available is only those from Consulting firms and there is very little theoretical or empirical research available on employee engagement. Today, as a result of continuous organizational restructuring (mergers, acquisitions, downturn imperatives), it is commonly observed that organizations are resorting to right sizing strategies. It certainly becomes the most critical priority of CEOs around the world to ensure that the employees who survive the layoffs are fully engaged. Research indicates that there is a decline in engagement levels and that there is deepening disengagement among employees today (Saks, 2006; Richman, 2006; Bates, 2004). It has also been reported that the majority of workers today, roughly half of all Americans in the workforce are not fully engaged or they are dis engaged leading to what has been referred to as an â€Å"engagement gap† that is costing US business $300 billion a year in lost productivity (Saks, 2006, Bates 2004, Johnson, 2004 Kowalski, 2003). Further, with the world becoming a global market place, where every thing is becoming a commodity, people and management of peoples talen t are becoming very critical components of an organizations ability to service its customer. Managing dis-engaged employees or non-engaged employees in a customer facing role is therefore that much more critical to the success and profitability of the business. Lockwood explains, â€Å"As organizations move forward into a boundaryless environment, the ability to attract, engage, develop and retain talent will hence, become increasingly important† In addition to the various literatures available from consultants, there have been a few researches conducted on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement and also â€Å"What is employee engagement†. A very exhaustive analysis of employee engagement has bee done by Macey and Schneider (2008). In the study employee engagement has been explained as 3 facests viz., Psychological state engagement (Satisfaction, involvement, commitment, empowerment), Trait engagement (personality, conscientiousness) and Behavioural engagement (Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Personal initiative, role expansion). Another research indicates that employee engagement constitutes two aspects viz., job engagement and organization engagement (Saks, 2006). Saks (2006 further found that employee engagement was significantly positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour and negatively related to intention to quit. Organizational Communication plays a very critical part in ensuring employee engagement. It has been established that clear, consise and honest communication is an important tool for employee engagement (Lockwood). It is further established that lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism and unwanted employee turnover. Studies demonstrate that there is a significant influence of Interpersonal trust on individual, group and organizational achievements (Earley, 1986; Robinson, 1996), Job Satisfaction (Driscoll, 1978; Muchinsky, 1977), Job Involvement (Saks, 2006) and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (Konovsky Pugh, 1994; McAllister, 1995). Studies have also underlined the central role of communication in developing and maintaining Trust (Gail, Zolin, Hartman, 2009; Becerra Gupta, 2003; Muchinsky, 1977). With particular reerence to recession, downsizing has become a harsh reality over the past 2 decades. These downsizing strategies come with other negative consequences of â€Å"attrition of employees who are not impacted by downsizing†. The problem is more profound when the attriting employees are top performers or employees with skills critical to future growth plans of the organization. Various studies have proved that downsizing negatively affects attitudes of employees surviving the downsizing by reducing organizational commitment, morale, job satisfaction and also increasing intention to quit and job stress (Arnold and Feldman, 1982; Greenhalge, 1982; Kozlowski et. al, 1993). It is therefore, very important for organizations to find ways to retain the attriting employees afer downsizing. Managerial communication and Organizational support can be looked at as possible avenues to reduce the negative effects of downsizing. Communication becomes very critical because employees believe that their organization holds them in low regard and ignores their interest (Anderson, 1996; Mclean Parks and Kidder, 1994). They also suspect that management communication is not credible for tat information is being withheld (Noer 1993, ONeill and Lenn, 1995). Employees need to understand how they fit into the overall plans of the organization in terms of their roles and contribution to the growth plans of the organizations. Various surveys in this regard indicate that employees want more communication with their managers (Argenti, 1998). There are various studies that have established a positive relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction (Petit, Gori s and Vaught, 1997; Pincus 1996) and organization commitment (Varona, 1996). A communication ROI study by Watson Wyatt (2007-2008) revealed that â€Å"firms that communicate effectively are 4 times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as firms that communicate less effectively. This study therefore, attempts to establish the impact of Organizational communication on mediating role