Art of Privacy Portrayed by David Bourne

Art of Privacy Portrayed by David Bourne In The Garden of Eden, David Bourne retreats into his writing to escape the complications of his life, complications located predominantly in the actions and moods of his young wife, Catherine. He keeps a space all his own in which he writes; a daily regimen regulates his work practices. He muses, â€Å"If you cannot respect the way you handle your life then certainly respect your trade. You know about your trade at least† (148). There is comfort in having something all his own that he understands well and can control. Yet Catherine attempts at every turn to undermine this one thing that he has, to cheapen it or appropriate it for herself. Marita, however, is appreciative and respectful of Davids work; she is not jealous of or threatened by his talent. With Marita he no longer must guard himself against incessant insecurity and jealousy; he willingly shares with her the ordered, insular world of his writing and makes himself vulnerable in a new way. His understanding of people and how best to interact with others in the world is altered, if only temporarily, and he is able to tap into a part of his writing previously unknown to him. In Africa, David learned to â€Å"never tell anyone anything† (181). One cannot trust others with anything, because people are apt to use anything given them to pursue only those ends personally beneficial, often destroying something meaningful or beautiful in the process. Thus, at the novels open, David is guarded; he is not free with the world he has established for himself where nothing exists saves those landscapes and characters he creates. Through writing, he achieves pure agency; he lets no one into this world, even peripherally. â€Å". . . [David] wrote from an inner core which could not be split nor even marked nor scratched† (183): because it is exclusively his own, no person is able to corrupt or destroy his writing. His art is the logical outgrowth of his philosophy. David desires total autonomy and he has found it in literature. Catherine is threatened by this part of David that she cannot touch. David is hers – and she has no one else, no friends, no family – and thus she must transform him totally as proof of this, to exercise her agency. She manipulates David into changing his appearance; she changes their sexual dynamic. She and David are â€Å"against all the others,† she says (37), and thus they must be together and equal in all things, or at least (contradictorily) be together and equal in the way she envisions. Davids reviews of his newest book, his â€Å"clippings†, infuriate her. She berates David for keeping them and reading them, as if he were obsessive. The clippings are something of which she is not a part; they are uniquely Davids, a part of his work. She approves of the â€Å"narrative† that he is writing, an account of their time together in Europe, because she sees it as a monument to herself. She fears that when she dies, all that she has done and felt wi ll fall away: â€Å". . . I dont want to die and it be gone† (53). Davids narrative is the solution. She gradually tries to appropriate the narrative for herself, making plans for it, and in her final letter to David actually referring to it as â€Å"my book† (237). Catherine despises his short stories inspired by the African experiences of his youth. Not only are they writings which he does not want her to read or engage with in any way, but they are very nearly autobiographical and therefore immediately personal to David, something which, of course, Catherine cannot tolerate. She says, â€Å". . . [T]he stories are just your way of escaping your duty† (190), his duty, apparently, to her and to documenting their life and experiences. Ultimately, she burns his stories and his clippings to illustrate this and to refocus his work back on the narrative. Catherine wants to take from David everything that is exclusively his – clippings, writing, individual identity, manhood – and she nearly succeeds. Marita is at first another complication brought on by Catherine. David finds her beautiful, but is averse to her presence in their small hotel, thinking it will further wrench he and Catherine apart; â€Å"The hell with her,† David says several times. He wishes Catherine would take her away. However, as Catherine drifts deeper into herself than ever before and becomes more eccentric and moody, David grows closer to Marita, realizing, eventually, his love for her: â€Å"Christ, it was good to finish [the second Africa story] today and have her there. Marita there with no damned jealousy of the work and have her know what you were reaching for and how far you went. She really knows and its not faked. I do love her . . .