Introduction for a Chemistry Essay Example for Free

Introduction for a Chemistry Essay The average University student has many tasks to accomplish and much studying to do while combating the onslaught of sleep. Students at the University of the West Indies Mona are no different and recommended amongst themselves a highly rated and popular health supplement â€Å"Yeast-Vite† [8]. Yeast-Vite is a health supplement pill which helps people fight fatigue and improve alertness. The active ingredients in Yeast-Vite are caffeine, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3. The other ingredients are: dried yeast, lactose, powdered cloves, colouring E124, E104, E132, colloidal anhydrous silica, maize starch, and microcrystalline cellulose. [1] Yeast-Vite is a good energy supplier when taken according to the directions. The Manufacturer recommends taking 12 pills in a day [1] to eliminate fatigue and improve concentration. The â€Å"alert† effect can be attributed to Caffeine, a major compound that has been proven to stimulate the central nervous system, heart, muscles, and blood pressure control centres [2]. Each pill contains 50mg of Caffeine according to the label created by the manufacturer. The following structure represents that of caffeine. Though effective, research has shown that the intake of more than 300mg of Caffeine on a daily basis is harmful to the body. Symptoms such as caffeinism, insomnia, irritability, palpitations, Nervous symptoms, upset stomach etc. are experienced and consuming more than 500mg may cause death.[3] Theoretically, the recommended dosage of Yeast-Vite tablets daily can create such harm, since the suggested daily dosage of up to 12 tablets[1] adds up to 600mg –if caffeine content of 50mg per tablet holds true. A problem exists. The recommended daily dosage of Yeast-Vite contained too much caffeine for the human body. It was hypothesized that the caffeine concentration in Yeast-Vite pills could cause negative health effects and that the manufacturer’s idea of the caffeine content may be inaccurate. Three analytical chemistry students decided to test the hypothesis, and over a four week period, conducted the determination of the caffeine content of Yeast-Vite pills using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The researchers expected the actual caffeine content of pills to be 10mg more/less than 50mg of caffeine and also that Vitamins B1, B2 and B3 could cause significant interference. The analysis was conducted entirely as a group by dissolving pills in water, preparing calibration standards, and determining the concentration of caffeine in the pills via external calibration and standard addition (single spike). High performance liquid chromatography was chosen as the analytical method because caffeine did not fit the criteria for analysis by Gas Chromatography and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy i.e. caffeine’s volatility was negligible and it had no metal ions.