of Trust in the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement in the Information Technology / Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) industry in India. We have selected the IT/ITES) industry because of the significance of the impact during the recent recessionary period. Literature Review and Research Hypothesis Organizational Communication Organisation communication constitutes many dimensions spanning from formal and informal means of internal communication and external communications. A review of literature in this area reveals that Organizational communication can be classified into four different levels (SHRM Magazine) (i) Overall Organizational communication (ii) Inter-organizational communication (iii) Group-level communication (iv) Interpersonal communication Further, review of the research in this area underlines the importance of organizational communication towards building commitment, satisfaction and retention of employees in an organization. A number of studies (Burhans 1971, Downs 1971, Jain 1970) studied the relevance and importance of satisfaction with organizational communication. Such examinations of the communication-satisfaction relationship have produced, a construct called communication satisfaction, which is becoming a common reference in organizational literature (Downs and Hazen, 1977). Downs and Hazen, introduced the Communications Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) and conducted a factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. This study established eight stable definitions of communication satisfaction, which has also been enumerated as follows in another study by Clampitt Downs, 1993: Communication Climate reflects communication on both the organizational and personal level. On one hand, it includes items such as the extent to which communication in the organization motivates and stimulates workers to meet organizational goals and the extent to which it makes them identify with the organization. On the other, it includes estimates of whether or not peoples attitudes toward communicating are healthy in the organization. Supervisory Communication includes both upward and downward aspects of communicating with superiors. Three of the principal items include the extent to which a superior is open to ideas, the extent to which the supervisor listens and pays attention, and the extent to which guidance is offered in solving job-related problems. Organizational Integration revolves around the degree to which individuals receive information about the immediate work environment. Items include the degree of satisfaction with information about departmental plans, the requirements of their jobs, and some personnel news. Media Quality deals with the extent to which meetings are well organized, written directives are short and clear, and the degree to which the amount of communication is about right. Co-worker Communication concerns the extent to which horizontal and informal communication is accurate and free flowing. This factor also includes satisfaction with the activeness of the grapevine. Corporate Information deals with broadest kind of information about the organization as a whole. It includes items on notification about changes, information about the organizations financial standing, and information about the overall policies and goals of the organization. Personal Feedback is concerned with the workers need to know how they are being judged and how their performance is being appraised. Subordinate Communication focuses on upward and downward communication with subordinates. Only workers in a supervisory capacity respond to these items, which include subordinate responsiveness to downward communication and the extent to which subordinates initiate upward communication. Crino White (1981) investigated Communication Satisfaction with 137 supervisors from textile mills. Similarly, Pincus (1986) used the CSQ in a study of nurses and their supervisors to investigate the relationship between communication and job satisfaction and job performance. These findings had resulted in the CSQ being the most widely used scale when measuring communication satisfaction. The notable aspect though is, that the studies by Downs Hazens (1977) and Crino White (1981) exploratory factor analysis rather than confirmator factor analysis for assessing the validity of the CSQ. Theerefore, the convergent and discriminant validity of the CSQ was under question. Further, until the introduction of CSQ, Communication was considered as an unidimensional construct. The underlying belief was that employees are either satisfied or dis-satisfied with communication. However, with the introduction of the CSQ changed it communication satisfaction to be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct wherein, employees could be satisfied or dis-sastisfied with one or more aspects of communication and be dis-satisfied. Gary and Laidlaw (2004) assessed the CSQ using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Their study used a series of congeneric measurement models to study the validity and reliability of the CSQ. Based on the study, Gary Laidlaw concluded, â€Å"the results substantiate CSQ as a valid instrument for measuring communication satisfaction and supports the multi-dimensional aspects of the communication satisfacation construct. This study therefore, proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the