Empowerment

“Total compensation is everything the company provides an employee in exchange for working. It includes base salary, bonuses, benefits, perks and on-site amenities. Total compensation you that you are receiving additional compensation, yet rarely discloses the full amount compensated during the entire year. This lack of disclosure often leads employees to feel underpaid for their time and services” (Webster, 2013).

Total Compensation

Since the latter years of the 19th century, there has been a dramatic change and an evolving effect of what people know as benefits. When people think of benefits, the first thing that comes to mind is insurance. In fact, there are several benefits that are offered today that weren’t offered years ago. The makeup of benefits has evolved over time and has become a major asset to any company’s compensation model. In fact, besides actual payroll with wages, benefit expenses are the second highest expense that companies pay out. Although it can be a hassle, having an attractive benefits package is an eye catcher for prospective employees and will definitely help with being able to retain employees and hire good workers as well. “Conceptionally, total compensation covers all the psychological and material rewards that parties consider relevant to the employment exchange” (Martel, 1982). When a business researches and continues to stay updated on what benefits are relevant to prospective employees, it will know what to offer the employees. “When employees have the ability to pick and customize benefits according to their needs, it may encourage participation in benefits plans. This can provide employers and employees with a better return on their benefits investment” (The Importance of Employee Benefits, 2018). With this one has to pose the question; What is the purpose of offering benefits? “There are several reasons. First, as technology and the work environment changes, we need people to retire. If you don’t provide employees with some resources for retirement, you’ll find it difficult to get the employees to retire. Second, companies want to provide a benefit whose value is greater than the cost” (Tane, 1992).

Base Salary

Base salary is a fixed amount of money that an employee receives in return for the work performed. When referring to the total compensation model, base salary is only a third or less of the compensation an employee receives. This is the reason why employees are informed of the benefits available during the interview process. Even with a bigger base salary, some employees will decline a job offer if the benefits of the job aren’t attractive enough to stay long-term. Base salary is a little tricky because companies have to figure out how to determine a base salary for the employees. Some of the things that go into base salary is an employee’s experience, educational background, and the external market. The base salary does not include bonuses, other forms of compensation, or benefits to an employee. However, with a decent base that is competitive to external markets of the same industry, an employee will then be able to determine if the benefits are worth staying or not. Companies must continue to adapt to the ever-changing market. “When the job market improves, those companies will lose key workers to competitors—and suffer from reduced employee productivity” (Scorza, 2018).

Retirement

Back in the days of the Industrial Revolution, retirement wasn’t what we see it is now. When workers were physically unable to work any longer, retirement was the best option. Because of the lack of medication and resources that are available to people now, the wear and tear on the body was much more evident at an early age. In fact, the life expectancy was only around thirty years old at that time. People weren’t capable of doing manual labor any more so companies and organizations came up with a plan to not not only attract the workers but to give them something to look forward to after a hard and long days of doing manual labor was over. Basically, if an individual got older, that individual had to solely depend on family to take care of them until death. Because of the amount of years workers had to work, death came soon after retirement. There wasn’t sufficient access to nursing homes and other facilities to assist with living. There were some pension plans that were available at the time, but those plans were a rare commodity and many people didn’t have access.

Once the industrial revolution begins, many long-term farmers retired farming and joined the workforce in order to gain more income and have job security, something the farmers were familiar with. Whenever there is a war at any time, jobs are created in many different industries. If farmers had to leave farming duties just to make more income, making the decision to do otherwise and seek other employment in order to support the farmers’ families was the better choice. This created a problem for employers. Not only did employers need to maintain adequate staffing in order to operate efficiently, but there was also a need to figure out a way to give back to the employees. This would help employees to not make the decision to leave and seek employment elsewhere. Employers were forced to be creative and find ways that make the organization attractive for future employees to desire to work and stay there.

” Economic constraints and accompanying inflationary pressures of World War II forged changes in compensation practices of many employers. The War Labor Board, charged with maintaining price stability, placed restrictions on cash-wage increases employers could offer. With a short supply of labor to produce a growing demand for war products,4 employers began offering nonwage benefits, which included insurance, pension plans, and holiday and vacation leave, as a means to attract and retain workers” (Moehrle, 2001).

Along with this, employers needed to find a way to get employees to leave if the workers were too old and were unable to be as efficient as before. In order to meet this need, pensions were created.

The first pension plan was created by the American Express Railroad company. Many different industries expressed interested in creating pension plans as well, so the companies created pensions as well. In order to qualify for these pension benefits, organizations made it extremely hard for employees. Not only were there strict policies, but it was almost set up to basically not have to payout as much at the end of an employee’s employment term. There were rules about how many years of employment it takes to be eligible for these pension benefits, it took a while longer to be fully vested in the plan, and the benefits of those plans weren’t as big as an employee expects from a company employee had worked for with long tenures.

In 1913 the income tax was created to be able to distribute the taxes evenly amount American citizens. The United States realized it wasn’t bringing in enough taxes from imported and exported goods. The U.S. also realized that the tax of certain goods wasn’t enough money as well. The U. S. was forced to come up with a solution to figure out a way to help with the tax burden, so permanent income tax was created for all citizens of the United States. After this occurred, many Revenue Acts were created for businesses and employers that allowed these pension plans to be tax-free. This was a huge benefit for employers because it allowed the employees to save money. Pensions eventually became the root of collective bargaining. Many unions and industrialized companies adapted pensions as retirement plans for its employees. A few years later the federal government’s employees were introduced to pension plans as well and adopted the philosophy as a benefit.

Because most of these pension plans were made for the older workers, the government created the Social Security Act in 1935. The purpose of the Social Security Act was a benefit to not only the older workers but also to the younger workers as well. This allowed employees to be able to have an income after turning a certain age. This allowed much younger workers to take the place of the older workers and keep the workforce and the economy young, intelligent, and more productive than before. Compensation is important to the younger generation as well, so a good compensation package helps the organization and the young worker as well. “So, while factors such as respectful treatment and trust remain important, compensation is a critical job satisfaction factor—especially among Millennial and Gen X employees” (Miller, 2018).

After pensions plans were created, there were other changes over the years to accommodate the retired employers. The biggest change in history was the adapting of the 401k policy. This allowed employees to be able to deduct tax free money from the wages earned and placed the funds into a retirement account. As long as the individuals are full-time employees, this plan is available for anyone who wants use of it. 401k plans are transferrable from job to job and have many other benefits along with it as well. A lot of employers also match with the employees by crediting the individual’s 401k account the same amount of money the actual individual is placing in. With this retirement plans, employees are able to borrow from 401k plans as well for a fee. Retirement plans have become more and more important as the years have gone. The way the economy is steadily evolving and changing, many people don’t know how long this type of plan will be made available.

Insurance Benefits

“When looking at total compensation, companies offer common types of benefits. Typical compensation packages include health insurance, performance bonuses, vision and dental insurance and retirement plans. Each of these has a cost to the company and a value to the employee” (Webster, 2013).

An individual may argue that healthcare benefits is one of the most important benefits that an employee has access to. Without insurance, healthcare premiums are extremely expensive in the U.S. There are some countries who offer free healthcare. It’s not free in the United States and it is a requirement for all organizations to provide it for exempt full-time employees. If an individual declines to receive health insurance, there is a penalty on the taxes filed from the IRS, because of the new Affordable Healthcare Act created by Barack Obama.

Most employers pay the majority of the premium on health insurance which leaves the remaining amount to be paid by the employee. Also, there is normally an option to be able to cover an employee’s spouse, children, or family as a whole for a small percentage of what a normal premium is under normal conditions. There are many facilities who won’t treat patients without proof of insurance and a paid deductible. People tend to pile up hospital bills all over the years and not pay those bills, because there is no real need to pay the bills off. Because being healthy is a necessity, medical bills on a credit score aren’t big enough of an issue to an organization that runs an individual’s credit score. In all, health insurance helps an individual more than it hurts an individual. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

There is also other insurance coverage such as dental insurance and vision that are important to an employee as well. The employee’s portion on this is not as expensive but normally covers quite a bit of the amount that an employee pays without it. These are additional insurance coverages that are not mandatory to have as an employer, but it is definitely attractive to the employee as an add on to having health insurance. One thing about these coverages, is that there is an option to be double covered through multiple policies or agencies, and that lowers some of the employee’s out of pocket expenses as well.

Having insurance wasn’t always an attractive option for most people. At the beginning of the 20th century most people did not have insurance. There were so many diseases still around with no cure, there weren’t many hospitals available to attend, and the life expectancy was short. Many people felt as if it was pointless to have it because it didn’t really make that much of a difference in

lives. As time went on, the hospitals and medical fields began to evolve over time. Hospitals went from being the last option for most people to a place of security where people have an opportunity to get help at hospitals that were clean, operated by well-skilled and trained employees and doctors, and there were more cures and vaccinations made available to reduce sickness. Hospitals soon discovered that even with all of the changes, people still weren’t coming to the hospital unless patients were extremely ill. In 1929, Baylor University Hospital in Dallas created a plan that allowed employees to pay monthly dues in exchange for a certain amount of free hospital visits. The amount paid by the employee was the same across the board, but that was a risk the hospitals were willing to make in order to draw stable income into the facility. After the Great Depression, this idea spread across the nation and eventually led to the National Labor Relations Act of 1932 which made health insurance mandatory for companies.