† (204) Marita adores his Africa stories and expresses properly complex feelings about them, where Catherines reaction is simply disgust – a feeling that is truly a disguise for her jealousy and annoyance that David chose to work on these stories rather than the narrative. Marita is secure in herself and kind, and David senses this. Unlike Catherine, she does not wish to â€Å"destroy† David or the products of his artistry, she admires his talent and wishes for it whatever David wishes. Her affection for Davids Africa stories and relative disinterest in the narrative makes her the metaphorical opposite of Catherine: she sees an especial kind of veracity and power in the Africa short stories, those deeply personal to David. His control over this literary world is not a site of contention, but of appreciation. His control breeds high caliber work, and thus it is worthy of respect. Catherine is too selfish and single minded to see this, or at least to express it; the fact that the stories are at a remove from her is sufficient for her to discount them as evidence of Davids betrayal. Davids time with Catherine only affirms his ideas about not telling anyone anything. Belief in innate human selfishness is at the core of such a philosophy, or rather, fear that human selfishness will lead to the ruin of something important. Indeed, in Davids case, Catherines selfishness and inability to accept his autonomy over one aspect of his life results in the destruction of two of his best stories, the product of weeks – months – of work. However, Marita and Davids flowering relationship calls this philosophy into question. Catherines leaving allows for David and Maritas romance to begin to become fully realized. Her sweetness is in direct contrast to Catherines cruelty. She comforts him and feels the pain of the loss of his stories the same as he does. In a crucial moment after finishing his second Africa short story, he sits and reads with Marita as she reads: â€Å"He had never done this before and it was against everything he believed about writing . . . . He could not help wanting to read it with her and he could not help sharing what he had never shared and what he had believed could not and should not be shared.† (203) He willingly shares with Marita the part of himself that he had for so long kept most carefully guarded: his writing. It is a symbolic affirmation of the difference between his relationship with Marita as compared to his relationship with Catherine, one in which he could never be fully who he was. With Marita, he can â€Å"tell† things, he can reveal himself intimately without fear of being used. David says to Marita after Catherine burns his stories that â€Å"[w]hen its once right you never can do it again. You only do it once for each thing† (230); he cannot rewrite what he has lost. And while this may have been true before, in the final paragraphs of the novel, David gets back his stories, every sentence intact. Opening himself up to Marita, exposing the part of him most sacred, caused a change, one that David recognized when it occurred, but forgot. Marita asks on their way out of the hotel after the two read the story together, â€Å"Do you think were really lucky?† David responds, â€Å"Yes . . . I think it changed this morning or maybe in the night† (205), and thus ends Book 3 of The Garden of Eden. This change, this opening up of himself, paved the way for something new. His luck had changed, and he says at the very end of Chapter 28, the third to last chapter, that when writing one must gamble. â€Å"So gamble,† he says (238). He does gam ble and he wins, his luck having changed; he regains what he had lost, without any â€Å"sign that any of it would ever cease returning to him intact† (247). His emancipation from Catherine – the troubled woman whom he still worries for – and his opening up to Marita allowed for the recovery of his prized stories. The novel concludes with David triumphing, yet there is an undercurrent of troubling ambiguity. The Garden of Edens final line echoes the final line of â€Å"Indian Camp†: â€Å"In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, [Nick] felt quite sure that he would never die† (95,The Short Stories). There is a romantic optimism in both, in Davids case, a kind of pre-lapsarian confidence. Marita in the final pages speaks as did Catherine once, saying, â€Å"Im your girl . . . no matter what Im always your girl† (245). He writes his and Maritas name in the sand as an officiation of their marriage, peculiarly as sand is the most ephemeral of writing materials. Do these instances portentously suggest that their relationship will end as did his and Catherines, that it will dissolve as will certainly their names on the beach? With time, Hemingway seems to suggest, their good luck will turn, but neither yet realize it.

