Causes Of Stress Essay

Stress is usually caused by too much pressure being put on us by others or in some cases by ourselves and if it’s left unchecked, stress can lead to an inability to function effectively, meaning a person will no longer be able to cope with the pressures placed upon them. The purpose of this essay is to analyze these three main causes of stress. The first major cause of stress is finances. Debts are piling up. Credit Card payments, pending mortgage installments, rising costs of education, mounting expenditure on health concerns. College students stress over paying for an education, older senior citizens find that retirement income can be a major cause of stress. This is pretty significant because financial stress is linked to health problems like depression and sleep problem. The second cause of stress is work. You may be worried about your next promotion. You might be facing the negative or bullying behavior of your boss. You might not be reaching your well-deserved career goals; you might be worried due to office politics. You might be stressed about some major change that is taking place in the organization, or, you might be under stress because of the prospect of losing your job. Students, especially teenagers and college age students, cite school work as a cause of stress. Sometimes, work stress is brought on by others. Sometimes, we bring it on ourselves. The third cause of stress is Health. For some, the stress is linked to obesity, and a desire to lose weight. For others, the stress is a personal bas habit that affects health and must be changed. For example, smoking, abuse of alcohol or other drugs. Illness or injury, whether less or more serious, can be a leading cause of stress for many people. In conclusion, There are many cause of stress in nowadays, and stress have many effect for our health so how to decrease stress? There are many different ways to manage stress. They are Take Care of Yourself, Maintaining The Right Attitude, Creating The Right Atmosphere, Interactive Resources.

Psychology Dream Analysis

As I was sitting down, I notice d three people that looked like teenagers walk in. Everyone in that dream looked boring and dread rye, lacking much color, all except this one girl. This girl was wearing a blue shirt. It didn't take 10 Eng for my 5 year old self to recognize this girl in a very strange way. As kept watching her I area sized she was an older version of myself. She had the same long curly brown hair, and green e yes. Younger me continued sitting in the corner watching older me. I saw her sit on the one side e of the booth by herself while her male and female friend sat on the opposite side of her. Fro m far away heard older me say to her friends â€Å"he said he would be here, he is going to be here s non. Don't worry. A server went up to the three of them and asked if they wanted to order food and the two friends said yes and ordered and older me said she would wait for â€Å"him† till he came t order her food. Little me realized she was talking about her boyfr iend and how he was soups seed to meet with them for dinner and he still had not shown up. Older me called â€Å"him† and he did not answer. Older Sabina kept getting more and more anxious telling her friends â€Å"he isn't here! He is not responding to me, where could he be? It has been a few hours! I can't believe he forgot† Among this, the younger Sabina started seeing everything In a time lapse, where the re was no more dialogue after that. Everyone started moving much faster. People were comic Eng in and out, bovine around, talking, eating.Before knew it almost everyone was gone, in clouding older Sprain's friends and all the other customers in the restaurant had left and the e manager or owner had locked up and turned all the lights off and went, leaving older and younger r me in the room. Older Sabina did not acknowledge my younger self nor did she even see me. There was a single light on older Sabina and her table. Older Sabina was very quiet and looked very pe nsive. All of a sudden there was a light on the complete opposite side of the room, older r me noticed and darted walking over to it. Little Sabina then became one with older Sabina a ND I was no longer on the sidelines, was right there.Under the light there was a desk