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In what ways have the “racial democracy” of Brazil been questioned? In what ways have the country proven this “identifier” to untrue?

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Alexa Whetung

Professor Karl Hardy

LLCU 209

November 1st, 2019

Research Paper Topic – Outline

Topic: Violence

Preliminary Title:

“How the Epidemic of both Sexism and Racism Coexist with Brazil’s High Level of Violence”

Preliminary Abstract:

For this assignment I wanted to share my interest in the areas that have stood out to me throughout this course. Those two areas of interest being sexism and racism, because of the demographic that both these topics fall under, it could be argued that the subject would be quite broad for just one paper. Therefore, I have decided to make both topics, subtopics, that will be the main questions of discussion when looking at violence in Brazil. Not only have I been intrigued by how women and men are treated differently in Brazil when it comes to the consequences of violence, but I have also been interested to learn that due to Brazil being a multi-racial country, it is interesting to see how the colour of one’s skin (whether the individual be female or male) is seen to inflict different kinds of violence in both politics and with law enforcement as well.

 

Preliminary Research Questions to Answer in Paper:

  1. For how long and why has Brazil been known as being a country of male dominance?
  2. Are women held as subordinate to men when it comes to both familial and community relationships?
  3. Have the societal roles of women continued to be heavily impacted by patriarchal traditions? Why?
  4. Despite the gains made in women’s rights in Brazil, in what ways do women still face significant differences in gender inequality?
  5. Why is little being done in regard to aggression, femicide and rape in Brazil, which is causing an alarming rise in the country’s violence rate?
  6. Being a multi-racial country, is Brazil seen as still being a country of racial abuse?
  7. In what ways does Brazil continue to show issues of racism throughout their legal system?
  8. What is the “whiteness” ideology? And how does it particularly associate to Brazil?
  9. In what ways have the “racial democracy” of Brazil been questioned? In what ways have the country proven this “identifier” to untrue?
  10. Police violence is one of the most internationally recognized human rights abuses in Brazil. Does this brutality have to do with race or the geographical residing of civilians?

Preliminary / Annotated Bibliography:

Schipani, A., & Elliott, L. (2018, May 15). Brazil women bring fight against sexism on to political agenda. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://www.ft.com/content/961d1940-3cc7-11e8-bcc8-cebcb81f1f90.

  • This source is a news article that surrounds the political issue of sexism in Brazil. Manuela D’Avila throughout the article looks at the political violence women are being subjected to, after a left-wing female congresswoman was described as being “too ugly” to be raped.

Phillips, D. (2019, September 10). Brazil report charts surge in racial abuse and violence against women. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/10/brazil-violence-against-women-racial-abuse-report.

  • This news article discusses the alarming rise in racial abuse, sexual assault, femicide and violence against women and LGBT people in 2018, in Brazil according to new figures in September of 2019. This article helps to elaborate on the concept of my paper that both racism and sexism continue to be the major ongoing issues of violence in Brazil.

Trindade, L. V. P. (2019, July 8). Brazil’s supposed ‘racial democracy’ has a dire problem with online racism. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://theconversation.com/brazils-supposed-racial-democracy-has-a-dire-problem-with-online-racism-99343.

  • This article directly applies to racism in Brazil, as it addresses the issue of Brazil continuing to self-claim themselves as being a country of “racial democracy,” when in fact they are not as they continue to strive for the “whitening” ideology. This article specifically addresses the country’s issues towards race throughout the production of online articles.

Roth, K. (2019, January 17). World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Brazil. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/brazil.

  • This article surrounds how violence in Brazil is comprised of racism and sexism as member of Congress is called out for endorsing torture and other abusive practices. This person of political power is also known to have made openly racist, homophobic and misogynist statements, and won a run-off election in October 2018.

Garcia-Navarro, L. (2014, November 9). In Brazil, Race Is A Matter Of Life And Violent Death. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/09/362356878/in-brazil-race-is-a-matter-of-life-and-violent-death.

  • This article is a clear depiction of police brutality in regard to race, as two policemen picked up three black teenagers in Rio de Janeiro. The three hadn’t committed any crime, but they did have a history of petty offenses. The officers drove them up to the wooded hills above the city, where one was shot in the head and killed, one was shot in the leg and the back and left for dead, and another escaped.

Cidade de Deus. (2002). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_God_(2002_film)

  • Although this film may be a story of non-fiction, I feel as though information about the city of Rio to be undoubtedly true. This film discusses and displays the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, where two young men choose different paths and their outcomes are undoubtedly due the state and ways of the country overall.

Skidmore, T. (2009). The Whitening Ideal. Brazilian Mosaic: Portraits of a Diverse People and Culture, 92–95.

  • This course reading discusses the racial reality of Brazil, in comparison to the “racial democracy” the country and many of it’s civilians are thought to be part of. In actuality, the journal discusses how the country on the contrary is part of an epidemic that idolises “whiteness” and what it means to be “white.”

Everyday Violence of Life. (1995). Brazilian Mosaic: Portraits of a Diverse People and Culture, 194–202.

  • This article applies to my paper as it discusses a variation of ways in which Brazil displays its violence. Evidentially, contributing to both ideas surrounding race and sex.

 

 

What Is and What Is Not a Spontaneous Order?