THE ROAD TO DISUNION Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE ROAD TO DISUNION - Coursework Example The era marked the beginning of abolishment of the slave trade. The Andrew Jackson administration advanced policies that enabled the development of social amenity facilities. The term of Andrew Jackson as the president of America between 1829 and 1837 marked a new political era in America. For the first time, a common man from a humble background rose to the highest political office in America. Contrary to his predecessors, who came to power due their families’ prestige, wealth and education, Andrew Jackson was born and raised in humble circumstances. The election of Andrew Jackson demonstrated that individual’s lineage gave no assurance for a place in the office; rather the ability to obtain favor from the voters. His election was a defining moment when the rise of the â€Å"common man† began. Andrew Jackson administration believed in universal suffrage of all white men. He agitated for a situation where all men, regardless of social class, would be allowed to exercise the voting rights. By the end of 1850, the Jacksonian democracy had dropped most of the requirements to qualify as a voter. Requirements such as ability to pay tax or own property had been abolished. The abolishment allowed a large number of voters to exercise their democratic rights. In addition, President Andrew Jackson introduced the patronage policy. The policy allowed the president to appoint his political supports to offices. The patronage policy encouraged common man’s politics participation. These and other political reforms many more common men to clinch power. Andrew Jackson administration agitated for an economy of artisans and small farmers. Majority of the American were small farmers, laborers and artisan. He believed that this sort of economy encouraged financial independence and virtue. His administration saw implementation of policies that favored the common man. Andrew Jackson heavily criticized

Comparative Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility Assignment

Comparative Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example To understand more about comparative advantage, the author will feature in an example. In country A, a worker using machinery produces 4 shirts and 4 skirts per hour while in country B which has less machinery, a worker produces 4 shirts and 2 skirts per hour. It is evident that the less efficient country has a comparative advantage in producing shirts. With the absence of trade, the opportunity cost per shirt is 2 skirts. Bearing in mind that the more efficient country has a 1:1 trade-off, the cost per shirt may reduce to as low as 1 skirt depending on the volume of trade. The more efficient country has a comparative advantage in skirts. It would, therefore, make economic sense if the country shifted its shirts production resources to produce more skirts. It would then trade them for shirts. In economics, the net benefits realized by each country are called the gains from trade. The idea of comparative advantage was first mentioned and developed in Adam Smith’s book The Wealt h of Nations. Here, he puts the theory as follows: if a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than when we ourselves can make it, it is better to buy it from them with gains realized from our own industry. This has to be employed or designed in a way that we have some advantage. David Ricardo, in his 1817 book, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, investigated the advantages and alternatives as well as relative opportunity in an example involving Portugal and England. In his book, he noted that in Portugal, it was possible to produce both cloth and wine using less labor compared to producing the same quantities in England. He also noted that the relative costs met in producing those two goods were different in the two countries.

Workplace Romance in the Hospitality Industry Research Paper

Workplace Romance in the Hospitality Industry - Research Paper Example As a result of this constant sharing of working space there remains a high chance of the workers in the hospitality industry getting romantically involved with each other. Every worker spends a considerable amount of the day in his or her office. Above that the workers in the hospitality industry work under stressful conditions like round the day duties and living up to the demands of people of different kinds. As a result seeking supports from co-workers and consequent blooming of romance between them is prevalent trend in this industry. In any office environment the co-workers share a lot of feeling like experiences, interests, fears, setbacks and achievements with each other. Therefore it can be seen that the factors responsible for giving birth to romance are always present in the working environment. The constant sharing of emotions may lead to the development of emotional and romantic leanings on each other. The usual office romance varies from casual flings and affairs to the more serious relationships. In the hospitality industry there are also many instances of sexual harassment between co-workers and the scholars have distinguished the workplace romance from sexual advances. Workplaces romances in have been defined as relationship based on mutual desire and physical attraction between the workers of the same organization. It is also necessary that the people have found each other through the course of their work and the relationship is consensual. For romance between workers separated by hierarchy it