“Prevalence of employer health plans skyrocketed from 9% in 1940 to 70% of all employers by the 1960′s. Today, employer health plan coverage has declined to about 60% of all insured Americans under age 65. In total, about 83% of Americans under age 65 are covered by an employer, individual health plan, or Medicaid but the other 17% remain uninsured because they do not have such coverage or are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid” (The History of Benefits). Some people choose to just pay the penalty at the end of the year instead of spending unnecessary money on health insurance. Although healthcare is very expensive things like COBRA, HIPPA, CHIP, MEDICAID, and other resources are made available to those who qualify. Yes, there are still changes and adjustments that are made to improve health insurance over time, but people are still thankful that is an option rather than paying everything out of pocket. Overall, it still continues to be a deciding factor for employees when looking for a job and staying with that organization as well.

Other Benefits

Some of the other benefits offered by employers are paid time off, sick time off, life insurance, short and long-term disability, child care expenses, gym membership discounts or reimbursements, FSA, HSA, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, etc. None of these benefits are mandatory for an organization to provide. In order for companies to be competitive, these are some of the extra perks and benefits that are the icing on the cake for some employees. Some of these benefits may never be used by employees but being able to have access and options is what’s most important.

“Millennials are largely driving this shift, as they look for work/life balance and a socially conscious corporate culture” (Barret, 2018). Having work-life balance is key to most employee’s happiness. Being able to be successful and thrive at work as well as being able to benefit outside of work is just as important. Paid-time off and sick-time off, whether accrued or given annually, is a benefit that employees look forward to being able to use. Sometimes people need vacations, things come up, family situations, deaths, etc., and this time is used on those occasions. Employees are paid for time off if the hours are available. Some places allow unpaid time off as well for employees who don’t have enough PTO or whom were unable to request time off in a decent amount of time. There are so many stipulations and rules to this time, however for larger families, this benefit has the power to make or break deal.

Short term and long-term disability are benefits that allowed an employee to get paid a percentage of the worker’s salary if the individual is unable to work and disabled. These benefits may be used for special surgeries, injuries, recovery time, etc. One may never know what type of situations that will come up in life, so having this option is beneficial. Of course, child care can sometimes be one of the biggest expenses for employees. Child care costs continue to rise all over the world and most people have to be low-income in order to qualify for assistance. This is a good benefit not only to families, but especially to single-parent homes who struggle to pay bills, go to work, and pay for childcare.

The overall reason for total compensation is for an organization to be able to attract good workers but for it to also have a positive impact on the workers that are already employed. “To achieve your goals, you need to encourage the type of behavior that will lead to high performance. As previously discussed, total compensation management is a forward-driving behavioral strategy. It is not an after-the fact rewards strategy” (Weldon, 2012). Total compensation is not just income only, but it’s everything other than wages that makes up the compensation package that an employee receives. It will always be one of the most important aspects of running a business. Once a business masters this skill and has the right tools in place in order to offer a decent compensation package competitive in the market, it will attract the right employees for its business.

References

1. Barrett, R. (2018). Why the most innovative employers are rethinking total compensation. [online] Employee Benefit News. Available at: https://www.benefitnews.com/news/benefits-a-growing-part-of-compensation-equation [Accessed 15 Nov. 2018].
2. Martel, P. (1982). A Model of Total Compensation in a Market Comparability Framework. Public Personnel Management, 11(2), 148. Retrieved from https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.zeus.tarleton.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=6364305&site=eds-live
3. Miller, S. (2018, April 11). Better Pay and Benefits Loom Large in Job Satisfaction. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/pay-benefits-satisfaction.aspx
4. Moehrle, T. G. (2001). The evolution of compensation in a changing economy. (Report on the American Workforce). Compensation and Working Conditions, (3), 9. Retrieved from https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.zeus.tarleton.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgbe&AN=edsgcl.91915577&site=eds-live
5. Scorza, J. (2018). Benefits Can Boost Employee Loyalty. [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/Pages/Benefits_Loyalty.aspx [Accessed 15 Nov. 2018].
6. Tane, L. D. (1992). Benefits that bend. Financial Executive, 8, 35–40. Retrieved from https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.zeus.tarleton.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bft&AN=511938310&site=eds-live
7. The History of Benefits. (2018). Retrieved October 31, 2018, from http://workplaceconsultants.net/commentary/retirementtsunami/the-history-of-benefits/
8. The Importance of Employee Benefits. (2018, July 23). Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://www.paychex.com/articles/employee-benefits/importance-of-employee-benefits
9. Webster, S. (2018, June 28). The Difference Between Base Salary & Total Compensation. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-base-salary-total-compensation-21449.html
10. Weldon, D. (2012). Linking Total Compensation to Performance. Compensation & Benefits Review, 44(3), 149–153. https://doi-org.zeus.tarleton.edu/10.1177/0886368712459843

“Why I Believe in Women Empowerment” Ages ago, women only had limited opportunities in life. Usual connotation of a woman is the one who does household chores. But nowadays, it may mean offensive to women because their abilities and capabilities to do other things are under estimated. The current generation of women is considered empowered. When we say empower, this means that there is an authority given to somebody, thus, that authority will make the person more confident and assertive. I believe in women empowerment because I think as a woman, I should be treated equally with man.

Also, being a scholar with wisdom, I speak the truth without doubt or hesitation giving me a sense of empowerment. Because of this, I have greater choices and chances to explore, learn and expose myself in all walks of life which will be beneficial not only to me but also to others. I want to portray an ideal member of the society. Because of having respect and self confidence, I can do things possible and excel with my outmost dedication to work. Women can perform task that a man can do but outshining them is not our goal instead, living harmoniously with them is our desire.

Also, women empowerment is not destruction to man’s self-esteem and ego. We work not to prove that we can do better than a man but to complement what a man can do. Being one of the empowered women, I clearly understood my worth. That’s why I was able to look at the world as a place where I can freely express who I am and what I believe, making me surrounded with people who honor, love, and respect me as I honor, love, and respect myself. Therefore, women empowerment should be realized by every girl to achieve a successful and fulfilled life.

The topic I have chosen to link it with is Chlamydia n individuals aged 16-25. I am going to see whether the health promotion is used as a system of empowerment or a system of control. Main body Chlamydia can cause many complications in males and females, a few examples of these are; abdominal pain, pelvic pain, inability to get pregnant, potentially deadly octopi pregnancy, swelling in one/both testicles, fever and preventing a man from being able to father children states Brown, N (2013).

The government are setting up ways to prevent this by setting up free Chlamydia screening to Individuals aged 0-25, this Is empowerment. By the government doing this It Is making Individuals take precautions and have regular checks. It also makes individuals respect themselves as when they know what Chlamydia can do to them they may also start using condoms to reduce the statistics of people contracting Chlamydia.

It can also be seen as trying to control individuals as they are pushing/persuading them to use contraception and keep getting themselves checked out after a new sexual partner, this Is because If individuals start becoming aware and checking themselves, and also using protection It will reduce the amount of money the INS are spending on treatment, (1 tablet or a weeks worth of antibiotics). The individuals that don’t use protection or get checked out regularly could be having sexual relationships with others in the community and passing on the infection.

This is why when individuals find out they have the infection they are advised to tell their past and current partners to get checked out as well. The antibiotics that are prescribed are the medical approach as It alms to prevent disease. This topic also links to behavior hang as it encourages individuals to adapt healthy behaviors, it is also a form of health education as the individuals are learning about Chlamydia also it is unlikely to be successful unless the individual is ready to take action.

For example if an individual is not willing to use protection and/or get regular tests then there is not a lot that can be done, unless they decide to change their ways and try help themselves. The education approach also links to this as It alms to provide knowledge influence relating to Chlamydia as it aims to help individuals acquire the skills and inference to take greater control over their own health. For example if you are afraid of what your partner may say when you mention ‘protection’ you are less likely to mention it, also if you are afraid of the result you may get from the screening tests you may decide not to take one.

Social change also has a link to Chlamydia as it aims to make the healthy choice the easy choice, some individuals may be too scared to get help, take tests or mention anything. This is where individuals need to start making the right choice. The media is an influence on Chlamydia as it encourages individuals viewing it to stay safe, look after yourselves and others so you don’t pass the infection around the community. The government are also an influence on Chlamydia as it is thanks to them that 16-25 year olds can gain free Chlamydia screening in clinics INS choices (2011).

The critical understanding for health promotion is as follows, health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve; health of people, communities and populations says Reuters, T (2013). It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions. Interventions to help change behaviors and environments in ways that are conductive to health. The main goals of health promotion are to reduce health risks and optimize health and productively while lowering total health-related costs.

At its best, worksheet health promotion creates a culture that fosters vitality, motivation and overall effectiveness of human capital says (Erickson,2006). The role and relevance of health promotion is in tackling the determinants of health, elate promotion will include combinations of the strategies namely developing personal skills, strengthening community action, and creating supportive environments for health, backed by healthy public policy.

Health promotion is a powerfully relevant strategy for social development, in particular as an important set of strategies to address the factors influencing inequalities in health. Health promotion also brings together all the principles that underlie a series of strategies that seek to support conditions that allow populations to be healthy and to make lately choices. The range of strategies draws upon behavioral sciences, public health, education and communication, to name a few, and their respective methodologies says health promotion agency (2009).

Empowerment or control Within this essay I have stated both ways in which it is empowerment and control. However both have equal entitlement; I am swayed to say I personally think that the health promotion is more a system of empowerment. This is because the government are setting up schemes that are free for individuals aged 16-25 to access. This shows he empowerment that is given to individuals to look after themselves without a cost. Also condoms are given for free at the clinic where the Chlamydia screening is taken states (Scholar, Abraham, Kook and Gilmore, 2004).

This is empowering people to take precautions so that they don’t contract the infection. Another point is the media what can happen if they have the infection and don’t get checked out. Conclusion Throughout this essay I have shown how health promotion can be used as a system of empowerment and a system of control. I have linked it together with my chosen epic; I have also linked health promotion within my topic to the different approaches that I have learnt about within my lectures.