CSQ for the purpose of IT/ITES sector in India. The study also proposes to establish the relationships between the individual dimensions of Organizational Communication Satisfaction using First order and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. H1 : Dimensions of Organisation Communication Satisfaction are inter-related H2 : Organisational Communication Satisfaction is explained by Organisational Integration, Supervisory communication, Personal Feedback, Corporate Information, Communication Climate and Media Quality. Employee Engagement Employee engagement has been drawing a lot of importance in various organizations in recent times. There have been few research works on employee engagement (Robinson et al, 200) and most of understanding comes from Consulting firms and Independent Research agencies. There have been various definitions of employee engagement. Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values (Vazirani, 2007). Engagement is the willingness and ability to contribute to company success, the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, brainpower and energy (Towers Perrin, 2007). Often used as a synonym for motivation or motivation and retention; engagement is really more fundamental. Engagement is an employees decision to apply his discretionary effort to the goals of the enterprise, to accept those goals as his own and wholeheartedly commit himself to achieving them. (Fineman Carter 2007) Though employee engagement as a concept has been drawing a lot of importance, it is still a term widely referred among consulting firms and independent research agencies. There have been very few empirical research initiatives in the academic world to establish the definition of the construct â€Å"employee engagement†. Mickey and Schneider (2008) have done a detailed study on â€Å"the meaning of employee engagement† and have established a series of propositions covering 3 facets : a) Psychological stage engagement b) Behavioural engagement c) Trait engagement. This research though will focus on the psychological state engagement facet since this has received maximum attention and is central to the engagement issue. Further, the scope of the research is focussed towards examining the impact of Organizational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement. Past researches on similar subjects have all focussed on studying the relationship between Organizational Communication Satisfaction on individual aspects of State Engagement viz., Satisfaction, Commitment and Involvement. Mickey and Schneider (2008), while explaining the psychological state engagement have studied 4 different aspects viz., Job satisfaction, Organizational commitment, Psychological empowerment and Job involvement. They have further referred to various related research in each of the above aspects and thereby analyse each of the aboe aspects as a facet or antecedent or consequence of employee engagement. Their study and analysis is as follows : Engagement as Job Satisfaction In defining Job Satisfaction as a facet of employee engagement, the views of Erickson (2005) are noteworthy; â€Å"Engagement is above or beyond simple satisfaction with the employment arrangement or basic loyalty to the employer. Engagement in contrast is about passion and commitment, the willingness to invest oneself and expand ones discretionary effort to help the employer succeed† Therefore, it is beyond basic loyalty and is about the emotional aspect of Job satisfaction that triggers emotions and feelings of energy, enthusiasm and thereby constitutes a very important aspect of Engagement. Engagement as Organization Commitment In defining Organizational commitment as an important facet of employee engagement, the views from various contributions are noteworthy (Wellins and Concelman, 2005; OReilly Chatman, 1986; Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982; Meyer and Allens, 1997; Meyer, Becker Vanderberghe, 2004). These significant contributions lead to definitions; employees exert extra energy in support of the organization, feel proud as a key contrinbutor to the organization and its success and enjoy a personal identity with the organization. This leads to organization commitment being defined as a key facet of engagement (Mickey Schneider, 2008). While analysing organization commitment, there is also an analysis around organization / job withdrawal thereby suggesting that commitment as a state of engagement also relates to how long an employee stays as a result of commitment (The Corporate Executive Board, 2006) Engagement as Job Involvement The next aspect analysed by Mickey and Schneider (2008) is Job Involvement. Job Involvement has been defined â€Å"as the degree to which an employee psychologically relates to his or her job and the work performed therein and specifically equated job involvement and job commitment (Cooper-Hakim and Visweswaran, 2005). Brown (1996), Mathieu and Zajacs (1990) have also come up the conclusion that job involvement is an antecedent to organizational commitment. Brown further concluded that organizational withdrawal decisions are less related to job involvement than to organizational commitment. Erickson (2005) described job involvement as a key antecedent of the state of engagement. Based on the analysis and significant well researched contributions, we identify Job Satisfaction, Organizational