is important that the romance spreads beyond the traditional employer employee relationship. Workers from all age group have been found to be associated with workplace romance. However the highest probability of romance between colleagues lies in the age group from 35 to 44. In a survey almost 44% of the interviewee in this age group has admitted to date their co-workers (Pearce, 2010). Some very important points of discussion about workplace romance have been the causes for the development of the romance, the effect of office romance on the peers and environment of the office as well as on the people involved directly and the managerial decision or attitude towards accepting the romance (Odgers, 2004, pp 221-222; Burke, Mattis, 2005 p 153; Sias, 2009, p 140). It will be relevant to mention that many of the organizations have a defined policy on workplace romance though no such references could be found directly for the hospitality industry. It has often been debated whether workplace romance leads to better performance of the employees and also the effect of romance on the other co-workers Reasons and the Consequences of Office Romance According to Fiona M. Wilson (2007) the study of romance in office as a sociological subject started 30 years ago. Such studies were of immense interest for the management who wanted to know the consequence on the organization as a result of romances between the workers. According to Peter Corser (20 11), a person spends a third of their day in their office. Under such a situation the author finds it natural for romance to brew between the co-workers. Moreover it can also be mentioned here that for people working in a team the skills, experiences and the knowledge are very similar. Therefore there is a high chance of people sharing common interests and therefore finding each other attractive. However he has also noted that many organizations have discouraging policies for such romances. The organization has

I want a....( something) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I want a....( something) - Essay Example Your dog will never go out with other dogs (or what is worse, women) unless you ask your dog about this. However, even if you ask your dog to spend a little while with somebody else, it will probably prefer to refuse. Your dog is devoted to you with all its doggy soul – nobody else in the world would be as loved as you. Your dog will never leave you at home even if his buddies are waiting for him. You are your dog’s best buddy, so what is the sense? Your dog will never tell that it wants to go fishing without you. Your dog will never be late from work and it will never drink too much alcohol. It will not spend a part of your family budget for a new car detail. You dog will love you despite the way you look. Can you imagine the reaction of your boyfriend who sees your smeared-out make-up and messy hair when you wake up? It is of no importance for your dog. Your dog will never panic if you forget to shave your legs. Your hairdo, make-up, and outfit are not important too. You do not need to spend hours in front of your mirror in order to delight the eye of your dog. Even more, a few extra kilos will not frighten your dog. It does not matter at all. This lovely creature may appreciate your inner world. It doesnt happen very often that you find someone so sensitive and emphasizing. Besides, your dog may help you keep fit. You both will enjoy going for a walk twice a day. A breath of fresh air will always keep cheerful and healthy. Finally, if after all you decide you need to find a boyfriend, your dog may be helpful. Statistics shows that men may use your dog as a reason to get acquainted with you. A man who has a dog may turn to be a worthy, adequate candidate. It is better to escape men who do not like dogs or at least cats. It is hardly possible to find any disadvantages of dogs. Many people say that dogs are better than people. It may be true. Nowadays it is hardly possible to find

The Multi-unit manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Multi-unit manager - Essay Example Practical and Implications – The knowledge obtained from this study will help the multi-unit restaurant operation in the development of Human resource in terms of recruitment, selection and training needs. Introduction In the United Kingdom, the service industry represented over 77.1 percent of Gross Domestic Production in 2010 (CAI Fact book, 2011). There are many international hotels such as Hiltons or Accor that have expanded all over the world. In restaurant sector, most restaurants seem to be a small business or family business, which has only one unit. After raising more profit, the business tends to expand its outlets to both national and overseas level. McDonald’s, for example, has expanded its branches, which are approximately 31,000 restaurants in 2010 (Ritzer 2011). Multi-unit restaurants could be defined as a company which rivals in the sector with more than one unit of a concept or theme (Olesen et al 1992). Due to intense competitiveness in the restaurant sector, cost reduction and standardization have been consistently focused on in multi-unit firms in order to get returns on investment of its brand (Jones 1993). In a chain of restaurants, â€Å"manager of managers† or the manager who operates between operations and cooperate level managers is called as the Multi-unit manager (Drucker 1995). According to Goss-Turner (1999), in a multi-unit firm or the multi-unit area responsible for 2 to15 units, the responsibilities of the Multi-unit managers are to concentrate