Organizational Citizenship

Behaviour has not been dedicated enough research. The topic is quite new to the HR professionals and challenging. It is also challenging to conduct research on the topic as it has been suggested that OCB is inconsistent and has been stated as an ill-defined science. This paper analysis previous literature done on OCB in parallel with conducting field research in a large multinational in Egypt – in attempt to measure their employees’ OCB and bring the suggested evaluation method into practice. It has been concluded that OCB is not consistent among all employees. However, guidelines to effective evaluate it across different employees have been suggested.

Adding to this, the questionnaires in this paper provides a jumpstart for future researchers who wish to evaluate the level of OCB in an organisation.

Introduction

International trade, European Union, labour mobility, ease of cross border transportation, competition, globalisation, desire to a better living standard and striving for achievement are all factors to employees shifting jobs. Unlike salaries, working conditions, job descriptions and appraisals, these factors cannot be controlled by an organisation. This has all increased interest in Human Resources Management (HRM), careers and Organisational Behaviours (OB) as sciences. An organisation can retain an employee who is not satisfied with his pay by increasing the salary.

However, it cannot retain an employee who does not feel committed to the organisation or does not actually feel the organisation is holding on to him/her or treating him as a valued asset; as human resources of organisations were recently categorised as assets since they contribute, develop, control, manage and add value all other different assets (Bisson & Branscombe, 2008) The external factors listed are usually considered threats to an organisation as it is always in fear of losing its human resources.

Imagine an organisation purchasing very expensive high-tech machines that generated a lot of profit giving it up to a competitor. The consequences are more or less the same if those high-tech machines were top performing employees who may need stronger motivation than money or benefits. The motivation then comes from a newer HR term called Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). One of the characteristics of being a citizen is being committed (to the norms, cultures, behaviours, attitudes and rules).

Commitment to an organisation is referred to as Organisational Commitment (OC). OC has been defined as an attitude involving employee loyalty to the organisation with those employees who are committed being willing to contribute something of themselves to their organisations (Smith and Hoy, 1992). OC is one of the very first attitudes that lead to OCB. It is complemented by organisational trust, the degree of employee satisfaction, involvement in decision-making, sense of importance, career guidance and a sort of monetary motivation.

What makes the study challenging is that OCB, an inexact science, is defined as discretionary, ‘extra-role’ behaviour, not formally rewarded or punished by the organization, which, in the aggregate, benefits the organization by improving efficiency and/or effectiveness (Organ, 1988). Although OCB is not an obligation or not part of an evaluation process, employees who enjoy it find it an obligatory factor of the job.

Free trade, common markets, economic and political unions – which all fall under the umbrella of globalisation is a main reason why organisations, locally and internationally are now seeking; new areas for sustainable competitive advantages and in the eyes of most, Human Resources are one of the most important factors that cannot easily be imitated by others, which defines a sustainable competitive advantage. As being referred to, OCB is a matter of personal choice that goes beyond the call of duty.

It can be reflected in situations such as an employee having to decide on whether to attend an informal company event or spending the evening at home.  Below are some of the many types of OCB as identified by Bachrach et al.

• Helping Behaviour or Altruism: Selfless concern to the help of others. For example, an employee may inform his/her absent colleague from a training about what has been missed
• Sportsmanship: Knowing that there is no loss to a party when it comes to a win for the organisation
• Organisational Loyalty: Promoting the organisation to outsiders as well as supporting and defending it against threats or attacks
• Organisational Compliance: The behaviour of complying by the organisation? s rules and norms, considering that not every employee initially complies even though it is a must.
• Individual Initiative: This entails engaging in task-related behaviours at a level beyond minimally required or generally expected levels that it takes on a voluntary flavour
• Civic Virtue: This is showing willingness to actively participate in the organisation governance

It can now be said that OCB refers to the ability, willingness and motivation to react and perform in a behaviour that is not required and not aiming to be rewarded for it. One other reason why OCB is being an important issue at the moment is the existence of some countries such as Japan, where a person spends his or her entire life working for one organisation and affiliates his or her name with the organisation. On the other extreme, there are countries such as Egypt where employees regard the organisation they work for part of their career.

Some research results indicate that desirable behaviour is determined and managed by the organization. With reference to the selected variables, this paper will justify whether they are in the controllable or uncontrollable environment of an organisation.

Research questions

The research is intended to answer the following questions through reviewing previous literature and conducting field analysis:

• What is an agreed upon definition for OCB?
• Why is OCB not disseminated among HR practitioners?
• Are there specific grounds for what is defined as in-role and out-role?
• What are the variables that can be related to OCB and influence the behaviour?
• Since there are variables that can influence the behaviour, can OCB be aimed for by an organisation or is it uncontrollable?
• How can the level of OCB be evaluated?

Research aims

The research aims to assess the willingness and level of OCB within a large multinational as Carrefour as well as showing the importance of OCB and briefly reviewing the emergence of HR in Egypt. This adds to the existing literature the justification of why OCB is not a well-known concept in organisations within the business sector of this economy.

Moreover, clarification of the difference and the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and the variables outlined in addition to practically bringing the variables and type into field work is aimed for. This research also aims to integrate the different Human Resources (HR) activities that sum up and lead to OCB. OCB is an inexact science and the paper will try to identify factors which lead to this behaviour, that is desirable by all organisations, and how it can benefit them through examining the direct and indirect relation between OCB and the variables which include: Satisfaction Empowerment Involvement Trust Confidence Reaching a clear-cut agreement on what is regarded as in-role and out-role through employees, and checking the findings with other similar sources for consistency is also aimed for.

Research Methodology

Literature including internet research Academic research portals, case studies Questionnaires: Two questionnaires are used as part of the field research for this paper. The questionnaires were given to a sample of twenty-five employees at Carrefour Obour City, Egypt

Targeting random levels of employees throughout the organisation to test and evaluate their understanding of OCB. The survey will include questions that test the three main variables and sub points listed above and will be designed to be as consistent as possible through getting the same result in different ways. The questions criterion of the questionnaire will be categorised into questions that measure 1. Trust; that include dimensions of integrity, competence and dependability Commitment; which will reflect the variable of culture Satisfaction Loyalty The six types of OCB studied in the literature. The surveys shall then attempt to evaluate to what extent is there OCB in Carrefour Egypt based on the variables. The results will be compared to:

• The management expectations – The relationships of the variables and literature on the topic The existence of OCB in the organisation, considering the fact that the management are not fully aware of OCB as a science and are consequently not directly enforcing it or progressing towards it

Literature review

Definition and history of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

OCB literature originited in the work of Katz and Kahn who argued that an important behaviour required of employees for the effective functioning of an organisation is the undertaking of innovative and spontanuous activities beyond the prescribed role requirement. (Vigoda 2000). Organisational Cititeznship Behaviour is the individual behavior that is descritionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and that in the aggreagate promotes the effective functioning if the organisation (Organ as cited in Denis W Organ 1997).

Organ in the same literature further clarifies that by descretionary, it is meant that the behavior is not an enforceable of the role or job description. It is is rather a matter of personal choice such that its ommision is not generally understood as punishable (1997: 86). Organizational citizenship behaviour has been the focus of attention from organizational behaviour researchers (Bachrach et al. , 2000; Organ & Ryan, 1995; Organ, 1997; George & Battenhausen, 1990 as cited in Chen; Huang; & Liu) since Organ in 1988 proposed that organizational citizenship behaviour could influence individual and organization erformance. There has, however, been very little interest in studying the topic. According to the research of Bachrach et al. (2000), very few interest and research was conducted on the topic before 1988. Bachrach et al. explain in their literature that an employee who religiously obeys all rules and regulations, even when no one is watching, is regarded as a “good citizen” (2000: 524) 12 OCB construct has also been defined as “… a general tendency to be co-operative and helpful in organisational settings … (LePine, Erez, & Johnson, 2002 as cited in Ladebo). Eran Vigoda supports the argument that OCB is regarded as the extra-role activities employees pursue by saying that extra-role behaviours describe activities beyond formal job requirement that one chooses to do without expecting any direct reward (2000: 191). The author also defined in-role as the tasks employees pursue as an integral part of a job. Views of a sample of employees in this regard will be shown further in this paper.

Previous studies on employment relations indicated that employees viewed the practice of such behaviours (OCB) as personal obligations to co-operate with co-workers in solving task-related problems and to assist the organisation to achieve its performance objectives (Kessler, Purcell & Shapiro, 2004; Buyens , De Vos & Schalk, 2001; Janssens, Sels, & Van den Brande, 2003 as cited in Ladebo). Hence, this raises the question of whether OCB is still a beyond-role activity or not. If the suggestion is valid; this means that organisations without those behaviours shall fail.

Robbins and Judge stated that evidence indicate that organisations only benefit from those employees who have a sense or citizenship to the organisation and those organisations outperform those that do not (2007: 30) and referred to such employees as a need for any successful organisation.

Variables of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

Katz (1964) states that three basic types of employee behaviours are critical for the overall effectiveness of any organization: tempted to remain within the system. carry out their role assignments in a dependable manner. Innovative and spontaneous activity in achieving There must be organisational People must People must be objectives that go beyond the role specifications. Behaviours (2) and (3) are examples of OCB (Organ, 1988). Other examples of OCB are a willingness to give time helping others who have work-related problems, taking steps to prevent problems with other workers, and obeying organization rules, regulations and procedures even when no one is watching.