like piece of furniture and on that desk there was a picture frame. Picked up the picture frame only to see it was black and white photo of a teenage couple at the beach. The girl had a big floppy sunhat and sunglasses and a polka dot one piece and the man had a regular battings on. They looked like they were in the middle of laughing. I flipped the picture frame and saw a note written on the back of the photo. It read â€Å"Sabina, This is a photo of my parents when they were younger. It make s me think of us. † Confused I stood back, and looked to the right of where the frame stood and saw a pill bottle. I picked it up and the bottle was completely empty.I turned the bottle around and on that side there was a nother note that read† Dear Sabina, I'm so sorry I couldn't be with you tonight, I couldn't make it. I'm so sorry I had to do this. † I began to scream and panic an d I threw the pill bottle against the wall and looked around for someone to be there, and no on e was there. I was lone, in the dark without any light besides the one shining on the desk full of horrid things, to guide me. I still remember I woke up I screamed and began to bawl, I ran to m y mother's room and told her what I dreamt. Will never forget how horrifying and painful that dream was and how hurtful it still is thinking about It. In the dream, the dreamer was younger at first, observing an older self inside of a restaurant.Seeing an older self symbolizes that maybe the dreamer is going t wrought cometh ins, and moving on from something. Being inside of a restaurant symbolizes that t e dreamer may be upset and is in need of emotional nourishment. When the dreamer observed that her older self was wearin g blue and everyone else was vague and bleak can be associated with the dreamer and views of herself. The dreamer wearing blue may be upset, or depressed. The p art where the older version of the dreamer was waiting for someone( boyfriend) to show up show s that she is very dependent on this person and finds them extremely important. It can also gig unify that one is waiting for something important or significant to happen.In the dream, after everyone was bovine around and the restaurant had been locked up and the older version of the dreamers self was all alone it symbolizes that she may feel abandoned or left in an encounter liable situation. When there was a sudden light across the room and the dreamer approached it and saw the black and white picture frame, it symbolizes a Wish to keep things the same and bee Eng afraid of change. Having the photo be black and white symbolizes that the dreamer may be fee ling confused, blank, depressed or lost. Something very tough and confusing may be going 0 n in the dreamer's fife. The note written on the back of the picture frame can be symbolic for a m usage that the dreamer has to know and figure out.When the dreamer stumbled backwards and into the darkness again it signifies that again, the dreamer is in a whole fit of confusion n and anger with a situation. In the dream, when the dreamer saw the pill bottle and realized it w as empty and saw the note on the back signifies that there may be something that needs to chaw Eng that isn't being accepted. The fact that the person the dreamer was waiting for and never shoo wed up. Along with he empty pill bottle and note that says the boy could not make it with an app logy shows that the dreamer may feel wronged by someone or a situation and that the death of t he boy shows that the dreamer may be in an upsetting situation experiencing a form of loss. O feel like this dream was certainly an accurate representation Of my life at that place in time. My parents had just divor ced and my mom took me with her when SSH e left my father. I was young and my father really was everything to me. At this point I had not s en him for a little while and it was the end of life as I knew it. I think seeing an older self was SSH owing that was going through something. Being with people, and then being left alone really r presents how I felt I was being abandoned and left behind by my father, because I didn't undo restart it was for my benefit that my mother left him. It really was an excruciating pain to deal with as a child especially not seeing someone I spent much of my time with as a child.