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Chapter 6
Spontaneous Order
Daniel J. D’Amico
Introduction: What Is and What Is Not
a Spontaneous Order?
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the word spontaneous as, “1. proceeding from
natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint, 2. arising from a momentary
impulse, 3. controlled and directed internally, 4. produced without being planted or without
human labor, 5. developing or occurring without apparent external influence, force, cause,
or treatment and 6. not apparently contrived or manipulated.”
Dictionary definitions and/or encyclopedic treatments of the fuller term spontaneous
order are more rare, as it is a more complicated and nuanced idea. It is also less widely
used in common parlance beyond the professional fields of social science and economics.
One well-researched and thorough survey,1 “The Tradition of Spontaneous Order,”
by political philosopher Norman Barry (1982), alludes to the apparent tension between
formal definitions, on the one hand, and the more detailed meanings implied throughout
the history of thought behind the longer terminology, on the other:
The simplest way of expressing the major thesis of the theory of spontaneous order is
to say that it is concerned with those regularities in society, or orders of events, which
are neither (1) the product of deliberate human contrivance (such as a statutory code
of law or a dirigiste economic plan) nor (2) akin to purely natural phenomena (such as
the weather, which exists quite independently of human intervention). While the words
conventional and natural refer, respectively, to these two regularities, the “third realm,”
that of social regularities, consists of those institutions and practices which are the result
of human action but not the result of some specific human intention. (7–8)2
1 See also Hamowy (1987).
2 Barry (1982, n. 2) cites Hayek (1967) and Ullman-Margalit (1978) as additional high-quality survey
sources on the history of thought surrounding spontaneous order theory. See also Barry (2008).
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Nobel laureate and Austrian economist F. A. Hayek is most often credited with coining
the particular phrasing spontaneous order, because much of his research program
was focused on elaborating and applying the idea.3 Drawing from Hungarian philosopher
Michael Polanyi’s idea of “polycentric order” (1951), Hayek’s earliest usage of the
fuller terminology is found amid his legal and political theories elaborated within The
Constitution of Liberty (1960). He writes: “When order is achieved among human beings
by allowing them to interact with each other on their own initiative—subject only to
the laws which uniformly apply to all of them—we have a system of spontaneous order
in society” (160). Here Hayek is not offering a full operational definition per se, but
the essence of the meaning of the term is fully intact, namely, that the functional and
desirable aspects of the systemwide patterns governing different individuals cannot be
attributed back to the preferences, interests, or intentions of any of those particular individuals.
The functional and orderly qualities of society develop and persist spontaneously
and distinctively from any of the interests that so happen to constitute it.
In later work,4 Hayek (1973) gives a more detailed exposition and definition of the
concept. First, he defines order more generally: “a state of affairs in which a multiplicity
of elements of various kinds are so related to each other that we may learn from our
acquaintance with some spatial or temporal part of the whole to form correct expectations
concerning the rest, or at least expectations which have a good chance of proving
correct” (36). He goes on to differentiate “made” or “designed orders,” which he terms
taxis, in contrast to cosmos, “unplanned” and or “grown” orders:
[A] spontaneous order or kosmos . . . [i]ts degree of complexity is not limited to what
a human mind can master. Its existence need not manifest itself to our senses but
may be based on purely abstract relations which we can only mentally reconstruct.
And not having been made it cannot legitimately be said to have a particular purpose,
although our awareness of its existence may be extremely important for our
successful pursuit of a great variety of different purposes. (38)
Herein Hayek reemphasizes the defining features of spontaneous orders. The patterned
nature of the order, in a way, helps the various actors within the system better fulfill
their separate goals, because it offers them some reliable predictability from which to
inform their plans. Though beneficial and, for some, even aesthetically preferable (Klein
and Osborn 2009), this orderliness was not historically intended or designed by any of
the individual actors that nonetheless constitute and contribute to it. Furthermore, no
individual could have possibly designed the orderly outcome, neither within the system
nor apart from the system. First, this is because the nature of the knowledge required
to successfully navigate and comprehend even partial facets of the system requires a
3 Boettke (1990), Petsoulas (2001), and Hunt and McNamara (2007) trace the inspirations,
development, applications, and criticisms of spontaneous order throughout Hayek’s work and beyond.
4 Jacobs (1997, n. 7) comments on Hayek’s stated motivations for drafting his later work Law,
Legislation and Liberty; he sought to complete and correct the substantive content of his earlier
expositions because he saw them as inadequate.
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direct participation within the system, which is often referred to as tacit5 and/or local6
knowledge (Hayek 1945). Second, the system’s degree of complexity simply surpasses
that which any individual mind could feasibly foresee.
Jacobs (1997; 1999; 2000) suggests that Polanyi’s (1941; 1951) use and understanding of
the term spontaneous preceded and arguably inspired Hayek’s, although Polanyi’s influential
role in the coinage or resurgence of spontaneous order theory is less appreciated.7
Jacobs (1997, 18) notes that Polanyi (1951) first makes explicit use of the full phrasing
spontaneous order and highlighted the phenomenon’s operation throughout a variety
of social contexts prior to Hayek’s (1960) use and later definitional treatments. Bladel
(2005, 23) counters Jacobs and emphasizes theoretical differences between Polanyi and
Hayek. He notes that Ropke (1937, 4–5), a colleague of Hayek’s, described the market
economy explicitly as a spontaneous order even before Polanyi’s use. Much of Jacobs’s
case rests on Polanyi’s uses of spontaneous apart from the fuller phrase spontaneous
order, and his apparent appreciation for the fuller meaning of the theory prior to the
explicit coinage of the complete phrase.8 Such a case can also be made for Hayek’s understanding
and use because his prior economic writings (1936; 1945; 1949a) arguably convey
a full understanding of the concept despite lacking the explicit terminological label.9
Such is similarly the case throughout the intellectual history of spontaneous order
theory more generally. Various thinkers, working on different subject matters, in different
contexts, nonetheless identified and attempted to explain the origins and operational
features of social orderings as unplanned and inherently complex phenomena.10
5 Polanyi (1958) first discusses and explains the relevance of tacit knowledge in social processes;
see Polanyi (1966). Lam (2000) and Collins (2010) are recent contributions explaining the role of tacit
knowledge in the production and maintenance of effective social institutions. On the meaning and
significance of tacit knowledge in Hayek’s work, see Oguz (2010).
6 Local knowledge is most often highlighted as a tool of effective managerial decision-making. Lavoie
(1985) first coined the term knowledge problem when referring to national economic decision-making
lacking tacit knowledge garnered through local-level perspectives and experiences. Ostrom (1990) and
Ostrom (2007) similarly emphasize knowledge problems endemic to centralized management schemes.
7 Polanyi applied spontaneous and cognates to one of these modes, writing variously of “spontaneous
ordering,” “spontaneously arising order,” “spontaneously attained order,” and “spontaneous mutual
adjustment” (1941, 432, 435). In this particular essay, however, he never used “spontaneous order” as
such, preferring “dynamic order,” “dynamic system,” and “dynamic forms of organization” (435). Polanyi
represented “dynamic order” as grounded on freedom and spontaneously emerging from mutual
adjustment of free actions (Jacobs 1997, 15).
8 Polanyi (1962; 1975) explicitly used the full term spontaneous order (Jacobs 1997, n. 6). Gray (1986)
and Cronk (1988) describe Polanyi’s treatment of spontaneous orders confined to the process of science.
Jacobs (1997, n. 11) disagrees. Hayek biographer Caldwell (2004, 294) remains agnostic on the debate
surrounding first use of the term.
9 Jacobs (1997, 1, nn. 1–3) cites Ross (1987), who traces Hayek’s use of the term spontaneous
throughout his early economic writings (Hayek 1936; 1945; 1949a). Barry (1982; 2008) also attributes
the coinage to Hayek. Jacobs (1997, 1, n. 4) cites Roche (1976), O’Brien (1994), Letwin (1977), Moldofsky
(1989), and Cubeddu (1993) as also attributing the term’s origin to Hayek.
10 Barry (2008, 485) notes that similar ideas of self-organization can be found in the writings of
ancient Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu and sixteenth-century Jesuit priests from the school of
Salamanca. See also Smith (2006).
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Regardless of the term’s specific historical origins, three things are commonly and
rightly agreed on about the intellectual history of spontaneous order theory. First, the
substantive theoretical concepts implied by the term are now relatively well defined and
better understood than in previous decades. Namely, the functional features of society
are as such not because of the planned intentions of particular individuals, authoritative
decision makers, or any individual designers’ intentions. Rather, most social outcomes,
particularly functional and orderly processes, are more often and better understood
as the unplanned by-products of decentralized human interactions. The definition of
spontaneous orders is often well captured by the succinct but accurate description of
social institutions being “the result of human actions but not necessarily the product
of any particular human design.”11 Second, spontaneous order theory traces its origins
throughout a long and rich intellectual tradition. Most notably, the first renditions of
spontaneous order theory were forged amid the Scottish Enlightenment, the intellectual
tradition surrounding the political philosophy of liberalism, and the classical school of
economics.12 Last, in the wake of Hayek’s research and professional success, scientific
interest and appreciation for spontaneous order theory have revived and multiplied.
These latter points of agreement are not coincidental. It is not surprising that the historical
context of the Scottish Enlightenment happened to be the spawning ground of
spontaneous order theory. Nor is it serendipitous that the discipline of economic science
and the particular methodological tradition surrounding Hayek, the Austrian school of
economics, has been most responsible for harboring the greatest appreciation for spontaneous
order theory. Contemporary Austrian scholars continually perform applied
research to expand the relevant cases of observed spontaneous orders. This will be more
fully explained throughout this chapter.
With renewed attention to spontaneous order theory have also come new debates,
disagreement, and occasional obfuscation. Some are made explicitly uncomfortable
by the common use of the term spontaneous order. While it well differentiates from
intentionally designed social systems such as clubs (Buchanan 1965) or formal business
firms (Coase 1937), anxiety remains concerning the connotations of randomness
that the term spontaneous seems to imply, as if the functional features of a spontaneous
order occur through sheer luck or by happenstance. Again, refer to the definitions
from Merriam-Webster’s: “arising from a momentary impulse … developing or occurring
without apparent … cause.” Similar implications admittedly occur throughout the
term’s historic usage. For one example, the fuller quotation of Ferguson’s earliest description
reads: “Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed
enlightened ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations stumble upon
11 Hayek (1967) adopted Enlightenment era political philosopher Adam Ferguson’s ([1767] 2001,
119) original description of social processes in this way by titling one of his own essays “The Results of
Human Action but Not of Human Design.”
12 Hayek (1967), Ullman-Margalit (1978), Barry (1982; 2008), Hamowy (1987), Otteson (2008),
Petsoulas (2001), and Smith (2006) trace spontaneous order theory throughout the Scottish
Enlightenment and especially in the works of Adam Smith.
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establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of
any human design” ([1767] 2001, 119; emphasis added). It is not unreasonable for writers
and thinkers to be dissatisfied with these connotations, just as describing evolutionary
processes as random or chaotic is a disservice and obfuscation to the procedural realities
of natural selection, adaptation, and genetic mutation that occur within biological and
other natural processes.
For some writers, the term emergent order is sometimes synonymously and at other
times preferably used for spontaneous order.13 Within its definition of emergence,
Merriam-Webster’s reprints material from the concise encyclopedia Britannica:
In the theory of evolution, the rise of a system that cannot be predicted or explained
from antecedent conditions. The British philosopher of science G. H. Lewes
(1817–78) distinguished between resultants and emergents—phenomena that are
predictable from their constituent parts (e.g., a physical mixture of sand and talcum
powder) and those that are not (e.g., a chemical compound such as salt, which looks
nothing like sodium or chlorine). The evolutionary account of life is a continuous
history marked by stages at which fundamentally new forms have appeared. Each
new mode of life, though grounded in the conditions of the previous stage, is intelligible
only in terms of its own ordering principle. These are thus cases of emergence.
In the philosophy of mind, the primary candidates for the status of emergent properties
are mental states and events.
An emergent phenomenon is the result of some complex causal procedure, meaning
that the outcome of said process cannot be inferred as a simple summation of its constituent
parts. Hence, emergence successfully refers to the unplanned but structurally
patterned characteristics of complex processes, and the term does so perhaps without
invoking connotations of serendipity or randomness, as the word spontaneous inappropriately
does. It is therefore not surprising that some writers opt to use emergent over
spontaneous, although such equivocation, especially regarding the topic of specifically
human-social processes, has significant analytical consequences.
13 In the plenary essay of the aptly titled journal Studies in Emergent Order, DiZerega (2008) writes,
“Hayek encapsulated the process he described by his term ‘spontaneous order.’ Today other terms
describing the same basic dynamics are in more common use, particularly ‘complex adaptive systems’ and
‘emergent orders’ ” (1; emphasis added). The paper proceeds to use the terms interchangeably, as do most
authors in the journal. Martin and Storr (2008) initially use the terms interchangeably but resolve upon
emergent over spontaneous. Lewis (2011, 171) cites Wagner (2010) as falsely conflating spontaneous and
emergent orders and neglecting to offer definitions. Wagner (2011) concedes this point.
The term stigmergy (Grasse 1982–1986; Beckers et al. 1994; Bonabeau 1999; Elliott 2006; Heylighen
2007; Marsh and Onof 2007; Christensen 2007 and 2008) has been coined to refer to features of certain
logistical traits of some social species and computer software platforms that allow various users to
simultaneously but separately contribute to products and outcomes distinctively more functional and
complex than any of the individuals’ particular actions. Ants secrete pheromones assisting them to
follow one another’s trail to and from food sources. Similarly, open-source software platforms such
as Wikipedia provide a logistical medium particularly convenient for complex collaboration among
dispersed individuals and groups without conscious or concerted collective action or agreement.
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First, spontaneous orders are not the inevitable result of chaotic or random processes.
Active substitution away from the term spontaneous in favor of emergence in part promotes
this confusion. Second, passive and or inadvertent equivocation blurs a more
nuanced and accurate distinction between these two concepts. The intellectual tradition
of spontaneous order theory possesses a unique connotation that is not necessarily
endemic in today’s parlance surrounding the use of the term emergence within the dedicated
fields of study on complexity, agent-based modeling, self-organizing processes, or
stigmergy.14 Conflating terms without attention to the distinct facets of those processes
that are rightly and uniquely spontaneous orders risks modeling such complex human
social phenomena inaccurately.
Finally, the distinctive use of spontaneous puts unique emphasis on the human features
of spontaneous orders relative to how the term emergence is more broadly used.
Following Hayek’s (1973) defining descriptions of spontaneous relative to planned
orders, he writes:
Most important, however, is the relation of a spontaneous order to the conception of
purpose. Since such an order has not been created by an outside agency, the order as
such also can have no purpose, although its existence may be very serviceable to the
individuals which move within such order. But in a different sense it may well be said
that the order rests on purposive action of its elements, when “purpose” would, of
course, mean nothing more than that their actions tend to secure the preservation or
restoration of that order. The use of “purposive” in this sense as a sort of “teleological
shorthand,” as it has been called by biologists, is unobjectionable so long as we do not
imply an awareness of purpose of the part of the elements, but mean merely that the
elements have acquired regularities of conduct conducive to the maintenance of the
order—presumable because those who did act in certain ways had within the resulting
order a better chance of survival than those who did not. In general, however, it
is preferable to avoid in this connection the term “purpose” and to speak instead of
“function.” (39)15
In short, the harmonization processes that occur amid interacting human agents are
distinct from those that occur between other types of agents, specifically because of the
greater range of subjective purposes sought by humans relative to nonhuman actors.
Again, spontaneous orders are identified by the distinction between the intentions of
14 DiZerega (2008) explains that various research fields attuned to emergent orders, such as
self-organizing systems and agent-based modeling, have arisen independently of the Smith-Hayek
tradition. Key examples of these parallel research streams include, but are not necessarily limited to, Ross
(1947) and Holland (1992). See also Harper and Lewis (2012) and the various research surveyed therein.
See also the comments and citations on stigmergy in note 13 above.
15 In reflecting on Barry’s survey, Buchanan (1982) affirms the a-purposivity of complex social
processes. “[T] he ‘order’ of the market emerges only from the process of voluntary exchanges among the
participating individuals. The ‘order’ is, itself, defined as the outcome of the process that generates it. The
‘it,’ the allocation-distribution result, does not, and cannot, exist independently of the trading process.
Absent this process, there is and can be no ‘order’ ” (7).
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the agents within the system and the seemingly functional but unintentional aspects of
the system writ large. In the course of acting to pursue personal interests, individuals
contribute to a general condition of social order. While the general conditions of the
social order complement various individual interests, such functionality occurs irrespective
of those interests. This gap of intentionality is precisely the reference point of
the spontaneous terminology. Such interactive purposivity cannot be said to occur amid
nonhuman orders.16
Insofar as emergence can also refer to complex outcomes of nonhuman processes,
equating spontaneous orders with emergence diminishes the focused need for unique
methodological considerations when investigating human social phenomena relative
to other natural-science subject matters. Natural sciences afford a larger and more
appropriate role of mathematical formalism and precise statistical forecasting. Such
techniques are more prone to error and misspecification when applied to human social
processes, because the potential diversity and conflict of subjective intentions is exponentially
greater.17 When spontaneous human social orders are treated as if they are no
different from nonhuman emergent orders, through applied public policies or strategic
initiatives for social change, significant unintended consequences may ensue and are in
many ways inevitable. Hayek ([1941] 1980) argues so boldly as to suggest that the historic
course of real contemporary social problems in the twentieth century were largely the
result of methodological failures within the professional social sciences to account for
the operational features of human society as they accord to spontaneous order theory.18
It is most appropriate for a handbook on Austrian economics to include a chapter
dedicated to spontaneous order, as the theory has played both a significant and an essential
role throughout the school’s intellectual history. One should also recognize inversely,
that were it a dedicated volume to the theory of spontaneous orders, there would need to
be a dedicated chapter, or several, on the Austrian tradition because of its emphasis on
the methodological challenges inherent in the investigation of human actions and complex
social processes.19 Once the idea of spontaneous social orders had been recognized
and somewhat fleshed out, society could be better seen to conform to some degree of
orderly pattern, wherein a variety of systematic relationships could be seen to hold and
therefore could also be scientifically investigated and objectively understood. This is to
say that spontaneous order theory was groundbreaking in that it provided a method to
16 Hamowy (1987, 40) summarizes Merton (1936) and Forbes (1954) as similarly conflating
spontaneous orders with the law of unintended consequences. Schneider (1967) recognizes the similarity
of spontaneous orders as exemplary of unintentionality but highlights their uniquely social functionality
and coordinative effects as essential to spontaneity’s meaning.
17 Hayek (1967, 25, n. 8) surveys Nagel (1961), von Neumann (1951), and von Bertalanffy (1952),
estimating the degree of complexity found in interactive biological processes relative to basic
physionatural operations to be many degrees of magnitude larger. In addition to a substantive difference
of type, Hayek explains that social processes still also possess exponentially larger degrees of complexity.
18 See also Boettke (1997), Mirowski (2002), and Beinhocker (2007), who trace the practical
consequences of methodological failures in professional economics. Huemer (2012) infers such social
complexity to support passivity over activist preferences and strategies for social change.
19 See Menger ([1883] 1985) and Mises ([1933] 1978) as classic examples.
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investigate human behaviors and social processes through objective science in a way
that was untenable before then. One could argue that with spontaneous order theory, the
Scottish Enlightenment in effect invented social science as a positive research program.
This chapter is a defense and explicit support for the terminology of spontaneous
order, properly understood. Although it is not a rejection of the term emergence in all
of its own uses. In other words, emergent and spontaneous have similar meanings, but
they are differentiable. They are neither totally exclusive nor oppositional ideas. They
have unique definitions with overlapping applications, but they still have separable and
nonsynonymous meanings. Simply put, “emergence refers to a broader domain of phenomena
than does spontaneous” (Wagner 2011, 217). In this vein, all spontaneous orders
possess emergent qualities, but not all emergent processes are necessarily spontaneous
orders. Figure 6.1 portrays a simplistic Venn diagram to visualize this distinction. A subset
area representing distinctive spontaneous orders is nested fully within a larger set of
emergent orders.
Spontaneous orders possess a unique feature relative to nonspontaneous emergent
orders, namely, the presence of multiple and likely conflicting human intentions that are
shaped subjectively by the unique preferences and choices of individuals. Spontaneous
orders proceed in ways that promote and contribute to human social coordination
and cooperation. The institutions that develop as a consequence of and facilitator to
human coordination and cooperation require unique methodological considerations to
understand their developmental and operational processes relative to the coordination
mechanisms that occur in nonhuman emergent orders. How do social scientists retain
positivity while describing and analyzing the behaviors of agents and groups who possess
normative preferences?
The next section specifies the definitional differences between emergent and spontaneous
orders by offering a conceptual framework to distinguish between the scientific
nature of the agent types of an orderly system and the degree of complexity derived
from those agents’ interactive behaviors. Examples are offered for each category. The
Humane Social Orders
Emergent Orders
Spontaneous
Orders
(Cosmos)
Organizations
(Taxis)
Non-human
Biological,
Physical, or
Chemical
Orders
Non-human Social
Orders
Figure 6.1 Spontaneous relative to emergent orders.
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necessary features for each type of social order to prove sustainable are identified. The
presence of purposeful human intention contributes to the development of distinctive
institutions in the human social realm unparalleled in complexity and coordinative
potential by any other subject matter throughout the natural sciences. Animals and
certainly inanimate objects do not communicate with languages as detailed or abstract
as those of humans. They do not truck, barter, and/or exchange goods and services and
hence possess no monetary currencies or market price exchange ratios. Many species
often do conform their behavioral patterns to social standards akin to moral norms or
even rules of law, although nonhuman actors do not reflect back on the desirability or
optimality of their orders, whereas humans do. And herein lie the determining factors
of society’s progression through coordination and cooperation or its destabilization
through discord and strife.
The following section surveys the intellectual history surrounding spontaneous order
theory in an attempt to complement and justify the framework laid out in the previous
section. Smith’s and Hayek’s research programs have been particularly influential
in shaping spontaneous order theory. As social scientists, both sought to develop
consistent models to account for processes of social change across varied institutional
realms—language, morality, legal and political norms, and economic development.
Both saw the phenomena of economic production as uniquely human and obviously
complex beyond the potential of human design. Both sought unique methodological
frameworks to cope with the distinct challenges of this subject matter; thus, they are
most recognized for significantly shaping the theoretical tradition. While economic science
provided the most ideal theoretical techniques for identifying and explaining the
operational features of spontaneous orders, several writers throughout the spontaneous
order tradition have noted the fate of harmonious social operation to rest on the
interplay between spontaneous processes of material prosperity with moral social and
cultural perceptions regarding the causes and consequences of prosperity and its associated
social changes.
Different Categories of Order
There is a need for a separable terminology when referring to complex human social
processes relative to similar orders found amid nonhuman agents and groups. This is
simply because the conditional factors of individual human choices are distinct from
those facing nonhuman conscious agents, comparable to how processes of nonhuman
conscious agents are significantly distinct in complexity from nonconscious objects. In
other words, the predictability of the order that develops amid a community of human
people is significantly more complex than that found amid a flock of birds or a school of
fish, in much the same way as the degree of complexity amid a flock of birds is significantly
greater than the patterns of operation amid balls on a billiard table. Billiard balls
do not act but are acted upon. Birds act but do not make distinctive plans and intentions
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124 Microeconomics
apart from their biologically shaped instincts and needs for survival. While the difference
in agent type may be a matter of degree rather than type, the social experience of
humans is of a significant difference in type relative to nonhuman social contexts. By
interacting in an environment made up of intelligent and intentional interacting agents,
human social systems emerge and require institutional regularities, informational signals,
and enforcement mechanisms to help promote coordination and cooperation.
In all such cases, order can and does emerge, although the human condition allows
for the development of social institutions that are of both a greater degree of complexity
than and a distinctive type of complexity from those forms of coordination mechanisms
common amid nonhuman processes. In particular, human languages, legal and political
rules, commonly accepted moral norms of conduct, and decentralized economic
decision-making through the advanced division of labor and market price signals are
all uniquely human institutions considerably more complex than any of the behavioral
patterns found in nonhuman systems.
This section provides a framework to categorize different types of complex orderly
processes. Figure 6.1 first clarifies the degree of complexity demonstrated within different
types of orders by listing the relative number of conscious agents within an orderly
system. Separate rows are included for zero agents, one or few agents in relative harmony
to one another, and many competing agents. Second, a distinction is made regarding
the nature of the agents within the supposedly orderly phenomena. Biophysical
processes or nonhuman systems are differentiated from human ones. Each cell within
the body of the figure is labeled with its own letter, A through F, and will be explained
below. Processes within cells A, B, C, and F exhibit sufficient characteristics to warrant
the title of emergent orders, while only processes within cell F ought to be considered
spontaneous orders. Cells D and E are planned orders or examples of designed taxis, as
Hayek (1973) used the term.
Subject Type
Bio-physical Humane
Number of
Conscious
Agents
Zero A: sunflower seeds,
honeycomb, snail
shells, flower pedals
D: a garden, architecture,
interior design
One or few in harmony
to one another
B: schools of fish, flocks
of birds, ant colonies,
beehives
E: sports teams, business
firms, formal
organizations or clubs
Many potentially
competing against
one another
C: ecosystems, species
evolution, planetary
orbits
F: market prices,
commodity currencies,
the division of labor,
private property rights,
the common law
Figure 6.2 Classifications of order.
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Spontaneous Order 125
Beginning in the upper left corner, cell A lists various examples of complex patterns
observed in the natural world. Such patterns conform to the basic definitional characteristics
of complex orders. The individual components of the orderly system have particular
features. A sunflower seed is a particular shape and size, as are the hexagons of a
honeycomb, the spirals of a snail shell, and the petals of a flower. When fitted together,
these noncomplicated parts generate a pattern with its own size, shape, and proportioned
characteristics distinctive from those features of its constituent parts. If one were
to view the individual components of the order apart from the order itself, it would be
difficult to foresee or predict the complex pattern.
Cell B is similarly focused on nonhuman complex orders, just as in cell A, but cell B
includes examples of processes that possess a greater degree of complexity than those
in cell A. This greater complexity is a function of the fact that the agents in the system,
while not human, are somewhat autonomous. They engage in their own unique behavioral
actions based on their own individual perceptions, influences, and stimuli. In
other words, there is a similar emergence of order amid the patterns of seeds on the face
of a sunflower and the orderly flow of ants within a colony’s mound, but there is a significant
difference between the two. Ants walk about in accordance to their own individual
actions. In the context of interacting with other ants, any individual ant faces a degree of
variability in the potential outcomes of its behavior unparalleled by the distribution of
seeds on the face of a sunflower.20
Orders within cell C demonstrate yet another level of complexity beyond those found
within cells A or B. Not only are the agents within cell C autonomous relative to one
another, but they are of various different species from one another, and as such they
are most often in conditions of conflict and or competition with one another regarding
food, territory, sexual mates, or all of the above. While planets and terrestrial objects
would not seem autonomous, their distinct properties of movement relative to one
another and interactive effects on others suffice to be included in cell C.
Interspecies competition is most common. Species exist as innate predators and/or
prey to one another. Interspecies coordination is also common but only as a function
of optimized interspecies competition. Different species contribute to the functioning
of a vibrant ecosystem in harmonic symbiosis with one another, but the health and
vitality of any nonhuman ecosystem depends on the relative success of some species
20 There remain different meaningful types of order found with cell B characteristics. First, lower
organisms such as slime molds and some social insects such as ant colonies and beehives perform
coordinated behaviors amid such large groups; some have inferred the collective unit itself as the more
relevant organism. Different types of agents, drones versus worker bees, for one example, operate more
akin to organs with specialized functions rather than independent agents themselves. Tullock (1994)
and Resnick (1994) describe the emergent qualities of social species. Seabright (2004) notices that social
species share much higher rates of genetic homogeneity relative to others. Equipped with biological
adaptations such as bio-determined divisions of labor and stigmergic mechanisms (see note 13 above),
lower organisms can form groups of hundreds of thousands of agents, whereas more intelligent species
maintain smaller group sizes. De Waal (1990) describes the proto-legal and moral norms evolved and
required to resolve conflict amid various ape species. Differences across social norms are primarily
shaped by biological factors such as gendered differences and sexual reproductive habits.
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126 Microeconomics
and/or populations over others (Forsyth and Miyata 1987). Foxes and rabbits have yet
to discover an institutional arrangement wherein both species may thrive without the
episodic predation of rabbits by foxes. Interspecies cooperation or symbiosis is not
impossible but is more rare and typically the result of unique evolutionary conditions.
Cell D is the first type of order listed within the human category and is also the first
nonemergent type of order surveyed thus far. Examples such as gardens, architecture,
and interior design are orderly insofar as they promote particular functions and purposes.
Good gardens are usually both aesthetic and conducive to the healthy growing
of the plants therein. But such orders are the result of direct planning insofar as they are
intelligently designed and constructed by a gardener; hence, they are not fully emergent.
Walking through a forest and stumbling upon a well-groomed garden, while the
observer could remark on the well-ordered nature of the garden, he would obviously not
infer that the garden had developed naturally without some intelligent designer.
That being said, a successful garden must operate within the natural parameters
beyond the gardener’s design or control. The gardener may desire to optimize the growing
and cultivation of a particular plant or crop, but his ability to do so will be determined
in part by his ability to identify, tap into, and harness the unplanned natural
conditions of his environment and the interactive conditions of the fauna he chooses
to plant.
Cell E is another nonemergent form of order, but it does express a degree of complexity
beyond those orders found within cell D. While cell D orders result from the application
of human intelligence imposed on nonhuman entities, cell E results from a singular
or unified human intention being imposed on and accepted by other human agents.
Firms, organizations, clubs, and formal governments are all orders with cell E characteristics.
21 Here again, the success or failure of the particular intention chosen by the order’s
designer will hinge on his ability to identify, tap into, and harness the unplanned and/or
emergent conditions operating within the population of individuals he has selected to
work with.
Now, fully within the realm of human social interaction, one could make a distinction
within cell E of voluntary versus coercive arrangements akin to Smith’s ([1776]
1904) distinction of “raping, pillaging and plundering” relative to “trucking, bartering
and exchanging.”22 The coercive arrangements like those conflicting interests across species
in cell D orders are zero sum, meaning that one agent gains at the others’ expense.
But unlike cell D orders, human agents have a significantly greater capacity to counterreact,
be it through foresight, evasion, and/or cooperative retaliation. Smith’s ([1759]
1790) comments on the personality types of “men of systems” bear relevance here:
The man of system, on the contrary, is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is
often so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government,
21 For thorough investigations of decision-making within the firm and formal organizational settings,
see Coase (1937) and Williamson (1981; 2002).
22 See also Oppenheimer ([1908] 2012).
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that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it. He goes on to establish
it completely and in all its parts, without any regard either to the great interests,
or to the strong prejudices which may oppose it. He seems to imagine that he
can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand
arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board. He does not consider that the
pieces upon the chess-board have no other principle of motion besides that which
the hand impresses upon them; but that, in the great chess-board of human society,
every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that
which the legislature might chuse to impress upon it. If those two principles coincide
and act in the same direction, the game of human society will go on easily and harmoniously,
and is very likely to be happy and successful. If they are opposite or different,
the game will go on miserably, and the society must be at all times in the highest
degree of disorder. (233–234).
Sustainable coercive relationships such as slavery or conscription required unique
enforcement technologies and costs. Over time, such balances of power endure gales of
creative destruction as changes in the conditional factors affecting the costs and benefits
of coercion alter its equilibrium conditions (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012). For one
example, the invention of the cotton gin radically increased the value of a marginal slave
worker but lowered the net demand for the quantity of slaves writ large.
In contrast, voluntary cooperation mechanisms are a uniquely human institutional
arrangement wherein multiple parties may benefit despite alternative, competing, and/
or conflicting interests. Private property rights, contracts, rules of law, arbitration, and
dispute resolution are all mechanisms to aid and facilitate the harmonization of the individual
designers’ intention with the surrounding conditions of environmental resources
and the ulterior motives of other human agents. Hence, again, we see that the relative
success of an individual plan is at least in part determined by its ability to nest compatibly
amid a broader condition of unplanned interactions (Koch 2007).
Last, cell F is reserved for spontaneous orders properly understood. Rather than
individual human actors within a system comporting their behaviors to a particularly
designed intention, each of the members of a spontaneous order pursues intentions of
his or her own accord. Here it is perhaps important to emphasize that all such behaviors
are not necessarily harmonious or without conflict. In fact, systemic disorder and
instability can be and often are stable outcomes for a variety of social contexts (Martin
and Storr 2008). Although the contributing conditional factors of such disorderly states
are similar to those that accommodate spontaneous order outcomes, the results of such
processes do not conform to Hayek’s proffered definition of order as providing predictable
reliability. Such disorderly states are also possible under cell B and cell C conditions.
Seabright (2004) and Beottke, Caceras, and Martin (2013) suggest in comparison that
the potentials and realities of conflicting disorderly states far surpass orderly alternatives;
hence, ordered outcomes are all the more demanding of account and explanation.
Although the potential for disorder is great and arguably surpasses that for order,
it has been theoretically (Demsetz 1967), historically (Ellickson 1991; Anderson and
Hill 2004), and even experimentally demonstrated (Kimbrough, Smith, and Wilson
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128 Microeconomics
2010) that human agents are inclined to conform their behaviors to not conflict with
other human agents to the extent that conflict is costly and or uncertain. Given humans’
greater capacity to impose costs amid conflict, this provides a greater incentive and
greater potential for coordination in cell F than in other cells. To the extent that agents
can recognize that their own plans may be better fulfilled under conditions of nonconflict
coordination, individuals will prefer conditions of peaceful coexistence relative to
conflict. Hence, cooperation and coordination in human societies without formal state
enforcement mechanisms are feasible in relatively smaller and homogeneous groups
(Landa 1994; Zerbe and Anderson 2001; Greif 2002; Dixit 2004; North, Wallis, and
Weingast 2009) but rarely observed in large-scale heterogeneous social orders.23
Agents may intentionally conform their behaviors to rules of conduct and/or institutional
patterns that explicitly signal nonthreatening intentions to others and accurately
communicate information regarding interpersonal behaviors so that individuals within
the system are best informed regarding how they may navigate action without conflict.
Such institutional participation inadvertently contributes to a social environment more
conducive to and accommodating for the fulfillment of ever greater and more diversely
selected plans and agents. Institutional mechanisms such as language, property rights,
contracts, rules of law, moral norms, market pricing mechanisms, and an advanced division
of labor, though not designed by any individual actor, crucially aid and assist the
plans of the participants within them because they funnel and churn knowledge more
systematically and effectively amid the members of the system.
The History of the Spontaneous
Order Tradition
Equivocation between emergent and spontaneous orders obfuscates the meaning
that theorists intended to convey throughout spontaneous order’s history of thought.
Although common parlance of spontaneity implies that the subject matter develops as
23 Samuelson (1964), McKenzie and Tullock ([1975] 2006), Landes and Posner (1975), and Cowen
(1992) all highlight public-good dilemmas surrounding the provisions of law, security, and punitive
enforcement. The positive externality conditions and high potential for free riding surrounding
law-enforcement services are presumably inherent and logistical, thus limiting the potential for
spontaneous order to sufficiently support large-scale heterogeneous networks of anonymous exchange.
In contrast, Friedman (1979) argues that multiple equilibriums are possible in alternative societies.
Benson (1992), D’Amico (2010), and Allen and Barzel (2011) trace criminal institutional changes and
consequences through legal history. Gambetta (1993), Kaminski (2004), Leeson (2008a), Leeson and
Skarbek (2010), and Skarbek (2010; 2011; 2012) explain functional punitive enforcements in criminal
networks wherein group interests are conveniently aligned against formal state enforcement by the
nature of their illicit intentions. Hoebel (1954) shows similarly for remote tribes. Leeson (2008b; 2009;
2014) and Benson (1989a; 1989b; 1990) argue that self-enforcing exchange is more durable than is
commonly recognized and at least possible in some larger heterogeneous cases.
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Spontaneous Order 129
if from nowhere and/or operates through random happenstance, spontaneous orders,
as described by their most noted contributors, are decidedly not the inevitable result of
chaotic interactions and/or serendipity. Spontaneous orders are instead the unintended
result of certain structural features inherent to the processes of human decision-making
and human interaction. Although they are unplanned, such phenomena are not random.
The history of thought specifically surrounding spontaneous order theory, stemming
most notably from Smith amid the Scottish Enlightenment, academically resurrected
by the research program of Hayek, and continued by the contemporary scholarship
associated with the modern Austrian school of economics highlights the unique methodological
considerations necessary for investigating and accurately understanding
human behaviors and complex social processes relative to subject matters more common
throughout other natural sciences. The tradition of scholarship most responsible
for developing the idea and terminology of spontaneous order theory has continuously
been an effort to conduct objective positive social science, given the realization that
human beings and human societies are more complicated subject matters and require
unique methodological considerations compared with other natural subjects. In short,
the process of coordinating human intentions contributes to the formation of institutions
and societal outcome patterns that require uniquely gauged methods in order to
accurately identify, understand, and/or compare objectively without systemic error or
unintended consequences.
Each of the theorists surveyed in this section highlights a particular facet of the spontaneous
ordering of economic production and material prosperity. The increased population,
density, and diversity afforded by material abundance often inspire subsequent
cultural, moral, and ideological change. This feeds back on the stability of economic
prosperity. The processes of individual perception, collective coordination, and reactive
cooperation of such sociological processes are a distinctively human process in need of
uniquely human, socially scientific, methodological considerations to accurately understand
and objectively assess. Contemporary research and parlance surrounding the
more general term emergence are less uniquely focused on distinctively human social
processes.
The idea of spontaneous social order was at first an inferred conclusion regarding the
essential causes of the conspicuous social changes surrounding Enlightenment writers
nested within the early stages of the industrial revolution. Spontaneous social ordering
through processes of interindividual interaction was, in effect, a basic alternative
hypothesis to the previous dominant theories that associated prosperity with the superior
foresight and/or divine rights of ruling authority. Having endured similar political
arrangements for relatively long periods of previous history, ruling intentions were
simply insufficient explanations for the distinct levels of prosperity, human population,
and social diversity all found more systematically throughout the developed world amid
industrialization than ever before. One could simply not proclaim to be a philosopher
dedicated to investigating and understanding human behavior and human society without
devoting significant attention to those unique features of the human social world
distinctive from all other times, places, and sectors of the natural world.
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130 Microeconomics
Though not a researched piece of formal social theory or political philosophy per se,
Bernard Mandeville’s lyrical fable The Grumbling Hive: or Knaves Turned Honest (1705)
was nonetheless one of the earliest presentations of the spontaneous order theory and
arguably was most responsible for first popularizing the idea throughout the eighteenth
century. The poem was quickly republished with additional commentary under
the modified title The Fable of the Bees: or Private Vices, Public Benefits ([1714] 1992).
Both publications gave rise to heated debate and provided significant theoretical inspiration
for subsequent theorists and classical liberals throughout the Enlightenment
period.
Mandeville’s poem remarkably conveyed a relatively complete essence of spontaneous
order theory as a hypothesis for explaining the causes and operations of complex
social order, namely, that the prosperous, functional, and generally peaceful welfare of
human society rests more on the unplanned processes of interacting human individuals
than they stem from the plans of ruling authorities or moral theorists. Mandeville’s
poem was even so bold as to allude to and explicate a nuanced model of socioinstitutional
interaction, in other words, how economic prosperity relates to society’s moral
and cultural qualities and vice versa.
Just as prosperity is not the planned result of authority, neither is the virtuous or
depraved character of society, or the general moral patterns of people within it, the
product of conscience philosophical reflection or explicitly planned moral campaigns.
In short, moral norms are themselves spontaneous orders, and individual moral beliefs
are developed within this context.
Mandeville’s narrative implied, first, that private vices did not necessarily contribute
to broader moral depravity, let alone any sort of material consequences, as many
at the time and arguably still today tend to presume. Such is evidenced merely by the
simultaneity of prosperity, increased opportunities for vice, and peaceable social functioning.
If self-interest, competition, consumption, and vice are so socially problematic,
then why amid the observed periods of the greatest increased opportunities and expressions
of these behaviors has society undoubtedly progressed materially, culturally, and
peaceably?
Thus every Part was full of vice,
Yet the whole Mass a Paradise;
Flatter’d in Peace and fear’d in Wars,
They were th’ Esteem of Foreigners,
And lavish of their Wealth and Lives,
The Balance of all other Hives. (Mandeville [1714] 1992, 24)
Second, the subtitle of the second publication refers to “Private Vices, Public
Benefits”; insofar as self-interested and competitive behaviors are contributors to social
order, supposed vice and vanity may be inevitable correlates to prosperity. The freedom
required to afford producers and innovators the environment to make and trade
goods and services will also provide the requisite freedom to accommodate and afford
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Spontaneous Order 131
a broader variety of civic behaviors, many of which will inevitably strike against previously
held moral sensibilities.
Finally, Mandeville implies a specific theory of culturally and ideologically driven
social change, hence the descriptor “grumbling” in his original title. Concerted moral
campaigns cannot refine their efforts solely to eliminate supposedly harmful vices without
also casting aspersion on the general behaviors of self-interested consumption,
profit seeking, and competition. Thus, they tend to throw the material progress baby out
with the unvirtuous bath water or kill the ornery goose that happens to lay golden eggs.
Here, Mandeville is significantly ahead of his time in recognizing that the maturing process
of cultural and moral evolution occurs in stride and is related to a society’s material
prosperity. Given Puritanism’s popularity and political influence at the time, it is not
surprising that Mandeville’s essay provoked such contention. In contrast to the social
harms invoked by moral crusades, regulators, and prohibitionists, vice appears marginally
welfare-productive.24
After Mandeville, Ferguson ([1767] 2001) is often credited with having first recognized
the concept of spontaneity when describing the functionality of legal and political
systems. His turn of phrase is frequently echoed to convey a succinct but essentially
accurate definition for spontaneous order theory:
Men in general, are sufficiently disposed to occupy themselves in forming projects
and schemes: But he who would scheme and project for others, will find an opponent
in every person who is disposed to scheme for himself. Like the winds that come we
know not whence, and blow whithersoever they list, the forms of society are derived
from an obscure and distant origin; they arise, long before the date of philosophy,
from the instincts, not from the speculations of men. The crowd of mankind, are
directed in their establishments and measures, by the circumstances in which they
are placed; and seldom are turned from their way, to follow the plan of any single
projector.
Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed enlightened
ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations stumble upon
establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of
any human design. (119; emphasis added)
As Hamowy (1968, 257–258) explains, Ferguson, like Mandeville, also recognized the
correlation between material prosperity and the moral attitudes of society:
Many mechanical arts, indeed, require no capacity; they succeed best under a total
suppression of sentiment and reason; and ignorance is the mother of industry as
well as of superstition. Reflection and fancy are subject to err; but a habit of moving
the hand, or the foot, where the mind is least consulted, and where the workshop
may, without any great effort of imagination, be considered as an engine, the parts of
which are men. (Ferguson [1767] 2001, 182–183)
24 Such was coincidentally the similar intellectual setup and public reaction to Block (1976).
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132 Microeconomics
Ferguson also parallels Mandeville in his recognition that economic prosperity may
invoke cultural processes that are potentially self-defeating to prosperity. Specialized
populations in the division of labor may not afford the time or energy to comprehend
the operational features of the social system they live within, contribute to, and
benefit from.
But if many parts in the practice of every art, and in the detail of every department,
require no abilities, or actually tend to contract and to limit the views of the mind,
there are others which lead to general reflections, and to enlargement of thought.
Even in manufacture, the genius of the master, perhaps, is cultivated, while that of
the inferior workman lies waste. The statesman may have a wide comprehension of
human affairs, while the tools he employs are ignorant of the system in which they are
themselves combined. The general officer may be a great proficient in the knowledge
of war, while the soldier is confined to a few motions of the hand and the foot. …
The practitioner of every art and profession may afford matter of general speculation
to the man of science; and thinking itself, in this age of separations, may become
a peculiar craft. …
[T] he labourer, who toils that he may eat; the mechanic, whose art requires no
exertion of genius, are degraded by the object they pursue, and by the means they
employ to attain it. Professions requiring more knowledge and study; proceeding
on the exercise of fancy, and the love of perfection; leading to applause as well as to
profit, place the artist in a superior class, and bring him nearer to that station in which
men are supposed to be highest; because in it they are bound to no task; because they
are left to follow the disposition of the mind, and to take that part in society, to which
they are led by the sentiments of the heart, or by the calls of the public….
We look for elevation of sentiment, and liberality of mind, among those orders of
citizens, who, by their condition, and their fortunes, are relieved from sordid cares
and attentions. …
[Thus,] in every commercial state, notwithstanding any pretensions to equal
rights, the exaltation of a few must depress the many. (183–186).
Perhaps not coincidentally, just as Jacobs (1997; 1999; 2000) has inspired dispute regarding
whether Hayek or Polanyi originated the term spontaneous order, Hamowy (1968)
surveys Rae (1895), Carlyle (1910), and Oncken (1909), suggesting that the innovative
origins surrounding the idea of the division of labor was a point of personal conflict
and made accusations of quasi-plagiarism between Ferguson and Smith. Smith’s ([1776]
1904) opening sentences in the first chapter of his economic treatise define the division
of labor and cite it as the primary source for the greatest influence upon material
growth:
The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part
of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied,
seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.
The effects of the division of labour, in the general business of society, will be more
easily understood, by considering in what manner it operates in some particular
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manufactures. It is commonly supposed to be carried furthest in some very trifling
ones. (13)
Smith proceeds with applied descriptions of the specialized division of labor within a
pin factory, the decentralized production of a common woolen coat, and eventually the
inventory processes of corn houses as they operated in conjunction with various tax
codes under the corn laws.25 In all such cases, Smith highlights the self-regulating and
equilibrating results of profit-seeking market decision-making. Herein Smith’s initial
outlines of the classical model of the economy first took form.
Hamowy (1968, 259) suggests that Smith’s insights regarding the division of labor are
more limited to the economic sphere, compared with Ferguson’s more sociological, cultural,
and political applications. Smith ([1776] 1904) does address the cultural consequences
of expansions in the division of labor and the material progress it engenders:
In the progress of the division of labour, the employment of the far greater part of
those who live by labour, that is, of the great body of the people, comes to be confined
to a few very simple operations, frequently to one or two. But the understandings of
the greater part of men are necessarily formed by their ordinary employments. The
man whose whole life is spent in performing a few simple operations; of which the
effects too are, perhaps, always the same, or very nearly the same, has no occasion to
exert his understandings, or to exercise his invention in finding out expedients for
removing difficulties which never occur. He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of
such exertions, and generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a
human creature to become. The torpor of his mind renders him, not only incapable
of relishing or bearing a part in any rational conversation, but of conceiving any generous,
noble, or tender sentiment, and consequently of forming any just judgment
concerning many even of the ordinary duties of private life. (book V, chap. 1, part 3,
article 2)
While it is textually accurate to say that Smith’s observations regarding the causes and
consequences of the division of labor were relatively limited to the economic sphere
of human society, a wider review of his broader sample of writings demonstrates an
attempt to fully survey the totality of human social interaction by means of a unified
theory of human behavior and socioinstitutional operation. Spontaneous order was in
essence the mechanism of operation found throughout various social arenas, from language
to morality, economic production, and legal policies. In all applications, there is
an inevitable interplay between individual human actions via rational decision-making
on the one hand and the existence of structural institutional rules and incentives on
the other.
Again, Smith’s coining of the phrase “invisible hand,” when referring to the
self-organizing properties of buyers and sellers in the market economy, is commonly
inferred as synonymous with spontaneous order (Nozick 1974, 18–22; Ullman-Margalit
25 Leonard Read’s I, Pencil (1958) adopted this same pedagogical technique to great popular success.
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134 Microeconomics
1978) and most often referred to its centrally found location (Klein and Lucas
2011) within his most economically oriented work:
But the annual revenue of every society is always precisely equal to the exchangeable
value of the whole annual produce of its industry, or rather is precisely the same
thing with that exchangeable value. As every individual, therefore, endeavours as
much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so
to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual
necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can.
He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how
much he is promoting industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest
value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led
by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it
always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest
he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really
intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected
to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among
merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it. (Smith
[1776] 1904, 455–456)
However, as Hamowy (1986, 78) notes, Smith’s ([1759] 1790) earlier work on moral theory
also used the “invisible hand” phrase and generally comported to the same idea, that
the functional and harmonizing facets of cultural mores and social norms are more the
product of unplanned interindividual human behaviors than they are the direct result of
conscientious philosophical reflection:
They consume little more than the poor, and in spite of their natural selfishness and
rapacity, though they mean only their own conveniency, though the sole end which
they propose from the labours of all the thousands whom they employ, be the gratification
of their own vain and insatiable desires, they divide with the poor the produce
of all their improvements. They are led by an invisible hand to make nearly the same
distribution of the necessaries of life, which would have been made, had the earth
been divided into equal portions among all its inhabitants, and thus without intending
it, without knowing it, advance the interest of the society, and afford means to the
multiplication of the species. (184–185).
Hamowy (1986, 78) also refers to Macfie (1971) rightly noting that Smith’s ([1795]
1982) first mention of “invisible hand” is found in his “History of Astronomy,” probably
written but not published prior to Theory of Moral Sentiments:
For it may be observed, that in all Polytheistic religions, among savages, as well as
in the early ages of Heathen antiquity, it is the irregular events of nature only that
are ascribed to the agency and power of their gods. Fire burns, and water refreshes;
heavy bodies descend, and lighter substances fly upwards, by the necessity of their
own nature; nor was the invisible hand of Jupiter ever apprehended to the employed
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Spontaneous Order 135
in those matters. But thunder and lightning, storms and sunshine, those more irregular
events, were ascribed to his favour or his anger. Man, the only designing power
with which they were acquainted, never acts but either to stop, or to alter the course,
which natural events would take, if left to themselves. (vol. 3, section 3).
This chapter lacks the forum or expertise to definitively resolve such matters of historical
usage and/or creative authenticity among authors, although the context of
Smith’s initial use of “invisible hand” within his dedicated material on specifically
nonhuman subjects and scientific methodology does seem pertinent. In other
words, viewing the range of Smith’s applied subject matters, one sees an attempt to
develop a theory of human decision-making universally applicable in all variety of
social realms: political-legal, cultural-moral, and economic. Smith’s forays into nonhuman
natural sciences also appear to be explicit attempts to forge methodological
techniques capable of identifying and comprehending the operations of complex
systems. With both a theory of individual decision-making and a method for understanding
complex interaction in hand, Smith’s economic analysis hosted his most
systematic contributions to spontaneous order theory. The quantifiable nature of
market prices and material production provided analytical traction of spontaneous
order processes within the economic sectors more so than in other institutional arenas
despite their uniquely human identity, such as language, moral norms, or legal
processes.
It is not coincidental or unwarranted that Smith is given prominent attention for most
early and systematically identifying and developing the theory of spontaneous orders.26
It is arguably his particular attention and dedicated analysis of economic processes that
afforded him this vantage. Hence, it is within the tradition of economic science, and the
Austrian tradition’s unique attention to methodology therein, that the most significant
attention and insight regarding spontaneous order theory have stemmed from in the
wake of Smith.
Most notably, Carl Menger’s (1892) account of the spontaneous origins of monetary
currency from amid the incentives and procedural behaviors of agents within a barter
economy subsequently inspired the research programs of Austrian figureheads Ludwig
von Mises and Hayek. Mises’s ([1912] 1953) initial goal was to incorporate a theory of
money consistently into the broader model of individual decision-making and economic
production. Hayek (1945) in turn traced the communicative and epistemic value
conveyed by monetary prices in an exchange economy to promote material production
and social harmony.
Hayek’s initial definitions and applications of spontaneous order theory have been
sufficiently summarized above, although it is worth pointing out how significantly
his latter insights regarding social morality paralleled other enlightenment thinkers.
26 Hamowy (1986, 65) cites Kettler (1965), who notes that “Hume found Ferguson’s style both
unsystematic and inexact.”
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136 Microeconomics
Hayek (1941) lays out a detailed model of social change wherein social harmony and/
or systemic problems hinge critically on the presence of accurate methodologies
within the professional social sciences. His shorter essay, “Intellectuals and Socialism”
(1949b), proffers an account of the apparent animosity toward market processes popular
among professional intellectuals. In his final work, Hayek (1988) explicitly refers to
Mandeville’s insights regarding the sociological effects of prosperity. He outlines how
tensions arise among instinctive moral beliefs, designed moral beliefs, and evolved
moral beliefs.
Throughout the long and active history of thought surrounding spontaneous order
theory, a variety of key contextual factors were critical in shaping its substantive content
and applications. First, the historical conditions and knowledge of comparative social
environments provided thinkers in the tradition with the common vantage to recognize
the complex nature of material prosperity and social progress. All began from the
basic premise that advanced material production and social harmony conformed to a
sufficient degree of patterned operation so as to be investigated and understood scientifically.
In turn, these contributors shared a deep appreciation for gauging scientific methodology
to suit the needs of human social science.
Conclusion
In a way, spontaneous order theory is both the alpha and omega of a shared research
project in positive social science. With its discovery and elucidation, thinkers could
utilize the spontaneous order framework as a baseline for comparative institutional
analysis. Given the incentive structures of interacting individuals, their diverse interests,
and the resource constraints of a particular social context, theorists were left to
ask what moral, legal, political, and economic institutions are likely to evolve. How do
they compare with those real institutional attempts to manage social welfare by design?
Spontaneous order provides the ability to identify and diagnose natural social problems
apart from those social problems stemming from unintended consequences of
failed plans.
Spontaneous order is the omega of social science insofar as it became for many
of its key theorists the critical subject matter to continuously identify and comprehend
its procedural operation in all walks of human association. To understand
human action and human association essentially requires a keen recognition of
spontaneous orders in society and a thorough comprehension of how they operate.
Hence, the intellectual tradition stemming from Smith to Hayek and beyond has
been keenly focused on both tracking the institutional histories and operations of
spontaneous orders throughout social contexts and methodologically reflecting on
how best to identify and comprehend social meaning in a complex world of human
individuals.
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Spontaneous Order 137
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How can International Tractor Motors use the Binomial Distribution to approximate tractor sales in similar countries?