Podaskoff has argued that although research on OCB is on the increase, some unfortunate consequences has been brought up (Podaskoff et al. as cited in Chen, Huang & Liu). Adler, 1989; Hofstede, 1980 as cited in Chen, Huang & Liu further argued that different people from different cultures will not necessarily conform to the same set of norms and will have different beliefs of what can be viewed as OCB. It has been noted that the many occasions in which organizational functioning depends on supra-role behaviour cannot be prescribed or required in advance for a given job.

Such 14 behaviours are referred to as the gestures that lubricate the social machinery of the organisation (Bateman as cited in Katz and Kahn 1966). Some examples as portrayed by the authors include helping co-workers with a job related problem or tolerating temporary impositions without complaint. These were referred to as citizenship behaviours (Bateman 1983). The author has also concluded that there is a fundamental connection between satisfaction and OCB.

Organisational citizenship behaviour is influenced by job satisfaction. (Bateman 1983). OCB Researchers in at least 15 independent studies as well found a reliable statistical relationship between OCB and job satisfaction (Dennis W. Organ, 1995). Bateman (Bateman 1983). Job satisfaction, especially intrinsic satisfaction, was directly related to OCB. Extrinsic satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between Job characteristics and OCB (SuFen Chiu and Hsiao-Lan-Chen, 2005).

As some appraisal methods such as achieving sales quote or calls are related to pay and extrinsic rewards, others including citizenship behaviour and the out-role behaviour are mainly motivated and encouraged through intrinsic rewards and one`s emotions regarding the self. Job characteristics are the attributes of jobs that can have motivational functions for employees. The job characteristics investigated by this study primarily include Hackman and Oldham’s (1975) five core job characteristics (or dimensions) as well as the job interdependence concept.

The five core job characteristics are as follows: job variety (the extent to which an employee can use different skills in doing his/her work), job identity (the extent to which an employee can complete the whole or identifiable piece of work), job significance (the extent of the significant impact of the job on others), autonomy (the 15 extent of freedom, independence, and discretion of an employee to plan his/her work pace and method), and feedback (the extent to which an employee knows his/her own job performance from the job itself, colleagues, supervisors or customers (Hackman & Oldham, 1980).

Job interdependence refers to the extent to which an employee in a team relies on others to complete his/her own tasks (Shea & Guzzo, 1987) (as cited in Su-Fen Chiu & Hsiao-Lan-Chen, 2005) The social exchange theory also suggests that when an employee feels satisfied with his or her job, he or she will reciprocate with positive behaviour (OCB) to benefit the organisation (Organ & Ryan, 1995). Organizations have become more reliant on interdependent social and departmental networks, which have changed the nature of core work activities within the individual work units (Ostroff & Smith, 1992).

This suggests that it is not only enough for some employees to enjoy such behaviours; OCB must be transmitted across all employees as none work independently.

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour can be controllable

Previous literature suggested that the desirable behaviours, OCB, can be manageable by an organisation (Gene et al, 2000). A good social climate with involvement, fair and competent management, good communication, satisfaction with the organization, and an emphasis on good planning are suggested by the authors to implant this behaviour.

Therefore, organisations are also part of the equation; not only the employees. Employees search for companies that are willing to be more committed to them, says Jan Stringer organizations who are more sensitive to their needs and who won’t lay them off during economic slumps (2009). Committed employees tend to have personal values that are similar to those of the company. They are proud to be a part of their company, care about the fate of the company, and recommend the company as a great place to work.

• Stringer, in her article, suggests some factors in the workplace that influence commitment such as:
• Identifying the factors that satisfy employees
• Identifying factors that are source of dissatisfaction
• Ensuring that the recognition programmes are meaningful to employees
• Establishing clear career paths
• Establishing mentors to advise employees about career management inside the organization
• Identifying benefits that can be used to reward good performance
• Ensuring the clarity of the organisation values as well as ensuring its communication and practice across different organisational levels – clear values help establish teamwork, cooperation and standards of behaviour within an organisation
• Examining the consistency and alignment of actions, policies, and procedures with values. It has been argued that a leader`s fair or supportive behaviour may create a need in subordinates to reciprocate. One way to pay-back a leader for the support and fair behaviours is by performing better or engaging in citizenship behaviours (Vigoda 2000).

Vigoda`s argument could be linked with the existence of the psychological contract that is concerned with an individual? s subjective beliefs, shaped by the organisation, regarding the terms of an exchange relationship between the individual employee and the organisation (Rousseau as cited in Beardwell & Claydon, 2007). It is of importance, however, to mention that some literature proposed an argument that OCB can be a threat to the internal health of an organisation.

The literature suggests that OCB has more than two probabilities; present and absent – a third probability is that it can be of negative effect. Vigoda in his paper explains that supervisors and managers have direct influence over subordinates behaviors by increasing fairness and equality in interactions with them. Hence, in organisations where there is political gamesmanships and power struggles, there will be low concern with values such as equity and fairness and this is where the in-role duties and OCB will be, for the first time, negatively related and result in dissonances (2000: 192).

Empirical evidence indicates that employees, who perform less OCB, are likely to exhibit withdrawal behaviours, consider leaving the organisation (Ladebo, 2005 as cited in Ladebo).

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour examination is challenging

Valid evidence to why OCB is not a major concern to Human Resources departments in organisations as other HR focuses is the fact that the rewards that accrue to OCB are at best indirect and uncertain, as compared to more formal contributions such as high productivity or technical excellence or innovative solutions.

Those contributions would have a greater likelihood of being expressly linked to the formal reward system. (Organ as cited in Denis W Organ 1997) Organizational citizenship is not a part of the formal evaluation and reward system therefore failure to engage in these behaviours cannot be formally penalized (Van Dyne, Cummings, & Parks as cited in Gene et al. , 2000)

Clarifying in and out role conduct

There is a problem, however, that OCB aspects such as accepting tolerance and helping others would be considered part of the job (Organ as cited in Morrison 1994).

Morrison concludes her study saying that OCB is ill-defined and varies from one employee to the next and between employees and supervisors. The greater an employee’s perceived job breadth, the more activities he or she defines as in-role (1993:2). This supports the argument that OCB is an inexact science and is viewed differently by different people. The previous argument by Morrison suggests that a manager could define improving the morale of his team members as in-role yet a lower level employee would regard it as out-role. Hypothesis 1 in the article supports this.

It has as well been suggested that one of the main problems with defining OCB is the fact that the concept of in and out role is inexact and unclear (Organ 1997) and this justifies the reason for experimenting what employees actually regard as in and out in this concern – theory on its own is a limitation in this regard. Vigoda`s literature as well supports that in and out-role is ill defined and varies from one employee to the other in her literature (2000: 191).

Types of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

In an attempt to classify and breakdown OCB into different types, the author of this paper refers to Bachrach et al. literature. The authors organised different types of citizenship behaviours into seven main themes:

1. The helping behaviour involves voluntarily helping others with, or preventing the occurrence of, work-related problems and helping others by taking steps to prevent the creation of problems for co-workers (2000: 516, 517). Smith, Organ & Near previously discussed this behaviour in the name of altruism (Becker & Vance, 1993).
2. Organ (1990b: 96 as cited in Bachrach et al. , 2000) has defined sportsmanship as “a willingness to tolerate the inevitable inconveniences and impositions of work without complaining. However, his definition seems somewhat narrower than the label of this construct would imply. The authors added to Organ? s definition that “good sports” are people who not only do not complain when they are inconvenienced by others, but also maintain a positive attitude even when things do not go their way are not offended when others do not follow their suggestions, are willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the good of the work group, and do not take the rejection of their ideas personally (2000: 517).
3. Organizational oyalty entails promoting the organization to outsiders, protecting and defending it against external threats, and remaining committed to it even under adverse conditions as well as 21 spreading goodwill and protecting the organization and acts of supporting and defending organizational objectives (2000: 517).
4. Organisational compliance regards the behaviour of complying to an organisations policy as a form of citizenship behaviour is that even though everyone is expected to obey company regulations, rules, and procedures at all times, many employees simply do not (2000: 517). The author of this article theoretically views this form of OCB inconsistent. However, because the authors argue that some employees do not originally comply by the policies and norms, the argument is considered valid. Smith, Organ & Near previously referred to organisational compliance by the term generalised compliance (Becker & Vance, 1993).
5. Individual initiative involves engaging in task-related behaviours at a level beyond minimally required or generally expected levels that it takes on a voluntary flavour. Such behaviours include voluntary acts of creativity and innovation designed to improve one’s task or the organization’s performance, persisting with extra enthusiasm and effort to accomplish one’s job, volunteering to take on extra responsibilities, and encouraging others in the organization to do the same (2000: 524).
6. Civic virtue is projected by showing willingness to actively participate in the organisation governance such as attending meetings and expressing opinion about what strategy the organisation ought to follow to monitor its environment for threats and opportunities such as keeping 22 up with changes in the industry that might affect the organisation, and to look out for its best interest even at great personal cost. These behaviours, add the authors, reflect an employees recognition of being part of a larger whole in the same way that citizens are members of a country and accept the responsibilities which this entails.

The authors further outlines that this dimension has not received any empirical confirmation in the citizenship behaviour literature. However, it does appear to be a discretionary form of employee behaviour that is conceptually distinct from the other citizenship behaviour dimensions, and might be expected to improve organizational effectiveness through somewhat different mechanisms than the other forms of citizenship behaviour. All these behaviours are consistent with Organ`s definitions of employees going beyond the formal requirements.