Movie Crash Essay Essay

The film â€Å"Crash† written and directed by Paul Haggis was taken place in Los Angeles. This movie illustrates how discrimination and prejudice has affected our everyday lives, due to the misconceptions we have of each other. All the characters in this movie are either victims of prejudice and discrimination or are guilty of it. To help us give more understanding about this movie I am comparing the movie Crash to Joseph Healey textbook, Race, Ethnicity, Gender & Class. In this movie we see a wide range and depth of prejudice and discrimination and it is not only the whites who are prejudice or discriminate but also minorities who are prejudiced and discriminate against other minorities. For better understanding first we need to learn the meaning of prejudice and discrimination. According to Joseph Healey â€Å"Prejudice is tendency of individuals to think and feel in negative ways about members of other groups.† Discrimination on the other hand, is actual, overt, individual behavior† (Healey 96). Healey thinks these two concepts do not always occur together. Healey believes that there are four different combinations of prejudice and discrimination. The first one is Timid bigot, Healey asserts, â€Å"A person who is prejudiced but doesn’t discriminate is a timid bigot† (Healey 96), An example of this is shown in the beginning of the movie Crash, when Dorri and her father, Farhad, are in a gun shop and the owner of the gun shop makes references to Osama bin Laden and Jihad thinking Farhad was Arab. When Dorri tells the gun shop owner that â€Å"You can give me the gun or give me back the money and I am really hoping for the money† (Crash), the gun shop owner gives her the gun because he is in a gun shop business for the money. This scene from the movie Crash shows a perfect example of timid bigotry; the gun shop owner is prejudiced but doesn’t discriminate due to his nature of work, he is a business owner and his interest is to make money. The second combination of prejudice and discrimination Healey mentions in his book is â€Å"Fair-Weather Liberal.† Healey states that â€Å"a person who discriminates without being prejudiced is fair-weather liberal.†(Healey 96). It’s more  like Officer Hansen who gets upset with Officer Ryan’s treatment to Cameron and Christine; he watched this whole scene but couldn’t stop Officer Ryan who is superior of him. He files a complaint against Officer Ryan and obtains his own squad car. Officer Hansen didn’t say anything to Officer Ryan instead he went back to his department and took an action against Officer Ryan. The third combination of prejudice and discrimination Healey mentions in his book is â€Å"All Weather Bigot† is when a â€Å"person is prejudiced and does discriminate† (Healey 96). In this case we can relate this definition to Officer John Ryan, who is white and racist against all color of people. Right after learning that the person who is handling his ailing father’s insurance case is black; he decides to take his frustration out by pulling over Cameron and his wife, who were black. This is also an example of the Scapegoat Hypothesis mentioned in Healey’s book, which describes how â€Å"people sometimes deal with personal failure or disappointment by expressing their anger on a substitute target, not against the object or person that actually caused their frustration† (Healey 98). In this case, Cameron was driving and did not violate any law; still Officer Ryan treated him and his wife Christine as inferior, and went so far as to molest Christine right front of her husband. Officer Ryan showed prejudice and discrimination by misusing his powers; he held Cameron and Christine until they surrendered their dignity. On the other hand, I believe Officer Ryan is not a bad person, because he is fighting for his ailing father and later in the movie he also saves Christine when she gets into car explosion. These different scenes from the movie illustrate that Officer Ryan who is racially prejudiced is ironically both villain and hero. The last combination of prejudice and discrimination Healey mentions in his book is â€Å"All-Weather Liberal† â€Å"a person who is neither prejudiced nor discriminate† (Healey 96). The best example for all weather liberal in the movie Crash is Daniel the locksmith. In the whole movie I did not see Daniel being racially prejudiced against any character. He is very quiet and the peaceful person in the whole movie and due to nature of his work, he usually works late at night. However, to me it seemed like that he doesn’t really care about working late nights rather he wants to spend more time with his family. Moreover, Crash demonstrates some other examples of stereotyping that are  mentioned in Healey’s book. According to Healey’s book, â€Å"Stereotypes are exaggerated overgeneralization† (Healey 99). It means that people often have distorted perception of another person or a group. They are based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical appearance and many other factors. An example can also relate to Daniel the locksmith, who comes to change the door locks for Jean and Rick’s house. By looking at his appearance and tattoo Jean sees him as a gang banger. She thinks after he leaves from her house he is going to give a copy of her house keys to his gang members and they will come to rob her house. That’s why she asks her husband Rick to get the locks changed again in the morning. Jean stereotyped Daniel based on his appearance. To me Daniel is a good guy, but Jean didn’t think of him as a family man. By looking at his appearance she made her judgment and thought of him as a gang banger but nothing else. There are some other terms that are mentioned in Healey’s book that can be related to the scenes in the movie. Another term from Healey’s book that is closely related to the movie Crash is â€Å"Selective Perception,† which means that â€Å"people often see what they expect to see, so stereotypes are often confirmed in a vicious circle.† The example can relate to Officer Hansen; from the first scene he is in, we can tell that he is not prejudiced and it seemed to me that Officer Hansen doesn’t have lots of experience with people outside of his race. In the movie he helps Peter, who is walking on the road side, by offering him a lift. This was the first time Officer Hansen seen prejudiced in the whole movie. Peter began laughing without explanation and Officer Hansen asked him to leave the car. Peter wanted to show him what he had in his pocket that was so funny. While Peter was reaching in his pocket, Offer Hansen panicked and shot Peter, who was innocent. That was the first time Officer Hansen had shown prejudiced; even though he was shown as a good man in the movie, he end up killing an innocent man. I think Office Hansen shot peter because he was afraid that his own life might be in a risk. Officer Hansen thought Peter was reaching his pocket for some kind of weapon and in seconds he made his decision and fire at Peter. The movie Crash shows many aspects of prejudice and discrimination. Crash explores many social encounters that are defined by different characters of  the movie. I think Crash represents the race relations in America and shows that how misconceptions and lack of communication makes our life situations very unstable. On the other hand, Healey’s Book Race, Ethnicity, Gender & Class have helped us with more understanding of prejudice and discrimination by giving us different combinations of racism and prejudice and by providing all important definitions. He even mentions that education have helped us with better understating of each other. But in my opinion we will never have that fully understanding of each other because somewhere on the line we forget who we are and the different people we are dealing with. Most time we think we don’t prejudiced or discriminate and sometimes we don’t even realize that we are prejudicing and discriminating against other people. I guess we are in modern racism.