/in /by

International Tractor Motors (ITM) had recently undertaken an ad campaign aimed at agricultural owners in a certain country in Asia. The ad campaign was devoted to promoting the new IT-8 large specialty tractor. Four sales associates were assigned to sell in different medium to large farms throughout the country for many days. One associate was assigned to the northern part of the country. Another was assigned to the southern part. The other two were assigned to the west and east, respectively. Because of regulations, a sales associate can sell at most one IT-8 tractor per day and only one such tractor per farm, too. A sales associate was successful if he/she sold a tractor during the day. Thus, ITM can sell at most 4 tractors (4 total sales) per day in this country.

Download the file titled Tractor Successes. It contains a scatter plot of the number of successes versus frequency. To compare the results to the Binomial Distribution, complete the following:
Explain why this tractor sales scenario can be a binomial experiment.
Using the Tractor Successes scatter plot, construct a frequency distribution for the number of successes.
Compute the mean number of successes. The formula for the mean is as follows: LaTeX: \frac{\sum{(x⋅f)}}{\sum f}∑ ( x ⋅ f ) ∑ f
The terms x represent the total number of successes (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) and f is the corresponding frequency (number of days where x successes occurred).

Explain what the numerical result means.

From the frequency distribution, construct the corresponding relative frequency distribution.
Explain why the relative frequency distribution table is a probability distribution.

Then, use Excel to create a scatter plot of the probability distribution:

Select the two columns of the probability distribution. Click on INSERT, and then go to the Charts area and select Scatter. Then choose the first Scatter chart (the one without lines connecting).

Using the frequency distribution, what is the tractor sales success average? In part 3, note that the numerator in the formula for the mean is the total number of successes. The total number of trials is the denominator of the formula for the mean multiplied by 4. What does this average mean?
The Binomial Distribution is uniquely determined by n, the number of trials, and p, the probability of “success” on each trial. Using Excel, construct the Binomial Probability Distribution for four trials, n, and probability of success, p, as the tractor sales success average in part 5. Here is an explanation of the BINOM.DIST function in Excel: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/BINOM-DIST-function-c5ae37b6-f39c-4be2-94c2-509a1480770c?ui=en-US&rs=en-IE&ad=I (Links to an external site.)
For example, In Excel

=BINOM.DIST(7,15,0.7, FALSE)

represents the probability of 7 successes out of 15 (n) trials. The 0.7 is the probability of success, p.

Using the above value of n=4 with probability of success, p, as the tractor sales success average in part 5, what is the probability of at least two successes?

Using the formula for the mean of the Binomial Distribution, what is the mean number of successes in part 6 above?
In Excel, create a scatter plot for the Binomial Distribution. The instructions for creating a scatter plot are in part 4 above.
Use the results above to compare the probability distribution of tractor sales successes and the Binomial Distribution. Compare the means in parts 4 and 6, too.
If the probability distribution of tractor sales successes and the Binomial Distribution differ, explain why that is so.

Do you think the Binomial Distribution is a good model for the tractor sales success scenario? Why or why not?
How can International Tractor Motors use the Binomial Distribution to approximate tractor sales in similar countries?
In what other scenarios can International Tractor Motors use the Binomial Distribution? Explain.
21:07
Submit your Excel file in addition to your report.

Requirements:
The paper must be written in third person.
nclude a title page, introduction, body, conclusion, and a reference page.
The introduction should describe or summarize the topic or problem. It might discuss the importance of the topic or how it affects you or society, or it might discuss or describe the unique terminology associated with the topic.
The body of your paper should answer the questions posed in the problem. Explain how you approached and answered the question or solved the problem, and, for each question, show all steps involved. Be sure the Word document is in paragraph format, not numbered answers like a homework assignment.
The conclusion should summarize your thoughts about what you have determined from the data and your analysis, often with a broader personal or societal perspective in mind. Nothing new should be introduced in the conclusion that was not previously discussed in the body paragraphs. Your conclusion should emanate from (be aligned with) your findings.
Include any tables of data or calculations, calculated values, and/or graphs associated with this problem in the body of your assignment.

Did the researcher acknowledge their own role in the research i.e. did they address reflexivity?

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Critical Appraisal
This assessment for this part of the Qualitative and Blended stream of the Research Methods module is a 1,250-word critical appraisal (+/- 10%) of a research paper provided by the module leader reporting applied qualitative research in the context of public health and social care.
It counts for 50% of the RM module final grade. The purpose of this is to develop your skills of critical appraisal and specifically in relation to qualitative research. While you may not be interested in conducting qualitative research yourself, given its growing use in public health, social care services and research as well as the wider recognition of its value as part of the evidence base, it is important you are able to both understand and appraise its methodological quality.
To be critical does not mean to be negative. The intention within this coursework is to encourage you to question information and opinions presented in material which you use professionally, ultimately using this process to present your evaluation or judgement of the research area or series of texts.
Your critique should follow the framework provide (see Appendix A) which is a modified version of the well-known CASP criteria and include a commentary on all aspects of the chosen paper including overall design, sampling, data collection methods, reflexivity, ethics, analysis and interpretation, and the overall credibility and generalizability of the findings. There should also be a short commentary on the potential for application of the findings in a public health/social care context.
Tips
• Avoid binary answers (yes or no). You must expand on your answers.
• Avoid copying and pasting directly from the article. Use your own words
• Check for your similarity score prior to the submission
• Always prove read your work before submission As stated in the module handbook you need to submit an electronic copy of your assignment by 20th of December 2019 before 23:30pm
Marking Grid (Critical Appraisal)
Descriptor
Question one
Ambiguity and confusion present, vague/ largely irrelevant or inadequate answer, major omissions or factual errors.
Student defines qualitative research or give reasons why qualitative research is used without answering the question fully.
Student gives one reason why an author may choose to use qualitative research, but does not give adequate example from the paper.
[Subjective, window in time, it answers questions such as why, explores issues in depth, explores perceptions and individual’s socio-cultural contexts which affect decision making]
Student gives good reason for using qual research but gives an example from another source
Clearly answers both sections of the paper giving one example of why an author may choose to use qualitative research and gives a relevant example from the paper.
Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4marks 5 marks
Question two
Student states implied aims and RQ
Answer states students implied Aim and RQ and links them to the implied reasons why the researcher carried out research design through stated methods, but answer does not critique whether the research design and methods used were clear justified and/ or appropriate
Answer states whether Aim and objectives of research are stated, and answers if either the research design or methods used were justified or there was an implied link to aim of research.
Answer states whether Aim and objectives of research are stated, and answers clearly if the research design and methods used were appropriate.
Clear critique of Aims and objectives in relation to the methods used and research design stated. Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question three
Answer states perceived sampling approach used by the author without critique.
Answer critiques sampling approach or selection approach included in paper.
Answer critiques sampling and selection approach used and states if any justification is included.
Sampling and recruitment are partly analysed in regards to how they were described and the critique includes analysis of author’s justification.
All elements of sampling and recruitment are clearly analysed in regards to how they were described, carried out and justified.
Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question four
Student states which methods were used to collect data
Clear critique of data collection methods
Critique of data collection methods stating either strengths or weaknesses of these.
Clear explanation of the methods of data collection and analysis used by the researcher to collect information is given including some strengths and weaknesses.
Comprehensive explanation of the methods of data collection and analysis used by the researcher to collect information, including all strengths and weaknesses Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Descriptor
Question five
Student answers yes or no to this question only.
Is there any evidence of the author acknowledge their role in the research or the impact of the research on the researcher?
Answer critiques whether the researcher acknowledged their own role in the research giving at least one example.
Answer includes two or more examples of how the researcher could influence the research and findings.
Students states examples of how the reflexivity could have been strengthened? Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question six
Student answers the question with a yes or no answer only.
Answer states how ethics are addressed in the paper.
Answer includes some critique of how ethics were addressed in the paper.
Answer comprehensively critiques how effective the author addresses ethics in paper
Answer includes all of previous answers and includes ideas of how to improve how bias is addressed Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question seven
Student answers first part of question only with a yes or a no.
Answer includes partial analyses of how the findings are presented.
Answer states clearly if the findings are appropriately presented?
Answer critiques if findings presented answer the research questions or aim of the study.
Student explains how the research findings could be improved. Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question eight
Student answers question with a yes or a no.
Student gives one reason why research could be relevant in context of public health
Answer gives two reasons why the findings reported could have wider relevance
Answer gives two or three reasons why the findings reported could have wider relevance
Answer gives critique of how paper could have wider relevance including changes that could strengthen its relevance and impact Tick 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
Question nine
Answer discusses paper changes without answering question clearly
Answer correctly Identifies one aspect of the paper that could be improved without linking it to criteria (framework)
Answer correctly Identifies one aspect of the paper that could be improved in relation to the criteria (framework)
Answer correctly Identifies one aspect of the paper that could be improved in relation to the criteria (framework), describing how this change could improve paper
Answer correctly Identifies one aspect of the paper that could be improved in relation to the criteria (framework), describing how and why this change could have such impact Tick 2 marks 4 marks 6 marks 8 marks 10 marks Mark (For 100% multiply mark by 2)
Overall Assessment Criteria
Mark
Fluent academic writing, good structure, correct use of Harvard referencing.
Questions 1 – 5 are addressed
i.e. overall design, sampling, data collection methods
Questions 6 – 9 addressed
i.e. reflexivity, ethics, analysis and interpretation
Question 10 is addressed
i.e. commentary on the potential for application
Distinction
70+
Excellent presentation with a high level of professionalism and accuracy.
Correct Harvard referencing used.
The five questions
are answered correctly, demonstrating effective use of the sub-questions and their application to the article.
The four questions
are answered correctly, demonstrating effective use of the sub-questions and their application to the article.
The question is answered in full addressing all three sub-questions (as relevant) and coming to a conclusion about the value of this research paper, in relation to public health. Excellent links made to the students own field of expertise.
High Merit
65% – 69%
The paper is very well presented in an engaging style and complies with all the conventions of academic writing. Correct Harvard referencing used.
The five questions
are answered correctly, demonstrating effective use of some of the sub-questions and their application to the article.
The four questions
are answered correctly, demonstrating effective use of some of the sub-questions and their application to the article.
The question is answered in full addressing all three sub-questions and coming to a conclusion about the value of this research paper. Some links are made to the wider topic area of students work.
Low Merit
60% – 64%
The paper is written clearly, has a clear structure, and is grammatically correct. Correct Harvard referencing used.
The five questions
are answered with some of the sub-questions as a guide
All four questions
are answered correctly with some of the sub-questions used as a guide
The question is answered addressing some of the three sub-questions and coming to a conclusion about the value of this research paper. No wider references are made.
High Pass
55% -59%
The paper is written with clarity in parts and it has a structure, with English mostly grammatically correct.
All five questions answered, but not correctly with sub-questions not addressed.
All of four questions are answered but not correctly and sub-questions not addressed effectively.
The question is answered coming to a conclusion about the value of this research paper but not addressing some of the three sub-questions.
Pass
54%-40%
Paper has a structure but weak grammar or clarity.
Most of the five questions answered, but not correctly with sub-questions not addressed.
Most of the four questions are answered but not correctly, sub-questions are not addressed.
The question is answered but not correctly and only addressing some of the three sub-questions. Student comes to an incorrect conclusion re: value of this research paper.
0 – 39%
Below standard sentence construction, grammar and expression fail to give a clear picture. Correct Harvard referencing not used.
Poor attempt to address all five questions or the sub-questions.
Poor attempt to address all four questions or the sub-questions.
The question is not addressed in full with little to no evidence of drawing a conclusion regarding the value of the paper.
Appendix A. Framework for the Critical Appraisal
Question
Topic
Your own Answers
Question 1
(5 marks)
Give one reason why a researcher may choose qualitative methods for their research and illustrate your answer with one example
Consider:
• Is a qualitative methodology appropriate?
• Does the research seek to interpret or illuminate the actions and/or subjective experiences of research participants?
• Have the researchers justified the research design? (e.g. have they discussed how they decided which methods to use?)
Question 2
(5 marks)
In the chosen paper, was there a clear statement of the research question and/ or aims of the study? Do these match with the overall design and methods chosen?
Consider:
• what the goal of the research was
• why it is important
• its relevance
Question 3
(5 marks)
Were all elements of sampling and recruitment clearly described and justified?
Consider:
• if the researcher has explained how the participants were selected
• if they explained why the participants they selected were the most appropriate to provide access to the type of knowledge sought by the study
• if there are any discussions around recruitment (e.g. why some people chose not to take part)
• Was the recruitment strategy appropriate to the aims of the research?
Question 4
(5 marks)
Is there a clear explanation of the methods of data collection and analysis used by the researcher to collect information? Identify any strengths or weaknesses in these
Consider:
• if the setting for data collection was justified
• if it is clear how data were collected (e.g. focus group, semi-structured interview etc)
• if the researcher has justified the methods chosen
• if the researcher has made the methods explicit (e.g. for interview method, is there an indication of how interviews were conducted, did they used a topic guide?)
• if methods were modified during the study. If so, has the researcher explained how and why?
• if the form of data is clear (e.g. tape recordings, video material, notes etc)
• if the researcher has discussed saturation of data
• Were the data collected in a way that addressed the research issue?
Question 5
(5 marks)
Did the researcher acknowledge their own role in the research i.e. did they address reflexivity? If yes, how? If not, how do you think this might have influenced the findings?
Consider whether it is clear:
• if the researcher critically examined their own role, potential bias and influence during:
• formulation of research questions
• data collection, including sample recruitment and choice of location
• how the researcher responded to events during the study and whether they considered the implications of any changes in the research design
• Is there any conflict of interest?
• Has the relationship between researcher and participants been adequately considered?
Question 6
(5 marks)
Has the researcher addressed ethical issues? Were these comprehensively addressed?
Consider:
• if there are sufficient details of how the research was explained to participants for the reader to assess whether ethical standards were maintained
• if the researcher has discussed issues raised by the study (e. g. issues around informed consent or confidentiality or how they have handled the effects of the study on the participants during and after the study)
• if approval has been sought from the ethics committee
Question 7
(5 marks)
Are the findings appropriately presented? Do you consider that the findings presented answer the research questions or aim of the study?
Consider:
• if the findings are explicit
• if there is adequate discussion of the evidence
• both for and against the researcher’s arguments
• if the researcher has discussed the credibility of their findings (e.g. triangulation, respondent validation, more than one analyst.)
• if the findings are discussed in relation to the original research questions
Question 8
(5 marks)
After reading this paper, do you consider the findings reported to have any a wider relevance in the context of health or social care?
Consider:
• if the researcher discusses the contribution the study makes to existing knowledge or understanding (e.g. do they consider the findings in relation to current practice or policy, or relevant research-based literature?)
• if they identify new areas where research is necessary
• if the researchers have discussed whether or how the findings can be transferred to other populations or considered other ways the research may be used
Question 9
(10 marks)
Identify one aspect of the paper that you would improve in relation to the criteria specified above, describe how and why in your answer

Are online consumers protected from geo-blocking practices within the European Union?

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Article Navigation
Are online consumers protected from geo-blocking
practices within the European Union?
Maria Lorena Flórez Rojas 􀀴 􀀴
International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Volume 26, Issue 2, Summer 2018, Pages
119–141, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eay004
Published: 28 March 2018
Abstract
Cite Permissions Share 􀀭
Geo-blocking as a technological protection measure directly affects e-commerce in the
European Union, reinforcing discriminatory practices in the online world. The first
attempt to fight discrimination in cross-border trade was Article 20 of the Services
Directive, which describes the non-discrimination principle. However, this provision has
failed in practice due to its large interpretative uncertainties and lack of enforcement. In
this view, discriminatory practices have been a constant in the online market and they
have intensified due to the use of new geolocation technologies. This article presents the
possibility to use provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
(TFEU) to tackle geo-blocking practices. The article also considers the new proposal on
addressing geo-blocking and it gives some insights regarding the problems of
applicability and scope that can open the possibility for consumers to use Article 18 TFEU
as legal bases for cases related to geo-blocking practices.
􀀼 􀀵 􀀹
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     What facts or information I need to gather?  How will I access these?

/in /by

DEGREE       MBA

SUPERVISOR         Dr xx

Leadership models in management consulting companies in Europe & Middle Est – success or failure

Project submitted in partial fulfilment

of the requirements of the

Master of Business Administration

of the

University of Cumbria

 

Key words: leadership, management, KPI

           

Business School

BUSINESS MASTERS DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
Leadership models in management consulting companies in Europe & Middle Est -success or failure

 

Leadership is seen as determining factor in success or failure of an organization, however, its practices vary among different types of industry.

Various leadership styles are used in the same company, depending on geographical areas, depending the market influencers, local culture, final customers and the employees. Leadership and strategic management have been under study  in the last century, therefore this dissertation will  aim to  focus on identification of leadership styles applied in a specific industry sector, management consulting & project management services and the direct effect on growth or downsize of the business, success or failure and aim to find recommendation of the management style mix that would potentially lead to success instead of failure.