on strategy of business rather than single unit operations. As a result of standardizations that have increased in nineteenth century, the multi-unit has grown along with systematic assessment for selection of training for the multi-unit manager (Goss-Turner 1999). It could be seen that with the intention of expanding in chain, multi restaurant outlets and the multi-unit area need to develop simultaneously. To gain a competitive advantage, the company should be able t o develop quality of their employees especially the multi-unit manager. It can be said that most of the academic study has focused on the role, responsibilities and skills of single-unit operation, but on the multi-unit company. The skills of the area manager are likely to be different from the single unit managers. Umbreit and Smith (1990) claimed that almost all the area managers are recruited from single units. Consequently, the multi-unit managers have faced problems in making the transition from single-units to multi-units because of the role, responsibility and skills that are different from single operation managers. Umbreit and Tomlin (1986) surveyed many multi-food services and highlighted that most functions of the multi-unit managers are related to restaurant operation, human resource, and finance. Subsequently, Muller and Campbell (1995) also showed that human resource was the most significant issue for the multi-unit managers. In addition, in 2009 human resource, restau rant operation and finance were still the major requirements for the multi-unit manager position. For these reasons, at the heart of this study is to analyze the roles, responsibilities and skills of the multi-unit managers in restaurant industry by providing a case study of Pan Asia group. A semi structure conducts interview of the multi-unit

Chef Satisfaction Essay Example for Free

Chef Satisfaction Essay The findings showed that employees’ job satisfaction directly and positively influences organizational commitment, but does not directly influence job performance. Employees’ job satisfaction enhances job performance only through organizational commitment. Internal marketing, empowerment and leadership also positively influence job satisfaction. Empowerment and leadership enhance employees’ organizational commitment. Internal job stress negatively influences employees’ job satisfaction and external job stress enhances employees’ job performance. According to the findings, this paper realized the main factors which influence hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, which can function as criteria for human resource management in the hospitality industry. Key words: Hospitality industry, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance.   With the change of the industrial structure in recent years, the output value of the service industry has become more than 70% of the GDP in most advanced countries (CIA, 2009). Thus, the service industry plays a significant role in national economic development. In 2008, as the world encountered a financial tsunami, the governments of different countries selected potential service industries and supported them with resources, in order to energize economic development. The hospitality industry is a typical service industry, and it is critical service industry around the world. In Taiwan, the scale of the hospitality industry has been increasing year by year. According to the Statistics Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs, in 2001 the business volume of the hospitality industry in Taiwan was NTD 261. 3 billion. In 2006 it passed NTD 300 billion and in 2009 it reached NTD 321. 7 billion. However, the hospitality industry refers to labor services and relies on manpower in areas such as production, delivery and restaurant service. Thus, the hospitality industry is mainly based on services. As mentioned in Bitner’s (1995) framework of the service marketing triangle, service providers play a critical role in the service industries. In service industry management, regarding the importance of employees, Heskett et al. (1994) proposed the framework of service profit chain. In the service profit chain, there are critical linkages among internal service *Corresponding author. E-mail: [emailprotected] tcmt. edu. tw. Tel: +886-2-28102292 ext. 5009. Fax: +886-2-2810-6688. Tsai et al. 4119 quality, employee satisfaction/productivity, the value of services provided to the customer, customer satisfaction and company’s profits. This chain shows that internal service quality can enhance employee satisfaction, which will enhance employee productivity and further result in external service value and enhanced customer satisfaction. Finally, the company can make a profit (Zeithaml et al. , 2009). Therefore, satisfied employees make satisfied customers. Service personnel satisfaction significantly influences organizational commitment and job performance on customer satisfaction and corporate operational performance (Ladkin, 2002; Dunlap et al. , 1988; Tansuhaj et al. , 1988; Chowdhary, 2003; Yang and Chen, 2010). How to enhance service personnel satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance is a critical issue in service industry management. In past research on employee satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, many scholars (Babin and Boles, 1998; Bernhardt et al. 2000; Van Scotter, 2000; Koys, 2003; Testa, 2001) have validated that employees’ job satisfaction positively influences job performance and organizational commitment. In studies on factors of employees’ job satisfaction, job