The Competitive Environment Of British Petroleum Management Essay

The Competitive Environment Of British Petroleum Management Essay This paper is basically about the analysis of British Petroleum PLC (Bp). The analysis covers the competitive environment of the company in terms of its stance in the midst of its various competitors and also how attractive is the industry in which the British Petroleum company belongs to. Apart from the competitive environment, this report also identifies the key business strategies of the company and also the various resources and capabilities of the company that has given the company an edge over it other competitors. In analyzing the competitive environment, business strategy and identification of the various resources and capabilities of British Petroleum, the following frame works will be used; sporter five force, strategic groups, Bowmans strategy clock, value chain analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. OVERVIEW OF BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP) The British petroleum is one of the worlds largest energy companies and also one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in the world, which provides its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and lighting, and also retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday use. The BP Plc operates across six continents which include: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America and their products and services are available in more than 100 countries in the world. British petroleums operations involve exploration, production of gas and crude oil, marketing and also trading of power, and natural gas liquids. British Petroleums headquartered is situated in London United Kingdom, and it has employs about 80,300 people as part of its labor force. Bp has various brands which include the Ampm, Arco, Castrol, Aral, Wild bean cafà © and Bp itself and the energy mix of the British Petroleum is a mixture of oil, gas, solar, wind and biofuels. BP is a company which focuses mainly on petroleum, but has some interest in alternative energy which shows that the company does not only specialize on oil and gas only like some of its competitors does. THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP) . In analyzing the competitive environment of the British petroleum, as earlier stated, a very useful tool to consider is the five forces model of competition which was developed by Professor Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School in 1980, this model identifies factors that affect the organizations competitiveness in the industry and also help the firm to adopted the appropriate strategy in order to enhance its competitive advantage and also protect itself from threat as well. The five forces identified by porter include: Threat of entrants from organisations currently outside the industry Power of suppliers i.e. providers of inputs e.g. staff, IT, accommodation Power of buyers i.e. recipients of products/services Threat of substitutes i.e. things customers might buy instead Competitors/rivalry competition within the industry THREAT OF NEW ENTRANCE: The threat of entrance into the oil and gas industry is Low due to the fact that there is high barrier of entrance into the industry. Some of the companies that constitutes the oil and gas industry like British Petroleum uses heavy and very expensive equipments at well sites For example, pumping trucks and other huge equipments, huge capital investment expenses is involved, such as High infrastructure cost i.e. pipeline, road access in fields, land acquisition etc.  Availability of human resources in terms of scarcity of subsurface reservoir engineer and geologist all this contribute to the high barrier of entrance into the industry. POWER OF THE SUPPLIER: The bargaining power of suppliers is relatively high and this is driven by the presence of high cost of switching from one supplier to another and also the presence of relatively small number of energy and alternative energy suppliers (concentrated suppliers), also some of the buyers such as Bp and some other companies that constitute the industry are vertical integration companies so they might not even have the need to want to require the services of this suppliers so the power of the suppliers is Medium. POWER OF BUYERS:  The balance of power shifts toward buyers. Oil is a commodity and one companys oil or oil drilling services is not that much different from another companys and this  leads buyers to  go in favor of lower prices and or better contract terms.  The power of the buyer will be regarded has being Medium because buyers are powerful and can switch from the consumption of Bp products to another oil and gas companys product and at the same time an individual buyers decision does not necessarily have an impact on the company. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES: Threat of substitutes is Low and the  Substitutes for the oil and gas industry includes alternative fuels such as coal, gas, solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity and nuclear energy which is still in the developing phase and also involves high cost of production. Oil is of great importance; it is not only used in fuelling cars alone, it is also used in the production of plastics and other materials. Majority of the means of transportation still relies heavily on oil and Oil is needed in order to generate electricity which implies that oil and gas would be depended on rather than the alternative due to its level of development and high cost of production. COMPETITIVE RIVALRY:   The level of competitive rivalry is high; the industry is characterized by big companies which produce low differentiated products and there is low threat of substitute and also low threat of new entrance into the oil and gas industry. Another tool that can also be used in the analysis of the competitive environment of the British Petroleum is the strategy group framework by Porter in 1979. According to porter, a strategic group is defined as a set of companies within an industry pursuing strategies that are similar to each other and different from firms outside the group on one or more key dimensions of their strategy. In terms of the oil and gas industry which BP belongs to, the level of competition is very high because major players in the industry such as Royal Dutch shell, Bp, Exxon Mobil, Total, chevron, and Conoco Phillips all adopt similar strategy and competing on similar bases which is adaptation of a vertical integration to an extent and they also produces similar range of products. BUSINESS STRATEGY OF BRITISH PETROLEUM OVER PAST 5YEARS In analyzing the business strategy being adopted by Bp over the past 5 years, the Bowmans strategic clock would be a useful tool. The strategy clock considers both the price and the perceived added value of goods and services produced by a company and compares it to that of its other competitors. Placing the Bp group under the strategic clock show that the company uses Hybrid strategy which means that they operate at a low cost based, reinvest in low price and differentiated in operation. BP is one of the largest operators and also one of the most well established globally, the company operates both in the upstream and downstream operation and its operations is also increasingly diversified or differentiated in production offering various oil products to the market. At the same time British Petroleum (BP) has a cost base that permits low prices and which is sufficient for reinvestment to maintain bases for differentiation. BP has been adopting the Hybrid strategy for a long period of time now and the sole aim of the strategy is to achieve differentiation and a price lower than that of BPs other competitors.

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Essay -- Hairstyles Beauty Adver