This thesis analyses the extent to which the managers are applying a clear management methodology, identify the best practices or lack of them and aim to identify the differences in management style used in the same company but different geographical areas. As a direct result of investigation, thesis aims to analyses the business results (customers satisfaction resulting in positive reputation for company, expansion in new geographical areas, growth in turnover or loss of business, reliability and customers).

Accordingly, the study examines the similarities and differences, add the economic context (which will be different depending on the geographical area) and as final step aim to explain why the leadership style can be successful in Middle East (UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and a failure in other regions as Europe or Asia.

AIM – to identify in a specific industry service area (management consulting & project management) the current leadership methods used by managers to grow and the lead the businesses

This project will investigate the awareness of managers in applying effective leadership models in running strategically the business

It will analyses the extent to which theoretical practices are followed and attempt to explain any differences found

If similarities are found, the study aim to identify the influence of regional/ cultural factors that can lead to different results

Study aim to recommend a better leadership mix for the chosen

Dissertation to be mainly concerned with management consultancy and project management sector. If insufficient data will be obtained, study will expand to fields where statistical data are currently published.

 

The project will use the various teams’ managers performance and leadership style, alignment in the company and to which extent the leadership methods are used, will identify the applied KPI for various departments in the company and compare the results. Study will identify potential applicability of new mix and investigate the different benefits.

 

                 What facts or information I need to gather?  How will I access these?

A thorough examination of literature pertaining to leadership styles will be carried out and identify the limited number of models applied to the selected industry sector.

Literature review:

There were many attempts to define leadership in last centuries and decades. As per Stogdill (1974), “there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept”. It is interesting to note that the definitions given to leadership increased from 650 definitions at the end of last century to almost 1400 definitions in 2014.( statement issued by Kelerman into an interview to Volkmann, 2012).
In his article “What is Leadership”, published by Albert  Silva in  Journal of Business Studies Quarterly; Antioch Vol. 8, Is. 1,  (Sep 2016) an effort is made to develop a definition that may satisfy different viewpoints and provide a better base for the study of leadership.
The first attempt to define  leadership is dated 2500 years back and was formulated by Confucius, Plato  add that a ” leader would be wise”( Takala, 1998) and Machiavelli complete with ” leader  should have good virtues and should be intelligent to have the support of the people  (Machiavelli, 1513/1992).
Stogdill (1957) defined leadership as ” the individual behavior to guide a group to achieve the common target”. He also extended the definition to “goal setting and goal achievement”.
Another definition given by Lee and Chuang (2009) is “the excellent leader not only inspires subordinate`s potential to enhance efficiency but also meets their requirements in the process of achieving organizational goals”.

In his book ” What managers do”, John Kotter has an interesting view on different attributes of leaders that are often confused with managers. ” People say ‘leadership” but describe “management”, talk only about commanding style.” He is observing that ” leadership is different from management, and the primary force behind successful change…is the former not the later”. Without enough leadership, the probability of mistakes increases greatly, and probability of success decreases accordingly. “In ‘Cases of leadership” Laura Guerro and W. Glenn Rowe identify  many components of leadership, as  “leadership is a process, involve influencing others, happens in a context of a group, involves good attainment and goals are shared by leaders with their followers” which gives us a better picture of the differences between leadership and management.

Three are identified 3 types of leadership: situational, transactional and transformational leadership.

Situational leadership– as defined by Graeff,1997; Grint,2011) requires a rational understanding of the situation and an appropriate response, rather than a charismatic leader. Task-oriented leaders define the roles for followers, give definite instructions, create organizational patterns, and establish formal communication channels (Bass, 2008; Hersey & Blanchard, 1969; 1979; 1996; 1980; 1981). Instead, relation-oriented leaders practice concern for others, attempt to reduce emotional conflicts, seek harmonious relations, and regulate equal participation (Bass, 2008; Hersey & Blanchard, 1969;1979; 1996; 1980; 1981; Shin, Heath, & Lee, 2011).Therefore SLT define a manager as task or people oriented.

Criticism of situational leadership-Nicholls (1985) identify 3 weak points referring to consistency, continuity and conformity. Bass (2008), Glyn & DeJordy (2010)- states that no particular leadership style was universally effective.

Transactional leadership focuses on changes that occur between leaders and followers (Bass 1985,1990, 2000, 2008, Burns 1978). Transactional leadership allows leaders to accomplish their performance objectives, motivate followers to achieve goals, avoid risks, and improve organizations efficiency (Sadeghi& Pihie,2012) and allows followers to fulfill their performance objectives on clear organizational objectives.

Criticism of Transactional leadership- Burns (1978), conclude that these kinds of relationship are temporary and lead to resentments between participants. Also, other scholars consider that it doesn`t take into consideration situational and contextual factors related to challenges into an organization. (Beyes,199; Yukl,1999; Yukl &Mahsud,2010).

Transformational leadership is defined by Burns (1978) as “one who raises the follower’s level of consciousness about the importance and value of desired outcomes. The transformational leader convinces the followers to put the organizational interests first while moving the follower need from level of safety and security to level needs for achievement and self-actualization (Bass, 2008, p 619). A Transformational leader inspire the followers and impress through their behavior.

The criticism of Transformational Leadership was done by (Beyes, 1999; Hunt 1999; Yukl 1999,2011).

The criticism of Transformational leadership brought by Burns (1978) argued that Transformational Leadership practices lead followers to short term relationship of exchange with their leader and have a little evidence on influence on groups, teams or organizations.

These are not the only classifications of leadership. Leadership can be divided in 2 categories- directive and participative.

Directive leadership is defined as” leader behaviors that seek team members’ compliance with directions about how to accomplish a problem-solving task (Bass, 1990; Bass, Valenzi, Farrow, & Solomon, 1975).Characteristics of a directive style are: setting clear directions (Somech, 2006), managing interactions of team members (e.g., Korsgaard, Schweiger, & Sapienza, 1995; Sagie, 1996),and planning the team activity.(Griffin, 1980; Keller, 2006).

Participative leadership is defined as “sharing of problem solving by consulting with team members before making a decision (Bass, 1990; Bass et al., 1975). The main characteristics of the leader using this style are: he lets the team member to decide how they want to work. The leaders reserve the role of providing guidance or consultation on working style and is less controlling. (Wageman, 2001, Amabile, Schatzel, Moneta, & Kramer, 2004).

All those definitions are not telling us if the leadership style is good or bad. In their book “The 5 practices of exemplary leadership”, James M. OKuzes & Barry z. Posner try to define the best practices:

“Model the way-High performance leadership starts with aligning values with actions-that builds credibility. “Inspire a shared vision. Only then can we become the inclusive leaders our organizations need to respond to the challenges of our fast-changing world (Hanif Qadir-CEO, Active Change Foundation).” Challenge the process-exemplary leaders are pioneers at taking the initiative in searching the innovative ways to improve their own work, that their teams and their organizations” (…)” Enable others to act-empowering leaders make sure when they win everybody win. They share power and information the spotlight for the job well done (….).” Encourage the heart- exemplary leaders know that getting extraordinary things done in organizations is hard work, and yet they rise to the call to inspire others with courage and hope”.

Leadership can have good or bad results and there is a high connection between the leadership style and organizational performance. As per Avolio (1999) Lado, Boyd and Wright (1992), Rowe, (2001)” Understanding the effects of leadership on performance is important because leadership is viewed by some researchers as one of the key driving forces for improving a firm’s performance. Effective leadership is seen as a potent source of management development and sustained competitive advantage for organizational performance improvement. Mehra, Smith, Dixon and Robertson (2006) states that “organizations are looking to efficient ways to enable them outperform others and a longstanding approach is to focus on the effects of leadership. Team leaders are believed to play a pivotal role in shaping collective norms, helping teams cope with their environments, and coordinating collective action”. There are scholars that were focusing to identify the missing links between leadership and organizations performance that concluded “That despite a hypothesized leadership-performance relationship suggested by some researchers, current findings are inconclusive and difficult to interpret” (Fenwick and Gayle 2008).

To what refers the organizational performance? “Organizational performance refers to ability of an enterprise to achieve such objectives as high profit, quality product, large market share, good financial results, and survival at pre-determined time using relevant strategy for action” (Koontz and Donnell, 1999). Organizational performance can also be used to analyze the profitability, market share and product quality compared with other companies in the same field. Organization performance is a measure of team members efficiency using as reference realized revenue, profit, growth and development of the enterprise.

How all those concepts about leadership are applied in Europe and Middle East? Which are the differences, and which are the factors that will influence the organizational performance based on different leadership styles and cultural differences?

In European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology in article “National Culture and Leadership Profiles in Europe: Some Results from the GLOBE Study” there is a discussion about clusters identified in Europe based on culture. (Hofstede, 1991; Ronen & Shenkar, 1985)-states that different culture groups may understand differently what leadership means. Globe project had selected 21 European countries to discuss about the leadership prototypes and it was identified that there are 2 main clusters North- Western European and South Eastern – European cluster. It is concluded /discussed that the leadership prototypes in these clusters mirror to a certain extent the differences in culture. Based on researches it was impossible to identify a single European management style or culture and Europe is different from other parts of the world.

In “An introduction to the special issue on leadership and culture in the Middle East, Ali Kabasakal, H., & Dastmalchian, A. (2001, Applied Psychology: An International Review, 50(4), 479-488) the authors use the data part of GLOBE project- scale study of leadership in 61 countries( Robert House, Mansour Javidan, Peter Dorfman).Ikhlas A. Abdalla and Moudi A. to extract information about Kuwait, Iran, Qatar& Turkey to analyses leadership in Arab countries.

Al-Hamoud wrote the second paper entitled “Exploring the Implicit Leadership Theory in the Arabian Gulf States”-where he discuss similarities and differences between Kuwait and Qatar in terms of desirable leader attributes.

The third article written by Ali Dastmalchian, Mansour Javidan, and Kamran Alam is entitled “Effective Leadership and Culture in Iran: An Empirical Study ‘‘. The study reports a comprehensive account of Iranian societal culture and compare Iranian findings with other nations. Using the GLOBE leadership instrument, Dastmalchian, Javidan, and Alam develop seven dimensions of effective leadership that reflect the cultural values of Iranian society.

The fourth manuscript ”Society, Organizations and Leadership in Turkey’‘,focuses on societal and organizational culture and effective leadership characteristics in Turkey(Selda Fikret PasÎa, Hayat Kabasakal, and Muzaffer Bodur ).They have used qualitative data collected in Turkey for the GLOBE project and quantitative data obtained in an independent research project. The authors link the relationship between observed leadership behaviors and organizational culture in Turkish organizations. Beside this they discuss the perceptions of Turkish managers regarding outstanding leader attributes.

Ronen & Shenkar, 1985)- concludes that out of the Globe study nine geographic clusters have been segregated: Anglo, Germanic, Nordic, Latin European, Latin American, Near East, Far East, Arabic, and Independents. Based on Hofstede’s (1980).

Near East category- Iran and Turkey, Greece and the former Yugoslavia

Arab countries-Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.

All four societies that are analyzed in this Special Issue are predominantly Muslim. Thus, it would be expected that Islam would have an impact on at least some cultural dimensions as well as implicit leadership characteristics that are perceived to be effective.

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An analysis of the results of current applied leadership management models for selected sector will be performed, positive results and negative results will be segregated and identify the gaps as well as improvement opportunities. It is in the scope of dissertation to identify the results of the same leadership model applied in different divisions (regions) and determine the external/internal factors that influence the dynamic outcomes.

To reach the objective of the study the following information will be gathered:

Current thinking on leadership methods utility – current textbooks and recent journal articles

Information on actual practices in the industry (limited to KSA, UAE, Balkan Region)

Methodology to be developed, but likely to include questionnaire or interviews with both Management team and Departmental Managers.

In case the responses will be limited and insufficient for an analysis, data will be gathered from published researches that relates to chosen sector and public statistics.

Determination of a limited number of KPIs that will be representative & commonly used in the sector, that will sustain the performance analysis, the rationality of choices

Opinions on other available strategies and not used (limitations, lack of knowledge)

Identify potential benefits determined by implementation of other metrics.

 

The research will be carried out in two stages: first the managers will be sent a questionnaire via email or Linked-in (as a resource for questionnaires will be used Survey monkey and questionnaire model will be adjusted to the purpose of research) and second, where possible, a limited number of interviews will be done via phone with managers having an experience of 20-30 years in the field. The research will be rather qualitative than quantitative.

Methodology will be determined at a later stage for qualitative research. Data validity will be discussed and limitations of the process of obtaining data.

Collected data will be then structured and analyzed in comparative tables per geographical areas. The results will be analyzed with the aim to identify the essential factors that lead to success or failure of the company in the past 5 years.

Possible opportunities to conduct interviews with selected managers in selected countries

Analysis likely to be limited to several interviews and will be based more on qualitative research than large statistical research.

In case insufficient responses, analysis will be performed based on published statistical data.

 

Contribution of the research will be a critical analysis of the gaps / or lack of real leadership methods in place in the chosen industry area with the aim to recommend the mix of leadership style and adjustment to regional context that would lead to business growth, expansion to new regions and retain valuable employees.

 

 

 

This proposal is strongly related to:

 

Leadership, Management, effects, performance.

 

Name any tutor(s) you think might be appropriate to supervise your dissertation.

 

 

 

 

 

How, if at all, would your answers to (1)(a), (b) and (c) differ if the relevant principles were those applicable to unregistered land?

/in /by

Ariel and Bianca operate a business designing and manufacturing beauty pageant gowns. In 2016 they wish to purchase the Workroom, a two storey building, title to which is registered. The first storey is suitable for the installation of manufacturing equipment and the second storey consists of three apartments. The purchase price of the Workroom is £500,000. Ariel and Bianca can only afford to contribute £150,000 each to the purchase price. Ariel approaches her grandmother, Courtney, who suffers from arthritis, and Courtney offers to contribute £200,000 to the purchase of the Workroom. Ariel, Bianca and Courtney agree that Courtney will move into one of the apartments so that Ariel and Bianca, who will share a second apartment, can help to look after her. The Workroom is conveyed into Ariel’s sole name. The manufacturing equipment is installed in the first storey and Ariel, Bianca and Courtney move into the agreed apartments.

In 2017 Ariel’s friend Darienne moves into the Workroom’s third apartment and pays a monthly rent. In 2018 Darienne is offered a lucrative job, on a two-year fixed-term contract, in Las Vegas. She tells Ariel that the job will allow her to save money to buy her own property. Ariel asks Darienne whether she would be interested in purchasing the rented apartment on her return from Las Vegas at the end of the contract and Darienne agrees that she would. Ariel grants Darienne an option to purchase the apartment. Darienne immediately clears all her property out of the apartment and flies to Las Vegas. In early 2019 Ariel and Bianca agree that Bianca should embark on a comprehensive marketing trip to America. They plan an itinerary which will take six months to complete, and Bianca leaves in March 2019. Ariel becomes increasingly dissatisfied at having to run the business and take care of Courtney on her own.

In July 2019 Eureka expresses an interest in purchasing the Workroom and Ariel immediately removes all Bianca’s belongings from the apartment they share. Ariel arranges to show Eureka around the property at a time when Courtney is attending a hospital appointment. Eureka inspects the second storey and Ariel explains that her grandmother occasionally stays in one of the apartments. As Eureka is inspecting the first storey, Courtney returns early from her appointment. Puzzled by her presence, Eureka asks Courtney, “Have you any interest in any of this?” Believing that Eureka is referring to the business, Courtney responds “With my arthritis? Of course I don’t have any interest.”

Eureka offers Ariel £900,000 for the Workroom. Ariel is about to accept the offer, but she experiences an attack of conscience and informs Eureka of Darienne’s option to purchase one of the apartments. Eureka replies, “Well, that’s a shame, I was planning to rent all three apartments out. That changes things, I shall have to reconsider.” Anxious to complete the sale of the Workroom, Ariel informs Eureka that she will accept £750,000 for the property, and Eureka agrees to this. The Workroom is conveyed to Eureka in August 2019. Ariel tells Courtney that she has booked a month-long retreat for her at a health farm, and once Courtney has left for the retreat Ariel leaves for Puerto Rica. She sends letters to Bianca, Courtney and Darienne, explaining that she needed to make a completely fresh start.

(1)          Advise –

(a)  Bianca, whether she has any interest in the Workroom enforceable against Eureka;

(b)  Courtney, whether she has any interest in the Workroom enforceable against Eureka;

(c)  Darienne, whether she has any interest in the Workroom enforceable against Eureka.

(2)   How, if at all, would your answers to (1)(a), (b) and (c) differ if the relevant principles were those applicable to unregistered land?

(3)          Comment critically on the specific principles of law that you have applied in answering (1) and (2).

 

 

Impact of Self Efficacy on Motivation and Performance of Employees.

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 Week 3 Assignment

Topic Selection

The topic that I would enjoy studying in more detail is actually one that I have wanted to do lots of research on before this class. I have always wanted to study the impact of human behavior in a work environment. This has always been an area of interest for me since I started to run my first recruiting station and learning how each one of my soldiers reacts to certain rewards and punishments, as well as how little changes in operations brings the best in us or makes us crumble under the pressure. I am very excited to learn more and develop my skills and understanding of this topic and also apply the knowledge in my day to day working environment as I grow through the ranks in the military.

The Company’s President Brief

            If I were to be asked to brief the company’s president on the impact of human behavior in the work place, it would be a task that I would take very seriously. I would explain to him/her that every single employee reacts differently to different leadership styles. Employees experience different levels of motivation and work differently under various leadership styles. I came across a quote on this topic that I found interesting, the quote stated “Starting at infancy, we all try to get others to do what we want. We learn early what works in getting us to our goals. Instead of crying and throwing a tantrum, we may figure out that smiling and using language causes everyone less stress and brings us the rewards we seek.” (Bauer and Erdogan, 2017). This is exactly how we as managers need to think within an organization. Every single person within the organization reacts differently to getting yelled at: namely, one may learn and never have the same issue again and yet another one may shut down and quit. This is why it is important to understand the employees and the managers under you, everyone is different and reacts differently. In the Army, we have a saying that states, “know your soldiers.” This saying is not only key in the military, it also relevant to civilian organizations. That is why it is important for every organization to study this topic, so as managers and the top leadership in any particular organization can understand how changes, structure and leadership can affect performance, motivation and the will to work hard.

5 resources on this topic

ALEXANDRU, P. C. (2019). Motivation And Performance In Organization. Global Economic

Observer, 7(1), 93. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=137409278&site=eds-live&scope=site

Cherian, J., & Jacob, J. (2013, June 18). Impact of Self Efficacy on Motivation and Performance

of Employees. Retrieved November 9, 2019, from https://dspace.adu.ac.ae/handle/1/781.

DRAGOMIR, M. C., BÎNĂ, C. M.-. V., & MITITELU, L. (2018). Motivation of Personnel –

Essential Part of Leadership in the Military Organization. Scientific Research & Education in the Air Force – AFASES, 463–468. https://doi.org/10.19062/2247-3173.2018.20.63

House, R. J., & Mitchell, T. R. (1975, April). Path Goal Theory of Leadership. Retrieved

November 9, 2019, from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a009513.pdf.

Madrid, H. P., Totterdell, P., & Niven, K. (2016). Does leader-affective presence influence

communication of creative ideas within work teams? Emotion, 16(6), 798–802. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000183

 

 

 

 

Reference

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2017). Organizational behavior (2nd ed.). Asheville, NC:

Soomo Learning. Available from http://www.webtexts.com

 

 

What is behind these high rates of truancy and chronic absenteeism among school students?

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Bullying, Peer Social Support, and Absenteeism Relationship: A Correlational Study

Concordia University-Portland

2019

Abstract

 Previous studies into the field of truancy and absenteeism in secondary schools have categorized significant truancy causes and absenteeism into four groups. Also, most of the previous studies have a longstanding view that the problematic issue of truancy exists only in one single domain which is the schools.  Scholars who have studied the effect of absenteeism and truancy in secondary school have not taken into account the existing assertions that have become a topic of discussion in various forums. These forums suggest the ways through which the simplistic thinking can be used to place severe constraints that can be used to understand the various complex ways through which a child can develop the truant behaviors that they may exhibit later in life. According to Ingul and Nordahl (2013), the simplistic thinking through which students develop the missing behaviors are always vital to understanding the primary cause of truant behaviors and solutions. Viewing the problem of school truancy must be completed as a multi-dimensional issue with a multitude of factors coming into play. The various factors that correlate to truancy as per the existing literature are known to be numerous and diverse, making truancy to be a broad topic with various causes and effects. Truancy is also believed to exist in the context of interaction which includes the interaction between the various students through which they acquire some of these characteristics. Some of the interaction effects also include the support accorded to the students from the peers, the experience the students acquire from the school environment and the settings of the community in general. The purpose of this correlational study is to determine whether a relationship exists between bullying and absenteeism in school students of age 18 and above within rural settings. Also, the study attempts to establish the relationship between peer social support and absenteeism among students of age 18 and above within rural settings.

Table of Contents

Abstract                                                                                                                                   2

Chapter One:                                                                                                                           5

Introduction                                                                                                                5

Background, Context, History, and Conceptual Framework of the Problem                        9

Problem Statement                                                                                                      12

Purpose of Proposed Study                                                                                        12

Research Questions                                                                                                     13

Hypothesis                                                                                                                  13

Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Proposed Study                                13

Definition of Terms                                                                                                    15

Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations                                                             15

Summary                                                                                                                     17

Chapter Two:  Literature Review                                                                                           17

Introduction                                                                                                                17

Conceptual Framework                                                                                               19

Behaviorism Theory                                                                                                    25

Cognitive Information Processing                                                                              26

Review of Research Literature and Methodological Literature                                 29

Review of the Methodological Findings                                                                    37

Synthesis of the Research Findings                                                                            40

Critique of the Previous Research                                                                              42

Summary                                                                                                                     46

Chapter Three:  Methodology                                                                                                 47

Introduction                                                                                                                47

Purpose of the Proposed Study                                                                                  49

Research Questions                                                                                                     50

Research Design                                                                                                         50

Target Population, Sampling Method and Related Procedures                                  52

Instrumentation                                                                                                           53

Data Collection                                                                                                           56

Operationalization of Variables                                                                                  57

Data Analysis Procedures                                                                                           59

Limitations and Delimitations of the Research Design                                              60

Limitations                                                                                                                  60

Delimitations                                                                                                               61

Validity                                                                                                                       61

Expected Findings                                                                                                      62

Ethical Issues in the Proposed Study                                                                         63

Summary                                                                                                                     63

References                                                                                                                              65                                                                                                                           Chapter One: IntroductionIntroduction

Each day, hundreds of thousands of American learners are out of school without permissible excuses, and this habit has risen to among the top ten major problems experienced by schools across the nation (DeSocio, VanCura, & Nelson, 2007). Absenteeism has been increasing. Demir and Karabeyogular (2016) in their study noted that administrative records from secondary education indicate that there is a rapid increase compared to other levels of education. For instance, in 2008-2009, the Department of Education noticed that the ratio of students who were absent for more than 20 days to all registered secondary school students was 1.1 percent. However, in 2009-2010, that ratio had risen to 4 percent (Demir & Karabeyoglu, 2016). On the contrary, the vocational and technical secondary education attendance rate rose from 1.45 percent to 4.1percent between 2008 and 2010, clearly indicating that absenteeism is a problem that is notorious to the secondary education but not to higher institutions of education (Demir & Karabeyoglu, 2016). Truancy is not only an American educational problem, but it is also a global menace. One and a half percent, 1.8 percent, 2.0 percent and 2.4 percent of the overall student population of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ulster respectively are out of class without permission, and in Scotland, five students miss school every day (Rivers, 2010).

Ironically, student attendance is one of the significant variables contributing to higher student achievement. Studies into the relationship between school attendance and academic achievement point out a strong relationship between course attendance and standardized test scores or graduate grades (Gottrified, 2009; Nichols, 2003; Roby, 2004; Sheldon, 2007). Some researchers have suggested that the levels of attendance are direct indicator as well as determinants of academic success (Sheldon, 2007). Also, research has discovered that besides low attendance being a predictor of academic success, it also predicts high-risk factors for future education (Nichols, 2003). Fundamentally, truancy and absenteeism interrupt the learning process because the educational system is established from the assumption that students will attend school, and that success solely depends on full participation in entire classes (Rivers, 2010).

Furthermore, truancy and absenteeism carry direct and indirect costs to the individuals, families, communities, and schools. Truancy or absenteeism in school, as identified above, negatively affect student learning experience whose result is a mediocre academic achievement. The adverse effect on learning is then passed on to other learners since the teachers are sometimes forced to use the additional time to compensate for those who missed the classes. Eventually, other students lose learning time, this is a major problem in interconnected courses such as mathematics (Rivers, 2010). When learners fall behind in their learning, they are likely to lose interest which increases their chances of failing (Rivers, 2010).

Additionally, absent students set a terrible example to the rest and encourage the habit of truancy and absenteeism (Rivers, 2010). Absenteeism doubles as an indicator of low academic performance as well as diminished social and life success. Absenteeism acts as a barrier to the establishment of a solid foundation concerning a sense of responsibility and discipline. The result will show-up in discipline habits and work problems in future which may ultimately translate into an inability to work, low income or total unemployment due to failure to secure a job (Rivers, 2010). Such individuals will not raise income to sustain their families and make no positive impact on the communities.

Moreover, students who experience increased truancy and absenteeism are inclined to face psychological problems such as behavioral disorders and depression (Reid, 2003). They may also get involved in criminal violence in and out of school. Absenteeism also encourages teenage pregnancy as well as drug and substance abuse (Gottfried, 2009). In a nutshell, truancy and absenteeism are considered reliable predictors of academic failure and further consequences which include risk behaviors that will eventually impact on not only the individual but also schools, families and entire communities.