performance and organizational commitment, the service profit chain proposed by Heskett et al. (1994) and service marketing management model indica ted by Tansuhaj et al. (1988) on overall service industry both demonstrated that managements internal marketing activities produce job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. In addition, many studies have found close relationships between leadership, employee satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance (Billingsley and Cross, 1992; Yammarino and Dubinsky, 1994; Burton et al. , 2002; Avolio et al. , 2004; Chen and Silverthorne, 2005). The above studies have mainly focused on the educational service industry, retail industry, manufacturing service industry, medical service industry and governmental institutions, but have not conducted indepth explorations on the hospitality service industry. Hopfl (1994) indicated that in the service delivery, firstline employees must be empowered to some degree in order to cope with customers’ special demands. Thus, job empowerment can be treated as important management to encourage first-line service personnel and immediately solve customers’ differential demands. Avolio et al. (2004), Caykoylu et al. (2007) and Chen et al. (2008) respectively conducted empirical studies on medical personnel and employees of the telecommunication industry, banking industry and postal industry, and found that empowerment positively influences employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. One issue worthy of further study is the extent of how empowerment positively influences hospitality industry employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, first-line employees face different customer demands and supervisor requirements, therefore job stress is a critical issue for them. Jamal (1990) and Jex (1998) suggested that reducing employees’ job stress could enhance employees’ job satisfaction and job performance. Williams and Cooper (2002) and Ouyang (2009) indicated that proper job stress would enhance employees’ job performance. In the hospitality industry, the influence of job stress from external customers and internal supervisors on employees’ job satisfaction and job performance is an issue worthy of further exploration. Based on the above, internal marketing, leadership, empowerment and job stress are possible factors of service industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, and these factors are validated in various service industries. However, the outcomes in different service industries are not the same. For the hospitality industry, it is important to validate and analyze the influences of the above factors on employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. Thus, this study intended to combine internal marketing, leadership, empowerment and job stress and proposed an integrated model of hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. Hospitality industry employees in Taipei City were treated as the subjects, and the researcher probed into factors of hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance in order to function as criteria for management in the hospitality industry. LITERATURE REVIEW Job satisfaction The term â€Å"job satisfaction† was proposed by Hoppock (1935) who suggested that job satisfaction means employees’ emotions and attitude toward their jobs, and is their subjective reaction toward their jobs. The definition of job satisfaction is generalized into three categories: (1) Definition of generality: Job satisfaction refers to the affective reaction to one’s job as the most (Ozer and Gunluk, 2010). Job satisfaction, which is one of the most important necessities for an individual to be successful, happy and productive, is a feeling of satisfaction, that is, an outcome of the perception of what the job provides for an individual (Ay and Av aro lu, 2010); (2) Definition of difference: This refers to the degree of satisfaction and the difference between ndividual actual returns and required returns. For instance, Porter and Lawler (1968) suggested that the degree of satisfaction depends on the difference between a person’s actual returns and expected returns; (3) Definition of criterion framework: Peoples subjective perception and interpretation on objective traits of organizations or jobs would be influenced by individual criterion framework. According to Smith et al. (1969), job satisfaction is the outcome after a person interprets the job traits according 4120 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. o the criterion framework. The influence of certain work situations on job satisfaction is related to many factors, such as comparisons between good and bad jobs, comparisons with others, personal competency and past experience, etc. Job performance Kane and Lawler (1976) suggested that job performance refers to the record of the results when employees have practiced a job for a certain period of time. According to Schermerhorn (1989), job performance refers to the quality and quantity accomplished by individuals or groups after fulfilling a task. After a certain period of time, measurements of employees’ job performance could serve as criterion for promotions, wage adjustments, rewards, punishments and evaluations. Cascio (2006) suggested that managers must specifically define performance to allow the teams or employees to recognize the organizational expectations in order to fulfill the organizational goals. In other words, managers must set concrete goals, trace the fulfillment degree and evaluate the teams’ or employees’ performance. Van Scotter and Motowidlo (1996) suggested that employees with a high degree of job enthusiasm will demonstrate extra effort and devotion, and will actively seek out solutions to problems at work in order to enhance their job performance. Robbins (1998) divided the measurement of job performance into job result, job behavior and personal traits. Lee et al. (1999) divided job performance into efficiency, efficacy and quality. Efficiency refers to the employees’ output rate and is the ability to accomplish tasks before deadline. Efficacy refers to the employees’ goal accomplishment rate and proposals. Quality refers to the employees’ error rate and complaint rate, supervisor satisfaction, customer satisfaction and colleague satisfaction. This study suggested that in the application of this construct to measure hospitality industry employees’ job performance, efficiency should refer to the employees’ speed in customer service, efficacy should mean the accomplishment of tasks assigned by customers, and quality should mean the employees’ performance in customer service. As to measurement, Shore and Thornton (1986) indicated that self-evaluation allows individuals to participate in performance evaluation and serves as a criterion. Based on the above, according to the views of Lee et al. (1999), this study divided job performance into efficiency, efficacy and quality, and measured hospitality industry employees’ job performance using employee self-evaluation. Smith et al. (1969) proposed the Job Description Index (JDI) to measure job satisfaction, with the constructs including wage, promotion, job, supervisors and colleagues. Black and Gregersen (1997) found a positive correlation between job satisfaction and job performance. Organ (1990) suggested that when employees are satisfied with their work, they are willing to sacrifice themselves and devote to their organization. Organizational commitment From the perspective of attitude, Porter et al. (1974) indicated that organizational commitment is a person’s active and positive intention to identify with and internalize organizational goals and value. According to Reyes and Pounder (1990), organizational commitment is the strong belief and intention to identify with organizational value, devote to and stay with the organization. Mathews and Shepherd (2002) suggested that organizational commitment refers to workers’ attitude, behavior and connection between individuals and the organization. Guest (1995) indicated that organizational commitment is at the core of human resource management. It transforms traditional manpower management into the core of human resources. Organizational members’ attitude or intentions particularly indicate the importance of employees’ organizational commitment. Dee et al. (2006) suggested that organizational commitment is a person’s intention to devote to and be loyal to the organization. Lambert et al. (2006) suggested that organizational commitment is the structural phenomenon of trading between individuals and organizations. It increases with time, but it does not lead to a transferable investment outcome. Thus, in theoretical study and practical use, scholars have valued organizational commitment in human resource management. In recent years, many scholars have probed into organizational commitment from the view of Porter et al. (1974). Thus, this study also followed the above view and divided organizational commitment into value commitment, effort commitment and retention commitment. This study further treated these three constructs as criteria to measure hospitality industry employees organizational commitment. Definitions of these constructs are thus shown: (1) Value commitment: a strong belief and identification with organizational goals and values. 2) Effort commitment: the intention to devote more to the organization. (3) Retention commitment: a strong intention to continue being part of the organization. Internal marketing Internal Marketing (IM) is the process of handling staff as internal customers and projects as internal products that satisfy the needs and desires of the customers and adhere to the company’s goals (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) suggest that internal marketing involves â€Å"a planned effort to overcome organizational resistance to change and to align, motivate Tsai et al. 4121 nd integrate employees towards the effective implementation of corporate and functional strategies†. Joseph (1996) suggested that internal marketing is can be applied to marketing and human resource management, combining theoretical techniques and principles in order to encourage, recruit and manage all employees in the organization and constantly improve external customer service and mutual services. In addition, Ahmed et al. (2003) defined internal marketing as the emp loyees’ evaluation of the reward system, internal communication, training and development of the company. Internal marketing empirical research in the service sector has proven that internal marketing has influenced on internal customers (that is, employees) satisfactions. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) suggested that the advantages of internal marketing implementation in organizations are as follows: (1) To acquire and keep excellent talent; (2) to provide a common vision so that employees have job purpose and meaning; (3) to give employees the ability and knowledge to accomplish the work; (4) to encourage employees to share the results of teamwork; (5) to create job designs be based on the findings of marketing studies. The aforementioned views reveal that corporate implementation of internal marketing allows employees to enhance service quality, which increases the production and profits of the companies. The implementation of internal marketing in the organizations results in an internal service culture, raises service consciousness and increases profits (Parasuraman et al. , 1985). Based on the views of these scholars, internal marketing is critical for organizations and influences external marketing to further enhance customer satisfaction. According to the these definitions and based on the views of Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) and Ahmed et al. (2003), this study treated employee evaluations of reward systems, internal communication, and training and development of companies as criterion for measuring internal marketing of the hospitality industry. Leadership Leadership refers the process of influencing the team to accomplish the goals (Robbins and Coulter, 2005). Leaders are key success factors of an organization (Bass, 1985; Daft, 2002). Skillful leaders recognize and use the interpersonal relationships of the team and strengthen the members’ loyalty and morale. Effective leaders must learn skills such as patiently sharing information, trusting others and recognizing the timing of interventions (Steckler and Fondas, 1995). In recent years, numerous scholars have tried to discuss leadership from new perspectives. New studies of leadership theory have particularly stressed the influences of demands between leaders and subordinates, the interaction of personality traits and situational factors on leadership (Bargal and Schmid, 1989). Corporate leaders must select a proper leadership according to their subordinates’ different demands for supervision, in order to enhance employee satisfaction and fulfill expected goals. Bass and Avolio (1997) divided leadership into transformational leadership and transactional leadership. In transformational leadership, subordinates trust, respect and are loyal to their leaders. Leaders can develop their subordinates’ potential and enhance their confidence by changing their values and beliefs in order to increase their organizational commitment, intention and motivation to create exceptional outcomes. Transformational leadership can be divided into ideal traits, ideal behavior, the encouragement of inspiration, and the stimulation of wisdom and individual care. In addition, transactional leadership means leaders and members remain in the process of negotiation and mutual benefit instead of a persistent one-purpose relationship. Social exchange theory is treated as the theoretical base. When subordinates act according to their leaders’ expectations, they will have returns with a specific value. Transactional leadership can be divided into contingent rewards, and active and passive exceptional management. Most quantitative studies on leadership have created questionnaires using the MLQ scale designed by Bass and Avolio (1997). The MLQ scale includes two constructs (transformational leadership and transactional leadership). This study also designed a leadership questionnaire for the hospitality industry according to the MLQ scale. Empowerment Empowerment signals a transition away from traditional development that confined people’s role to that of passive recipients, effectively rendering them dependent on handouts in the form of foreign aid (O’Gorman, 1995). Bowen and Lawler III (1992) define empowerment as sharing with frontline employees four organizational ingredients: (1) Information about the organizations performance; (2) rewards based on the organizations performance; (3) knowledge about contributing to organizational performance; (4) power to make decisions that influence organizational direction and performance. Murat and Thomas (2003) suggested that empowerment does not simply refer to telling employees that they are empowered, but aims to allow the employees to recognize what power has been authorized. Boudrias et al. (2004) suggested that in managerial circles, empowerment application includes two types: (1) Empowering the responsibility of decision-making to subordinates while emphasizing rich work environments 4122 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. and diverse authority, information, resources and support, and providing the opportunity to learn in order to improve performance; (2) psychological empowerment, which refers to employees’ experiences of empowerment that are inferred as a mediating variable of empowerment and expected results. According to Sherman (1996), empowerment acknowledges that employees have the power to change in order to encourage employees to increase their competency. Kanter (1993) suggested that empowerment can keep employees from feeling helpless. Organizations could thus reduce negative effects such as low morale. The most significant effect of empowerment is to enhance employees’ abilities and self-efficacy (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). Bowen and Lawler III (1992) suggested the advantages of empowerment for organizations below: (1) To rapidly respond to customer demands and questions; (2) a high degree of employees’ job satisfaction; (3) positive interactions with consumers; (4) employees with creative thoughts; (5) the creation of loyal customers. About the definition of psychological empowerment, Spreitzer (1995) defines this concept as the psychological state that employees must experience for managerial empowerment interventions to be successful.