The literature portraying the seven types of OCB is regarded as very reliable and trusted as it is supported by arguments of several well known writers who provided literature on the same topic including George & Brief (1992), George & Jones (1997), Borman & Motowidlo (1993, 1997). Williams and Anderson (1991), Van Scotter & Motowidlo (1986) and (Organ, 1988) as cited in Bachrach et al. , 2000. As part of the field work for this research, results of a survey will be projected at a further stage showing what different employees regard as in-role and out-role.

The actions that employees were asked to comment on were also formed in grouping of the first six types mentioned above, as the self-developments limitation is that it cannot be measured. The questions constructed were mostly inspired from Morrison`s literature (1994: 1553).

However, the addition of the OCB types as measures is an added contribution in this paper.

Literature Summary

The thought about OCB originated with the argument of Katz and Kahn who argued that only the undertaking of innovative and spontaneous activities beyond the regular shall effectively function an organisation.

Several authors pioneered by Denis W. Organ defined OCB as a behaviour that is of personal choice; it is discretionary, not intended for reward or recognition and considered beyond-role behaviour. As the term beyond-role was brought into existence, researches, academics and practitioners were not successful in finding agreed upon behaviour that is regarded in-role or out-role by everyone. Moreover, it has been stated that OCB is difficult to research and reach as it is not part of the formal evaluation and reward system.

Authors agreed that different employees categorise the same behaviours differently: a manager could define assisting an intern in another department as in-role, while an employee in the same department as the manager would find it out-role. OCB has many related variables that were identified by several authors. Among them are job satisfaction, empowerment, commitment from both the employee and the organisation, involvement, feedback and others. Literature mainly stressed on the job characteristics and satisfaction. Some researches also argued that the OCB, the desired behaviour, can be achieved by an organisation? management through empowering and embedding their employees with toolkits that include research about determinants of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, loyalty, career advisement and behavioural modification. Bachrach and other authors (2000) were able to define seven major types of OCB in their literature titled Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical and Suggestions for Future Research that can provide great help to practitioners and researches attempting future research to classify, categorise and evaluate OCB within an organisation.

Aims and methodology

Aims

The research aims to assess the willingness and level or OCB within a large multinational as Carrefour. It has been observed that majority of the previous literature has either not recently tackled OCB practically and from a practitioners viewpoint or has not projected results in a manner simple and comprehended by some other researchers. Adding to this, the concept of OCB is not yet comprehended in the Egyptian business society. Human Resources itself is still considered a new concept.

Since the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, employees were granted excess rights that employers themselves were complaining. The rights outweighed the duties and responsibilities. By 1980, the employment law in Egypt was passed and tried to maintain a fair balance between employer and employee rights and was regarded as successful. The law was majorly concerned with three stakeholders other than the employer and the employee; those were the employment office, health office and the social insurance office.

Personnel and personnel affairs department (now named Human Resources) have started to exist in large hotels and banks in Egypt by mid 1980s. The concept started developing until what is now called Human Resources – ever since organisations begun realising that employees are one of the most valuable assets. The core duties of the Human Resources department, formerly known as personnel affairs, now include other sub departments such as compensation and benefits, equal opportunities, training and development as well as other functions.

Despite the fact that the evolution of HR concepts in Egypt started tens of years earlier, the concept of OCB is not yet used between HR executives and personnel as other terminology is. For this reason and for other reasons such as globalisation and free trade, foreign investment is on increase in the Egyptian economy and the requirement of valuable and durable staff is on the increase. Hence, awareness and application of this term is of extreme importance and this paper could initiate the action. The research also aims to answer the following:

• What is an agreed upon definition for OCB?

This question will be answered through reviewing previous literature and compiling the most important definitions of OCB.

• Why is OCB not disseminated among HR practitioners?

Literature review will be the main guide to answering this question.

• Are there specific grounds for what is defined as in-role and out-role?

The source depended upon for this aim is questionnaire which will show what the sample studied regard is in and out role.

• What are the variables that can be related to OCB and influence the behaviour?

Literature review will be the main guide to answering this question.

• Since there are variables that can influence the behaviour, can OCB be aimed for by an organisation or is it uncontrollable?

Literature review as well as questionnaires will help answer this question as statements and questions in the surveys can guide HR professionals to find out where the loopholes are, and which areas employees need motivation or awareness at.

• How can the level of OCB be evaluated?

The questionnaires given are one source of evaluating OCB.

Methodology

Reviewing the literature of renowned authors and writers about OCB and what has been previously said and published. Due to the fact that OCB is not widely discussed among HR academics and practitioners, extensive research was required to understand the origins, theories, implications and types of OCB. Furthermore, literature review provided solid grounds and a platform upon which the arguments are built. In addition to this, the review assisted the further field work carried on for this paper which will be discussed.

The literature review also assisted the author to specify the scope of the paper as well as building knowledge base for future research. Two questionnaires were also used as part of the field research for this paper. Two different questionnaires were given to a sample of twenty-five employees at Carrefour Obour City, Egypt. The respondents were from random departments. However, it has been ensured that only employees and supervisors complete the survey – not workers, in order to ensure consistency and fairness of the results.

An employee would find him/herself more committed to and rewarded by the organisation more than a security personnel – this is the present view of the business environment in this culture.

References

1. Bachrach, et al. (2000) „Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical and Suggestions for Future Research.? Journal of Management, 26, 51. 1-61.
2. Bateman, T (1983) „Job Satisfaction and the Good Soldier: The Relationship between Affect and Employee ”Citizenship”? 26(4), 587-595
3. Beardwell, J & Claydon, T (2007) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach. Essex: Prentice Hall.
4. Becker, T & Vance, R (1993) „Construct validity of three types of organisational citizenship behaviour: an illustration of the direct product model with refinements.? Journal of Management, 19(3), 664-682
5. Bisson, S & Branscombe, M (2008, February 19) „Employees are our most valuable asset?. Editorial. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www. itpro. co. uk/blogs/maryb/2008/02/19/
6. Chiu, S and Chen, H (2005) „Relationship between job characteristics and organisational citizenship behaviour: the meditational role of job satisfaction.? Social behaviour and personality, 33(6), 523-540
7. Gene, et al. (2000) „Good soldiers and their syndrome: organizational citizenship behavior and the work environment.? North American Journal of Psychology, 2(2)
8. Katz, D. (1964) „The motivational basis of organisational behaviour.? Behaviour Science, 9(2), 131-133
9. Ladebo, O „Perceived supervisory support and organisational citizenship behaviours: Is job satisfaction a mediator? South African Journal of Psychology, 38(3), 479-488
10. Liu, C. , Huang P. , and Chen, C „Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in a Non-U. S. context: its dimensions, antecedents and consequences?
11. Morrison, E. (1994) „Role definitions and organizational citizenship behaviour: The importance of the employees perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 15431567
12. Organ, D (1995) „Personality, Satisfaction and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour. The journal of social psychology, 135(3), 339-350
13. Organ, D & Ryan K. (1995) „A meta-analytic review of attitudinal and dispositional predictors of organizational citizenship behaviour.? Personnel Psychology, 48, 775-802
14. Organ, D (1997) „Organisational Citizenship Behaviour: It? Construct Clean-Up Time? 10(2), 85-97
15. Robbins, S & Judge, T (2007) Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
16. Smith, D & Ostroff, F (1992) „The horizontal organisation.? The McKensey Quarterly, 1, 148-167
17. Stringer, J. „The secret to keeping employees committed?. Southern Methodist University. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from http://EzineArticles. com/? expert=Jan_Stringer
18. Vigoda, E (2000) „Internal politics in public administration systems: An empirical examination of its relationship with job congruence, organizational citizenship behaviour, and in-role performance. Public Personnel Management, 29, 185-210
19. Interview with Mr. Amr Hussein, Carrefour Obour H. R. Manager. Dated May 12, 2009 at Carrefour Obour offices. (2007, 23 July) „Carrefour?. Fortune Global Five 500. Retrieved May 18, 2009 from http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/7881. html www. carrefour. com

DOWNSIZING AND RIGHTSIZING Downsizing: The downward migrations of business applications are often from mainframes to PCs due to low costing of workstation. And also today’s workstations are as powerful as last decade’s mainframes. The result of that is Clients having power at the cost of less money, provides better performance and then system offers flexibility to make other purchase or to increase overall benefits. Rightsizing: Moves the Client/Server applications to the most appropriate server platform, in that case the servers from different vendors can co-exist and the network is known as the ‘system’.

Getting the data from the system no longer refers to a single mainframe. As a matter of fact, we probably don’t know where the server physically resides. Upsizing: The bottom-up trend of networking all the standalone PCs and workstations at the department or work group level. Early LANs were implemented to share hardware (printers, scanners, etc. ). But now LANs are being implemented to share data and applications in addition to hardware. Mainframes are being replaced by lesser expensive PC’s on networks. This is called computer downsizing. Companies implementing business process reengineering are downsizing organizationally.

This is called business downsizing. All this would result in hundreds of smaller systems, all communicating to each other and serving the need of local teams as well as individuals working in an organization. This is called cultural downsizing. The net result is distributed computer systems that support decentralized decision-making. This is the client/server revolution of the nineties As client/server technology evolves, the battle cry is now right sizing–design new applications for the platform they are best suited for, as opposed to using a default placement.

An application should run in the environment that is most efficient for that application. The client/server model allows applications to be split into tasks and those tasks performed on individual platforms. Developers review all the tasks within an application and determine whether each task is best suited for processing on the server or on the client. In some cases, tasks that involve a great deal of number-crunching are performed on the server and only the results transmitted to the client.

In other cases, the workload of the server or the trade-offs between server millions of instructions per second and client millions of instructions per second, together with the communication time and network costs, may not warrant the use of the server for data intensive, number-crunching tasks. Determining how the tasks are split can be the major factor in the success or failure of a client /server application. And if the first client/server application is a failure, for whatever reason, it may be a long time before there is a second.