What is behind these high rates of truancy and chronic absenteeism among school students? According to Zhang, Katsiyannis, Barrett, and Wilson (2007), causes of truancy fall under four categories; family factors, school, economic influences, and student variables. This research will focus on student variables and determine relationships between student bullying, peer support, and missed school days. Student variables that potentially play a role in truancy include mental and physical health problems, self-perception, substance abuse, and detachment from school. Bullying and a lack of peer support can lead to many different student issues in school. Victims of bullying tend to be insecure which provides an excuse to miss school (Reid, 1999). According to DeSocio et al. (2007), mental and physical health issues such as depression, stress disorder and anxiety among the learners contribute to absenteeism. Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston (2012) suggested that students who are victims are relieved when the school day ends, so they have absolution from the bully. Students that held low self-perceptions were most likely to be absent from school than their counterparts who held high-self-esteem. For instance, students that felt they would not graduate from high school concluded that they would not join college and hence needed not to attend school all the time (Henry, 2007). DeSocio et al. (2007) established that 30% of truants attributed their absences to detachment or disengagement from school. Learners exhibiting school disengagement are not committed to the school, hold low aspirations for their future and are overall poor achievers (Henry, 2007).

In large schools, students may feel alienated and isolated in the school setting and choose to escape such feelings by opting to stay out of such environment (Wilkins, 2008). Such students are uncomfortable with the school environment and feel devalued, unaccepted or unwanted as a result of a lack of connection to trustworthy persons within the school. In large classrooms, teachers easily fail to meet students’ diverse needs, leading to a poor student-teacher relationship. Cumulatively, these factors lead to a school climate and attitude whereby each fends for himself or herself. Henry (2007) attributed 23% of truants as a result of learners feeling unsafe in their school environment. Logically, if a student feels unsafe, uncomfortable, and insecure in a school environment, he or she will choose not to attend.

Truancy and absenteeism among secondary school students may be as a result of the four categories; family factors, school factors, economic factors, and student variables (Zhang et al. 2007) that causes truancy identified in their research. However, since the simplistic approach places severe constraints that can be used to understand the complex issues related to truancy as well as the need to view truancy as a multi-dimensional issue with a magnitude of factors, this study seeks to identify the relationship between bullying, peer support, and missed days of school. The basic data gained from this study will provide valuable information about student’s absences from school.

Bullying is a challenge with which various learning institutions are struggling to overcome. Craig and Pepler (2007) proposed that bullying at schools takes place when people are repeatedly exposed over time to negative physical and verbal activities on part of one or more learners. The relationships of bullying involve imbalance of power and strength. It involves repeated aggressive activities committed by people who have power advantages over their victims (Craig & Pepler, 2007). Application of exact definitions to bullying may be hard since bullying has transformed and continues to change in line with societal transformations. For instance, as technologies develop, new opportunities for possible bullying also develop. The idea that a behavior of a person, as described by Social Learning Theory (Clark, 2013), is learned by emulating and observing the behaviors of others are significant to this research since it can assist school districts to better comprehend why bullying may be occurring in their learning institutions, especially secondary schools and the way to deal with it.

Ingul and Nordahl (2013) noted that because experiences of social interactions can shape behavior, both the victims and the bullies are in a position of learning pro-social behaviors which are suitable for schools in case those pro-social behaviors are modeled or observed as well as openly supported and taught by educators. Today, teachers are more aware of the direct bullying effects on peer social relationships due to the augmented attention provided to victimization impacts on other in settings of the public schools. Nevertheless, educators still note: they are not ready to operate with learners who bully, having limited comprehension or knowledge of the related bullying and aggression effects on other school variables like attendance and academic achievement for both perpetrators’ and victims’ together with other victimized learners in proximity to the bullies.

Background, Context, History and Conceptual Framework of the Problem

The plethora of the literature that is available shows that the causes of truancy and absenteeism can be grouped as school sourced, teachers’ sourced, parents’ sourced, students’ sourced, and psychology sourced (Zhang et al., 2007). School-related truancy and absenteeism causes are those related to existing relationships between the teachers and the students and affect their behaviors. They also include the school factors such as school climate, attitudes, class size, school disciplinary policy on truancy, and ability to meet the diverse needs of the learners (Wilkins, 2008). In large-size schools, students often feel isolated, and to escape they choose not to attend school (Dahl, 2016). Often, these students tend to feel uncomfortable, unvalued, unwanted, insecure, and unaccepted. The students often lack connection to individuals within the school whom they can trust and turn to, in case they have a problem (Dahl, 2016). Unsafe school environment prompts learners to skip school (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Where the school policy on truancy allows teachers to impose severe punishment on the truant students, the situation may even worsen further (Tobin, 2009).

Balfanz and Bynes (2012) stated that parents also play a role in encouraging school truancy in their children. Depending on the nature of the family in which a given child hails, there exist many factors which may dictate the behavior of the child. Factors such as parenting styles, the divorce, and the breakdown of parents always largely contribute to the behaviors of the children (Balfanz & Bynes, 2012). Also, parents who fail to supervise their children after school contributes to higher truancy levels (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Similarly, household incomes have a bearing on truancy levels. For example, children from low-income families tend to exhibit higher truancy than their counterparts (Zhang et al., 2007).

Truancy may also arise from the student factors. Student psychology is a crucial determinant in truancy. According to Chen, Culhane, Metraux, Park, & Venable (2016), the psychological moods of the students are always the primary determinant of their decision to go to school. Enomoto (2007) mentioned that when the students feel ignored by their teachers, they lose the morale of going to school. The motivation of these students is crucial for their self-esteem which dictates their school attendance. Also, students with mental health problems such as stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are likely to skip school more often. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) established that students who abused substances, such as alcohol, were more likely to skip school than their counterparts. Students are likely to become truant if they smoke cigarettes and marijuana at least once a month (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Student’s self-perception also determines truancy, since those who hold lower perceptions opt to skip school more regularly than those who hold higher self-perceptions and their future (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017).

According to Barger (2018) and Kennedy, Russom and Kevorkian (2012) today, school attendance is one of the most perplexing problems experienced in public schools across the globe. Teachers often compromise the effective discharge of their professional responsibilities by several challenges which are independent of the attendance of the students in these schools. Barger (2018) continues by saying these challenges are often differing viewpoints of what is and what is not bullying between the student and teacher. Thus, as a remedy, schools have stipulated to teach students the difference between bullying, positive advice, and helpful criticism while continuing to encourage good attendance (Barger, 2018). The effects of absenteeism are always far-reaching with significant consequences that may result in negative implications in various levels within society. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) stated that truancy could be vital in predicting poor academic performance, maladjustment, school dropout, teenage pregnancy, delinquency, and substance abuse.

The long-term effects of truancy include marital instability, violence, job instability, incarceration, and adult criminality (Teasley, 2004). Truancy is also known to exert a negative effect on the community because of its correlation with crime, delinquency, as well as other adverse outcomes (Teasley, 2004). Truancy and absenteeism also lead to school dropouts and delinquency issues such as theft, burglary, and vandalism. Ekstrand (2015) consistently found a relationship between high rates of delinquency and truancy as well as the dropout rates. The youths that have dropped out of school and indulge in criminal activities finally end up behind bars in the United States (Dahl, 2016). They will add to the escalating number of inmates who have continued to siphon much of the public resources (Holtes, Bannink, Zwanenburg, As, Raat, & Broeren, 2015).

Predictor Variables

–          Bullying

 

 

–          Peer Social Support
Relationship:

-As bullying occurs, missed days of school increase.

-As bullying does not occur, missed days of school decrease.

-Peer Social Support is lacking, missed days of school increase.

-Peer Social Support is present, missed days of school decrease.
Criterion Variable

 

–          School absences

 

 

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Problem Statement

In identifying the problem of absenteeism in a County in a rural Virginia school division one must investigate some of the causes of why students miss school.  The county school division is making a focused effort to maximize student attendance and lower yearly absences (Rockingham County Public Schools Student Handbook, 2018). It is the goal of the researcher to determine if two predictor variables (bullying and peer social support) have a relationship with the criterion variable (school absences).

 

Purpose of the Proposed Study

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study is to determine whether a relationship exists between bullying and absenteeism in school students of age 18 and above within rural settings. Also, the study attempts to establish the relationship between peer social support and absenteeism among students of age 18 and above within rural settings.

The proposed study intends to use the findings and conclusions as a foundation to potentially build on another study to investigate how the two variables lead to absenteeism. The examination of each of these issues will be necessary to discern which variable plays a significant role in truancy and absenteeism among the 18-year-old secondary school students to cause a higher rate of truancy. Examining the factors will allow the researcher and the beneficiaries of the study findings to identify peculiar characteristics contributing to the significant difference in truancy and absenteeism among verified participants.

Research Questions

  1. Is there any relationship between peer social support and school absences?
  2. Is there any relationship between being bullied and school absences?

Hypotheses

H01: There is no significant relationship between peer social support and school absences.

HA1: There is a significant relationship between peer social support and school absences.

H02: There is no significant relationship between being bullied and school absences.

HA2: There is a significant relationship between being bullied and school absences.

 Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Proposed Study

The primary purpose of this study is to identify a possible relationship between students bullied and school absences. Also, there is possible relationship between peer social support and school absences. The objective of the research will potentially enable educational experts as well as the schools’ administration to find ways of reducing the ever-increasing rate of school absenteeism. The success or performance of the students in secondary schools has been most affected by the high level of absenteeism in different institutions (Reid, 1999). This research will act as the foundation for the future solution aimed at increasing attendance through the eradication or minimizing student absenteeism which is one of the major performance problems in secondary schools (Nichols, 2003). School absenteeism greatly affects many students and, as a result, it has been the central issue of concern to the parents, teachers, and administrators. It also has accompanying costs such as depression, unemployment, and illiteracy to the student, other students, the school and the entire community (Reid, 1999).

Furthermore, there is lack of enough studies capable of providing a solution to the school attendance problem hence the need to conduct this research. Previous studies by Sahin, Arseven, and Kilic (2016) and Fan and Wolters (2014) have examined the issue of truancy and absenteeism in general or among the entire secondary school population. With this quantitative research, the actual data will be applied to enable the educators to understand specifically two causes of attendance problems and after that find appropriate measures on how to address the problem. Of essence is to focus on the 18-year-old attendance issues and from there understand the pertinent issues such as school environment in determining truancy and attendance. An 18-year-old is typically a senior in high school and has encountered many different experiences throughout their school career.

The proposed research will be practical in that there will be no use of secondary data or qualitative studies to answer the research questions. For the proposed research, applying systematic and theoretical analysis as the methodology is essential. The raw data from the real world set up will be analysed casting no doubt on the applicability of its findings. Logically, the best solutions to a problem are those founded on the real facts in the actual setting. Therefore, by ascertaining the relationships between bullying, peer social support, and missed school days’ help identify two possible causes for truancy.

Definition of Terms

Absenteeism. Literature provides slightly varying definitions for absenteeism. Some scholars (Altinkurt, 2008; Kearney, 2008) consider absenteeism as the absence of schooling by using a verified excuse or using an unverifiable excuse. Some consider absenteeism as a general term used when referring to a general absence from school or work without any valid reason (Akbasli, Sahin, & Yilmaz, 2017). For the proposed study, the researcher defines absenteeism as the student’s absence from school because of a particular reason. The proposed study considers absenteeism as a phenomenon that result from some causes which are either related to the school, the parent or the student. Therefore, for a student to miss school there must be an underlying reason which the study wants to uncover through inquiry.

Truancy. Akbasli, et al. (2017) defined truancy as a situation whereby a learner deliberately stays away from school without permission. It is synonymous with “skipping off”, “dodging”, “going missing”, and “mitching” (Akbasli et al., 2017). The proposed study similarly defined truancy and often uses “skipping of school” to mean the same thing. Additionally, Akbasli et al. (2017) defined truancy as any intentional, unauthorized, unjustified, as well as the illegal absence of an individual from compulsory education. The absence resulting from truancy is often due to a free will of the students and is not inclusive of the legitimate absence that may arise due to an excused absence.

Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations

Assumptions: Researchers have any number of items in their study that they recognize as authentic (“Stating the Obvious,” n.d.). These authentic items are known as assumptions. Within the proposed study there includes some assumptions. The first assumption is that 18-year-old students have encountered experiences that lead them to miss days of school. Depending on the student, such experiences may affect the way they feel about the school, safe or unsafe. When it feels unsafe, the researcher assumes the days missed will likely be high. Every school day missed is accounted for is another assumption. In other words, every student that is absent from school has a reason either valid or invalid, but which accounts for why he or she chose to skip school. The last assumption is that schools implement general programs to deal with absenteeism without considering the main cause of the issue which may vary from one student to another. As a result, students may be punished or face a court hearing which does not address the needs and do not account for an individual’s absenteeism.

Limitations: Every study has its failings that the researcher does not have authority over (“Stating the Obvious,” n.d.). These failings are known as limitations. The proposed study survey questions have been written to aid in the collection of data on the amount of bullying and the amount of peer social support that a student experiences in high school. This means that much of the data is collected from students and their self-report concerning bullying, peer social support, and school attendance. However, the researcher will provide a definition of each variable in an attempt to limit the subjectivity of the respondent’s answers. Also, finding enough students to participate in the study may be challenging because some of them may decline to participate.

Delimitations: When developing and organizing studies researchers must define the perimeters of the study. Examples of the perimeters are the objective, variable, and research questions. The three examples are in the control of the researcher and is known as delimitations (“Stating the Obvious,” n.d.). With this study several delimitations are associated. First, information is only obtained from three of the four high schools located in the rural area of Virginia.  Secondly, the research delimited the two surveys to students that are 18 years of age and older that continue to be enrolled in school. Lastly, delimitations were not applied to other characteristics that may include special needs students, students that are on free and reduced lunch, socioeconomic status, gender or diversity of the students.

Summary

Once the proposed study is completed the researcher seeks to establish a relationship between 18-year-old students that have experienced some bullying and school absences. Additionally, the researcher seeks to establish a relationship between peer social support and school absences. Identifying and examining the main variables of bullying, peer social support, and school absences identified in the literature as possible causes for students to miss school frequently.

The researcher organized the proposed study into five chapters. The first chapter will introduce the reader of the dissertation to the research problem, research question, relevance, rationale and significance of the study. It also defines essential terms used in the study to help the reader understand what they mean in the context of the research. A literature review documents the existing literature on bullying and absenteeism in the second chapter. It enlightens the reader on what is already known about the research problems. The third chapter will focus on the proposed study’s methodologies. It shall explain the methods used by the researcher to answer the research questions. It shall also explain the approaches used to analyse and present the study findings. The fourth chapter will consist of results and discussion. In this chapter, the researcher provides the results and analysis, and then follows up by a discussion of the results. Finally, the dissertation will end with chapter five by providing conclusions and recommendations.

 

 

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Introduction

According to Mishna (2012), bullying is a form of hostility which can either be indirect or direct. Bullying occurs in an influential environment by parties engaging in verbal, mental, and physical activity. Bullying leads to absenteeism among school students. Absenteeism entails regularly staying away from school without a valid reason. Pupils who engage in truancy fail to attend classes due to fear of avoiding harassment.

Bullying is rampant among teens in the United States. A quarter of students experience bullying according to research on harassment in 2013 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 15.5% of students miss school due to harassment, while 4.1% are absent due to rational reasons (Adolesc, 2015). Furthermore, electronic bullying leads to absenteeism, according to Grinshteyn and Tony Yang (2017). Most students are absent from school because of fear. Students with chronic conditions are absent from school since they are victims of regular bullying, according to Grinshteyn and Tony Yang (2017). Interventions assists in reducing bullying rates. Integrating community efforts and school management contributes to influencing avoidance of harassment in schools. Unfortunately, several approaches which have been put in place to curb bullying in high school have been futile.

Factors that contribute to bullying in high school include cultural conditions, peer groups, family, and individual features (Mishna, 2012). Bullying is a repetitive act which is hazardous. Prejudice is a form of bullying which takes place when one is not a member of a specific gender and has different ideology concerning a particular group (Mishna, 2012). High school students torment their colleagues because they are not in the same social status, gender, and racial disparity. Moreover, high school students are victims of harassment because of having low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and absence of support from teachers.

Bullying leads to students being absent from school because they feel insecure. Research by Grinshteyn and Tony Yang (2017) shows how electronic bullying makes students engage in absenteeism more often than those who are not victims of harassment. Victims of bullying engage in binge drinking because of depression (Grinshteyn & Yang, 2017). Harassment makes students feel hopeless daily due to fear. Students who are absent due to bullying achieve poor performance. Absent students fail to attend classes with essential subjects and teachings.

Furthermore, harassment results in high levels of unhappiness, anxiety, insecurity, depression, low self-esteem, mental and physical symptoms (Gruber & Fineran, 2007). Victims of annoyance have difficulty in making friends, isolation, and weak interactions with their classmates. Victims of a bully do not build strong relations with other parties — students who encounter bullying experience high levels of despair. Harassment facilitates the development of anxiety and depression among students. Records show that 20% of school victims had a clinical range on normal anxiety and depression measure in research by Espelage and Holt (2001).

Truancy refers to any intentional, unlawful, and inexcusable absence of an individual from compulsory education (Jones, 2019). [JD1]Absence resulting from absenteeism is often not legitimate since it happens at free will. Legal procedures that emanate from absenteeism does not relate to absence due to valid reasons. Schools across the globe employ policies and measures which intervene on truancy among their students. Truancy leads to the inability to graduate and receive class credits among school students. Truant students have to make for nonattendance through fines and summer schooling.

Institutions, districts, and governments have put in place various strategies for recognizing truancy. Mechanisms collectively identify consecutive illegal absence from school as a standard definition. In a report by Baker, Sigmon, and Nugent (2001), most students practice truancy in the United States, leading to schools ranking it in their top ten challenges. Many students fail to attend classes without a valid excuse from the relevant authority. Eventually, truancy significantly contributes to undermining the educational system of the United States. Menace of truancy and absenteeism intensifies from schools to other environments. Nonetheless, absenteeism not only affects students in the United States but also affects school students in the UK countries such as Scotland, England, Ulster and Wales (Grant, 2007, Shute & Cooper, 2015, Truancy rates worst in the UK: Education, 2008).

According to Reid (2006), school attendance critical variables simplifies measuring of achievement levels among students. Students who display long-lasting absenteeism tend to practice truancy hence suggesting the need for implementation of corrective measures. Intervention which curbs truancy needs proper approach. Truancy and absenteeism have devastating impacts if no response is applicable, therefore requiring urgent supervision from specialists. Absenteeism affects the progress of students through adverse physical, social, and psychological effects. Nonattendance expresses the student’s negative emotional state about school. Moreover, absenteeism represents many different motives that the teachers, as well as parents, need to take into account (Reid, 2006).

The accomplishment of school students in their coursework depends on their daily appearance in classes as well as lesson attendance. According to Breda (2014), factors which are logical such as financial constraints, sickness, high school fees, and weather conditions attribute to absenteeism. Factors contributing to truancy in school students include social status, age, mistreatment, lacking peer social support, the arrogance of teachers, and poor school administration (Mervilde, 1981). These factors need regulation for proper tackling of truancy and absenteeism among students.

Conceptual Framework

There are various groups of absenteeism classes, which includes, school sourced, teachers’ sourced, parents’ sourced, students’ sourced, and psychology sourced (Zhang et al., 2007). School sourced absenteeism emanates from existing relationships between teachers and students, which affects their behaviors. Negative thoughts among students originate from their existing human behaviors. Students incorporate harmful intentions concerning activities within the school, incompetence of staff, and harsh supervision of a school, resulting in agitation. Students whose practices entails school sourced absenteeism eventually lose curiosity regarding school attendance, according to Williams (2002). Some school students engage in truancy due to climate settings, the extent of school, the magnitude of classes, arrogances, punishment policy at school, and pleasure. Dahl (2016), alludes that students who attend large schools may seldom experience a lack of inclusion in the affairs of their school. Unfortunately, most students avoid a feeling of non-inclusion by not attending classes. Students experiencing isolation tend to feel uncomfortable, unrecognized, unwelcome, and doubtful. In most cases of separation, students lack someone whom they can confide in to find a solution to their grievances.

Students have instructional and social needs while in large classrooms. Relationship between teachers and students is always weak since instructors cannot continually address problems of every student. According to Strand and Granlund (2013) students encounter cold school climate where each survives on their own because of feeble association with teachers. Students feel insecure in whom to confide in with their problems. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) identify in their study that 23% of the truant students who choose to avoid attending classes is due to feeling insecure. According to Tobin (2009), administering severe punishment for truant learners in such cases can only intensify the absentee behavior. Corrective measures which impacts on the functioning of students control truancy rates rather than an intensive penalty.

Williams (1999) identifies teacher sourced absenteeism, which often comes about as an outcome of teachers’ high anticipations for their students ensuing into truancy. High expectations from teachers attribute to absenteeism in students. Students tend to attend school in cases where they encounter a positive attitude from instructors (Wadesango & Machingambi, 2011). Optimistic attitude and behaviors of teachers while inside and outside of institutions affects the personality of students. Dictatorial, high expectations, and absence of communication from tutors transpire into teacher sourced absenteeism. Teachers need to establish positive interactions with students to promote lower rates of truancy.

Parents also promote school truancy in their kids. The nature of the family of a child and many other factors influences their conduct. Childcare styles, separation of parents, and failure marriages generally contribute to behaviors of kids (Balfanz & Bynes, 2012). Pressure from family often steers truancy in students. Students depend on the support of their family to continue with education. Parents’ training, household earnings, and parental supervision affect domestic homes. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) identify a close connection between these household factors and truant behaviors among kids. Lower education levels of fathers lead to high cases of truancy in children. Likewise, in cases where the mother is a high school dropout, truancy rates also increase. Therefore, parents ought to be careful when attending to their children. Failure of establishing a healthy and positive relationship between parents and children promotes the development of parent caused truancy.

Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) indicate that children whose parents never direct them after school are probably engaging in truancy. In their study, 29.9% of the children became truant because of lack of supervision after school for periods lasting four hours. Moreover, approximately 11.3% of the children became truant because of lack of oversight thoroughly after school. Parent supervision contributes to declining of truancy cases — children who operate under supervision practice behaviors which are desirable in their households. A comparable study by Zhang et al. (2007) links truancy in kids to levels of earnings of their homes. Kids who originate from a humble background engage in truancy and eventually end up in the juvenile justice system. Kids hailing from a prosperous household do not take part in truancy behaviors regularly.

Students engage in truancy by being absent from class without giving any justification. Students fail to attend classes because of uninteresting lessons, dislike of an instructor, fear of harassment, and lower expectations. Thus, student-initiated truancy is a result of a lack of enthusiasm for education. Psychology causes truancy among students. According to Chen et al. (2016), the psychological attitudes of students are determinants of their conclusion to go to school. Enomoto (2007) identifies that ignoring the needs of students declines their determination of attending classes. Motivating students is vital for their confidence, which facilitates their class turnout. Students who receive motivation from teachers tend to attend classes frequently. Apart from psychological problems, truancy causes physical and mental fitness problems. Behaviors of students depend on their mental state. Eventually, truants engage in abuse of drugs and substances hence dropping from school. DeSocio et al. (2007) display various psychological and physical issues that prompt school absenteeism in students. Researchers establish a relationship between family and students’ mental health condition. Boyce (2002) states psychological health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, hopelessness, anxiety, and drug abuse is a pointer of a developing complication. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017), implicates those who are likely to skip classes are drug abusers such as alcoholics. Truancy leads to devastating repercussions which need measures for regulation. Employing strategic interventions reduces cases of absenteeism among students.

Additionally, Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) state that students who smoke cigarette and marijuana at least once a month are likely to practice truancy. The opinion of students about themselves is essential. Interviews concerning the probability of truant students graduating from high school and attending College shows the relationship between perception and behavior. Lower understanding enhances skipping school while high knowledge lowers truancy. Students who do not comprehend affairs at schools tend to be absent in some classes. Active students participate in diverse issues of school hence minimizing their urge for engaging in truancy. 44.5% and 30% are truancy levels of students who gave answers like “probably won’t” graduate from high school and “definitely won’t” attend college respectively (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Students who lack interest develop a negative attitude which favors the formation of truancy. In summary, Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) state that most students who commit high truancy levels drop out of school. Moreover, truants lack commitment and at all times, turn out to hold low ambitions and eventually become poor go-getters. Truancy leads to high levels of school dropping if not kept under supervision.

Chronic absenteeism results in a student dropping out of school. Chen et al. (2016) denote how truancy cases resulting in dropout rates are rampant in contemporary society. Chen et al. (2016) note that truancy rates are more significant in places with diverse racial disparity with low-income earners and have many high schools. Moreover, such areas encounter high rates of truancy, leading to high dropout rates. Mickelson (2018) states some regions experience more students dropping out of school than those advancing to college.

Furthermore, areas with high rates of truancy experience high crime rates leading to more imprisonment of population. Ekstrand (2015) states a relationship among high rates of law-breaking, truancy, and dropout rates. Truancy facilitates negative behaviors which relate to criminal activities and substance abuse. Drug abuse and mob activities are forms of crime in the study. Truant students later involve themselves in illegal activities such as hijacking, robbery, and sabotage leading to confinement in juveniles. Ninety-four percent of wrongdoers in minors in Rhode Island are truants from school (Ekstrand, 2015). A study by Dahl (2016) reveals that one of the ten male dropouts or one of the four black male dropouts ends up behind bars in the United States. Confinement results from truant students engaging in illegal activities that attract law enforcement.