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set them back. The color of the ad is done in browns, earth tones. The signifier in this ad is the colorless sketch drawing of a woman that takes up one page of the two-page ad. She is a symbolic, versus an iconic sign, because the images that lead people to assume the picture is of a Black woman are learned, symbols such as ‘thick lips’ and the way her hair looks, not straight lines, but dotted. The signified is a Black woman, with ‘natural hair’, presumably pretty. The next part of the ad, and as equally important as the first, is on the second page. Large, in bold, is the word ‘naturally’. Beneath it are the words â€Å"If citrus sheen fell on shimmering braids and soothing mist caressed short twists. How lovely would that be?† It has the feel of a poem, and the different shades of brown add to the artistic feel of the page. The artistic feel is important, because it adds the idea of a woman with natural hair as being both bohemian and sophisticated. Beneath the ‘poem’ is an introduction to the product. It emphasizes the product’s natural ingredients, things that seem as though they would be better in a salad dressing than on one’s hair. However, these ingredients are important. First, the emphasis the ‘naturalness’ of the product in turn emphasizes the natural state of the projected audience’s hair. Secondly, its use of Americanized products instead of typical African products (olive oil versus jojoba oil) separate this ad from the typical ‘natural hair care product’ ads. This ad is geared towards a new type of Black woman, one who is more interested in a connection to spirituality and art than to Africa. The actual... ...ce political and socially, the harsher the beauty myth is used against them. In this case, the punishment for rebelling against the majority culture by adapting a ‘subversive’ hairstyle, the thinner you have to be in order to still be considered beautiful. Furthermore, thinness in the Black community is difficult to achieve. Typically, Black body structure, food and eating culture doesn’t easily result in thinness. This is the price Black women pay for this new expression of self. The new face of Black feminine beauty comes with a price. It alienates nearly half of those in the culture that don’t fit the standard. While the hairstyle challenges the majority culture, the newfound search for thinness that comes with the hairstyles returns Black women to the confines of White beauty standards. The ideology that natural hairstyles bring enlightenment came from the Rastafarian tradition. However, what new ads and cultural myth discount is the religious dimension that the Rastafarians placed on their hair. Natural hair doesn’t mean immediate spiritual or intellectual wisdom. What at first seems to be the advancement of Black women, shows the backwards regression of Black beauty.

Essay --

The objective of this article is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Speedster Athletics Company’s financial position. Company has a good profitability and a attractive asset base. However following strengths can be highlighted in the financial position of Speedster Athletics Company; †¢ Favourable Gross profits – Speedster Athletics Company has been able to generate favourable gross margins over the last three years consistently over the industry average of 26%. Gross margin is in a declining trend over 2010 to 2011 where 2011 gross margin is 27% (1371/5075*100%) which is 1% lower than 2011, however this is above the industry average level, proving that Speedster company is capable of generating better margins. †¢ Increase in Fixed assets base in 2011 over 2010 – From 2010 to 2011 there has been a 23.8% increase in gross fixed assets value. The raised funds through long term debts would have been used to enhance assets base of Speedster. This is a very positive sigh of future profitability and capacity of the company. Higher assets should be able to generate more cash inflow...

moralant Divine Law vs. Human Law in Sophocles Antigone :: Antigone essays

Antigone: Divine Law vs. Human Law The play entitled Antigone was written by a man named Sophocles, a scholarly author of philosophy and logic. The play Antigone is probably one of the most prominent interpretations of a tragic drama. The two main characters of the play are Antigone and Creon. There is much conflict between Antigone and Creon throughout the play, both of them having their own ideas and opinions regarding divine law versus human law. The theme that I am going to analyze is the conflict of divine law vs. human law. The reason for this is because this theme seems to control the whole play. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon's and Antigone's acts were justifiable. The play Antigone can be summarized by the following: King Creon lets it be known that Polyneices the traitor is not to be buried, but his sister Antigone defies the order because of the values she holds. She is caught, and sentenced by Creon to be buried alive - even though she is to be married to his son Haemon. After the blind prophet Tiresias proves that the gods are on Antigone's side, Creon changes his mind - but too late. He goes first to bury Polyneices, but Antigone has already hanged herself. When Creon arrives at the tomb, Haemon attacks him and then kills himself. When the news of their death is reported, Creon's wife Eurydice takes her own life. Creon ends up being all alone due to the fact that his family members took their own lives. Creon blames himself for all of these tragedies occurring, mainly because it was his wrong doings that caused them. The concept of divine law can be described as the law of God. Divine law involves morals and beliefs that are presented by God. Charles Segal describes the idea of divine law as being the "unwritten laws of the Gods" (Sophocles 64). This type of law is most likely in effect when the idea of morals are apparent, such as when a moral decision must be made. This type of decision would probably be considered right or wrong. Divine law is not only in decisions, but also in the everyday actions of people. Things that are morally "right" are in accordance with the law of God, while things that are morally "wrong" tend to be actions that go against the law of God.

