Geography of Ancient Greece

Greece, a country in southeastern Europe whose peninsula extends from the Balkans into the Mediterranean Sea, is mountainous, with many gulfs and bays. Forests fill some areas of Greece. Much of Greece is stony and suitable only for pasturage, but other areas are suitable for growing wheat, barley, citrus, dates, and olives. It is convenient to divide ancient Greece into 3 geographical regions (plus islands and colonies): (1) Northern Greece,(2) Central Greece(3) The Peloponnese.​ I. Northern Greece Northern Greece consists of Epirus and Thessaly, separated by the Pindus mountain range. The chief town in Epirus is Dodona where the Greeks thought Zeus provided oracles. Thessaly is the largest plains area in Greece. It is almost surrounded by mountains. On the north, the Cambunian range has as its highest mountain the home of the gods, Mt. Olympus, and nearby, Mt Ossa. Between these two mountains is a valley called the Vale of Tempe through which runs the Peneius River. II. Central Greece Central Greece has more mountains than northern Greece. It contains the countries of Aetolia (famed for the Calydonian boar hunt), Locris (divided into 2 sections by Doris and Phocis), Acarnania (west of Aetolia, bordered by the Achelous River, and north of the Gulf of Calydon), Doris, Phocis, Boeotia, Attica, and Megaris. Boeotia and Attica are separated by Mt. Cithaeron. In northeast Attica is Mt. Pentelicus home of the famous marble. South of Pentelicus is the Hymettus mountain range, which is famous for its honey. Attica had poor soil, but a long coastline favoring trade. Megaris lies in the Isthmus of Corinth, which separates central Greece from the Peloponnese. The Megarans raised sheep and made woolen products and pottery. III. Peloponnesus South of the Isthmus of Corinth is the Peloponnese (21,549 sq. km), whose central region is Arcadia, which is a plateau over mountain ranges. On the northern slope is Achaea, with Elis and Corinth on either side. On the east of the Peloponnese is the mountainous Argolis area. Laconia was the country in the basin of the Eurotas River, which ran between the Taygetus and Parnon mountain regions. Messenia lies to the west of Mt. Taygetus, the highest point in the Peloponnese. Source: An Ancient History for Beginners, by George Willis Botsford, New York: Macmillan Company. 1917.

Life in the Feudal System During Medievel Times - 811 Words

All of the villages had one large farm where all villagers shared as grazing land for their animals. The village also included church land (glebe), the lords hunting forest, and meadows where hay was grown. A farmer usually had two crops; a spring and an autumn crop. The spring usually consisting of barley, vetches, oats, peas and beans, while fall was usually just wheat and rye. Each seed was used in way. The rye and wheat, besides being sold for cash, was used for bread. The barley was used for beer and the oats and hay were fed to the livestock. Different crops are planted on the same field in different years. One year they might plant wheat and then barley the following year. Barley and wheat use and have different nutrients.†¦show more content†¦During the 11th Century, the lord started recruiting middle class freeman with actual skills. These men also had a certain standard of quality equipment. Around 90% of Medieval Europeans were peasants who worked as farmers. Peasants lived in village of about 100 to 300 people, in a one of two roomed hut located around the village green or along the villages dirt road. Village were usually near a river or stream because it then provided them with a source of fresh water and fish. The villages and the land around them were called manors. Manors varied in size from about 900 to 3000 hectares and were owned by a lord. The lord had his own farming area which was around one third of the total area, this was known as demesne. The villagers then farmed the rest of the land. Women in Medieval times were totally controlled by the males of their family. They were expected to obey their father, brothers or any other male members. If a woman was to be disobedient, she would be beaten and was seen as a crime against religion. It was important for women to learn how to use weapons so they could protect their homes when the men of the family were away. Some medieval women held other jobs. There were women blacksmiths, merchants and apothecaries. Others were midwives, workers in the fields, or spent their time writing, playing musical instruments, dancing or painting. A young Medieval woman from aShow MoreRelatedThe High Middle Ages1314 Words   |  6 Pagesrevolt against Roman rule. Christianity survived because it had many teachings that appealed to the downtrodden in Roman society, these teachings being that even though they were suffering they would gain equality and possibly superiority in the next life, Christianity gave them hope. When Emperor Constantine â€Å"converted† to Christianity, this conversion is not fact and often debated, after the Christian God gave him a vision that he would win a battle if he put the sign of Jesus Christ on his soldier’s

Hr- Training and Development Free Essays