Some variations on this theme are: 1. Downsizing: A host based application is downsized when it is re-engineered to run in a smaller or Local Area Network based environment. Downsizing involves porting applications from mainframe and mid-range computers to a smaller platform or a Local Area Network based client/server architecture. Downsizing is not as easy as buying and installing hardware and software that support client/server computing. This paper presents a case of rightsizing, with an outsourcing approach, of a mainframe based information system.

A full downsizing process, is a highly complex process due to the following reasons: * The need to manage, at the same time, the old and the new technology and environment for the parallel periods; * The need to migrate in the new platform the millions of LOC (line of code) of the several applications. In this paper we describe how that process can be performed in an outsourcing framework. We discuss which are the critical factors that assure an efficient process and big savings from the cost/benefit and cost/performance point of view.

There are several key factors to be considered in order minimizing the risks of failure and maximizing the success. The paper is organized in the following three parts: * The Rightsizing process; * The case study and the results obtained; * The lessons learned from the experiences done. The rightsizing Generally we can distinguish two main streams of the Rightsizing process: the downsizing and upsizing processes. The downsizing process is characterized by data and process shifting from Mainframe to desktop connected with LAN and WAN network.

The following steps, instead, characterize the Upsizing process: * The integration and connection of stand alone workstations or LAN * The development of distributed applications on this new architecture The Rightsizing of the applications and systems, that is their Downsizing or Upsizing, provides a major opportunity for cost savings and improving the flexibility of the information systems. In the following figure we see the rightsizing of the case study. It is from a traditional architecture based on a MVS IBM to a new distributed Client-Server architecture.

The new Client-Server applications are executed on several application servers. Down Sizing is nothing but The Process of moving an application from a {main frame ) to cheaper system, typically a (client-server) system. Downsizing and Client/Server Computing Rightsizing and downsizing are strategies used with the client/server model to take advantage of the lower cost of workstation technology. Rightsizing and upsizing may involve the addition of more diverse or more powerful computing resources to an enterprise computing environment.

The benefits of rightsizing are reduction in cost and/or increased functionality, performance, and flexibility in the applications of the enterprise. Significant cost savings usually are obtained from a resulting reduction in employee, hardware, software, and maintenance expenses. Additional savings typically accrue from the improved effectiveness of the user community using client/server technology. Downsizing is frequently implemented in concert with a flattening of the organizational hierarchy.

Eliminating middle layers of management implies empowerment to the first level of management with the decision-making authority for the whole job. Information provided at the desktop by networked PCs and workstations integrated with existing host (such as mainframe and minicomputer) applications is necessary to facilitate this empowerment. These desktop-host integrated systems house the information required to make decisions quickly. To be effective, the desktop workstation must provide access to this information as part of the normal business practice.

Architects and developers must work closely with business decision makers to ensure that new applications and systems are designed to be integrated with effective business processes. Much of the cause of poor return on technology investment is attributable to a lack of understanding by the designers of the day-to-day business impact of their solutions. Downsizing information systems is more than an attempt to use cheaper workstation technologies to replace existing mainframes and minicomputers in use.

Although some benefit is obtained by this approach, greater benefit is obtained by reengineering the business processes to really use the capabilities of the desktop environment. Systems solutions are effective only when they are seen by the actual user to add value to the business process. Client/server technology implemented on low-cost standard hardware will drive downsizing. Client/server computing makes the desktop the users’ enterprise. As we move from the machine-centered era of computing into the workgroup era, the desktop workstation is empowering the business user to regain ownership of his or her information resource.

Client/server computing combines the best of the old with the new—the reliable multiuser access to shared data and resources with the intuitive, powerful desktop workstation. Moving to Open and Client-Server System environments allows organizations to take advantage of several opportunities: the new cost/performance relations for the hardware components, the ? easy to use? graphical interfaces, the portability of the software, the adoption of faster software life cycles like RAD, the use of the information highways (for example internet) and so on .

Most of the organizations invest in rightsizing processes to build Client/Server architectures. Actually, upsizing and downsizing process has become a phenomenon of big importance for a lot of organizations. It is possible to preview that the next years the rightsizing tendency will increase very much, and will become a rule. Anyway we must consider, from the point of view of the architectural structure, that a rightsizing process is complex and may imply an increase of complexity of the final system if it is not well planned.

A typical distributed Client-Server architecture is characterized by the presence of workstations and personal computers acting as clients, by the interconnection of different groups of these computers through different local and wide networks, by the presence of several servers including eventually a mainframe as a file server. It is typical of the local network that there is a local database; the local stations of the network are able to reach this database instead of the remote database. In order to lower the complexity of the process, an outsourcing of all the IT activities, for the rightsizing period, or even more, can prove effective.

The IT system after the outsourcing/rightsizing period (typically from 3 to 5 years) becomes technologically updated and easier to maintain (especially if the outsourcing/rightsizing contract provides strict guidelines for the development of the new software and for the Reverse Engineering projects). The major trend for corporate information systems this decade will be downsizing. In its broadest sense, downsizing means implementing applications traditionally deployed on mainframes or minicomputers, on personal computers and Local Area Network (LAN) platforms.

Applications most often involved in downsizing are those designated as mission-critical, the success of these applications is integral to the daily operations of the organization. This shift will enable companies to use the power, affordability and flexibility of the microcomputer as the hub of their information systems, and when appropriate operate cooperatively with existing mainframe or minicomputer investments. Downsizing is enabled by a number of factors: -Powerful cost effective PC platforms. -Mature networking technology providing a communication infrastructure. Software that delivers a robust development environment for the creation of applications with mainframe-like complexity. -Economical migration paths for moving applications to the desktop. -The ability to integrate and synchronize front-end tools and back-end data sources. ……. In the 1970s, the prevalent model for information management systems was a centralized hierarchical database platform. Such databases, residing on a mainframe or minicomputer, offered high performance and tight security but little if any end-user access or control.

Essentially, the mainframe provided a highly sophisticated server with unintelligent clients, or “dumb” workstations. For its day, the approach was sound, giving information system managers a way to electronically store huge amounts of information that previously filled volumes of books and ledgers in company storage rooms. But it soon became clear that accessing and manipulating these databases was difficult, as well as prohibitively expensive. The 1980s saw the introduction of PCs that were used by individuals and departments within an enterprise to provide local, easy-to-use decision-making tools.

Over time these users became more sophisticated in their usage, their expectations rose and they had a desire to communicate with others in their group and to have greater access to all corporate data. The solution at the time was to link these PCs through Local Area Networks, giving the users increased information access. This approach, which used a “file server” model in which the server acted as an unintelligent storage device, did offer peripheral sharing but, there was no intelligent data management capability, which severely limited the types and sizes of applications that could be used.

The immaturity of this approach was reflected in the lack of well integrated and transparent connectivity to mainframe and minicomputer systems, where much of the corporate data resided (and still remains). In short, workstations were restricted in their ability to handle complex applications and to get at relevant data. Information system managers were highly interested supporting their end-user’s desires and in gaining improved access to all their corporate databases through the use of PC technology.

A significant concern of these managers though was a guarantee that they could maintain security, integrity of data and accessibility. The existing single platform approach would no longer work, a new model of computing architecture was needed. Downsizing: A Critical Edge By downsizing applications to the desktop, organizations can more easily deliver vital information to its users, providing a competitive edge. With the cooperative processing model these organizations can integrate their applications and information system resources with others throughout the enterprise.

This approach, which blends the flexibility and power of the PC (linked more and more through LANS) with the benefits of the resident database management system, offers numerous advantages: An Open Computing Environment. Despite well-intended and energetic attempts to impose a single computing standard on the industry, the truth is that corporate information systems are and will remain heterogeneous. Standards provide for a level playing field where users can invest and be assured that their investments will be protected.

And, standards provide a platform for software innovation, a mainstay of the computer industry. Integrating new technologies and approaches with existing standards should be a goal of every company. The challenge in running this type of heterogeneous environment is to find the correct balance between innovation and standards. Therefore, a information system designed to work with existing processing environments, utilize industry standards and be capable of taking advantage of emerging technologies will deliver the most effective business solutions.

The desire to balance new technologies and trends with existing resources is a large part of the motivation behind downsizing. By providing a modular architecture and component pieces that easily connect, the cooperative processing model delivers an environment that enables enterprise-wide connectivity and integration of heterogeneous data formats. The alternative is to create a homogeneous environment that by its nature is limited to its native capabilities. Rapid Application Development Part of the attraction of downsizing is the ability to rapidly prototype, develop and implement applications.

One of the principle shortcomings of a mainframe or minicomputer-based information management system is the application development time required and the resulting backlogs. Building a mission critical systems at the desktop is literally months and years faster than on a mainframe or minicomputer. Having robust development tools that enable the creation and implementation of systems in weeks rather than months allows organizations to benefit more from their information and realize a significant dollar savings in the process. Leveraging Existing Investments

Information management systems that handle mission-critical applications represent investments of millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours of work. When faced with the need to expand or upgrade these systems, scrapping the existing investment and building a new one is simply not a financial option. Nor is it necessarily a wise one. What is required is the ability to responsibility migrate these systems to the desktop by integrating the various platforms. Development Flexibility The purpose of any software application is to provide a service that makes accomplishing a task efficient and economical.

Downsizing mainframe and minicomputer applications to the desktop offers the application developer a wide range of PC-based tools to assist them in meeting needs of specific applications. The flexible nature of this environment lets the developer work faster, maintain applications with less effort, and be more responsive to the needs of the organization. Financial Considerations Developing applications on the desktop platform is a much more cost effective than traditional mainframe or minicomputer approaches.