Facebook and Harmful Effects: Internet Addiction Essay

Unlike reading books and long magazine articles which requires the ability of critical thinking, social networks such as Facebook are the new addiction among people. With its limitless quantities of photos and status updates, which are bright-colored candies for the mind, it’s been difficult to recognize how toxic and harmful Facebook and other social networks can be. In the last five years, researchers from the United States, Europe, South America, China, and other locations have conducted studies related to internet addiction, social media use, and Facebook. From the review of literature detailed in these studies, many researchers have suggested that a new form of internet addiction related to Facebook use has emerged globally. Determining how much use of Facebook is normal and what type of behavior represents addictive or abusive activity is not a simple issue, as work patterns, artistic creativity, photography, text messaging, and family activities can all be involved. The negative consequences of addictive social media use may not be immediately apparent to casual users. With debate ongoing as to whether to include social media addiction as a mental illness in the forthcoming version of the DSM used in clinical psychiatry, a review of current research in psychology and sociology is required to learn the characteristics, symptoms, and treatments for this growing problem. By reviewing individual case studies and surveys of cultural groups, more information about the modern diagnosis of Facebook addiction globally can be found. People are not rational enough to be exposed to Facebook, which can lead to a change of behaviors. When these changes become negative to the life experience or health of the individual, professionals in mental health care have begun questioning whether social media addiction is a problem that must be addressed in large numbers. Psychological research into internet addiction begins with case studies of individuals that are then reviewed in large groups to combine quantitative and qualitative methods in statistical  results. For example, the study by Karaiskos et al. (2010) looked at the example of a 24 year old woman who used Facebook for 5 hours per day, with over 400 friends. The woman had lost her job because of excessive Facebook use, posting status updates and other details to her profile. (Karaiskos et al., 2010) The woman had used the internet for many years without developing addiction to other sites before using Facebook. The Karaiskos study concluded that â€Å"Facebook addiction can be considered as an ‘urge-driven disorder’ with a strong compulsive component†¦ another subcategory of the internet spectrum addiction disorders.† (Karaiskos et al., 2010) Recent research by Kuss & Griffiths (2013) found â€Å"internet addiction appears as mental health concern for UK university students† and that â€Å"3.2% of the students were classified as being addicted to the Internet.† (Kuss & Griffiths, 2013) These researchers concluded that there was significant evidence that supported â€Å"the inclusion of ‘Internet addiction’ in the DSM-V.† (Kuss & Griffiths, 2013) Thus, a wide range of research in psychology and sociology is developing that identifies Facebook addiction as a serious mental health problem. Facebook consumption is a competitive disadvantage, where the less time spent on Facebook, the bigger the advantage people might have. The case study of the woman given by the Karaiskos study showed how people could use their job because of too much Facebook use. However, the impact of overuse of Facebook and the loss of personal productivity in the workplace can also be found in enterprise studies. For example, companies whose employees are addicted to Facebook may check frequently their profiles or friends’ information as to be viewed as wasting time and reducing office or workplace efficiency. The Sherman study (2014) showed the influence of workplace factors related to â€Å"personality type, values, boredom and procrastination† in employees. (Sherman, 2014) Recent studies by Kuss and Griffiths (2013) suggest that as much of 21.5% of the differential shown in addictive use to Facebook varies according to personality type. (Kuss & Griffiths, 2013) Sherman identifies neurotic individuals, women, and people prone to procrastination activities as most influenced by or susceptible to symptoms of Facebook addiction. (Sherman, 2014) Kuss & Griffiths (2011) found another characteristic that was indicative of increased susceptibility to Facebook  addiction in ecommerce and online shopping frequency. (Kuss & Griffith, 2011) From these and other studies, it is increasingly evident that the mental health issues related to Facebook addiction have an impact on worker productivity across both white-collar and blue-collar sectors. Continued research is required to determine the degree of impact in different industry from social media addiction. People who develop internet dependence may isolate and refrain from real-world activities, which can increase their risk of negative outcomes. While it may seem paradoxical that social media can lead to individual isolation, there are major issues with new technology use that have not been studied in long-term social impact or effect on individual mental health. Social media and Facebook usage are both relatively new phenomena, as are the rise of the internet and mobile phones globally. With these new technologies come new risks for people who are not critically prepared to monitor and condition their own behavior. Where isolation may also lead to addiction in other areas as an escape from personal problems, social media is then just one of many forms of abusive activity that can develop through negative mental health patterns. In this way, Facebook addiction may derive characteristics and causes in individual psychology on pathways similar to those that are found in other types of neurosis. (Kuss & Griffiths, 2013) Job loss, neglect of loved ones, friends, and family, or other problems can develop from people who become overly immersed in Facebook, while this can also lead to financial concerns, academic performance issues, or loss of contact with social groups in the â€Å"real world.