string(148) " considerable work about the development of competitive advantage by putting in place effective compensation system \(Milkovich and Newman, 2002\)\." It has been quite a challenging task for the Human Resource Management people to design such strategies which will transform the workforce as motivated and retained for high performance work organization (Thompson, 2004). HRM makes continuous efforts to develop such policies which will motivate the human resource for sustained competitive advantage (Barney’s, 1991, Wright, et al. , 1994). We will write a custom essay sample on Hr- Training and Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now These efforts must include incentives, pay packages which makes an employee more comfortable and committed with the organization. HRM also needs to understand the implications of the different incentive plans for different organizational levels.Employee satisfaction is the most frequently researched area in the management sciences (Schneider and Brief, 1992). Employees will stay longer with the company â€Å"Higher retention of the right caliber of employees creates a stable and experienced labor force that delivers higher service quality at lower cost (Guthrie, J. P. 2001), this leads to higher customer retention and of course increased productivity with profitability. Researchers have also tried to further this relationship that a satisfied employee will be instrumental in keeping the customers satisfied thus yielding increased profitability (Bain and Co, 1991).Another way of understanding the importance of employee is that customer satisfaction can only be achieved through employee satisfaction. For example, Berry (1981) states that whether managing customers or employees â€Å"the central purpose remains the same; the attraction of patronage through the satisfaction of needs and wants†. In both cases individuals and organizations are involved in exchange. The nature of what is exchanged may vary, but the importance of satisfying needs and wants remains constant, meaning that the management of employees is often similar to the management of customers.After realizing that employees may be viewed as customers, it seems important to know w hether the field of customer satisfaction measurement has developed any insights recently that can be applied in the employee setting. In fact, the quality revolution has prompted an explosion in customer satisfaction research and recent years have brought impressive gains in merging the field of customer satisfaction (traditionally focusing on consumer psychology and paying little attention to managerial application) with the field of service quality.The purpose of this paper is to show how several of these recent advances in customer satisfaction measurement can be applied usefully in the context of employee satisfaction and retention. This requires a change of management paradigm, from employees as replaceable and low paid servants to employee as customer. Employees must not be viewed as not just someone who must listen to management, but also as someone who management must listen to. The theory of reasoned action asserts that attitudes lead to intentions which lead to behaviors’.This theory has received a great deal of empirical support (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Hom and Hulin, 1981; Steele and ovalle, 1 984), and explains the similarity between the psychological mechanisms underlying customer and employee retention. High satisfaction results in an intention to remain in the economic exchange with the organization. Intentions translate directly to behavior, suggesting that employees are indeed similar to customers when it comes to satisfaction and retention. Literature Review: Effectively measuring and improving employee satisfaction is very critical for the existence of an organization.Since businesses are becoming more competitive and employees with the rare skills and abilities needed to become competitively advantageous are becoming scarce and management can no longer effort to see employees as replaceable inputs (Miles and Creed, 1995). Now management has to see employees as valuable contributors who are real source of knowledge and strength for a viable and growing organization. Employee satisfaction and retention is instrumental for competitive organization and it is dependent on exchange of trust and contributions between employees and firms (Rousseau and Parks, 1992)Employee needs and wants are satisfied when they perceive that rewards from the organization (e. g pay, promotion, recog nition, personal growth, meaningful work) meet or exceed their expectations (Hackman and Oldham, 1980; Locke, 1976). Customer needs and wants are satisfied when they perceive goods and services to have value that meets or exceeds their expectations (Anderson, Sullivan, 1993; Oliver, 1980). Needs and wants of employees are not satisfied when the value obtained from an organization is less then what is expected.In the same way, high satisfaction is linked to retention of both customers and employees. Customers who are satisfied have higher repurchase intentions, which in turn translate into repeat purchases (Anderson and Sullian, 1993; Rust and Zahorik, 1993). Satisfied employees have higher intention of