commitment and withdrawal as key facets of employee engagement. Further, Saks (2006) has conducted a good study on the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. The research conceptualized engagement as being reflective of the extent to which an individual is psychologically present in a particular organizational role (Kahn, 1990; Rothbard, 2001). It was further conceptualized that there are two dominant roles attributable to most organizational members viz., their work role and their role as a member of the organization. These two roles led to the two components of employee engagement: Job and Organization engagement. Saks (2006) further found that that Job and Organization engagement were significantly positively related to Job satisfaction, organizational commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and negatively related to intention to quit. In summary, employee engagement is about ones emotional commitment towards the organization, being psychologically involved and willingness ability to walk that extra mile in achieving the Organizational goals and objectives. Based on the above review, it is understood that employee engagement mainly constitutes three aspects viz., Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and intention to stay. This study aims at establishing a relationship between the facets / components of Employee Engagement using 2nd order Confirmatory Factor Analysis. This study further proposes to establish the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of the various facets of employee engagement using First and Second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis H3 : Dimensions of Employee Engagement are interrelated H4 : Employee engagement is explained by Organisational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Withdrawl Cognition Organization Communication Satisfaction and Employee Engagement The next dimension studied was the relationship between Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement in organizations. Employees see managers as trustworthy when their communication is accurate and forthcoming. In addition, adequate explanations and timely feedback on decisions lead to higher levels of trust (Folger Konovsky, 1989; Konovsky Cropanzano, 1991; Sapienza Korsgaard, 1996). Evidently, managers who take the time to explain their decisions thoroughly are likely to be perceived as trustworthy. Finally, open communication, in which managers exchange thoughts and ideas freely with employees, enhances perceptions of trust (Butler, 1991; Farris, Senner, Butterfield, 1973; Gabarro, 1978; Hart, Capps, Cangemi, Caillouet, 1986). Lockwood states that â€Å"lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, skepticism, cynicism and unwanted turnover. This is even more relevant in times of crisis as observed by Meyers in 1986 ; â€Å"When a crisis occurs, employees are affected on a personal level, in ways and to an extent unlike in any other audience. Their immediate reaction is often to be stunned and lose a sense of common purpose and cohesiveness Gripped by fear, employees may stray from their sense of reality and turn inward, focusing exclusively on their personal needs and ignoring the organizations needs†. Pincus Acharya, 1998 observed that â€Å"Employees who are uncertain about their jobs, health, or safety may deny, misinterpret, selectively perceive, or tune out information from management about the crisis situation because they may be blinded by their own sense of a personal crisis.† These studies lead us the understanding that â€Å"clear, consice, timely and honest communication is a very important management tool towards building employee engagement in Organizations (Lockwood). As discussed earlier, there have been many consultants and independent research organizations, which have established communication as a very critical component in enabling employee engagement in organizations. Further, there have been individual studies relating organizational communication and the individual facets and antecedents of employee engagement. This study proposes to study the relationship of Organization Communication Satisfaction on Employee Engagement using second-generation analysis tecnique, Structural Equation Modelling. H5 : Organisation Communication Satisfaction has a positive impact on Employee Engagement.. Research Methodology Questionnaire Design The Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs and Hazens, 1977) was selected for the Organization Communication construct of the study. We have used on seven factors of the CSQ beause the eighth factor, subordinate communication since this study was not aimed at personnel in their role as employees and not supervisors. For the Employee Engagement construct, each of the individual facets was measured on borrowed scales. Job Satisfaction was measured on 5 items taken from the scale developed by Price and Muellar (1986). Organization Commitment was measured on 6 items taken from the scale developed by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1997) while Withdrawal Cognition was measured on 3-item scale developed by De Conninck and Bachmann (2005). Since we are using borrowed scales for each of the constructs, it is important to first establish the validity and reliability of the scale. In other words, the items must reflect what they are intended to measure (face validity) and represent a