The study by Holtes et al. (2015) reveals that the United States houses a higher fraction of its citizens than any other country across the world. The United States spends an average of roughly $20,000 per year on each convict. Additionally, the state spends about $9,391 per learner. Research shows how it is expensive to deal with repercussions of truancy like confinement. A study by Ekstrand (2015) of South Carolina’s high school shows how dropout cases are rampant. Dropout students contribute to more senior criminal activities. Research suggests that on graduating, students contribute to the economy immensely tallying to about $8 billion over their lifespan. Students who graduate end up participating in productive activities hence generate income. Educating students is beneficial to the state than detaining them since incarceration leads to more cost, which the nation incurs in the form of billions of dollars regarding lost earnings and foregone taxes. There exists a connection between truancy, dropping out, and imprisonment, which relates to the level of education (Ekstrand, 2015). High truancy rates lead to high illiteracy levels within prisons systems of the United States. People in prison lack information regarding social norms since they were absent in classes — students who drop out lack sufficient knowledge concerning essential aspects of life skills. A study by Ekstrand (2015) shows that 75% of Americans who go to jail are ignorant. Prisoners lack requisite knowledge for the application of particular skill and expertise. Most prisoners are students who drop out of school and eventually end up breaking the law — educating people results in a decline in crime rates.

Behaviorism Theory

Behaviorism theory focuses on a logical approach in comprehending behaviors of individuals. An assumption on which behaviorism theory relies is that people exhibit diverse personality in response to certain stimuli in their surroundings (Murtonen, Gruber, & Lehtinen, 2017). Moreover, behaviorism theory suggests that an individual’s state of punishment, reinforcement, and environments results in different behavior patterns. Research demonstrates how Inheritance determines actions which individuals display. Environmental factors play a vital role in modifying the manners of people. Integration of surroundings and prevalent conditions of parties greatly influences their personality.

The behaviorist theory considers various elements of methodology, philosophy, and psychological approaches. Pioneers advocate that psychological factors influence behavioral theory in the late 19th century. Mental condition and other psychological traits play an important role in enhancing behavior forms. Depth psychology and different sorts of consciousness experience troubles in coming up with testable predictions (Stoyanov, 2017). Creators of behaviorist theory include individuals like Edward Thorndike of the 19th century. Edward emphasizes strengthening peoples’ behavior using reinforcement (“John B. Watson,” 2016).

John B. Watson develops methodological behaviorism in the 20th century hence adding more information behaviorist theory. Methodological behaviorism by Watson enforces measurable conducts and events, therefore, declining prevailing introspective (“John B. Watson,” 2016). Factors affecting change in behaviors are quantifiable and are useful during the implementation of intervention strategies. In late 1930, B. F. Skinner entails thoughts and feelings as aspects influencing individual behavior hence leading to radical behaviorism. Emotional state and opinions of people change the conduct of people in a particular environment. Watson and Pavlov concentrate on stimulus responses in standard conditioning. Skinner focuses on nature controls as well as its consequences on past experiences which attributes to prevalent conditioning. Various aspects impacts on behaviors which individuals display in response to particular stimuli. Actions originate from the incorporation of dynamic forces inhabiting a specific atmosphere.

Experiments by Skinner on inventing radical behaviorism have been successful. Skinner perceives behaviorism theory by revealing that new phenomena cultivate after new methods (Day, 2016). Researchers classify radical behaviorism depending on past events and sensitivity towards stimuli (Murtonen, Gruber, & Lehtinen, 2017). Skinner uses rats and pigeons to display responses which are significant in the operating environment (Day, 2016). Behaviorism theory comprises of radical behaviorism which groups into applied behavior analysis, which facilitates analysis of truancy behavior among high school students. Practicable behavior analysis shares ideas with radical behaviorism and human-based psychology. Implementing applied behavior analysis in hampering drug abuse reduces truancy rates among high school students. Furthermore, applied behavior is essential in nurturing positive personalities at schools, thus preventing the development of abnormal actions among students (Stoyanov, 2017). Implementing applied behavior investigation facilitates the development of intervention strategies which hampers harmful activities like truancy among students.

Cognitive information processing

Also known as information processing, cognitive theory encompasses several theoretical perspectives that focus on order and execution of intellectual events. Cognitive theory majors on how individuals interact with surroundings, acquire knowledge, and store information for future reference (Lachman, Lachman, & Butterfield, 2015). Cognitive events require parties to use experience which they have been acquiring during normal conditions. The cognitive theory views learners as active seekers of knowledge and processing of data.

Moreover, the approach depends on the ability to remember information as a significant factor. The memory of students and community at large is the primary aspect attributing to cognitive information processing. Information processing theory emulates computer metaphors such as inputs and outputs and their response — cognitive theory majors on principal factors contributing to truancy in high school. Information processing theory studies the memory system as well as other processes such as attention, chunking, rehearsal, encoding, and retrieval that stores knowledge for transfer.

Sensory memory of cognitive information processing is responsible for holding information relating to hearing and vision senses. Short-term memory refers to short working memory for processing data for response and storage. Short-term memory contains little information for a shorter period. On the other hand, long-term memory stores data permanently. Long-term memory retains data for an indefinite duration of time (Siemens, 2014).

Information processing theory suggests processing of data in a chain of information flow. There is altering of information as it flows from one stage to the next. Nonetheless, processing of information does not generally flow in a single direction. For instance, expression in a sentence by an individual depends on existing and prior knowledge. Supervisory monitors processes and keeps track of information read by an individual. Prioritization of processing information occurs unconsciously and consciously. Instructions build on already existing knowledge of learners on a given topic hence proves to be irrelevant. Prior experience enables students to make viable decisions in current affairs. Truant students miss a lot since their flow of information is incomplete. Absenteeism underpins the ability of students to compare first-hand knowledge since they lose a lot when engaging in non-attendance of classes. Truancy in high school results to discriminatory where learners select and process particular information while ignoring others simultaneously. Truant students lack interest in specific sectors but pay attention to useless knowledge hence promoting discerning actions. Selective attention depends on aspects such as awareness, similarities in competing tasks, the complexity of events, and the ability of functions to control the devotion of students (Siemens, 2014). Truant students incorporate selective attention when making judgment fostering their involvement in illegal absence.

Truant students fail to recognize the importance of going to school. Students who engage in truancy make wrong decisions concerning the attendance of classes. Thus, they fail to prioritize schoolwork leading to truancy and absenteeism. Truant students experience hardships in acquiring and applying the knowledge that they learn in classrooms leading to rapid loss of information. Rehearsal is vital in storing information while encoding enables individuals to develop ideas and concepts. Truant students fail to prepare adequately for knowledge acquisition.

Moreover, the lack of knowledge among students engaging in absenteeism facilitates deficiency of creativity. Forms of encoding available include imagery, mnemonics, concept trees, hierarchies, outlines, groupings, and organizations. Students may also have problems with retrieving information from their long-term memories. Retrieval of data from the long-term memory requires recalling, recognition, and retrieval cues. Truancy among students favors high levels of illiteracy.

This dissertation will make use of the two theories, cognitive information processing and behaviorism in explaining the causes of absenteeism among high school students. Behaviorism theory focuses on comprehending truancy behavior among students while cognitive information processing theory focuses on psychological aspects that cause absenteeism. The two arguments apply throughout the paper to establish and create a comprehension of truancy behavior among high school students.

Review of Research Literature and Methodological Literature

The United States has been enacting mandatory school attendance laws which force students to avoid absenteeism over the past years. Enactment of compulsory attendance laws for schools takes place between 1852 and 1918. Moreover, free primary education from elementary school to secondary school occurs in this period; hence, historical (Atwood & Croll, 2015). Aspiration for universal education, immigrant socialization, and quality labor forces Government to adopt laws for the provision of free primary education (Breda, 2014). Government schools across the country lead other institutions with the sole purpose of educating children and imposing existing child labor laws. Government schools protect children in preparation for independence after graduating. These schools impart knowledge in generations resulting in higher standards of living of students during adult life. Vital knowledge which students acquire subsidizes in the delivery of efficient services. Students practice what they train in school by attaining positive impacts on society. Eventually, in 1918, every state within the United States embraces compulsory school attendance laws. Mandatory school attendance laws compel parents and guardians to admit a school-aged child to school and monitor their attendance (Yang & Ham, 2017). Parents have to ensure that their students don’t miss classes according to involuntary class attendance policies. Support from parents lowers truancy rates since students encounter supervision of their academic accomplishments and class inclusion. Laws focusing on mandatory school attendance deteriorates levels of truancy. Formulating rules and policies regarding class attendance force students to participate in school affairs actively.

The compulsory school attendance laws dictate that any child absent from school without giving a valid reason is engaging in truancy (Breda, 2014; Dahl, 2016). Mandatory school attendance laws define truancy as an unlawful absence of students from school without the consent of their parents or guardians. Unfortunately, some states don’t embrace compulsory school attendance laws. Students in countries that don’t have involuntary school attendance involve in activities resulting from their absenteeism in schools. Private schools, homeschoolers, schools for people with special needs, pregnant students, and those who attend schools, yet they are jobless have to endure compulsory school attendance laws (Breda, 2014). Some factors are inevitable since they impact in reasonable absenteeism of students. According to Yang and Hall (2017), sickness, loss of an immediate family member and emergency in families are legitimate explanations for absenteeism disregarding the location of schools in the United States of America. Additionally, uncontrollable situations, expulsion, health conditions of students and parents, and safety provide a valid motive for truancy. Unavoidable circumstances among students lead to truancy and absenteeism.

Schools accept exceptional circumstances such as the temporary assignment of duties, vacations, and other special events that lead to valid causes of absenteeism. Certain conditions force students to be absent from school. The difference in the interpretation of existing laws in states causes disparities in attendance laws across the United (Sahin, Arsven, &Kilic, 2016). Distinctions in formulating rules enhance the development of different measures for assessing class attendance. For instance, most districts within the United States determine absenteeism without permission per period basis, while others consider the entire day (Wilson, Rivers, & Schultz, 2016). Differing interpretation among schools makes it difficult to make comparisons of truancy rates across the country to establish the real causes of this vice. Data from the supervision of attendance is not compatible due to different assessment procedures that schools utilize hampering interventions requiring correlation.

Various states within the country adopt a general definition of truancy, thus providing them with a specific and deliberate approach in identifying truant youths (Cox, 2017). Lack of a standard truancy rate computation in schools contributes to states employing homogenize interpretations. Thus, according to Sahin, Arseven, and Kilic (2016), mild effects of truancy in government schools of the United States is due to the lack of a standard definition and intervention. Joint intervention policy assists in tackling rampant cases of absenteeism in Government schools. However, Breda (2014), denotes how a combined effort of parents, teachers, school management, and students steer in reducing truancy rates. Collective determination of community is significant in prohibiting truancy.

Teasley (2004) states how truancy levels decline through merging efforts of individuals giving rise to strategies and interventions. According to Zhang et al. (2007), the implementation of the Check and Connect program in government institutions results in successful interference of strategies such as behavioral, instructional, and community-based interventions. However, Henry and Yelkpieri (2017), identify family and instructional intervention strategies most convenient for combating truant behaviors. Households and guidelines which students encounter play an essential role in their actions. In the study by DeSocio et al. (2007), there was an introduction of a mentor intervention program to prohibit truancy. Mentors offer pieces of advice to students hence influencing their behavior in response to certain stimuli and surroundings. Reid (2006), indicates five intervention recommendations, namely School-Based Scheme (SBS). According to Reid (2006), SBS pilot applications were successful in schools in the United Kingdom. Reid (2006) concludes how schools and districts implement ABS due to its efficiency in hampering immoral behaviors. According to Nordahl (2013), truancy behaviors in schools deteriorate due to the integration of intervention strategies. The tremendous success in reduction of truancy among students emanates from the comprehensive effort of the community in establishing suitable prevention procedures.

Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson (2004) indicates the use of direct instruction or instructional approach in various states leads to proper training in students. Lessons on direct instruction encourage practice technique in students. Students present in classes obtain critical knowledge through written scripts, rehearsal, and brief lessons which they eventually initiate applications. According to Zhang et al. (2007), instructional experiences impact tremendously in classes like math and reading where students can receive immediate feedback on committing an offense. Students who don’t comprehend essential aspects engage in asking instructors questions. Reinforcing mode of teaching influences the confidence of instructors in administering lessons on moral behavior to students hence leading to reduction of inappropriate conducts (Zhang et al., 2007). Teachers who provide support to students influence their behavior patterns since students feel contentment.

The use of instructional interventions encourages some of the regularly absent students through praise to attend school. However, this strategy alone cannot eradicate truancy in high schools. Instructional interventions provide physical support hence influencing the psychology of students. Moreover, it’s the best mode through which government and institutions tackle absenteeism. Students heed advice from people providing instructions enabling drop-in truancy levels. Interventions verified on a behavioral basis include Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and Positive Behavior Support (PBS). The Positive Behavior Support (PBS) incorporates various experimentally-proven practices with a lot of support from students who exhibit challenging behaviors. PBS provides support on a personal and worldwide basis (Zhang, 2007).

On the other hand, Functional Behavior Assessment is a more individual-based intervention in comparison to Positive Behavior Support. Functional Behavior Assessment involves the method of gathering information on the function of behaviors of students. Data enhances the proficiency of student’s self-management and manners support. Substantive Behavior Assessment process entails self-evaluation, self-monitoring, and positive reinforcement. Moreover, it teaches students to be accountable for their social behaviors and academic accomplishments. Functional Behavior Assessment and Positive Behavior Support strategists are vital in the provision of a paper trail of attendance of students. Employing Functional Behavior Assessment and Positive Behavior Support Strategies ensures students attend classes regularly since information on the significance of school attendance is readily available. Students deviate from truancy when they assess positive consequences that relate to frequent class attendance.

Community-based interventions such as the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program (TRDP) and Abolish Chronic Truancy Now (ACT Now) are the best and most prevalent interventions in combating truancy. Furthermore, funds and strength of community facilitate community-based interventions. Families of truant students receive incentives from resources kitty propelling them to attend classes. Other community-based interventions include intensive family interventions, mentoring, case management, expanding police force, and use of welfare restriction in economic sanction (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Zhang et al. (2007) delude that presenting incentives to students in the form of awards and maintaining follow up through communication increases class attendance. Communities play an essential role in ensuring most students don’t miss classes.

Lack of involvement from people like law enforcement, parents, social services, family, and juvenile courts leads to failure of community-based intervention. Thus, resulting in increasing truancy rates due to unavailability of intervention actions meant to hinder immoral behaviors. A valuable community invests in youths and tackles truancy menace. Check and Connect intervention strategy prevents dropping out of students and assists in many states of the United States to inspire learners to engage in academics until they graduate (Zhang et al., 2007). Students under Check and Connect focus in accomplishing good academic grades rather than dropping out. In the Check and Connect model, individuals monitor levels of student’s commitments daily. Students facilitate inclusion of various risk factors such as skipping classes, tardiness, absenteeism, detention, grades, suspension, and accrued credits.

Individuals promote an association of the respective student with their school and their participation in learning atmospheres. Check and Connect relies on follow up nature and students engagement in suitable events. Connect aspect entails intervening on risks affecting specific task given to students. Students who face certain risks connected with various preventive strategies which hinder an increase in truancy rates. Students provide regular feedback on their progress at school through information sharing and observing intervention. Individuals discuss with students concerning the benefits of attending classes in Check and Connect. Characters incorporate problem-solving strategies which analyze potential risks that students encounter at school — implementing problem-solving strategies like FBA gears strong relationships in adults and students hence reducing chronic absenteeism among students. Students who connect with adults tend to receive positive perspectives about going to school leading to waning in drop-out levels. Positive relationship influences students to make commitments to themselves and people who are significant to them. The connection between students and their parents dramatically impacts on students’ notion of attending classes.

Family set up, and household issues affect truancy rates in students (Henry &Yelkpieri, 2017). Thus, the intervention of family is essential when establishing causes of truancy. However, according to a study by DeSocio et al. (2007), inadequate information in family-based interventions and truancy levels comparisons exists. Therefore, DeSocio et al. initiate a mentoring program that aims at improving school attendance and consequently, the academic performance of students. DeSocio et al. operate on the assumption that students who don’t attend classes experience despair and separation hence gain from personal mentors who provide attention. Mentors impact personal care virtue in students, thus prompting students to halt from engaging in unfavorable behavior patterns. Her findings indicate that fostering adult mentors attributes to the positive relationship between students and schools due to the elimination of hopelessness and anxiety. Students engage in establishing strong relationships with adults whom they confide in with their feelings and situations (DeSocio et al., 2007). Adults guide students further impacting on the sense of belonging in the community among students. Students who establish positive relationships with adults usually attend classes due to the availability of support and guidance.

Reid (2006) identifies the School-Based Scheme (SBS) program, which combats truancy in schools in the United Kingdom. SBS has a long term strategic plan that overcomes truancy through the elimination of essential attendance troubles that students encounter. SBS composes of five distinct stages in which students engage. The first stage is where the students attend at least 92% of their classes. Students don’t require any support in this stage. The second stage entails sending an initial warning letter to guardians and parents indicating the importance of regular school attendance.

Moreover, parents’ responsibilities and consequences of guardians failing to fulfill their obligations are in the second stage. The third stage comprises of students with an average of 75 – 84% attendance. This stage requires parents to attend a panel consisting of key staff members of the school, such as principal, social worker, and performance director. The main agenda of this meeting focuses on the importance of consistent class attendance. This meeting formulates plans facilitating regular participation of students.

The fourth stage comprises of students with attendance report ranging between 65-74 percent. In this stage, students and their governors appear in the governor’s attendance panel. Governor’s attendance panel consists of governor of the school, principal, social worker, teacher, and performance director (Holtes et al., 2015). Primary agenda of this meeting focuses on discussing the importance of regular attendance and developing a strategy to help students attend school frequently. Parents and guardians receive a warning and notification regarding regular class attendance of their children. The fifth stage of the process comprises of students who have an attendance register of less than 65 percent. This stage requires students and their legal guardians to attend a Local Education Authorities Panel. The Local Education Authorities Panel is similar to the District’s board of Education in the United States (Holtes et al., 2015). Board members of the meeting oversee the likely causes leading to the nonattendance of students. The meeting adjourns with a final warning to students and their guardians.

Furthermore, students’ class attendance should be 100% for two months under the monitor. Dropping of students’ performance leads to disclosure of their information to relevant authorities such as Child Protective Services (CPS) for further disciplinary measures. Unfavorable performance from students implies the presence of immoral behavior that facilitates intervention. Reid (2006) examines schools in which the program was successful and notes an increase in class attendance of about 10% during its first year of implementation. Moreover, performance and attendance increases in schools which implement the program concerning schools that don’t apply the plan. Students who undergo strict supervision opt to accomplish higher grades due to high-class attendance. Disciplinary measures enforce high standards of conduct leading to students engaging in self-control hence undermining truancy and absenteeism. School-Based Scheme instills higher supervision standards that force students to participate in activities that uphold proper values and norms in society. Moreover, students who enroll in School-Based Scheme have a positive affiliation with excellent academic grades.

Review of the methodological findings

The existing literature explores various methodological approaches that define multiple causes of the truancy in high school students. The research suggests multiple applications and consequences of programs and interventions during the studies. Most of the literature review identifies parents’ participation, community cooperation, and school administration as critical aspects influencing truancy among students. Moreover, the use of incentives and supporting students to overcome psychological problems affects truancy among scholars. Attwood and Croll (2015) suggest an ongoing evaluation as relevant in each element of the control strategy. For intervention on absenteeism to be successful, assessment of each prevention strategy is critical.

Nonetheless, most of the studies that implement truancy reduction programs fail to provide details on challenges, evaluation, and outcomes. Truancy programs evaluation focuses on aggregate information, which, in the broader perspective, lacks meaningful comparison groups. Aggregate data relies on the short-term benefits of truancy programs like reduction in absenteeism, which provides inadequate information for assessing changes that may exist in the attendance record of an individual (Blackmon & Cain, 2015). Several factors affect class attendance. However, information determining the success of intervention programs is insufficient. Therefore, changes in class attendance need collection and valuation of diverse aspects to establish factors contributing to truancy.

Research by Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) shows truancy programs relies on also short-term benefits in a meta-analysis of intervention programs that the United States uses to address school dropping, which hinders completion of high school. However, the standards of research do not relate to meta-analysis. Thus, the conclusion of the study focuses on prevention of dropouts that result from truancy. The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Preventions formulates laws that significantly impact a reduction of school absenteeism. The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Preventions funds programs that combat truancy in high schools. Evaluation of truancy programs provides valuable lessons like delivering student support services in preventing absenteeism, widespread mentorship intervention, and community awareness (Henry & Yelkpieri, 2017). Various stakeholders have different roles in developing strategies meant to hamper truancy. Involving law enforcers such Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Preventions assists in formulating laws that hinder more cases of absenteeism.

Most communities embrace truancy intervention programs hence incorporating with individual members and their families. The government supports truancy programs by providing adequate resources for identifying, locating, and transitioning the truant youths in communities. Appropriate authorities use tactics like the involvement of the police, negotiation, and suspension of missing children. Nonetheless, Attwood and Croll (2015) report that some strategies have not been successful in resolving truancy in high schools. Most communities lack relevant intervention and assessment services for truant youths in spite of indication of existing psychological problems. Community-based programs require identifying and addressing issues that children and families encounter before ultimately introducing the truancy intervention programs. Government and communities involvement in establishing intervention programs enables parties to handle truancy menace. Furthermore, parties working on reducing truancy in the community need to integrate their efforts to acquire first-hand information that deliberates on forming many solutions.

On the other hand, school-based programs reduce absenteeism and truancy through enforcing of teacher-student interactions. Positive relationships between teachers and students lead to higher lesson attendance and excellent performance among students due to one on one interaction. Students solve their problems quickly with help from instructors. School-based programs introduce school-based health care eliminating sickness excuses from becoming a primary reason for truancy in most schools. Students who fall sick get urgent treatment while in school or outside school premises if need be. Combination of school-based and the community-based programs provides a concrete intervention that assists in the reduction of truancy rates immensely. However, such programs only target truant students disregarding students who attend school frequently. Students who attend school regularly do not qualify for school-based and community-based intervention programs since their personality is conducive according to guidelines. As a result, missing students improve their performance while regular attendees’ performance remains constant. Integration of school-based and community-based programs involves the referral of parents to a mental health agency for students whose performance does not improve. However, parents resist psychological health agency recommendation since it is against their rights. Parents decline the offer to visit mental health facilities because it undermines their personality. Failure of community and school-based programs facilitates legal action hence favoring the use of law enforcement based agendas. Results from implantation of court-found and law enforcement based plans show how truancy leads to criminal activities among students later in life. Employing legal action against truant students assists in fostering behaviors which diverge from criminal events.

Synthesis of the research findings

Truancy hampers students from accomplishing their life goals according to the literature review. Literature review establishes a direct connection between school attendance of students and their achievements later in life. Absenteeism translates to no learning. Thus, no knowledge acquisition for truant students resulting in poor performance. Missing students lack the requisite knowledge and skills for accomplishing goals through the qualification of various job opportunities. Studies reveal that most of the absent students who miss more than 50% of their classes always fail in government tests and hardly manage to get good grades. Students who are sometimes lacking in qualities do not afford to achieve high academic grades. The literature review identifies numerous factors contributing to truancy among high school students such as bad influences, lack of interest in school, poor relations, bullying, student’s matters, and family factors. Furthermore, factors that cause truancy classifies into student caused truancy, school caused truancy, family caused truancy and psychological truancy.

Students make friends with others from different backgrounds while at school. Sometimes friendship often extends terrible influences on their colleagues depending on their upbringing, making it a significant cause of truancy. Interactions among students facilitate the formation of divergent views resulting in students emulating what they believe is suitable among their peers. Truant behavior can be a successful factor in relationships that upholds particular beliefs. Students who become missing as a result of lousy guidance often view truanting as a new act that can raise their status among peers. For quick acceptance in a given social group, students practice truancy. Sense of belonging many impacts on student behavior patterns. Thus, truancy prevention requires the implementation of programs and interventions. Most schools often opt for punishment such as the temporary or permanent exclusion of the student from school. However, Chen et al. (2016) mention that it is administering punishment on students further worsens truant behavior. Ekstrand (2015) suggests that establishing behavioral patterns ensures permanent abolition of a specific practice among students. Employing policies and activities that encourage upholding moral standards among students hampers truancy from intensifying. Involving students in sports helps in curbing absenteeism, especially in lousy scenarios. According to Parrish (2015), participating in sports such as soccer is useful since it makes students star on pitch. Students participating in sports encounter contentment when making judgment thus dropping on truant cases. Team games where students regularly participate in encourages students to attend school regularly. Through motivation available in teams, students gauge the confidence of attending school games hence improving in-class attendance.

Review in literature identifies a lack of interest in school as a cause of truancy. Most students don’t attend classes regularly since they are aware of what they want to engage in after completion of school. Students lose attachment to school affairs since they experience boredom resulting in truancy. Thus, they often prefer hanging out with their friends. Dahl (2016) suggests the introduction of lesson plans in schools which emphasizes the importance of acquiring skills and utilizing them beyond classrooms. Truancy results from poor relations at school. Truant students often evade going to school due to their unfortunate associations with their fellow students and teachers.

On the contrary, some teachers have the best interest of students at heart. However, students see teachers as arrogant and bullying. Positive relationships impacts on an optimistic attitude of students leading to moral upright among students who tend to engage in regular class attendance.