The Concept of Human Resource Management Assignment

The Concept of Human Resource Management - Assignment Example All these careers relate to the training, developing and managing an aspect of the labor force in an organization. They cater to an extensive application of all the theories and aspects of the human resource knowledge in a broader aspect. Many organizations require a good personal, professional and academic profile in order to recruit people for the position of any skilled job in management designation. For less skilled job or fresh graduates with less or no experience, initial level jobs are offered. On the other hand, those candidates, who possess more experience and have the great qualification, are normally offered managerial level jobs in the human resource field. In this case, the Training and development Specialists are required to have basic knowledge of HR, a bachelor’s degree in the required field, and diplomas or certificates in the fields of training and developing the people. This is also performed by the individuals who are specialists in the field of managing people. Compensation and benefits in this designation are on an average level, while the job may be on a contractual basis only. Compensation and Benefits Manager is the position of a senior or managerial level. This position requires a Master’s degree in the relevant field, an acquaintance of candidates with the subject of accountancy and finance, and a good amount of long experience. The candidates with extra qualification and certificates are usually preferred for this post. The compensation and benefits may vary from organization to organization; however, the managers are normally given higher salary packages and good non-cash benefits too. These include car, cell phones, laptops, and other things.

Poetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poetics - Essay Example While he stresses the importance of action in tragedy, he claims that it is the plot which is the most important thing in the genre. One of the implications of Aristotle's Poetics is that for a tragedy to achieve its full impact, it must employ powerful rhetorical composition. In effect it requires an embellishment of language in order to deliver the intensity of emotion it has beforehand planned on exhibiting to achieve its purpose. Aristotle differentiates between the four kinds of Tragedy according to motive - Complex, Pathetic, Ethical and Simple - categorizing Prometheus Bound as Simple. Attributed to Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound is worthy of imitation by society because of the relevance of its content to Western history and civilization. Literature and history reveal that both Aeschylus and Aristotle highlight the importance of justice in political thinking. This emphasis on justice is undoubtedly evident in Prometheus Bound. Aeschylus' play is a prolonged metaphor epitomizing the complexities in a society, describing the struggle of a common citizen against a restrictive environment. Written circa 430 B.C.E., the Greek tragedy is based on the myth of a titan who was punished by Zeus for conferring to mortals the gift of fire. Bound to a rock by his friend Hephaestus, Prometheus calls on nature to witness his suffering. The Chorus of Oceanid comes down on winged chariots to hear his story and expresses sympathy. Oceanus alights to ask Prometheus to stop provoking the ire of Zeus but Prometheus continues to openly criticize Zeus despite her warning. Such audacity is admirable. In one instance, Hermes threatens Prometheus of a storm that will send him away if he does not reveal the identity of Zeus' son's mother who he predicts to topple Zeus. Despite everyone's advice for him to yield, Prometheus remains firm about keeping the information to himself. An allegory of humanity's conflict with the way of nature, the story emphasizes rebellion against an authority possessing an all-encompassing power and injustice. More than being a depiction of nature and society, it is also tackles agreement and diplomacy. Here, Prometheus is said to possess foresight through which he predicts the overthrow of Zeus by the latter's own son. He makes known to everyone his sacrifice in order to tell the truth about Zeus. He speaks of an offspring who will take away Zeus' throne and will be many times mightier than Zeus himself. His perception of self is that of a hero who is punished for speaking the unspeakable but speaks, nonetheless, what he believes is the truth. Aeschylus presents his character Prometheus as someone who is obsessed with humanity and helping people and society develop. In the play, he teaches mortals agriculture, language, mathematics, raising animals, medicine and even divination. Prometheus is aware of his role and influence in human civilization and thus demonstrates pride, triggering objection from humanity. Aeschylus' creation of Prometheus as a rebel does not happen suddenly but instead, in gradual progression. At first, Prometheus is open to reconciliation with Zeus. This is manifested by his utterance of prophecies that Zeus will set him free and befriend him because of his ability to predict occurrences. However, when Io comes into the picture and Prometheus sees the injustice done to her by Zeus, he becomes more enraged. The sight of Io turns Prometheus into a fearless rebel. Toward the end, Prometheus rema

International Marketing - Brazil Country Notebook Term Project Paper

International Marketing - Brazil Country Notebook Project - Term Paper Example The success of a business depends on culture. Culture varies from country to country depending on the origin, religion or cultural practice of the indigenous population. In fact, the tradition of the indigenous and the effect of religion in behavior is advance. For example, Brazil population is affiliated to Catholicism and the impact of religion may be adverse in some areas. However, Christianity offers the opportunity for success through integration and acceptance. Brastemp is a company dealing with kitchen equipment with the main focus being on cookers and fridges. It targets export to countries such as the US, Argentina and other South American countries. However, in the next decade the company intends to supply its product globally by venturing into Asian and African markets. The origin of the Brazil nation is under dispute by archaeologists. However, the beginning of the nation can be traced back to the native population described by the Portuguese colonizers as Indians. In the early discovery there were over 2000 tribes living in Brazil. The nature of the population owing to the difference in origin is complex with a diverse approach to business and other related activities. The history of Brazil is a complex story with diverse conflicts in academic report or work. In fact, the country’s history is divided into several eras with the main focus being on the colonization era. For business, the population and preference is vital because they help in determination of the market quality. Geographical setting Brazil is locates in the South America continent and is covers almost half of the continent. It is the largest country in the continent but has diverse coverage. The total area coverage is 8,514,215km2 which is both land and water combined. It is border

Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty - Essay Example nations have achieved high levels of prosperity based on the support provided to them by private organization that invested in the nations and help out in others ways through corporate social responsibilities initiatives. This paper provides analyzes the effect of corporate social responsibility in developing and developed nations. Corporate responsibility is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, local communities and society at large to improve the quality of life of everyone (Centidamar & Husoy, 2007). The contributions of corporate responsibility towards the sustainable development of a region and the globe can either be directly or indirectly. An indirect contribution of a company’s presence is a region is lowering the government’s unemployment rate by creating a substantial amount of new employment opportunities for the unemployed residents of a region. Coca-Cola is a multinational firm the as of 2003 employed nearly 30,000 people in the People’s Republic of China and creates through the supplier chain effect nearly 410,000 in the country (Thecoca-colacompany, 2007). This beverage company has applied corporate responsibility initiatives to directly help the community of China. Two examples of the types o f social project in which the company donates resources is an HIV initiative which donates on a yearly basis 340,000 RMB to help support 150 organ children infected with the HIV virus and Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing, China (Businessfightsaids, 2007). Corporate Responsibility is a balancing act between the global stakeholder’s interest and the shareholders interest. A shareholder has a narrow mind as far as what they feel is the most important goals since their only interest is to have the value of their investment go up which typically occurs with increase revenue and profitability. The manager of the firm is the one responsible of

Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism Assignment

Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism - Assignment Example The paper "Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism" examines various artists and their art styles, the depiction of different subject matter, influence of art to everyday life and history. The focus of this study is on Neoclassicism and Romanticism to Realism and Impressionism in Europe and The United States. In Goya’s work, â€Å"Third of May†, the victims are placed in the center of the canvas, and flooded with piercing white light that jumps out at the viewer. The victims are surrounded in blood red, yellow ochre and highlighting white, while the soldiers remain faceless and shrouded in subdued colors of black and grey. Artistic statements that go against the conservative grain or the status quo relating to religion, sexual and gender rights, politics, war, erotica, or portrayals of violence usually stand a good chance of offending some segment of society that wants to silence any voice that opposes them. The most memorable artist of late to embody thes e threats is Robert Mapplethorpe. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mapplethorpe had a very broad portfolio of work, but it was his images of erotica and sexual expression that caused controversy and legal scandal in the United States and abroad in England. Mapplethorpe’s graphic images were included in an exhibit that had been funded by the National Endowment For The Arts, which caused an uproar to many who claimed that taxpayer money was being used to fund potentially obscene.His images of defecation became the center of many legally heated discussions

MPH522 - Public Health Law and Policy, Mod 4 SLP Essay

MPH522 - Public Health Law and Policy, Mod 4 SLP - Essay Example There are twenty six government agencies that offer grants, including the Department of Health and Human Services. Those agencies are as follows: There are many kinds of people that can apply for these grants. Government organizations such as State and local governments, education organizations such as independent school districts, public housing organizations, and non-profit organizations, for profit organization, small business, and others may apply. There are also grants that individuals can get when applied for the right reasons (hhs.gov) The steps to applying for a grant are really quite easy but need to be followed very specifically. Self or organization must be registered. The person who is registering must register as an authorized organization representative. Find and search for grants in the field you are looking for, download the application package, apply for the grants be sure to follow every instruction completely, track the application and stay on top of the progress. In order to register the organization you must obtain a data universal number, register it with central contractor registration, get a user name and password and AOR authorization and then track the status (hhs.gov.grant). To register as an individual, you need to enter the funding opportunity number, and complete the profile form. The budget for the Department of Health and Human Resources is approximately $911 billion for 2011. Of that money, 3% goes to CHIPS, 10% goes to discretionary, 51% goes to Medicare, 33% goes to Medicaid, 4% goes to mandatory programs, and 2.3% goes to TANF. There are many goals attached to this budgetary money like they should be as a budget is really a plan. The following goals are present to be managed in this budget. In the news there seems to be funding available. There are many articles presently out there on newly granted programs including research funding, Centers for Disease Control