staying with an organization, which results in decreased turnover (Mobley et al, 1979). Employee satisfaction (mostly referred to as job satisfaction) has been defined as â€Å"a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences† (Locke, 1976, P. 1300).Researchers have been challenging the relationship between employee satisfaction and performance (Bray field and Crockett, 1955; Organ, 1977; Vroom, 1964). But the research conducted by Petty et al. (1984) concluded that job satisfaction and performance are positively correlated. Another important relationship is between employee satisfaction and employee turnover. Models of employee turnover almost universally propose a negative relationship between satisfaction and turnover (Hom and Griffeth, 1991; Hulin et al. , 1985; March and Simon, 1958; Mobley et al. , 1979; Price and Mueller, 1986; Rusbult and Farrell, 1983).Improving employee satisfaction thus appears to be instrumental for decreasing employee turnover. Increasing employee satisfaction and thereby reducing employee turnover is critical for overall organizational performance and growth. Certain studies suggest that separation, replacement and training costs are 1. 5 to 2. 5 times annual salary for each person who quits (Solomon, 1988). These relationships are the foundation for reinforcing cycle of positive interactions between employees and customers (Reichheld, 1993; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991).Always satisfied employees create fewer problems for organizations and play important role in developing loyal customer base (Schneider and Bowen, 1985), which in turn is a continuous source of overall profitability and growth for the organization (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Individual efforts are to be integrated with strategic business objectives by encouraging employees to do the right things while improving the efficiency (Ash 1993, Schell, et al. , 1997). Management researchers have done considerable work about the development of competitive advantage by putting in place effective compensation system (Milkovich and Newman, 2002). You read "Hr- Training and Development" in category "Papers"Compensation system involve monetary compensation and non monetary rewards. Monetary compensation is further distinguished as direct compensation (fixed and variable pay) and indirect compensation (benefits). Compensation and reward system should be in line with management philosophy (Wilson, 1995). The management approach to link the Human Resource Management practices and firm performance is termed as High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and it has accumulating economic impact on the firm (Becker Huselid, 1998).This area has been researched in Great Britain (Wood and colleagues, 1995, 1996, 1998), Canada (Godard, 1991, 2001), Singapore (Barnard Rodgers, 2000) and South Korea (Bae Lawler, 2001). In this context human resource function has to adopt more customer oriented approach on design and delivery of HR programs. HR is mostly focused towards employee recruitment and training function as mentioned by Lengnick-Hall, 1999. Now one of the most central task within HR function is the development of effective and efficient compensation plan especially variable rewards and incentive schemes.It can be attributed to effective compensation system that a satisfied employee will be more actively pursued towards the achievement of organizational goals. The proposed research project will explore the impact of Supervision, work design and work conditions (Roland, et al. , 1996), with the satisfaction and retention of employees in donor agencies located in Islamabad. PROBLEM STATEMENT â€Å"The effect of Supervision, Work Design, Work Condition on Employee Satisfaction and Retention† Specific Objective We have focused that intention to leave an organization is based on three var iables; Supervision, Work Conditions and Work Design. How work design, Supervision, Work Condition effect Employee retention. †¢ How effective supervision, conductive work conditions and well defined work design help to develop and manage a motivated and satisfied workforce †¢ How higher retention is essential for creating a more stable work environment that facilitates growth and sustainable competitiveness. Conceptual Framework There may be some other factors which have their bearing on employee satisfaction and retention but this study will focus on Supervision, Work Conditions and Work Design as independent variables whereas intention to leave as independent variable.The conceptual framework of this research is developed around the relationship between Supervision, Work Conditions and Work Design with employee satisfaction and retention (Roland, et al. , 1996) Research Methodology Sampling Technique Email and self visits are preferred. But convenience sampling approach is adopted for this research, i. e. Emails Sampling Size 100 samples are collected from donor agencies. List is given below: [pic] DONOR COMPANIES from which the data has been selected |S. |Donor Companies |SAMPLE | |01 |WFP |4 | |02 |GTZ |13 | |03 |Mercy Corpse |2 | |04 |KFW |2 | |05 |Save the Children |2 | |06 |CORDIR |2 | |07 |UNDP- PRS Monitoring Project |4 | |08 |ADB |4 | |09 |Handicap International |2 | |10 |DAAD- GTZ |2 | |11 |UNICEF |4 | |12 |BRAC |4 | |13 |Red Cross |4 | |14 |ACTED International |2 | |15 |Deloitte (Donor agency) |2 | |16 |Asia Foundation |3 | |17 |GTZ- RAHA |3 | |18 |Care International |3 | |19 |European Union |1 | |20 |ERRA |2 | |21 |Islamic Relief |2 | |22 |UNFPA |6 | |23 |GTZ- FLP |1 | |24 |GTZ- CCBLE |3 | |25 |SHAIP |1 | |26 |SACHET |3 | |27 |Private Sector |4 | |28 |Limbless Organization 1 | |29 |GRP – GTZ |1 | |30 |GTZ- Health |3 | |31 |ARL |1 | |32 |PYDN |2 | |33 |Office Mora |1 | |34 |UN |3 | |35 |UNIDO |1 | |36 |Merlin |1 | |37 |FLP |1 | Research Model Hypothetical Research Mo del Hypothesis H1:Supervisory style has positive impact on intention to leave. H2:Work design has positive impact on intention to leave H3:Work Condition has positive impact on intention to leave Data Collection This research is basically focused on Donor Companies located in Islamabad.Sample is 100 from the selected donor agencies. Questionnaire is considered as best possible, easy and feasible technique for collection of data. So primary data collection will be arranged through a questionnaire. In addition to personal interviews and filling of questionnaires, a soft copy of questionnaire will be floated to target sample population through email. Data Analysis Method To measure the impact of independent variables on overall employee satisfaction and retention, Regression analysis will be used. This technique would be useful to measure the impact significance of independent variables on dependent variable of employee satisfaction and retention. Pearson Correlations | |WD |WC |SUP |TI | |WD |Pearson Correlation |1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |WC |Pearson Correlation |. 649(**) |1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |SUP |Pearson Correlation |. 55(**) |. 751(**) |1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TI |Pearson Correlation |-. 175 |. 621 |. 632 |1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ** Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed).There is positive correlation (. 649) between work designs and work conditions at 0. 01 significance level. Whereas there are strong positive correlations between work conditions and supervisions (0. 751) and between work designs and supervisions (0. 655) at 0. 01 significance level. These highly results reveals that supervisions, work designs and work conditions in organizations are highly correlated with each other. The variables supervisions, work designs and work conditions play important role in organization. The other results of correlations between intention to leave and work condition (-. 292) and supervision and intention to leave . 632(a) are Positive and strong.Therefore it showed that these variables work condition and supervision has excellent relationship with intention to leave the organization. Regression Model Summary |Model |R |R Square |Adjusted R |Std. Error of the | | | | |Square |Estimate | |1 |. 632(a) |. 51 |5. 0 |0. 6 | a Predictors: (Constant), SUP, WD, WC the value of R showed the combine correlation between independent variables and dependent variable. In summary table the value of R is (. 632) which is Strong correlation and significant. The value of R square which is (. 51) showed that 51 percent impact of independent variables on dependent variable.Whereas other factors have 41 percent effect on dependent variable. When we change one unit of independent variables (supervision, work design, work conditions) then51 percent of change will occur on dependent variable (intention to leave). After adjusting the regression values to generalize the result to population, 5 percent impact of independent variables have on dependent variables. The standard error value is high which showed there is above little deviation with the regression line in the model. ANOVA(b) |Model | |Sum of Squares |df |Mean Square |F | | | |B | |. 4 |. 81 |11 | Summary Item Statistics |Mean |Minimum |Maximum |Range |Maximum / Minimum |Variance |N of Items | |Item Means |24. 533 |12. 510 |30. 240 |17. 730 |2. 417 |65. 894 |4 | |Item Variances |21. 417 |8. 879 |34. 467 |25. 588 |3. 882 |113. 012 |4 | |Inter-Item Covariances |6. 630 |5. 114 |21. 393 |26. 506 |4. 183 |128. 693 |4 | |Inter-Item Correlations |. 212 |3. 133 |8. 214 |1. 064 |2. 621 |. 247 |4 | | Conclusion Data and findings, The study reveals the work Conditions, Work design, and supervision style of the manager has the direct relationship with the intention to quit from organization by the employee.Results also presents interesting phenomena that if work conditions, Work design is change, it creates a very positive effect on moral and motivation of employee which ultimately helping the management to retains the talent with in the company. By changing Work design and Work environment condition for the employees the overall performance of the employee can be improved and with the participatory supervisory style, the retention o f employees can be made possible. Conclusion Discussion Statistical data analysis of model reveals that impact of work design, supervision and work conditions on intention to leave of employees is significant and positively associated.The