Mestry (2015) suggests that re-timetabling of students assists in solving a split relationship between students and teachers when students don’t work with the teacher under consideration. Peaceful pact ensues between students and instructors when learners undergo re-timetabling. School administration sets up a team meant to handle cases of bullying hence promoting safety among learners. Management upholds the protection of students by administering punishment on bullies. School management and community appoint personal mentors to enable students to share their problems hence avoiding truancy. Parents and guardians of the students uphold their responsibility in ensuring that children attend school frequently. Henry and Yelkpieri (2017) suggest that parents should not condone some reasons like unofficial holidays that makes students truant. Enforcing parent’s evening in which school emphasizes on the importance of regular class attendance and implications of being absent resolves parents caused truancy. Parents’ involvement in school affairs of their children stimulates suitable prevention intervention against absenteeism.

Critique of the previous research

The existing studies on truancy groups the behavior into four major categories. These categories include student-specific variables, family-specific settings, school-specific factors, and community influenced variables (Jaafar et al., 2013; Monahan et al., 2014). These studies introduce various interventions and programs which addresses truancy conducts among students. However, these interventions and programs focus in particular areas. Most of the literature reviews that truancy menace exists only in schools. The literature does not consider current allegations that have become a topic of argument in various forums. Forums suggest using simplistic thoughts and severe limitations to comprehend how truant behaviors develop in children and exhibit later in life. According to Ingul and Nordahl (2013), simplistic thinking through which children develop truant behaviors provides a solution to truant behaviors in schools and the juvenile justice system. Many factors attribute to school truancy (Breda, 2015; Maynard, 2016; Yang & Ham, 2017). The various factors that correlate to absenteeism have diverse causes and repercussions according to the literature review. Truancy traits among students are transferable through interactions. Interaction leads to the accordance of support from family, acquisition of experience, and creates a community atmosphere.

Previous research identifies four similar categories of truancy, including family, school, student, and community-level factors. Each of these factors is common since they have a variety of connection between aspects. The elements also reveal a mixture of characters which facilitates their success in explaining the incidences of truancy in high schools. Research by Ekstrand (2015) specifies that truancy initiates with both short and long-term challenges for the students who are prone to avoiding schools. These challenges not only affect students but also extends to their families, school, and the societies from which these students hail.

Nonetheless, Chen et al. (2016) suggest that students portray truant behaviors emanating from more profound problems, thus require the intervention of community members. Chen et al. (2016) identify that intervention by educators who embrace missing students assists family, school, and community in creating one on one relationship with students. Furthermore, a response by instructors makes students to disclose their difficulties. According to Dahl (2016), embracing truant students is essential in comprehending the level of implications brought about by truant traits.

The consequences of embracing the truant students also lead to various impacts on each truancy category. Chen et al. (2016) argue that in the first category of individual-specific outcomes, consequences group into short and long-term. Havik, Bru, and Ertesvag (2015) mention that most of the students who display truant behaviors lack ambition in life and expect much for their future. Thus, short and long-term consequences may not have any adverse effects on them. For students who might not have lost hope in their future, the most visible and immediate impact of truancy will always be on their education. Students accomplish poor performance due to lower class attendance, thus missing a lot of information (McNulty, 2016). Failures in education negatively affect occupation. Truancy persists in students leading to employment-related complications like high unemployment rates, less stable patterns in career, lower status in their professions, and weak earnings in their adult lives. Blackmon and Cain (2015) argue that truant students change due to their lazy nature hence employ the simplest and the best solutions to their problems. Missing people do their best to retain their job while giving their best during the times when they are available.

Mazerolle et al. (2017), argues that chronically truant students may always experience a variety of future relational difficulties, which may include those that form during the early stages of childcare. Missing students tend to produce a higher number of dependents leading to first marriages and consequently, a series of problems leading to marital breakdowns. Mijinyawa, Bakar, and Muhammad (2015) highlight poor health as an adverse adult outcome of chronic truancy. Chronically truant students suffer from poor psychological health during their adult stages of life due to some student caused the effects of truancy such as drug abuse. Gentle-Genitty et al. (2015) mention that chronic absenteeism leads to rehabilitation. There exists a variety of actions against the students who become truant due to substance abuse. Most of the substance abuse cases are a result of the peer pressure in their quest to be popular in school. Students also turn to drugs to relieve themselves of the painful feelings that emanate from family structures and bullying in school surroundings. Truant students are known to be poor performers in school. They turn to drug abuse and study aid drugs such as Ritalin to help them boost their performances and grades as a remedy (Virtanen et al., 2014). Moreover, students who use drugs tend to be deviant and anti-social. The personality of students who abuse substances usually has immediate results of behaviors that associate with truancy and leads to adult criminal activities.

Blackmon and Cain (2015) argue that truancy has direct impacts on educational institutions leading to loss of returns. The authors argue that school loses revenue due to a reduction in school funding from daily attendance rates of students. However, there exist laws which schools exploit to ensure every student attends classes (Solakoglu & Orak, 2016). Existing literature provides various programs and interventions which schools explore to ensure every student is present regularly. Loss of revenues in educational institutions is disastrous since it reduces the capacity of the institution to meet the educational requirements of students through service provision. Furthermore, it affects each student within the institution, regardless of his or her attendance record. Therefore, truancy results in devastating effects if no preventive intervention is made in advance.

Summary

This chapter reviews the existing literature on high school truancy. It introduces truancy and defines it as an intentional, unauthorized, unjustified, as well as the unauthorized absence of an individual from compulsory education. It also identifies the adverse physical, social, as well as the psychological effects of truancy on the students, which in turn affects their development. In this chapter, truancy emanates from school, teachers, student, and community, including parents. Existing relationships between teachers and students affect students’ behaviors hence causing School sourced absenteeism. The teacher sourced absenteeism comes about as a result of the critical nature of the teachers who always have high expectations for their students resulting in absenteeism. Students can also instate their truancy by being absent from class without giving any excuse. Parent sourced truancy has various causes such as parenting styles, a divorce of parents, and the breakdown of parents, which contributes to the behaviors of children. Absenteeism among students attributes from climate within the school, size of the school, size of classes, attitudes, discipline policy within a school, and the ability of the school to meet the diverse needs of every student. According to Henry and Yelkpieri (2017), the background of the student and other family-related issues that students often encounter are significant illustrations of truancy.

Critical elements vital for effective programming and control of truancy among students include involvement of parents, use of incentives, support, collaboration within the community, and active participation of the school administration. Various programs and interventions can be put in place by government, community, and schools to ensure students have regular attendance. This chapter reviews case studies, including the implementation of truancy programs and analyses results. Literature review reveals that most communities embrace truancy prevention programs and interventions and make them sanctions to youths and their families.

Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction

School administrators in secondary schools are worried about students who are chronically absent from school. Many wonder what keeps students away from school while trying to understand what they can do to get students in school consistently (Liu & Loeb, 2016).  Most work on the assumption that things such as low socioeconomic status, parent non-interest in education, and suffering from parental abuse are reasons to miss school (Jacob & Lovett, 2017).  However, the need to be absent may come from another source within the walls of the school in the form of bullying or lacking social support (Kelly, n.d.).

Bullying is a problem that is hard to discover and to verify unless someone else is witnessing, it is also difficult to correctly measure its extent in schools according to (Smith, 2014).  Not only is there difficulty in determining if bullying occurs, but as an administrator, it is problematic because of trying to discipline the individual (Rigby, 2011).  Additionally, according to Smith (2014) administrators may think they understand what effects bullying has on students, even they may not be sure. Bullied students may also experience other effects such as lacking social friendships (Tariq & Tayyab, 2011).

Students who lack social support in school may feel isolated or are loners, are not interested in attending school to escape the isolation (Dahl, 2016). Administrators tend to assume when students struggle to have friends, they are less likely to want to attend school. While this study will not argue that bullying or a lack of social support causes students to miss school more frequently, its purpose is to measure whether a relationship occurs.

In this research paper, there will be the use of a correlational design, data collection techniques, and analysis processes to answer the research questions. In every study, there are essential tools that are needed to facilitate the outcome of accurate information. This research methodology covers different sections including the formulation of the research questions, identification of the research design, identification of research population and the description of the research instrumentation (Creswell, 2014). Additionally, there will be an incorporation of procedures involved in the data collection processes. In every quantitative research, the process of data analysis is important as it enables the researcher to answer the research questions by carrying out tests of a hypothesis (Sedgwick, 2014). Data analysis will be discussed based on the types of data collected. Some tests that will be undertaken include Pearson correlational assumptions and the normality assumptions. Chapter three, therefore, outlines the data collection processes and analysis with the aim of answering the research questions.

Test for Assumption for a Pearson Correlation

The most popular way of defining random events is normal distribution. The processes fit normal distribution because the two graphs are bell-shape single peaks (their means). They are symmetrical that implies that the occurrence probabilities of the two values equidistant from the means, but on their different sides are the same. Most of the values are between -1 and +1 from the mean, it is one standard deviation. In almost all of the processes there are virtually no observations farther than three standard deviations from the mean and there are no farther than two standard deviations from the mean. The assumptions behind Pearson Correlation Coefficient are forgotten given its simplicity. The Coefficient of Pearson may not be appropriate and therefore it is significant to make sure that the assumptions hold. The requirements and assumptions for computing Correlation Coefficient of Pearson are normality, linearity, and continuous variables. Normality implies that the sets of data should correlate to the estimate of the normal distribution. Most data points tend to drift close to the mean in such normally distributed data. Linearity simply implies that data the relationships between variables are linear. This can be again explored by plotting the scatter diagram. If the data fulfills the assumption of linearity, then the data points a straight-line relationships but not a curve.

Purpose of the Proposed Study

The purpose of this investigative study is to determine whether a relationship exists between bullying and absenteeism in school students of age 18 and above within rural settings. Also, the study attempts to establish the relationship between peer social support and absenteeism among students of age 18 and above within rural settings.

One of many responsibilities of a high school administrator, that encumbers several hours weekly is student attendance. Likewise, time is spent on disciplining aggressive behaviors (bullying) from students directed at other students. It is the desire of the researcher to determine if there is a relationship between the bullying and students missing school. Furthermore, generally speaking, students that are victims of bullying have common characteristics, one being a loner with limited peer social support. With the knowledge that students may lack peer social support, the researcher intends to determine if there is a relationship between the amount of peer social support and student absences.

Research Questions

For this study, the researcher strived to establish relationships between the predictor variables (amount of bullying and amount of peer social support) and the criterion variable (school absences). The research questions are aligned with the behaviorism theory through evidence that the exhibiting of students’ behaviors result from flexes from the responses of certain stimuli in their environment (Murtonen, Gruber, & Lehtinen, 2017).

The following research questions and hypotheses guided the correlational study are:

  1. To what extent is there a relationship between peer social support and school absences?
  2. To what extent is there a relationship between being bullied and school absences?

Hypotheses

H01: There is no significant relationship between peer social support and school absences.

HA1: There is a significant relationship between peer social support and school absences.

H02: There is no significant relationship between being bullied and school absences.

HA2: There is a significant relationship between being bullied and school absences.

Research Design

The study is quantitative and specifically takes on correlational research design to be utilized as a data collection strategy (Creswell, 2014). The study aims to establish the relationship between bullying and school absences as well as peer social support and school absences. Correlational research is a non-experimental technique in which researchers measure two variables (predictor and criterion), understands them and then assesses the statistical relationship that exists among the variables. The researcher is not concerned with the cause and effect of the variables, so the correlational design is an obvious choice. Every school in the rural setting has its climate, culture, and demographic makeup which makes it possible that in addition to bullying and peer social relations, other variables could influence student’s attendance. However, the researcher does not make attempts to account for extraneous factors since it is a correlational study. The advantage of a correlational design is that it measures two variables and evaluates the statistical connection (i.e., the correlation) between them mostly with minimal effort or none at all in the control of extraneous variables (Crawford, 2014).

On the other hand, the researcher decided against using the causal – comparative research design because causal –- comparative design compares two or more groups (Groves, n.d.).  Additionally, as Groves (n.d.) stated, this type of research design usually works with a situation that previously materialized. Causal –- comparative is also known as “ex post facto”, which is translated as “after the fact”. Lastly, while the correlational study tries to determine a relationship, the causal-comparative design tries to determine cause and effect. In this instance, the researcher is not interested in cause and effect (Groves, n.d.,).

For analysis, the study looks forward to statistical analysis since it needs to produce statistics that can indicate the relationships and significance of predictor and criterion variables. There is one part of data analysis to be included in the study which aims to comprehend the relationships between the variables in the study. The researcher will examine correlations among three variables: bullying, school absences, and peer social support. Data shall be collected using questionnaires that include questions depending on the two research questions which are: to what extent is there a relationship between the amount of peer social support and school absences and, to what extent is there a relationship between the amount of bulling and school absences. Selection of samples for the study population will be through a sampling of three rural high schools and purposive selection of participants to reach only those students that fall under the categories required. It is important to note that the researcher and each school reside within The Commonwealth of Virginia, that the researcher works in one of the high schools in the County and each participant will have an equal chance of being part of the sampled schools. The study needs respondents that are secondary school students who are 18 years and over and are still in school.

Target Population, Sampling Method and Related Procedures

The participants for this study will be students (aged 18 years and above) drawn from three of four different rural secondary high schools, all from a Virginia school district. Presently, there are 338 students that fit the characteristics of participation. To facilitate smooth data collection, the participants in the study will have the right to refuse to take part without any consequence if they wish. After identifying the study population, the next thing is selecting a sample of participants. A sample implies a small group from the entire population that is studied (Van Voorhis & Morgan, 2007) and is selected through a specific technique (Muthén, & Muthén, 2002). Notably, eligible participants for this study are those students that are 18 years and above, still schooling and in a rural setting. All who meet these requirements and attend one of the three county schools shall be considered for inclusion in the sample.

One week before the survey, the researcher will be in constant communication with school administrators of the three schools as the date for survey draws nearer. The school administrators will act as the researcher’s contact persons in the respective schools. This will be intended to ensure any changes in terms of time, schedule, venue, and shortlisted participants are shared between the researcher and the school administrators.

The study is a survey and needs statistical analysis. The total number of students aged 18 years and above from three secondary schools located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is 338 at present. Based on that knowledge, the researcher wanted to find out how many participants are required to get results that represent the target population. By use of a sample calculator (https://www.qualtrics.com) with 80% level of confidence and a margin error of 5%, the ideal sample size will be 84 students (participants). In fact, in research, it is advisable to have a sample size that is ideal to reach reliable conclusions and recommendations that are easily generalizable (Welman, Kruger, & Mitchel, 2005). Thus, this sample is suitable for the correlational study and can aid in reaching concrete results and conclusions.

 

Instrumentation

The study will use the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (OBQ) a self-report instrument which is a standardized, legalized, multiple-choice survey structured to assess some issues related to bullying challenges in schools. The questionnaire which is comprised of 42 questions (many of them being sub-questions) is usually used with students of varied grades (Olweus, n.d) including secondary schools, meaning it is ideal for the current study. Students usually fill in the OBQ anonymously; this means the identity of participants of the current study will remain anonymous. The OBQ which is accessible on https://www.qualtrics.com has a number of unique characteristics that will enable the researcher to collect relevant data as much as possible. These characteristics include:

  • A full definition of bullying so participants have a better understanding of how they should answer the questions.
  • A majority of the questions mention a particular period or reference time, such as “the past couple of months (after the summer/winter holiday vacation)”. This technique is believed to be an ideal duration of time for participants to recall their past experiences.
  • The response options are designed to be as specific as possible by making use of terms like “2 or 3 times a month” and “about once a week”. Response terms are meant to discourage subjective phrases like “often” and “fairly often”, which are likely to be understood differently by participating students.
  • Other than being asked two broad questions (Questions 4 and 24 in the OBQ) on being a victim of bullying and being a bully, the OBQ will also ask participants corresponding questions (Questions 5-12a) on specific types of bullying (about being bullied) and also on bullying others (Questions 25 to 32a in the OBQ).
  • The OBQ will ask straightforward questions on students’ demographics (gender, sex, ethnicity, and the school the participant attends).

The study will also use another essential instrument known as Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS) which is a “60-item self-report rating scale that measures perceived social support for children in grades 3 through 12” (Menon & Demaray, 2013, p.50), an ideal instrument to rate the current study’s participants. CASSS assess four kinds of identified support (appraisal, emotional, informational, and instrumental) which corresponds to five different sources: parents, classmates, teachers, and close friends (Malecki, Denaray, Elliott, & Nolten, 2000).

In creating CASSS, participants will be asked to read a provided statement and input their response on a scale on whether they feel that they get that support. The development of the CASSS will allow the researcher to have a complete insight of the participants’ social support and allow the researcher to desist from looking at social support as a general term for a comprehensive and complex concept.

Gaining permission from the author of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire the researcher sent an email describing the research and the desire to use the OBQ in search of the intended relationship.  Additionally, the researcher contacted the authors of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS) by email. Once again the researchers described the research study and how the CASSS will be used to provide statistical information to help with the relationship questions. Permission to administer these questionnaires to high school students shall be sought from school administrators and students (Manson, 2002). A letter describing the intent of the research and the process of how the research is conducted is provided to each student that fits the participant criteria. Each participant has the opportunity to deny or accept the terms in which to participate. Furthermore, the researcher will need to submit a request to the Assistant Superintendent for Rockingham County for permission to enlist the students in the study. The Assistant Superintendent has requested the completed IRB application to assess whether to approve or deny permission. At the conclusion of this research, a brief description of the results will be forwarded to reviewers. The second instrument (Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale) will be utilized in this project to identify the influence of peer social support on the level of school attendance among the secondary school students of ages 18 and above. The questions in this survey relate to how these students feel regarding the treatment they receive from their peers. Items shall be recorded with scales and entered into SPSS to find correlations between the datasets attained from the collected data.

The two instruments (OBQ and CASSS) have been used previously in different studies and produced reliable findings. For example, Kyriakides, Kaloyirou and Lindsay (2006) reported that OBQ “has satisfactory psychometric properties; namely, construct validity and reliability” (p.781) while on their part, Cullum and Mayo (2015) reported that “the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS) for Healthy Behaviors, demonstrates adequate initial reliability and validity” (p.198). According to Mathers, Fox, and Hunn (2007), questionnaire surveys are the best tools for collecting quantitative data in research. Thus, selecting to use OBQ and CASSS survey instruments is because they are capable of producing the best quantitative data for this study.

Data Collection

On the day of the survey, two sets of surveys (OBQ and CASSS) will be administered to collect demographic data such as average days missed per month, gender, ethnicity, and age. After providing the informed consent to the participants, these two instruments will have cover pages that have an information letter on the purpose of the study and a statement that informs the respondents that by filling in and returning the survey, they have given their informed consent. As mentioned earlier, the OBQ is designed in a way that makes the questions to be as simple and straightforward as possible for the respondents. The instrument is also designed to provide relevant, reliable, and valid data. The OBQ will be administered to selected schools during school hours in the presence of one representative from each of the three participating schools. The administration of the OBQ will be done in groups of ten students. The OBQ will be administered to the students. Separate scales will be created consisting of (i) The items of the OBQ related to the amount of bullying on victims and (ii) those related to the magnitude to which students express bullying characters. Both scales will have analyzed for reliability and validity. They will also be analyzed separately for boys and girls to examine their invariance.

All selected students will be provided a separate room from the other non-participating students to avoid any potential interference to complete the questionnaires. The entire exercise for each school will take 30 to 50 minutes. The researcher, with school representative’s help, will note any strange happenings during the administration of the survey and if any issue is identified, it will be documented and be emailed to the researcher. It is normal for non-response bias (assuming some of the participants will not respond or fail to turn up) to occur in studies similar to the current one. To avoid non-response bias, the researcher will extend the survey collection period to two days so that the students can choose any of the two days to respond based on their lessons schedule. All students attending the three Virginia high schools are provided a Chromebook to use during their school years. Two links, one for each survey is provided on respondents Chromebook for them to complete the surveys. After completion of the survey exercise, the completed answers are collected through Survey Monkey.

The instrument items for measuring the level of absenteeism among the students (victims) that have been bullied include response items of school days missed or attended in the entire term. The responses will be arranged regarding the number of days they have been absent from school this year. If days are missed because a student believes they will be bullied or if they come to school because they are not getting bullied will provide answers to the research questions.

Operationalization of Variables

Demographics: For the entire study, age will be a significant factor such that all participants must be of age 18 or above. Those that do not make it to the age limit are excluded from the study (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2014). In addition, school students and the schools selected will be from a rural setting

Peer social support levels: In the current context, social support will be defined as the student’s beliefs that he or she is cared for, appreciated, and respected by those belonging to his or her social setup, that boosts personal wellbeing, helps him or her inadequately managing stressors, and could protect him or her from unfavorable incidents. With that understanding, the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS) items will include statements detailing supportive behaviors like “My friend(s) appreciate me”. Respondents will be asked to read every single statement and specify their response by ranking the item regarding frequency and importance. For example, frequency scores will be rated based on a 4-point Likert scale whereby 1 = Never and 4 = Always. Importance scores will be rated based on a 3-point Likert scale whereby 1 = Not Important and 3 = Very Important. As mentioned earlier, each of the five subscales on the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale will correspond to one of the social support sources (parent, classmates, a close friend, teacher, and school).

Each subscale will have 12 items that will assess the four types of social support (appraisal, emotional, informational, and instrumental). To find the frequency scores for every single subscale, the researcher will add the frequency ratings for each one of the 12 items under that subscale. By adding up, all five frequency subscale scores will give the researcher the Total Frequency score. Likewise, importance ratings for every single subscale is obtained by adding up the importance scores for the 12 items under every subscale. The added subscale importance ratings will be added to obtain the Total Importance score.

Data Analysis Procedures

The study will utilize correlational analyses for examining the relationships that exist among variables, and to apply various predictors (peer social support and bullying) for the outcome (attendance). SPSS for windows will be used for statistical analysis of the data in this study (Sedgwick, 2014). Before conducting the correlation analyses, data will be assessed against the assumptions of the Pearson correlation tests to see if they conform to them. In the first place, boxplots for every variable shall be formulated to understand the data and detect outliers which will be examined and dealt with appropriately. Second, normality tests for each variable shall be conducted as well as evaluation of kurtosis and skewness (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2013).

In the case of multivariate comparisons, scatterplots shall be generated for pairwise variable combinations. Every scatterplot will be examined for outliers and to confirm if the relationship between the two variables is showing linearity and the variance across the measures. After computation of the correlation matrix, bivariate correlations will be checked for the likelihood of forming multicollinearity issues during the regressions (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2013).

A correlational analysis will be done in that Pearson product correlation tests are calculated to assess the direction and strength of relationships existing between all variables. Correlation matrix will be developed to display the different correlation coefficients for every variable in the study. This information will be recorded in tables for purposes of the audience of this study.

Limitations and Delimitations of the Research Design

Limitations: Similar to a majority of studies, this study design has its limitations. The study is a quantitative study and thus requires an extensive sample (Creswell, 2014). However, regardless of the benefits of extensive studies, the large sample size is likely to magnify the bias linked to error emanating from sampling or study design (Kaplan, Chambers & Glasgow, 2014); therefore, this study will include 84 respondents. Other limitations on sample size are due to constraints of time and resources to engage a more extended sample. Larger samples mean more time for administering instruments and increased sums of questionnaires for distribution. Since the instruments used in this study entail self-reporting (questionnaires), a few cases of data cleaning may arise particularly in cases where one or two participants choose only to answer four or five survey questions, then such participant(s) will not positively contribute much and therefore may need to be excluded from the data set.

This study will use purposive sampling that creates a limitation of possible bias. For each survey, sampling techniques that are favorable are required to eliminate tendencies of bias. Šimundić (2013) provided that choosing a sample requires researchers to apply a method which may lead to bias-free participant samples since this can influence the findings of a project. The purposive sampling techniques are most of the time a breeding ground for research bias since it might encourage predetermination of results and conclusions. Conversely, this limitation will be eliminated by requesting the school administrators of the respective schools to select the respondents randomly as long as they meet the minimum age requirement while ensuring gender and ethnicity balance to avoid tendencies of researcher biases.

Delimitations: The delimitations of this design rotate around the topic as well as research questions. The topic of this study takes a context that has been of great concern in the U.S rural schools. This research project brings on something of such significance, and this becomes one boost for the study to run smoothly. The schools selected are those that have faced this challenge and need to find workable solutions for the matter. Therefore, truancy is a critical issue in a rural setting especially among older students, selection of schools that fall under this category and face the challenge was the best thing to do.

More so, the decision to conduct a quantitative survey with questionnaires as tools will help in extracting statistical data relevant for finding correlations among the variables (Dillman et al., 2014). The research questions could not have a better response than using questionnaire survey methods to get descriptive statistics of students who have experienced bullying and less social support for peers. Since the research questions are projected towards finding relationships between bullying, peer social support and school absences; victims will become the central focus. This decision is taken in a bid to help this vulnerable portion of students to have a productive and favorable learning environment.

Validity: Through previous studies, the validity of both OBQ according to Kyriakides et al. (2006) and CASSS according to Cullum and Mayo (2015) has been confirmed. This implies that the instruments will be administered with the knowledge that they meet acceptable standards and have the ability to collect the required data. As Manson (2002) mentioned, using instruments that have been tested improves the quality of data collected and ensures significantly reliable results and conclusions.