proper sample of the domain of each construct (content valididty), and pass other tests of validity (discriminant, convergent and predictive validity) in order for a measure to have construct validity (Hardesty and Bearden, 2003). As a first step, we carried out a face validity of the constructs of the study. Based on the approaches discussed by Hardesty and Bearden, we identified a panel of 7 judges to assess the face validity. The judges were exposed to the definition of each construct, overall scope and objective of the study and the individual items under each construct (Total number of items was 49). Each judge was requested to rate the importance and relevance of the item to the constructs conceptual definition on a scale of 1-10 (1-Lea st important to 10-Most Important). (eg. How would items like â€Å"I find real enjoyment in my job† or â€Å"I am seldom bored with my job†). Additional remarks were also sought from the judges on whether multiple items under a construct mean the same and also which among the items was a better representative of the constructs conceptual definition. These results were summarized by Judge for each item and the items which were given a weightage of â€Å"less than 8† were considered for reduction. During the content validity stage, the judges unanimously felt that co-worker communication, as a dimension was not too relevant from an engagement perspective since a lot of it was not largely under the control of the organization. However, one item in the co-worker communication was felt necessary to be included viz., â€Å"Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies† and hence, the same was retained and included in the dimension  "Communication climate†. Similarly, the item viz., â€Å"Information about changes in our organization† and â€Å"Information about company goals and policies† were the only 2 items left under the dimenstion â€Å"Corporate Information†. Since it is required to have atleast 3 items under each dimension / factor for Structured Equation Modelling, these 2 items were grouped under the dimension â€Å"Organizational Integration†. Therefore, in the final questionnaire (total number of items 29), Organizational Communication Satisfaction was reduced to 5 factors viz., Organizational Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality. The factors under Employee Engagement were all retained viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawl cognition. In addition to the 2 sections representing the main constructs of the study, the questionnaire also covered a brief write up covering the purpose of the study as well as explicit statements of assurance to the respondents about the confidentiality of their responses and that the responses would be used for academic purposes only. Data Collection and Sampling : For this study, primary data was collected through structured undisguised questionnaires adminstered to the respondents. Questionnaires were administered through personal contacts / meetings and through mail as per the convenience of the respondent at home or in office. The respondents were requested to spare few minutes to provide categorical responses to items in the questionnaire The respondents for the study were selected from the personnel of organizations in Information Technology (IT) / Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry in India. A total of 275 questionnaires were administered to the respondents. 264 questionnaires were found to be complete in all respects, giving a response rate of 96.%. A further 29 invalid questionnaires were eliminated (those questionnaires where too many items were left unanswered or the same response was given to all the questions) and thereby 235 valid questionnaires were taken for further analysis. Measurements The study hypothesis covers 2 Constructs Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) and Employee Engagement (EE). OCS is measured for 5 key dimensions / Factors viz., Organization Integration, Supervisory Communication, Personal Feedback, Communication Climate and Media Quality while EE is measured on 3 key dimensions / factors viz., Organization commitment, Job satisfaction and Withdrawal Cognition. The 8 categorical dimensions were measured on the following items / variables: Factor / Dimenstion Items / Variables of measurement Organization Communication Satisfaction (OCS) Organization Integration Information about the requirements of my job Information about my progress in my job Information about company policies and goals Information about changes in our organization Supervisory Communication Extent to which my supervisor listens and pays attention to me Extent to which my supervisor offers guidance for solving job related problems Extent to which my supervisor trusts me Extent to which my supervisor is open to ideas Personal Feedback Information about how I am being assessed Information about how my efforts are recognized and rewarded Extent to which superiors know and understand the problems faced by subordinates Communication Climate Extent to which the organizations communication motivates and stimulates an enthusiasm for meeting its goals Extent to which the organizations communication makes me identify with it or feel a vital part of it Extent to which communication practices are adaptable to emergencies Extent to which I receive in time the information need to do my job Media Quality Extent to which