The Strategic Management Process Essay Example for Free

The Strategic Management Process Essay Introduction Strategic management process can be defined as â€Å"a managerial process that involves matching organizational capabilities to market opportunities† (Stevens, Sherwood, Dunn, Loudon, 2006, p. 15). The process can be either done on a corporate level involving whole companies or divisions or at an individual level involving a single product or service. First, the company’s strategic division analyzes the opportunities in the market and then matches the company’s resources to these opportunities. The major decisions taken by the strategic managers are whether a company is ready to take advantage of the opportunities in the market place, and set a broad plan to achieve it. To ensure that the strategic planning in a company is successful, the top management and line managers need to be closely involved in the process, and not just the strategic planners who facilitate the process. This paper discusses the strategic planning process in general as it applies to a company. The various elements of the process are analyzed first, in addition to the roles of the various managers in the process in the literature review section. The practical aspect of planning, the issues that can arise in various situations are covered next in the analysis. The problems arising from incorrect or incomplete planning process are also discussed in this section. The explosive rate of globalization has affected the strategic management process in a big way, and so has the computerization of business due to the advent of Internet. The affects of these changes on the strategic management process are discussed in the subsequent section. Finally a summary of the paper is given which highlights the main points of the discussion in the previous sections. Strategic Management Process Strategy defined by Armstrong (cited in McCourt, Eldridge, 2003, p. 25), is â€Å"a statement of what the organization wants to become, where it wants to go and, broadly how it means to get there†. Mc Court and Eldridge have also described strategic management as a simple process, and have given the following figure to mention the various components associated with it. Fig: 1 Strategist Management Process (McCourt, Eldridge, 2003, p. 25) According to the figure given above, the strategic management process begins with a mission, which is essentially the intention of a company’s existence and its purpose in general. Companies usually have a well-defined mission statement towards this purpose. The next element i.e. objectives define a company’s specific targets under the scope of the mission. The objectives are usually a set of statements that define the targets of the company. While mission is generic, objectives are specific and in many cases even quantified. The next element of the strategic management process is strategy, which is the broad plan or approach followed to achieve the objectives. The strategy merely defines the role of various departments or level of managers; it is not specific and acts merely as a guideline. Finally the implementation can be a tactical plan or exact roles and responsibilities along with set target dates for achieving a particular objective. Strategic management process hence adds strategic planning and implementation by adding ongoing attention to budgeting, to performance measurement, management and evaluation, and to feedback relationships among these elements (Hutzschenreuter, Kleindienst, 2006, p. 678). Poster and Streib (cited in Peters, Pierre, 2003, p. 40) present a framework for thinking about strategic management as a process. Their framework incorporates seven elements: values, mission and vision; strategic planning; results-oriented budgeting; performance management; strategic measurement; assessment of the internal and external environment; and feedbacks relationships among these elements. The first element in their framework comprises of values, mission and vision which are seen as a central organizing force for the strategic management process. The next stage i.e. strategic planning can be used to help the organizations get their values, mission and vision and to develop strategic initiatives to realize in practice. Result-oriented budgeting helps to organize the resources needed to fulfill the initiatives. Performance management involves strategies and mechanisms for assigning the responsibility for strategic initiatives to specific units and individuals and holding them accountable for results. Strategic measurement involves identification and tracking of valid measures of the organization’s attempts as it to achieve its strategic objectives. The next element as the name suggests analyzes the various pertinent factors in the internal and external environment of the organization, and their corresponding effects on the environment. Finally the element of feedback from the client helps in assessing the process of effective learning, adaptation and leadership (Peters, Pierre, 2003, p. 40). The strategic management process is a complex one and as suggested by Hutzschenreuter, Kleindienst, (2006, p. 677), it is also shaped by the environmental and organizational context. Business strategy development was due to a purely practical requirement’s perspective Post the world war in 1950s, the world for the first time became aware of the business opportunities that existed by considering rest of the world as markets, rather than production places. This brought about a very complex business structure, which became even more complex to manage financially. Thus formal business strategies were first built in 1970s to focus on planned diversification of companies. Hence, corporate planning, which was the norm of the business units till then, shifted to business strategy (Farjoun, 2001, p. 580). Strategy is essentially a deliberate search for a plan of action which will bring competitive advantage and compound it. Any company begins making its strategy by making an analysis of where it is presently, and what resources it has. The next is an analysis of the competition of the company in present market as well as the market where it wishes to expand. The competition in the new market gives an idea about the present competitive advantages of the company. The new markets are as a result of careful analysis of the places where the