The validity of instruments consists of how correctly the evidence acquired represents the research variables. Reliability refers to the level to which instruments of the study generates consistent data or results after repetitive tests to create its reliability. The instrument validity was developed by supervisor of study reviewing the research. The questionnaire was pre-tried on a pilot scale via chosen participants outside the area of research to ensure reliability. The pre-testing objectives enabled for alteration of different questions to clear up, rephrase, and clarify any limitations in questionnaire before delivering them to the real respondents. The methods of quantitative studies rely on the components of reliability, validity, and objectivity in ensuring the research data trustworthiness. The credibility was created via members checking, repetitive observations, prolonged involvement and participation, debriefing of peer, and triangulation. Transferability was developed via a detailed research explanation. The process of audit enabled the researcher to establish confirmability and dependability.

Expected Findings

The study expectations are to find a substantial relationship between bullying and absenteeism and social support and absenteeism among secondary school students that are 18 and above. The researcher expects to effectively respond to the questions related to whether (1) to what extent is there a relationship between the amount of peer social support and the number of school absences? Also, (2) to what extent is there a relationship between amount of bullying and the number of school absences?

The researcher strongly believes there is a significant relationship between peer social support and the number of school absences by students, an observation verified through some studies (Rothon, Head, Klineberg, & Stansfeld, 2011; Stamm, 2007, September; Wallace, 2017). It is from this belief that the researcher expects results that point to peer social support as a factor that could help reduce chronic truancy among K-12 secondary school students.

Additionally, the researcher believes there is a significant relationship between some amount of bullying and the number of school absences by the victims above the age of 18 in a rural setting. Previous studies (Dunne, Bosumtwi-Sam, Sabates, & Owusu, 2010; Gaukler, 2015; Grinshteyn & Tony Yang, 2017) have produced findings indicating there is indeed a relationship between being bullied in school and absenteeism.

Ethical Issues in the Proposed Study

The researcher will receive an introductory letter from the university department of attachment, and this will be used to get to the field. The researcher will then obtain approvals from both the school administrations and school district before the actual data collection process. Formal applications will be sent to the schools requesting for permission to use their school and students as part of the study. Manson (2002) recommended that researchers get a consent form educational authority to take on a study project in a specified area of operation. This will enable the research to be conducted in an acceptable manner to both the researcher and the population.

In conclusion, chapter three is to act as a blueprint of how the correlational survey will be conducted. It provides a procedural structure of how data will be collected or generated and analyzed in this study. This chapter gives shape to the sample selection, data collection and generation, and data analysis as will be used in the chapters that follow to aid the arrival at firm conclusions and recommendations of the study.

 

 

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DESCRIBE HOW TO SECURE SUPPORT FOR THE CHANGE PROCESS FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT .

/in /by

PLANNING A CHANGE

PROCESS

CMI UNIT 6003 V-membership number-p 04695630

HARRISH CHANDRA RADHAKRISHNA | | 17 NOVEMBER 2019

TASK 1

Introduction

The Mauritius duty free paradise company ltd(MDFP) is found in Mauritius. MDFP operates retail duty shops at the Mauritius airport and the organization has been set up some 35 years back. We offer for sales a broad assortment of liquor, wines, spirits, perfumes, tobacco and cigars, local made products, high end luxury good like watches, jewelry, leather goods, pen and so on. I have been working for the organization for the last 25 years, I have acted as a sales supervisor for 15 years and I am a shift leader for the past 3 years. I form part of the middle management and I manage a team of 5 sales supervisors along with 80 sales /support/administrative staff. We do work on a shift system depending on flight timings and operations exigencies.

As per Mauritius customs regulations, MDFP is allowed to sell duty free goods to only incoming and outgoing travelling passengers including those travelling by private jets. MDFP also fully owned the Rodrigues duty free shop, which is our sister island around 2 hours’ flight from Mauritius.

MDFP is a parastatal body where the main shareholder (80%) is the government of Mauritius and the remaining 20% for the airports of Mauritius limited. We have a board of directors of highly qualified and top ranked government officials ranging from the advisor to the prime minister to the CEO of airports of Mauritius limited.

This assessment will highlight some of the challenges MDFP is currently facing in regards to input of revenues when compared to similar organizations like DDF.it is the position of this assignment that an increase in the number of MDFP shops as well as introduction of more domestic products could transform MDFP into an internationally recognized retailer making significant contributions into Mauritius economy.

AC 1.1 –DETERMINE THE ORGANISATION POSITION IN THE SECTOR AND MARKET WITHIN WHICH IT OPERATES

MDFP operates in the highly competitive segment of the retail business. The retail industry has experienced a huge transformation with the introduction of online retail with companies like eBay, amazon providing to be a huge source of competition for traditional retailers. However, because MDFP is a duty free retailer operating within Mauritius airport, the online business had a minimal impact on the organization as well as similar retailers.

Furthermore, we do not expect any future developments in online retail to have serious implications on our business since we target mainly travelling passengers at the airport and not the public at large. We do, however, keep looking for different methods that we can employ technology to improve our service delivery with our customers and suppliers. We are the major duty free products retailer in the country and in the region also compared to Seychelles, reunion island, south Africa etc. The largest duty free retailer worldwide is the Dubai duty free(DDF) which is a young organization (1983) but with a huge turnover of USD 2 billion yearly. nevertheless, at MDFP, we are trying to be as competitive as DDF and many of our products line are cheaper than them e.g. liquor, perfumes and confectionery.

MDFP turnover has been constantly increasing since its opening and below figures for the last 3 financial years:

  • 2016/2017-€ 54.5 M

Turnover as per products category as follows:

  • Tobacco-14%

MDFP yearly profits turnaround € 11M with a constant increase of around 2 to 4% yearly. Actually there is a great demand of local made products/souvenirs and a radical change in terms of new products, opening of new shops with a better and wider assortment of these products will give a boost to our turnover from 2 to around 10% thus an increase of around € 5M for this category. The retail sector is very dynamic and with high flux of travelling passengers, mainly during the forthcoming high season, same will be beneficial to MDFP in terms of profits and turnover.

A PESTLE analysis of MDFP will help understand our environment as same is an important step towards developing new strategy and change as the retail business constantly changes and these changes are crucial. These changes will assist in designing an organizational change process that will allow MDFP to reach similar levels as DDF.it is essential to note that the key step towards accomplishing this will be to attract more local and international passengers into Mauritius.

As more people use our airports, it is expected that their spending will go up leading to improved business for us. Consequently, gaining a deeper understanding of the political, economic, social, technological, Legal and environmental factors that can influence the flow of people both positively and negatively will be crucial. Furthermore, a PESTLE analysis will help us understand the messaging that we will use when trying to inform the world about our improved products in our additional retail stores as well as the current ones.

Below a PESTLE analysis of MDFP:

  • POLITICAL FACTORS
  • Competitive products and pricing pressures
  • We are imposed quota on tobacco and liquor for our inbound passengers
  • Comply with health guidelines provided by government to avoid legal troubles worldwide
  • Need also to abide to laws of other countries e.g. allowance of tobacco products to other countries e.g. Singapore is zero tolerance in terms of tobacco for incoming passengers there
  • ECONOMIC FACTORS
  • Our prices are affixed in euros, exchange rates inflation
  • People tend not to spend so much money
  • Competition high amongst our competitors
  • People save more money to buy products of basic necessity
  • Better shape of worldwide economy, higher revenue and higher profits for the organization
  • SOCIAL FACTORS
  • Increase in use of social media resulting in lots of on line sales
  • Tendency to eat/drink healthy so downfall on sales of tobacco/liquor/confectionery
  • Preference for local made products by local entrepreneur
  • Consumers like good deals-discounts and sakes are the norms now
  • Demands of new generation are different and importance of customer service growing more so more focus to be given on customer engagement.
  • TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
  • Use of variety of technology-like website and cash registers to manage money
  • Internet makes us reach our clients worldwide-offering online selection but must buy at our outlets only as we cannot offer online services
  • Organizations that fail to keep up with technological advances leave opportunities for our competitors or smaller retailers to enter their market
  • LEGAL FACTORS
  • Legal conditions to be abided by for example labour laws, international laws in terms of security as our product goes around the world through all airlines and passengers, e.g. when targeting foreign passengers intending to buy gifts for their loved ones, certain airlines/countries restrict the amount of liquids or cigarettes in their country. Singapore and Australia are examples where only 2 packets of cigarettes are allowed per passenger. Also some countries like USA may charge airport tax and VAT on goods coming into the country. Thus we should price our products with this in mind.
  • One more example all tobacco products should be sold with warning pictorial signs
  • Legal scenario is very complex so we have to be cautious since any violation can be damning
  • Legal conditions between our suppliers as we deal with famous and important brands
  • ENVIRONMENTAL
  • Focus on packaging and sourcing in an environmentally responsible way
  • We sell food products therefore needs to be very cautious about food contamination/expiry dates are monitored closely
  • Environmental issues inside our shops for customers and employee safety-this is set by government and airport authorities

In brief, the PESTLE analysis shows that we need to be up to date with political, economic, social, technological, legal and economic factors that could influence our business model. We must familiarize ourselves with the evolving political and legal changes taking place in other countries so that we ensure our products remain competitive while using technology and social media to market MDFP products.

 

AC1.2-IDENTIFY AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE IN SUPPORT OF THE ORGANISATION OBJECTIVES.

Small organizations must adapt to the competitive business world for its survival. While MDFP has done considerably well to remain competitive, there is a need to increase our market presence in Mauritius and build our brands to promote Mauritius as a shopping destination. The change process proposed in this assignment will follow Kotter’s (1996) 8 step process in addition to Kurt Lewin’s three steps of planned change, as discussed in later sections.

MDFP is doing very well, nevertheless to attract a larger customer base, increase sales and turnover and meet customer needs is a priority.

We have a great demand for local made products under the label “MADE IN MAURITIUS” and additional 2 shops, one in departure and one in arrival, with a larger variety of products will be beneficial to both the organization and the shareholders. New products will create a buzz and there will obviously be an increase in pax penetration thus sales for other lines of products will go up too.one more important point is that change in product assortment will bring higher spend per pax thus improving service level with the ability to x sell and upsell on other existing brands too.

Investment for this change in terms of staffing/salary will be nil as we will deal with suppliers to provide to us additional staff on their cost to promote their products thus boosting their sales too. This is a win win deal as we are their sole provider of goods at the airport and thus promoting their brans with tourists.

TASK 2

A.C 1.3-DISCUSS A MODEL OR METHOD TO IDENTIFY A CHANGE PROCESS AND THE COMMUNICATION OF THAT CHANGE PROCESS

To fully and successfully implement the change and also meet the stakeholder’s requirements, MDFP will have to support the performance of all staff as they will be the most important partners in the change process. We need to develop staff skills in order to match the requirements needed for the launch. On the other way, a good implementation plan is important as same identifies the goals and objectives, list the project tasks and defines rules and regulations.

As a team leader, I will have to manage efficiently as the change will impact on staff but will be beneficial to MDFP. If I can rely on top management and my sales supervisors to help me implementing the change, things would be easier for everyone, for better results.

To assist me in the plan, I will use Kotter’s (1996),8 step process and I will use the first 4 steps for our change plan that is:

  • Create a sense of urgency-by making employees aware of the urgency and need of change, they will support and buy in the change. This requires honest and open dialogue and same will be accomplished by informing them about threats we face.
  • Build guiding team-a project team to be established in order to occupy itself with the changes. Group should be made of employees in different roles so that they are all well represented.
  • Develop a vision-for everyone to understand what we want to achieve, a clear vision needs to be created as same supports and makes the changes more concrete. Employees will accept the vision easier if their ideas are included.
  • Communicate the vision-communication is a very important aspect to any form of change as same creates acceptance among the employees. Each time we get an opportunity, we must talk about the organization new vision and also have feedback about their opinions, concerns and anxieties.as leaders we must take the ownership of the change.

The need and importance of change should be clearly communicated to the key stakeholders about the need and importance of adopting changes in MDFP. Change is not always easy as I have witnessed during the past 25 years in MDFP but when we keep our staff involved and informed, things go on well. The goal will be informing the organization’s management that to remain competitive and make greater contribution into the country’s economy, we must take steps designed towards increasing our sales turnover.

We have several ways to communicate our change strategy in order to make same successful:

  • Be clear and honest about what is changing and why we must change-honest and respectful communication is the key words

Limeade marketing(2014),8 ways to communicate change[accessed on 22 October 2019, https://www.limeade.com/2014/04/8-ways-to-communicate-change-to-employees/

 

TASK 3

A.C. 2.1 – EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE PROCESS ON INDIVIDUALS IN THE ORGANIZATION

Organizational changes can have both positive and negative impacts on the individuals working within the institution. The effect of the change process within an organization is largely depends on the style of leadership as well as the methods of communication employed by the senior management. For instance, in the case of participative leadership, it is expected that individuals within the organization will be well informed about the changes, and the process of embracing new organizational culture will be well received by the staff. On the other hand, directive leadership relies heavily on the leader of the organization as well as its senior management team making decisions without involving the junior employees. This section will address the two styles of leadership and discuss the impact each is likely to have on individual employees.

Lussier & Achua (2016) argue that the implementation of organizational change is likely to create tensions and possibly affect employee performances in a negative way. This is especially the case when the change process is not well communicated by the management team, and employees are not fully aware of the roles they are expected to play in the change process, as well as, the impact this change will have on their continued employment within the organization. Thus, using a participative leadership style where the management encourages participation from the organization’s entire workforce is important. Participative leadership style works well when combined with participatory communication. Participatory communication takes place when the company leaders collect the views of the employees after informing them and convincing them of the need for organizational change (Greenwood, Jennings, & Hinings,2015)

On the other hand, a directive leadership style is only useful when dealing with inexperienced employees or where the change is urgent. In this style of and organizational change, tensions, anxiety, and conflicts are likely to arise as each employee tries to understand the change processes occurring within his or her areas of occupation. To this end, Lussier & Achua (2016) recommend that organizational leadership considers good communication with their employees so as to ensure the change process is accepted. by all.

MDFP will rely on participative leadership style and participatory communication throughout the change process. While it is possible that some employees will be affected by the organization’s change process in a negative way, any potential scenarios of resistance to change can be prevented through re training of the organization’s workforce in order to prepare them for their new responsibilities. Also, the organization would also stand to benefit from the contributions made by its employees when participatory communication is employed as opposed to the one-way, top-bottom communication style used in the directive leadership style. The company will, therefore, prevent any possibilities of employee unrest, layoffs, and resistance to change that is likely to arise during organizational change.

Nevertheless, it is expected that some of the disadvantages of participative leadership may affect the implementation of our planned change, and we should be prepared for this. For instance, Participative leadership style is time and resource consuming, especially when there are difficulties arriving at a consensus (Greenwood et al.,2015).to avoid delays, the communication inviting input from the employees will be carried out three months before the change process is initiated.

 

A.C. 2.2 – ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE ON ORGANIZATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS

The stakeholders of the MDFP are also expected to benefit from the pending organizational changes. For instance, the expansion of the company’s offerings will most probably draw more people to Mauritius, leading to increased traffic and potential customers for the products and services offered by MDFP.  This increase in potential customers offers the organization the opportunity to increase its sales, thus, increasing the returns on behalf of the key stakeholders, mainly the government of Mauritius and the airports of Mauritius. The increase in profits generated can help the government and the airports of Mauritius to expand the operations of MDFP to more airports while at the same time expanding the organization’s product range. As previously discussed, most of the products offered by MDFP are common to the products provided by similar retailers across the world. However, with the increased profits and the potential for expansion, the retailer can increase its product line and incorporate goods and services that are not currently in offer in other duty-free shops across the world.

Other beneficiaries of the upcoming changes are the local producers and manufacturers of products sold within MDFP. For example, local jewelers, tea, rum manufacturers, toymakers, and other local producers and suppliers within the industry are expected to benefit from increased demands for their products. In this case, the higher number of visitors and travelers will expand the consumption of local products, thereby leading to an input of foreign currency into the country. This would potentially lead to more jobs and income for the government through tax revenues. Making Mauritius a shopping hub, similar to Dubai, would help increase the flow of foreign tourists further benefiting the local population, local businesses, MDFP, and the government in the same way that DDF has benefited from the conversion of Dubai into one of the world’s leading destination for shoppers and tourists. For instance, in a publication by Mack (2019, the author noted that Dubai was ranked the highest by MasterCard in terms of visitor spending in 2018, in the world, this being the 4th year in a row. Furthermore, MasterCard reported that spending in Dubai was at use 553 per person per day when compared to second placed Paris where visitor spending was around Us 296 perday.in Dubai, the city gained in excess Us 30.8 billion from visitors expensed(Mack,2019). given Dubai weather (hot all year long) and geographical location, it is our belief that we would be able to achieve more than our current turnover if we put in extra efforts to marketing and implementing the right changes. In short, an argument can be made that the various stakeholders of MDFP will experience financial and branding gains once the organization carries out the organizational changes, as discussed in this paper. These benefits may be either direct, in the case of immediate stakeholders, or indirect, for the entities not directly tied to MDFP, the Mauritius airports, or the government and also all employees of MDFP.

 

TASK 4

A.C. 2.3 – ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE ON ACHIEVEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the expected changes within MDFP include increasing the demand for locally made products, “Made in Mauritius,” and growing the country’s economy through the expansion of the tourism sector and the travel industry. The planned changes in MDFP are expected to increase the demand for local products and services both within the country and abroad. Consequently, the expansion of the current number of retail stores will undoubtedly lead to higher sales volumes of local products through our duty-free shops located within the country’s airports. The current numbers of shops are limited to selling specific and specific volumes of products that are locally made, a fact that leaves out a variety of products that could potentially benefit the economy. For instance, local artists and businesses operating in the fashion industry are presently not well represented in the current setup of MDFP shops within our airports. Furthermore, most of the alcoholic beverages being sold in our shops is imported from foreign manufacturers, and the fact that MDFP is a duty-free shop provides them with an unfair competitive advantage over our local products. This is not applicable to alcoholic beverages alone since MDFP also sells other imported products ranging from jewelry, cosmetics, toys and garments. Given the fact that these international brands enjoy a significant advantage of financial power and brand equity over our locally made products, local producers and manufacturers are faced with tough competition. Thus, increasing the number of shops will offer the local industry an opportunity to grow, market their products, and possibly make sufficient profits to finance the sale of products that are “Made in Mauritius” in foreign markets.

The planned change will also help market Mauritius as a shopping and tourism destination in the similar fashion that DDF has managed to market Dubai to the rest of the world. Increased flights and visitors to the country will play a key role in expanding the country’s economy as well as marketing domestically manufactured products to the rest of the world. As a result, it is our belief that the planned changes will help us in meeting our objectives of increasing the marketing of “Made in Mauritius” products and the growth of the local economy.at the same time, it would be irresponsible if we fail to plan for the potential negative impacts of increase in tourism, for example, issues such as vandalism, pollution, traffic congestion and local goods becoming expensive. As a result, part of the money generated by the increased tourism traffic will be set aside to address the potential side effects of high tourist traffic into the country.

TASK 5

A.C. 3.1 – DESCRIBE HOW TO SECURE SUPPORT FOR THE CHANGE PROCESS FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT

There are different approaches to securing support for the organizational change process from senior management.one of the main challenges will be addressing the board because MDFP is owned by airports of Mauritius and the government of Mauritius. However, while getting in touch with the prime minister will be challenging, we can always address the board of directors including members that represent the government and the ministry of commerce. The first step is by convincing them of the need to implement change in order for MDFP to become competitive and increase its contwill be conducted in relation to the performance of other duty-free retailers of island nations as well as other African countries. This will be crucial given the fact that Mauritius is a small country with a population of about 1.2 million people, and it would be unfair to run comparisons with countries that have significantly high populations like Europe, China, and the USA. Once this comparison has been highlighted, for example, with the use of DDF, it will be possible to convince the senior management that MDFP is capable of improving its performances in order to match that of DDF.

The second step is to persuade the management that organizational change is not only necessary for the organization’s continued competitive growth but that it is also important for the organization to survive. As mentioned before, small organizations have to continuously change their approach to doing business if they hope to survive in the modern economy. At present, most developed and developing nations are constantly evolving at a faster rate in an effort to increase tourism into their country and market locally made products. Thus, it will be crucial for MDFP to improve as well and help the country market its domestic products in the current highly competitive market. Having a strong and highly competitive MDFP would benefit the country’s economy through the sale of domestic products, a fact that would be of interest to the senior management since 80% of MDFP is owned by the government.

Finally, the senior management would have to be drawn to the fact that the planned change process will help the country’s economy by improving the competitive advantage of the local businesses. For instance, I have highlighted the fact that the current setup disadvantageously affects locally produced goods that are forced to compete with imported products in an unfair environment for the local producers. The additional MDFP-owned shops will have a higher percentage of shelf capacity set aside for local products in order to give them a fair chance to compete competitively with their foreign competitors. Also, the cost of implementing this change will be minimal owing to the fact that MDFP is owned by the government and airports of Mauritius, who, in turn, own the airports and space where the additional shops are expected to be set up. With this proposal, it is expected that the management will see the need for change, the benefits of the change, as well as the low expected costs of implementing the change when compared against the potential benefits.

 

A.C. 3.2 – DEMONSTRATE HOW INDIVIDUALS IN THE ORGANIZATION WILL BE SUPPORTED DURING THE CHANGE PROCESS

The key objective here is to eliminate the possibility of resistance to organizational change by company employees. Myers, Hulks, & Wiggins (2012) argue that one of the biggest challenges to implementing organizational changes arise from poor communication and support for individuals within the organization. Failure to offer the necessary support can cause some employees to be left behind, leading to disruptions in the implementation process as well as the possibility of failing to achieve the organizational goals. Thus, this change process will require the training and retraining of company employees whose skills do not meet the requirements for our objective. Moreover, the organization will aim at implementing an open-door policy where those individuals experiencing difficulties with the change process can communicate freely to their supervisors, myself or other senior managers so as to ensure that their concerns are addressed. According to Mann (2019), there are 9 steps to follow when implementing change within the organization:

1.Enlist champions-this may include the use of mentors and experts to help employees requiring assistance to meet the challenges created by the change process.

2.Establish goals-the goals of the planned change will be clearly communicated to the workforce so as to minimize confusion and ensure that each employee is aware of what is expected of him.

and relevant safety requirements.

7.implementing changes within set time frames-it is important to ensure that the planned change can be reviewed on a regular basis.to accomplish this, a monthly review will be done to assess the progress and determine where we are lagging behind or ahead.

8.making policy changes-planned change without changes in organizational policies is in vain, thus it is the responsibility of management to make organizational policy changes to reflect our new goals.

9.providing post implementation support-in line with Kurt Lewin’s steps of planned change, it is important to provide support during the refreezing stage. This means that the organization must help employees get used to the new company culture.

This further supports the need for a participative communication style between the management and the staff, especially considering that it is the staff who are most likely to be impacted the most by the change process. Therefore, the organization will utilize communication and retraining in order to support the change process.

A.C. 3.3 – CONSTRUCT A PLAN TO IMPLEMENT AND MONITOR THE CHANGE PROCESS

Given the fact that this is a planned change on the part of the organization, the most appropriate plan to implement and monitor the change process will be Lewin’s theory of planned change. This theory utilizes three steps to implement change, namely; unfreezing, movement, and refreezing. As far as MDFP is concerned, the first step is to identify the problem the organization is facing and coming up with the most appropriate solutions that are capable of resolving the issues in question, in this case, the need to expand its product range by opening more shops. The movement stage in Lewin’s theory of planned change involves the entire organization taking the necessary interventions in order to bring about the required change. For the part of the management, this will involve the injection of the capital and space required to construct the extra shops for MDFP. It also involves contacting local producers and suppliers and informing them of the available opportunities for them to market their products in the new retail space. The final step in the implementation of this change process is refreezing which involves allowing the newly acquired organizational culture and changes to be part of the standard practice within the organization.

Pre-implementation Stage
Time Task/Change Process Goals
Four Months Meet with board of directors Inform them about the need to change and obtain permission to start change process
Three Months Call for employee meeting Inform employees about the planned change and receive input on how to proceed.
Two Months Identify relevant sites This will be strategic sites for the new shops
One Month Start contracting construction companies Get companies capable of constructing the entire project within the shortest time (preferably a year
Initiation of Change Process
1st Month Clear out work stations and hand over to construction company Leave the construction process to the contracted party.
2nd-12th Month Carry out monthly inspections To ensure that the work is progressing as planned and that health and safety of workers meets legal requirements
6th -12th Month Employee training This will be done to provide support to employees in need of extra training to manage in the new organisational structure
8th -12th Month Contact local suppliers and manufacturers A message will be sent out that there is extra space for locally made products within our duty free shops
12th Month Open new shops To sell products to our customers
12th Month onwards Offer continued support to our employees The support will be to keep our standards high in order to remain competitive and achieve our long-term goals

 

References

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Business Balls, 2019. Change Model-Kotter. [Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.businessballs.com/change-management/8-step-change-model-kotter/]

Lussier, R.N., and Achua, C.F., 2015. Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development. Nelson Education.

Marketing, L. (2019, June 18). 8 Ways to communicate change for better employee experience. [Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.limeade.com/2014/04/8-ways-to-communicate-change-to-employees/]

Myers, P., Hulks, S., and Wiggins, L., 2012. Organizational change: Perspectives on theory and practice. Oxford University Press.

Lussier Robert N and Christopher F. Achua (2016), Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development, Nelson Education.

Mack, B. (2019, September 5). Dubai tops world in tourist spending – again.[ Retrieved from https://gulfbusiness.com/dubai-tops-world-tourist-spending/]

Greenwood, R., Jennings, D., & Hinings, B. (2015). Sustainability and Organizational Change. Leading Sustainable Change, 323–355. doi: 10.1093/acprof: oso/9780198704072.003.0013