† The problem with Facebook and social media addiction is further linked to narcissistic behavior in isolated individuals and environments that are mediated by new technologies. Facebook status updates are overwhelmingly about things you cannot influence. The daily repetition of notifications about things that people can’t act upon makes them passive. The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) looked at a set of 18 variables that related to Facebook addiction, including â€Å"the six core elements of addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse).† (Andreassen et al., 2012) The group found a high relation of correspondence between neurosis in  individual mental health and social media addiction. To a lesser degree, extroversion was also seen as a personality trait that can contribute to Facebook addiction, whereas conscientiousness would be a trait that would preserve people from falling into the problem. (Andreassen et al., 2012) From studies such as this, it becomes evident that increasing conscientiousness or critical thinking abilities in people could help them mentally balance activities and avoid internet, social media, or Facebook addiction. Sleep and regulated bed times were also seen as significant variables in these studies. (Andreassen et al., 2012) Social conditioning can have a large impact as it varies with personality traits in individuals to both encourage and discourage the development of Facebook and social media addiction. The primary antidote to what is unconscious, need-driven neurotic expression in Facebook addiction can be found in critical thinking. The more time people spend on Facebook, the more they exercise their ability to skimming and multitasking while ignoring the ability used for reading deeply and thinking with profound focus. This leads to a reduced ability to concentrate that may impact work performance, academic testing, memory, or other issues. The Kuss and Griffiths (2011) study found narcissism and neuroticism as related root causes of Facebook addiction. â€Å"Extraverts appear to use social networking sites for social enhancement, whereas introverts use it for social compensation, each of which appears to be related to greater usage, as does low conscientiousness and high narcissism.† (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011) Whether or not critical thinking is capable of addressing deeper root neurotic tendencies is currently under debate by these researchers, leading for many to argue for the inclusion of social media addiction into the DSM-V to reflect clinic and counseling environments. Critical thinking can be seen as a wider solution which does not address the neurotic elements at a root level of treatment, needing for the inclusion of social media addiction as a new mental illness category. Facebook can severely affect memory, disrupt concentration, and weaken comprehension. Developments in neuroscience and psychology can be applied to diagnose instances of social media addiction and to study the neurochemical or behavioral changes induced by the neurosis. In studying the individual  effects of Facebook addiction in MRI scans or neurochemistry, scientists can shed new light on the physiological issues associated with this problem. However, the phenomena is still new and related to technological innovations which require further studies worldwide in individual psychology and collective sociological issues involved. The â€Å"decrease in real life social community participation and academic achievement, as well as relationship problems† are seen at this stage as the most apparent symptoms of Facebook addiction as a mental illness concern. (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011) These conclusions may change as more research in neurophysiology, pharmacology, and neurochemistry are applied to social media addiction. Debate as to whether to include Facebook addiction as a mental illness in the forthcoming version of the DSM-V used in clinical psychiatry are strong, as the problem of internet addiction is well established. The problem of social media addiction has roots in narcissistic and neurotic behavior, and can lead to decline in performance in the workplace or school. Personal relationships can also be neglected when people become morbidly obsessed or addicted to their Facebook status and profile settings. The social media websites have an addiction percentage that may be as high as 3.5% of the population, which can represent serious mental health and economic consequences for millions of people. In addition to this, those who need help and treatment for this disease must have official psychiatric recognition in order for insurance coverage to pay for treatment, counseling, and prescriptions. Therefore, current research developing the characteristics, signs, and symptoms of Facebook addiction should be closely monitored in order that appropriate treatment responses may be applied. Works Cited ANDREASSEN, C.S., TORSHEIM, T., BRUNBORG, G.S., & PALLESEN, S. â€Å"DEVELOPMENT OF A FACEBOOK ADDICTION SCALE.† Psychological Reports, Volume 110, 2012, pp. 501-517. Aug. 03, 2014 . Karaiskos, D., Tzavellas, E., Balta, G., & Paparrigopoulos, T. â€Å"Social network addiction : a new clinical disorder?† European Psychiatry, Volume 25, Supplement 1, 2010, Pages 855. Aug. 03, 2014 . Kuss, D.J. & Griffiths, M.D. â€Å"Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature.† Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2011, pp. 3528-3552. PDF. Kuss, D.J., Griffiths, M.D., & Binder, J.F. â€Å"Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors.† Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 29, Issue 3, May 2013, Pages 959–966. Aug. 03, 2014 . Sherman, Erica. â€Å"Facebook Addiction: Factors Influencing an Individual’s Addiction.† Honors Thesis Program in the College of Management, Paper 5, 2011. Aug. 03, 2014 .