company would most increase the scope of its advantage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theories of building strategy started to emerge soon. However, even in the present day there is no clear cut path for the formulation of strategy especially concerning long-term business development, new products, technologies or investments, because of the ever changing business environment at an ever increasing pace. Theorists have divided strategy itself into three: corporate business and functional strategies. Corporate strategy gives the macro level decisions which companies need to take such as investment in diversification, vertical integration, acquisitions, and new ventures. The allocation of resources to different business units of the organization and divestments are also covered by this strategy. Business strategy is concerned with how the firm competes within a particular industry or market. That is to say the decision of how a company should compete in the market is answered by this strategy. Functional strategies are the elaboration and implementation of business strategies through individual functions such as production, RD, marketing, human resources, and finance. When the concept of strategy emerged, it was an implicit understanding that the senior managers of an organization are able to objectively appraise the enterprise and its environment and formulate a strategy that maximizes the company’s chances of success in an uncertain future. However, all the theories of strategic management agree on one thing that the formulation and implementation of strategy cannot be separated. A well-formulated strategy must take into account the way it would be implemented and through this implementation the strategy is continuously refined and formulated. Types of planning involved in a Strategic Management Process – The strategic management process is an amalgamation of different elements. Planning in any form is one of the most important process elements. Planning involves an assessment of an organizations mission and goals in relation to its external environment and internal capabilities, projected into the future by several years.   Organizations go in for strategic planning when they perceive that they are sensitive to external environment, which by nature is volatile (Alkhafaji, 2003, p. 5). Planning focuses on understanding changing stakeholder needs, technological developments, competitive position, and competitor initiatives. Any decisions taken after considering the long term strategic plan are more realistic and goal-oriented. There are different types of planning involved in a strategic management process which will be discussed in this section: Strategic Planning Strategic planning is the process of developing and analyzing the organizations mission, overall goals, general strategies, and allocating resources. It usually has long-term goal, vision and mission. These are usually prepared by top level management of the company. These strategies are usually prepared for a period of 5 or more years. This time frame, however, is arbitrary and is dependent on the long-range planning capabilities of the company’s executives, based on its resources. It lays a lot of emphasis on the future implications of a present decision, and hence aids in the organization’s adaptation in an ever-changing environment. The factors which influence the strategic planning are external environment, market dynamics over a period of time, financial, operational and process stability of the company. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of the company is critically important in the formulation of its strategic plan. After this strategic goals are made to show a path of reaching the vision of the company with its present capabilities (ORegan, Ghobadian, . 2007, p. 12). Tactical Planning Tactical planning is the continuous process of translation of broad and many a times ambiguous strategic plans, into specific goals and plans that are aimed at a specific division of the organization. Hence, it can be said that tactical planning deals with the implementation part of the planning process. It has a shorter time frame than a strategic plane, usually 1-2 years, and is also narrower in scope. The factors influencing tactical planning are the annual budget, project reviews, quality evaluation processes, target turnovers, market dynamics, government policies, consumer needs, available expertise and finally an evaluation of possible alternative solutions Operational Planning Operational planning is the planning done at the lower levels of the organization. It is used to detail specific processes and procedures used in a department. It primarily focuses on the daily routine tasks and is usually made for a short period of time. Operational plan is generally derived from a tactical plan to achieve one or more operational goals. The factors influencing an operational plan hence are the intra-departmental structure of an organization and efficiency of the manager. Another factor is the time-period for which an operational plan is made. Since the operational goal is either a single-time or a repeatable goal, some factors which effect the planning are the policies, reward system, and even the goal itself or the lack of a specific goal. To take care of such factors, the goal setting and planning should be collaborative (ORegan, Ghobadian, . 2007, p. 15).. Contingency Planning – According to Macneil (cited in Mayer and Berkowitz, 2008, p. 151) contingency relationships ensure some within relationship flexibility thus facilitating adjustments when conditions change Regardless of how carefully strategies are formulated, implemented and evaluated, unforeseen events always can make a strategy obsolete. To counter this, organizations should develop contingency plans, as a part of their strategic planning process, in the evaluation stage. Only high-priority planning areas require contingency planning, which should be as simple as possible. The prime factor influencing contingency planning is the degree of volatility of the present environment. That is to say, the frequency and magnitude of occurrence of unforeseen events like strikes, boycotts natural disasters, government instability and even at times arrival of foreign competitors etc. In case if company’s strategic plan is to expand, the above factors apply to the newer environment in question. Also, the possible affect of the present market environmental fluctuations should be taken into consideration while making the contingency plan for newer markets (Sadgrove, 2005, p. 258).                            