variation in data is also 49% which indicates that 49% multidimensionality of factors has been captured. Statistical value of model is also showing a positive trend. Impact of good supervisory style and work design on intention to leave is insignificant. Work design is negatively associated with intention to leave. However work condition is significant and negatively associated with intention to leave. Supervision is positively linked but it has insignificant impact. Over all analysis indicate that high job satisfaction is inversely related with intention to leave. It means that with increase in job satisfaction, the intention to leave decreases.Through this research study, it is identified in Donor Companies working in Islamabad; the employees consider work conditions more important than the other two factors which are work design and supervision. This study was not only conducted amongst managers, assistant managers but also drivers, front desk officers, and other support staff as well. So as per their perception at managerial levels executive work conditions lead towards higher job satisfaction and eventually intention to leave the organization decreases. Whereas at managerial level supervision might not be involved to certain extent where it can create certain impact on employee’s intention to leave. As managerial jobs comprising of diversified tasks, so multitude of work design does not create any significant impact on managers’ intention to leave the organization.Drivers and other support staff is focusing on basically allowances that is covered in Job Satisfaction and good manager. Therefore management needs to focus on improvement of work conditions which will improve job satisfaction. Job satisfaction of employees will lead to decrease in intention to leave. Once organization achieves higher retention of employees, it will help to achieve sustainable growth which is required to maintain competitive advantage in the market place. Limitations: A few limitations of this study should be noted. First, presently there is down turn in economy and every field is being effected by the lay offs and drastic cuts in budgets.Since my research was focused donor companies and this sector is also feeling the pinch due to Taliban and terrorist attacks. Threats, Kidnapping for Ransom (Mercy Corpse). So, there is possibility that our results would be affected by this very factor. Secondly, time was another constraint which was also felt by researcher and the respondents, they sometimes refuses and postponed to fill the questionnaire. Thirdly, being the student researcher, commuting was another big constraint in doing a research on much bigger scale. Fourthly, most of the donor agencies refuse due to leakage of confidentiality, (security reasons).References: Anderson, E. W. and Sullivan, M. W. 1993), â€Å"The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms†, Marketing Science, Vol. 12, Spring, pp. 125-43. Berry, L. L. (1981), â€Å"The employee as customer†, Journal of Retail Banking, 3 March, pp. 33-40. Lawler, E. E. III (1992), The Ultimate Advantage: Creating the High involvement Organization, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Mobley, W. H. , Griffeth, R. W. , Hand , H. H. and Meglino, B. M. (1979), â€Å"Review and conceptual analysis of the employee turnover process†, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 86, pp. 493-552. Oliver, R. L. (1980), â€Å"A congnitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions†, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 42, November, pp. 460-69. Oliver, R. L. 1989), â€Å" Processing of the satisfaction response in consumption; a suggested framework and research propositions†, Journal of Consumer satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and complaining Behavior, Vol. 2, pp. 1-16. Reichheld, F. F. and Sasser, W. E. Jr (1990), â€Å"Zero defections: quality comes to services†, Harvard Business Review, September-October, pp. 105-11. Rousseau, D. M. and McLean Parks, J. (1992), â€Å"The contracts of individuals and organizations†, Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 15, pp. 1-43. Rust, R. T. and Zahorik, A. J. (1993), â€Å"Customer satisfaction, customer retention, and market share†, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, Summer, pp. 193-215 Schneider, B. , and Brief, A. P. (1992), â€Å"foreword†, in Crannyy, C. J. , Smith, P. C. and stone, job satisfaction, Lexington Books, New York, NY. Locke, 1976, P. 300, job satisfaction is defined as â€Å"a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences†. Bray field and Crockett, 1955; Organ, 1977; Vroom, 1964; relationship between employee satisfaction and performance. Petty et al. (1984) concluded that job satisfaction and performance are positively correlated. (Hom and Griffeth, 1991; Hulin et al. , 1985; March and Simon, 1958; Mobley et al. , 1979; Price and Mueller, 1986; Rusbult and Farrell, 1983), Models of employee turnover almost universally propose a negative relationship between satisfaction and turnover. ———————– Intention to leave Work Conditions Work Design Supervision + + + Intention to leave Work Conditions Work Design Supervision How to cite Hr- Training and Development, Papers