Motivation Theories Essay

A couple of decades ago, the topic of motivation were just another term in the books of managers trying to implement behavioural techniques on their employees. Give perks, give monetary benefits, performance rewards and employees are bound to be motivated – as simple as that. But gradually as the years passed by, as people began to move out of the shackles of monotonous, menial work environments, there was a radical shift on how management studies began to view motivation. There were debates, lectures, psychological-social experiments and theories which suddenly threw the old concepts aside and brought in new ones. The topic became a cynosure of all management, scientific and economic studies – a topic which was deemed simple suddenly became a complex monster without which, the workplace culture was poised to be threatened. Employees, after all, are the biggest assets of organizations – and motivation is what keeps them going. This paper will explore why the different motivational theories are important and break away from the usual old age concept of motivation and show it as the world is viewing motivation nowadays. The idea is to generate a certain amount of interest and debate in the topic (otherwise relative) so as to obtain a clear understanding as to what might be the underlying reasons for employee motivation. Motivation Theories Assuming that the reader already knows what motivation is, have known about the various popular motivation theories and can distinguish between the various motivational theories and the literature surrounding them; it has been observed how the traditional motivational theories of Maslow have almost vanished from the experiments and recent research papers, whilst laying emphasis on job environments and social evaluations. As the global market moves through recurring waves of economic slowdown and instability, more organizational changes have occurred leading to fluctuations in employee satisfaction and the way workers view their jobs. Motivation, clearly, has been a challenge. Leaving aside the various theories, basic motivational factors such as compensation rewards, innovative performance evaluation methods, the nature of work, organizational changes and socio-political structure have been evolving over the past few years and that has a direct impact on motivation. Among all the theories, the one which stands out (and is probably relevant) is Herzberg’s motivator –hygiene theory, which divides the concept into two parts – the motivator factors and the hygiene factors. While job satisfaction and work autonomy contribute to the ‘motivator’ factors, ‘hygiene’ factors constituted of pay and performance. Herzberg deduced that the insufficient hygiene factors lead to de-motivation and the motivator factors like job enrichment contribute to motivation. This is in compliance with the Hackman and Oldham’s theory of job enrichment which talks about increasing motivation stemming from skill identity, autonomy, task significance and job purpose. Deci & Ryan’s model talk about the similar aspects, giving rise to the notion that extrinsic motivational factors (factors outside work like pay, performance compensations, rewards) directly oppose the intrinsic factors (job satisfaction, challenging tasks, etcetera). While it is completely baseless to say that monetary rewards, i. e. xtrinsic factors do not work, it has been observed that insufficiency of such factors lead to extreme de motivation. On the flip side, intrinsic motivational factors work only if the work is challenging enough to engage the interest of an individual wherein the job has a psychological impact on the skills of the employee. [1] New Theories and Experiments As we usher into newer business environments, new theories and experiments have cropped up which are causing a paradigm shift in the way the world looks at motivation. The most popular which are used in business organizations are the carrot and stick approach [10] where colloquially employees are given ‘carrots’ as rewards and ‘sticks’ for reprimands. This consequently produces desirable and undesirable behaviours among employees who perform mechanical and process oriented jobs as in the service industry [13] . However, playing by the rules of the motivation theories, there have been an opposition to this and there was an approach constructed around the concept of intrinsic motivation when it comes to jobs which require creativity and rudimentary cognitive skills like building new products. Among the most famous ones are the performance of the candle experiment (see Appendix 1) with a three groups of people where each group was given varying monetary rewards to solve the candle problem [6]. The result shows how the motivation through monetary rewards falls flat in the face of creative and cognitive jobs. The same has been elucidated Author Dan Pink in his bestseller book about motivation, Drive [14]. A similar experiment was performed by LSE economics who concluded that â€Å"†¦ financial incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance† [4]. As the topsy-turvy war between various motivation theories continues, there are companies who have exemplified intrinsic motivation by providing autonomy to their employees to motivate them – Google, Atlassian, Wikipedia are just among the few examples. This display of being able to motivate their employees has led to these companies being the stalwarts in their respective industries. Accountability and autonomy has been redefining motivation theories all across organizations in the Western world [3]. However, across industries, organizations have been still trying to motivate their employees through rewards and monetary benefits while ignoring the age old basics of the intrinsic motivation theory. Motivation in an economic crisis The fire test for managers concerning this subject