written directives and reports are clear and concise Extent to which the attitudes toward communication in the organization are basically healthy Extent to which the amount of communication in the organization is about right Employee Engagement Organization Commitment I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own I do not feel like part of the family at my organization (R) I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization (R) This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me I do not feel strong sense of belonging to my organization (R) Job Satisfaction I find real enjoyment in my job Most days I am enthusiastic about my job I feel fairly well satisfied with my job Withdrawal Cognition I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this Company Within the next six months, I would rate the likelihood of leaving my present job as high All the variables are categorical in nature and were measured on a categorical scale (5 point Likert). Data Analysis We have applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as the tool of analysis for maximum likelihood estimation for examining the proposed hypotheses. As suggested by many researchers (e.g. Anderson Gerbing, 1998), we have chosen the Two-step analysis method wherein in the first step, we conduct the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) based on the correlation coefficient matrix of each measurement item (i.e. dimenstions / factors of OCS and dimensions / factors of EE). In the second step, after confirming the fitness of the cons

Computer Crimes :: essays research papers

Computer Crime Computer crime is a very broad term. It could mean anything from a total invasion by a hacker into the federal government or just the simple fact of one person letting another borrow a copy of his favorite flying game. Computers are defined in the dictionary as a machine that computes (WBD vol. 23). But to most people it is a machine that's helps us do a task easier. As we move into the 21th century though one thing is for sure, the computer will help crime become more prevalent. Hackers are probably one of the more common threats out there. These are the people who use modems and telephone lines to enter your computer. A teenager sits across the table yelling, "I want this and this and this†¦.". This is not a kid talking to his parents; it is a hacker talking to the business he just hacked into. Whenever you think about it, the idea of a teenager being able to make a big software firm grovel like that is pretty amazing. This is a site often seen though. When a company is hacked into it often hires its predators as protectors (Glass 11). If companies do not come forward to claim that they have been infiltrated how are these hackers supposed to be prosecuted. This is a serious issue being faced today by the federal government. In an article by Stephen Glass he quotes a radio advertisement by the Nevada law-enforcement officials. They were so desperate the advertisement ran "Would you hire a shoplifter to watch the cash register? Please don' t deal with hackers." The state took the airwaves after a boy had broken into a department stores computer system and made it credit $500 a day to his Visa card. The boy had racked up $32,000 before being caught. But, the store did not prosecute. Instead they let the boy keep his money, all in exchange for showing them how to improve their security (Glass 11). Also cases have been reported of government agencies being hacked into. If the government is worried about a hackers' invasion with their security system what is the American people to do. Hackers and computer criminals also use computer viruses to either do some odd job or just reek havoc. "Virus" is the one computer-security buzzword that has made its way into the mainstream. Most people do not know exactly what one is, but that it's bad.

Health Psychology Concepts Essay

In this short speech I will tell you the three most significant concepts that I have learned in a course that I took in health care about health psychology. The three most significant concepts I have learned in this course that I would include in a speech supporting incorporation of health psychology concepts in health care policy are pain management, coping with chronic illness, and stress and its affects on health. The first one that I picked was pain management. The reason that I picked pain management is there is many ways that our body deals with pain and there are many ways to fix the pain. Some people think that alcohol and drugs are a good pain killer, but in fact it does not help the pain at all. There are better way to deal with it but many people have to be trained to do these thing. The next significant concept that I picked was coping with chronic and life-threatening illness. The reason that I picked coping with chronic and life-threatening illness is until I took this class I had no ideal on how to deal with or to expect others to deal with it. The final concept that I picked was stress and its affects on health. The reason that I picked stress and its affects on health is that most people have a lot of stress and they do not know that it is affecting their health or how it is affecting their health. There are many ways that stress can affect some ones health. One of the ways that come right to mind is pain in different parts of your body and there seems to be no reason for it.