PC-based development means your hardware and software investment is less, development time and its related costs are reduced and with the ability to leverage existing information system investments, and you do not incur the large expense of starting from scratch. Other Advantages Downsizing also offers smoother application maintenance; freedom from being locked into proprietary systems that may become outdated; and the ability to scale applications to match the changing needs of the organization.

Ultimately, downsizing gives users improved tools and critically needed access to data, which in turn increases productivity and the effectiveness of an organization. Rightsizing is defined as finding the correct platform for your enterprise. Compared with downsizing (moving to a smaller platform) and upsizing (moving to a larger platform), rightsizing lets a company align its information systems to its corporate goals. Rightsizing involves selecting the most appropriate computing resource to perform a task based on location, size, organizational structure, business work flow, and processing requirements.

The concepts outlined in the organizational behavior and management resonates with the eight principles of change management addressed by Kotter. Much of what is inherent in Kotter’s stage process of change management is in equal measure reiterated by Ivancevich and his co coauthors in their book Organizational Behavior and Management. Kotter postulates a model for leading and implementing change with each stage reflecting a key principle that relates to the responses of people as well as the approach of change in which people visualize change, own change and then effect change.

Similarly, the organizational behavior reflects the interplay with Kotter’s eight principles to accomplish the achievement of goals that are significant in the good balance in the organizational research as well as practice. With regard to this, changing business policies while at the same time stimulating business growth and the productivity index of the workers is the centralized themes of organizational behavior and management and captures the critical spirit of what kotter advocates for. Kotter articulates what is in the organizational behavior and management because he builds on the widespread experience of working with organizations.

This paper seeks to explore how the concepts of organizational behavior and management are consistent with Kotter’s principles. Constructing a Sense of Urgency Within the principle of implementing change in the organization, workers and all key players in the organization are obliged to develop a sense of urgency in their organizations. In light of this, Kotter asserts that the level of complacency among members of staff as well as the entire managerial team must evidently be low in a bid to address the sense of urgency (Kotter, 1996).

However, towards inducing a stronger sense of urgency, Kotter maintains that major changes must occurs within the context of speed so that the organization remains competitive. This concept resonates with the views of what is captured in organization behavior and management such that, it should be clearly implicated in the facet of introducing to members of an organization the necessity for change so that their input in the subunits of the business may help the organization stay abreast of the changes that are effected in the organization and thus maintain competitiveness (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007).

For change to be effected, an established sense of urgency will position the organization around the necessity for change which may make it possible for the organization to spark the much needed initial motivation to get the workers move things forward (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007). In light of this, open dialogue about the nature of the marketplace may facilitate a change process which urgency can build and nurture (Kotter, 1996).

Towards this, the organization can identify the possible threats and adopt mechanisms that would map the future outlook of the organization, point out opportunities that should be exploited and empower all stakeholders into understanding what is needed for the organization to move. Formation of Powerful Coalition Research shows that towards convincing people that the identified change is necessary; an organization may factor in the question of coalition through teamwork.

It is imperative to note that although this takes a fortified leadership and the support of everybody on ground, managing change will be directed by the effort of the organization to lead it (Kotter, 1996). In view of this, it is plausible to understand that a coalition block may be formed in a bid to initiate and lead change. For instance, Kotter underscores that this can be realized when the management brings together a team of all those people who are influential in the organization and use them to lead change.

It is arguable that the selected team draws its power form their political influence, expertise and status therefore uses this endowment to build a momentum around the need for change. Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2007) mirror these views by holding on to the concept that the use of team work in the organization forcefully follows the structured schema of identifying true leaders within the organizational structure, facilitating the emotional commitment of such leaders and evaluating the progress of the teams by using a mix of people from different levels and departments in the organization.

The efficiency of the coalition leads to improved performance for both short term and long-term goals. The Power of Vision should be Created Kotter and Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson advocate for the importance of developing a vision for change. On this note, it becomes futile if the organization has charismatic leaders and still do not have a vision. Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2007) postulate that vision is enshrined in the focused leaders and therefore plays an important role in effecting change because it helps in the alignment, direction as well as inspiring every useful action in the course of change.

Similarly, Kotter notes that a clear achievable and specific vision offers the organization a focus in overcoming challenges during the whole process of change (Kotter, 1996). In light of this, a change process without vision is analogous to a vehicle without headlight. According to Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2007), a clear vision helps to make everyone understand what is inherent in the change process and therefore, the workers see for themselves what is needed in terms of effecting change and get committed to the change.

Towards getting a vision that will be supported by almost everybody in the organization, it is important to determine values that are in line with the change, develop a phrase that captures what you see the organization in the future and formulate a strategy that will facilitate the execution of the vision. Communicating the Vision The existence of the vision itself is not a guarantee for the success of the change process. What determines success is how the message of the vision was passed on to the employees.

Kotter points out that frequent communication of the vision accounts for how the employees will support it. Accordingly, Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson connect these sentiments by highlighting that the organization behavior that can yield an effective management is rooted in how the vision is used to solve problems as well as make decisions that affect the running of the organization. Significantly, communicating the vision should be in the paradigm of psychological reinforcement where employees who follow the vision are rewards to encourage the commitment of all in working towards the vision.

It is clear that without coherent and concise communication, the minds as well as the hearts of employees get far away from the change process. Communication should therefore be effected through openly demonstrating the kind of behavior that you need form others, address their concerns as well as anxieties, applying the vision in almost all operation of the organization and unquestionably leading by the example (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007). Recognize and Remove Obstacles that may impede the Change process

Obstacles take many sizes and shapes. Such challenges can be organizational structures or worker’s performance. No matter the obstacle, kotter captures the sentiments of Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson in their book by explaining that change managers should identify these barriers wherever and whenever they occur. In the organizational behavior and management, Kotter (1996) explores that leading a change process building a process that is multidimensional and is approached from all levels of the organizations.

Barriers to change process should be located from the facet of anyone trying to resist change and putting in place the structural component of change. Accordingly, Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2007) note that removing obstacles may involve working on the behavioral aspect of workers. For example, empowering the workers to get more dedicated in executing the vision works as a [pointer towards removing and fixing the barriers to change process.

It is evident that organizational behavior and management captures the principle of barriers by recommending structural examination which can be followed through hiring the change managers who will be charged with the sole role of facilitating change, understanding the organizational structure through training and performance, using motivation to reward employers who are committed to change process and identifying all those people who are against change. Without identifying and fixing obstacles, the whole management undermines change.

Creating Short Term Success Stories Organizational management should work on the premise that change takes a long time to be effected. On this basis working towards a change process without shot terms wins may lead to workers getting demotivated and thereby resist the whole concept of change. Organizational behavior draws from this principle by arguing that nothing is so motivating than success itself and a company which tastes early success in the line of change process is bound to achieve better (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007).

Towards this, short term targets can be created , achieve short terms wins and reward employees. This arguably provides a momentum for the efficiency in change management. Motivation in this scenario may involve promotion, recognition, incentives and many others. Build on Change Kotter underscores that may change process fail because victory is declared too soon. It is worth noting that real change goes deep into the organizational culture.

Accordingly, Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson (2007) further contend that for change to be effective, the culture of the organization has to be dealt with to bring in the concept of new way of carrying out business. Launching projects and evaluating their performance need to be done in consistency with improvements being done after every attempt. In view of this, Kotter (1996) assert that short time success should provide the ground upon which an organization grows. Each victory of this nature gives the entire organization an opportunity to build on what is working for the organization and where improvement can be channeled.

Within this precinct, it is imperative that organizational management should employees a concise analysis in every win situation and set goals that would facilitate the growth of the change process through the concept of continuous improvement. Enshrine the Change in the Organization’s Culture A recent survey shows that culture portends a powerful force that leads in shaping the behavior and attitude of employees as regards their performance index (Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2007). This articulates Kotter’s view of change process because it lays the pedestal for future managements to mirror the newer approach of change.

In this view, Kotter argue of making the change stick such that it becomes part of the organization. This determines what should always be done. Accordingly, making continuous effort to support the change helps to position he change in the culture of the organization. The major interplay between Kotter and authors of the organizational behavior lies in the concept of the change leader to understand the underlying factor between organizational culture, behavior of the workers and the success of the organization.

The challenge that may face this is the way to get people to customize their behaviors to suit the change process. However, this can be ironed out through clear strategies because, people behavior change due to the element of motivation and what happens when their feelings are touched in the right way. Conclusion From the forgoing discussion, it is evident that hard work, strategy and motivation are the key element to a successful change process.

This is inherent in what is called carefully schema towards building the change process, implementing change through people’s behaviors and motivation and providing the impetus for change thorough short term success stories. In regard to this, Both Kotter and Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, articulate a simple but successful plan that guides change managers through the change process. Developing a sense of urgency, recruiting change leaders who are charismatic and powerful, creating a vision and strategy, effectively selling the bison to the employees are all powerful tools towards success.

In addition establishing quick wins, take part in enshrining change process into the organizational culture thereby providing a chance for the success in the competiveness in the organization. All this should be addressed using the law of effect and reinforcement to foster the spirit of change through motivation in the organization. Reference Ivancevich, J, Konopaske, R and Matteson, M (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Kotter, J (1996). Leading Change. Harvard: Harvard Business Press

On the one hand, al local level, opportunities have been observed to evolve plans for the participation of new actors and strategies, and for the involvement of civil corporations in the development process. Tourism is the travel for recreational, leisure, family or business purposes, usually of a limited duration. Tourism is refers to travel to another location within the same country and as well as trans-national travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people “traveling to and staying In places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”.