comes during an economic downturn when employee motivation is at an all time low. Organizational behaviour theory suggests the usage of three models: The Authoritarian model is used by most firms worldwide involving trying to control processes and bring all the resources in order through downsizing. However, this only leads to a substantial decrease in employee motivation. The IT service industry in India and other parts of Asia has been using this model during economic slowdown. This can be traced back to the roots of the Indian society which is built on a more authoritarian culture [11] . As the IT service industry is a more process oriented job, the managers mostly try to balance the company profits with resource downsizing. Interestingly, this industry sector also successfully uses the ‘carrot and stick’ approach to motivate their employees. The Paternalistic model tries to build up on the social protection of employees by gaining their trust and their willingness to continue with the company. This does not dampen motivation but does not elevate employee motivation enough to bring the firm out of crisis, as the employees are not encouraged to improve their skills. Russian firms in the 1990’s used this model to control the economic downturn but failed miserably as the employees were not motivated and it also accentuated the crisis situation. Based on Rensis Likert’s Supportive relationships principle, the Supportive model recognizes the employee as the most important member of the firm, which in turn is likened to a social system [2] . Probably the best form of motivation during a crisis would be the supportive relationship principle wherein people’s outlook towards economic barriers are used to overcome the crisis, hence changing their attitude towards job satisfaction and organization commitment by discovering growth opportunities, giving the employees ideas to foster company profitability and minimizing their professional crisis [5]. Motivation in IT industries – Asian vs. Western As the world is being swept by technological advancements, the IT sector has been in the boom and has been defining the trend in economic patterns. Considering the IT industry, in Asian markets such as India or the Philippines, where the industry is more service oriented, the motivation model is completely different from that which is used in the Western world. Western IT companies, which are more product based, do not follow the age old motivation theories. These theories like Maslow and Taylor of trying to influence workers and employees with fat salaries have been adopted by organizations which have an Indian base. However, the Indian companies which deal with the IT service industry address the needs of the employees in a more radical and structured manner as these companies understand the needs of the employees better than the Western companies with a presence in India. The dichotomy of the East-West cultures force organizations to take various approaches to the subject of motivating employees. In India, the BPO and the IT industry, which mostly dominate the economy, is heavily dependent on people, hence the motivational approaches are as important as the job itself [12]. The industry also shows a large spike in attrition as past trends have shown arising out of factors mainly because the employee is not motivated. An attitude study was conducted by Robbins to find out behavioural patterns of employees in BPO industry and to find out whether redesign of work, autonomy and restructuring teamwork and feedback increase satisfaction at the workplace, which in turn results in higher performance and motivating employees. The results were surprising as it was found that there was no relationship between job characteristics and motivation. Instead it was found that BPO workers were motivated to work as long as their salaries and financial demands were being met [9]. This technique is adopted by a lot of multinational companies which establish their BPO base in Indian and Philippine market. However, the Indian companies in the IT sector take a different approach by addressing the working conditions (like graveyard shift benefits), social concerns and standard of living of the employees. This is provided, not only by monetary benefits, but also by work time flexibility, autonomy, purpose and a sense of belonging. Surprisingly, this is the same strategy which is used in the western culture to motivate the employees. In Malaysia, where the service industry is one of the most emerging markets in Asia, there are several push and pull factors which affect employee motivation, which in turn affects the high rate of attrition in this sector. Studies in the Malaysian IT service market have concluded that though compensation and rewards have been the primary methods to motivate employees, work and job purpose are also seen as among the various pull factors which affect it [7]. Recently, however, international businesses have been restructuring and redesigning their reward and motivation scheme to address the local culture of Asian countries, aligning them with those of the Western cultures. Conclusion Motivation, as we see, is not just about trying to encourage employees with rewards and benefits. A lot of psychological and social aspects are intertwined with the way motivation works. All the motivational theories are bound to clash against each other as organizations are changing the way they look at employees and their needs. Managers need to be aware of the fact that employees are not just assets and treat workers with a sense of belonging. As globalization is turning a page, managers have to keep in mind how the workers react to workplace environments and how they can be motivated to shape up organizations and industries, on a whole by inducing creativity and encouraging them to look at the broader picture existing in businesses.