The concept of Community-based Tourism (CB) can be found in the work of Murphy (1985), where aspects concerning tourism and developing local communities are analyzed, and in a further study by the same author in 2004 (Murphy and Murphy, 2004). Along with these two studies, there are several other research papers analyzing the relationship between tourism and local communities (such as Richards and Hall, 2000). This concept paves the way for new lines of investigation and for the possibility of tourism development together with other alternatives such as Pro-Poor

Tourism (PPTP); Community Benefit Tourist Initiatives (Cobalt) (Simpson, 2008); or Community-Based Enterprises (Cubes) (Mammary and Jones, 2007). To summaries, all these Initiatives agree that the destination community should be included In the tourism planning and management decision-making process, owed to three mall reasons: It considers them to be part of the tourist product, local communities adapt to changes easily, and it helps to open their minds. Several projects based on CB Kibosh, 2008), Asia (Enplane et al. 2006; Kaki, 2008; Kate, 2010), Oceania (Dyer et al. 2003), and in different countries of Latin America such as Brazil (Grouchier, 2007), Ecuador (Uric teal. , 2008), Mexico (Brings and Israel, 2004) and Peru (Zorn and Farthing, 2007). CB is based on the active participation of the local community. This is why the creation of community events which may favors this type of tourism, while at the same time helping to create a relationship between the local community and visitors, is so important.

To facilitate this, different public administrations, Non- Governmental Organizations (Nags), private institutions and the local community itself should get involved and work together. According to Enplane et al. (2006), the main limitations local communities have to face when implementing tourism projects are the following: lack of financial resources, infrastructure or know-how; limitations of a cultural kind; and potential conflicts between the different public administrations.

At the same time, the following factors are described as being highly important for CB implementation (Kibosh, 2008): the inclusion of stakeholders, the evaluation of individual and collective benefits, the setting of objectives, And analysis f decisions to be implemented. The main benefits of community tourism are the direct economic impact on families, socioeconomic improvements, and sustainable diversification of lifestyles (Mammary and Jones, 2007; Raster, 2010).

CB is certainly an effective way of implementing policy coordination, avoiding conflicts between different actors in tourism, and obtaining synergies based on the exchange of knowledge, analysis and ability among all members of the community. One of the most controversial aspects in scientific literature is determining the number and type of tourists. Thus, Enplane et al. 2006) highlight the importance of receiving a small number of tourists, which means more contact with local culture and society. This way, the risk of tourists invading private aspects of the local culture is avoided.

However, at the same time, his limited number of visitors reduces the economic resources generated by tourism Having taken this element into consideration, the creation of cooperatives allowing the community to manage its own tourist resources is seen a fundamental element (Leap, 2007; Groans and Kaufmann, 2010). However, there are some negative aspects in the development of the tourist product, including he potential link between a high number of tourists, sex and alcohol, and the loss of cultural identity; and the hypothetical degradation of natural resources (They et al. 2002). In this case, residents have five alternatives to minimize this negative impact on the community – resistance, retreat, boundary maintenance, revitalization and adoption (Dugan, 1989). We must remember that tourism can change (or event destroy) the local culture if it is being treated as Just another tourist attraction and only aims for a rapid development of the area (Dyer et al. , 2003). CB is based on the reaction of tourist products characterized by community participation in their development.

CB emerged as a possible solution to the negative effects of mass tourism in developing countries, and was, and the same time, a strategy for community organization in order to attain better living conditions. Its core idea is the integration of hotel management, food and beverages, complementary services and tourism management, but also includes other subsystems (infrastructure, health, education and environment) as main characteristics, thus presenting a sustainable between the local community and visitors as a key element in the development of a aorist product (Choice et al. 2007). CB is protected and supported by different international organizations, such as the World Tourism Organization (2002), and has several objectives, among which community empowerment and ownership, social and economic development, conservation of natural and cultural resources, and a high quality visitor experience, should be noted. Community participation in tourism development has been originally developed and implemented in the so-called developed world, where tourism supply emerged.

In these regions, special programmers have supported locally driven development. An example of this is the Else’s LEADER programmers focusing on development of sustainable rural areas. It is now claimed that developing countries could avoid many of the problems that have plagued past tourism development by involving diverse social groups from the popular sectors of local communities in decision making. They should become convinced of the benefits of tourism and thus support its development or at least acquiesce to it with resignation rather than apathy.

From the summary reflected above it becomes clear that a community-based approach requires mutual elaboration and co-operation, conceptualized as a process of Joint-decision-making among autonomous keys take holders of an inter-organizational, community tourism domain. It should be resolving planning problems and managing issues related to development of that domain. And it is exactly this that is missing in most developing countries. Now we come to the discussion of “preserve or develop” that is never ending, especially when focusing on developing countries.

Community participation has been used to attempt readjusting the balance of power and reassert local community views against those of the developers or local authorities. Furthermore, though we think that community participation is a powerful tool to educate the community in rights, laws and political good sense, the question should be asked to what extent local people, with sometimes limited understanding of wider issues, can accurately decide what is best frothier long term well-being.

Also, community participation should not only focus on this political dimension, ignoring financial and economic considerations which are often the primary drivers at local level. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: Community-Based Tourism (CB) enables tourists to discover local habitats and lilied, celebrates and respects traditional cultures, rituals, and wisdom. The community will be aware of the commercial and social value placed on their natural and cultural heritage through tourism, and this will foster community based conservation of these resources (www. Communicativeness’s. Info). There are many study related on CB. Kaki (2008) developed the model of CB integrating the concepts the ladder of participation, power redistribution, collaboration processes, and social capital. The study demonstrated that the model can be used to assess the actual participation level in a study site. Bothersome, Byrd (2007) argued that there is not a definable single generic interest for the host community. The interests will be community can either assist in keeping an individual in a community or increase their chance to leave the community.

Current tourism and tourism development in the community will also influence their support for future endeavors and their interactions with visitors. The support and interactions will in turn influence the overall success of the tourism development. Moreover, Baggier and Console (2009) elaborated the meaning of community in tourism. They argued that customers may interact with companies and other customers and may achieve more information that allows them to reduce their information asymmetry and become more empowered than they were in a pre-let era.

Numerous recent researches report that online reviews and comments do influence individuals’ purchase decisions, affecting the evolution of demand within communities. In this respect, virtual communities play a pivotal role in boosting tourist product innovation by leveraging learning from customer relationships. Customers may become a source of innovation since they gain an economic benefit from innovation which boosts their creativity, and show gig expertise which may be transferred to firms and among communities.

Virtual communities allow people who interact to satisfy their own needs and to share purpose such as an interest, need, information exchange, or service that provides a reason for the community. Firms may leverage these communities by providing a suitable context where customers may share social conventions, language, and protocols. Bothersome, Bananas and Jasmines (2011) examined the potential of CB in Villain district municipality, as well as to propose measures to make this activity feasible.

The study demonstrates that communities considered their participation in ours development reported a number of difficulties they have confronted with. The problems were mentioned most often: disagreement with the local government; lack of communal land; lack of finance; apathy and lack of initiative amongst local residents; lack of sociality and solidarity. Moreover, Lappers (2010) assesses the potential contribution of Community-Based Tourism Enterprises (Cubes) to poverty alleviation and empowerment.

It shows that tourism income captured locally improves rural households’ livelihoods and generates linkages in the local economy. On the Job learning, training sessions and extensive support by non-governmental organizations and donors are further shown to empower rural actors and unlock socioeconomic opportunities for the future. In this context, Cubes can be characterized as pro-poor initiatives. However, this study provides counter evidence that the sustainability of such community tourism ventures is to be questioned.

First, mainstreaming these projects within the competitive tourism commodity chain proves highly challenging and costly; second, communities’ institutional and managerial capacity is weak and thus Cubes’ viability is limited; finally, inadequate support by donors and non-governmental organizations fails to tackle challenges aced by community tourism ventures. Bothersome, Mammary and Jones (2007) evaluate the potential of Community-Based Enterprise (CUBE) as avenues of poverty alleviation in Kenya and the challenges facing them.

The key factors that could influence local community attitudes towards CUBE fall into two categories: motivational factors and community factors. A sense of ownership was seen as critical so that local communities were adequately empowered and involved. CUBE initiatives had to be also have to be addressed. Furthermore, Foreleg and Boo (2012) studied Community- based customize. It aims at environmental conservation but it is also a way to empower communities, by allowing them a degree of control over tourism projects and their impacts.

Foreleg and Boo explored the varying degrees of empowerment of host communities provided by community-based customize through a meta study analysis of six case studies of tourism projects. Not all contemporary tourism projects take local populations into consideration thus the six case studies are nonrandom selections for the purpose of representing the concept embodied in the thesis and showing its appropriateness with the new tourists’ expectations. Furthermore, Salary (2012), studied community-based tourism using long-term anthropological fieldwork in Tanzania.

The study critically analyzes how well generally accepted community-based tourism discourses resonate with the reality on the ground. It focuses on how local guides handle their role as ambassadors of communal cultural heritage and how community members react to their narratives and practices. It pays special attention to the time-limited, project-based development method, the need for an effective exit strategy, for quality control, tour guide training and long-term our guide retention.

Findings reveal multiple complex issues of power and resistance that illustrate many community-based tourism conflicts. The encounter with the “Other” is shown to be central and that the role of professional intermediaries in facilitating this experience of cultural contact is crucial. Tour guides are often the only “locals” with whom tourists spend considerable time: they have considerable agency in the image-building process of the peoples and places visited, (re)shaping tourist destination images and indirectly influencing the self-image of those visited too.