Strategic Planning Organizations involve in the process of strategic planning in order to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by marketplace. Strategic planning can be defined as â€Å"a process that describes the direction an organization will pursue within its chosen environment and guides the allocation of resources and efforts† (Peter, Donnelly, 2002, pp. 5). Strategic planning includes all the activities that lead to the development of a clear organizational mission, organizational objectives and appropriate strategies to achieve the objectives of the entire organization. In the strategic planning process the organization gathers information about the changing elements of its environment. The output of the strategic planning process is the development of a strategic plan. In the discussion that follows, a case study is used as a means for understanding the elements mentioned above (Short, Ketchen, Palmer, Hult, 2007, p. 150)). This would give a practical demonstration of how a company translates these theoretical principles for use in their case. Strategic Planning Process – Strategic planning process is concerned with long term broad marketing mix decisions and the implications of these decisions. It is designed to ensure a systematic approach to planning. Hence, the strategic marketing planning process must be consistent with circumstances. The strategic marketing planning process occurs at multiple levels of the organizations and hence the plan represents the implementation of the organizational strategy. This follows the guidelines of the overall strategic planning process. The strategic planning process is considered essential when the increasingly hostile and complex environment where companies operate is considered. It is basically a series of logical steps that have to be worked in order to arrive at a marketing plan (Gilligan, Wilson, 2003, pp. 44). An extension of strategic planning process is the Strategic marketing planning process, which is concerned with the development of strategies that are based on the planning team’s assessment of the market and perceptions of managerial expectations and organizational capability. This process is used by the organization to formulate its strategy provided that it is adapted to the organization and its environment. Strategic marketing planning consists of ten steps: Mission, Corporate Objectives, Marketing audit, SWOT analysis, Assumptions, marketing objectives and Strategy, Estimate expected results, Identify alternative plans, Budget and First year detailed implementation program (Baker, 2003, pp. 91).                                           Management’s function in Strategic Planning Strategic planning involves an assessment of an organizations mission and goals in relation to its external environment and internal capabilities, projected into the future by several years.   Organizations go in for strategic planning when they perceive that they are sensitive to external environment, which by nature is volatile (Alkhafaji, 2003, p. 11). Strategic planning focuses on understanding changing stakeholder needs, technological developments, competitive position, and competitor initiatives. Any decisions taken after considering the long term strategic plan are more realistic and goal-oriented. Organizations should consider strategic planning as an essential management function. Any organization wishing to have long-term growth should infuse a culture of competitive focus throughout all the hierarchical levels.   Hence, every employee in the company, especially the managers compete, with their company’s competitors in their work (ORegan, Ghobadian, . 2007, p. 17).. Roles of various managers in the Strategic Management Process – Planning is a basic function of management which determines the objectives and the course of action required to attain them. Planning is done at every level of management, hence is done by all managers from the highest to lowest in the management hierarchy. Managers in an organization have a primary role in strategy-implementation. Managers use strategic planning as a management function to allocate resources to programmed activities, which is calculated to achieve a set of goals in a dynamic and competitive environment.   Management changes are even more extensive when the strategies to be implemented move a firm into a major new direction. Hence, their inputs while the formulation of a strategic plan becomes extremely important (ORegan, Ghobadian, . 2007, p. 18).. Equally important is the involvement of strategists in the strategy-implementation activities. There are four main types of planning – corporate, strategic, management and operations, each of which is carried out at different management levels, covers a different time-span and has varying levels of short and long-term impact on the working of the organization (Boone, Kurtz, P. 271). Needless to say, the planning activities of various managers at different levels are different. Senior management usually does the corporate and strategic planning activities. Strategic planning details the goals and objectives of the company while corporate planning decides how the organization would operate to achieve these objectives and goals. The resource allocation for achieving the goals is also done during the corporate and strategic planning stage. Strategic planning is usually long term covering about three to five years (Dixon, 2003, p. 29, 30). The plan charts out the path of the organization during the period and the various activities which need to be done for achieving the objectives set. An example of strategic planning is of General Motors and Dell’s business strategy related to their spare parts given in the book by Muckstadt (2005, p. 2) . In Dell’s case, there is no need to maintain an exhaustive inventory regarding its old products sales parts, while this is an important element of General Motor’s strategy. Hence, GM as a part of its business strategy maintains a huge storage space where hundreds of thousands of storage parts are stocked. The location of the storage space must also take into consideration its supply chain partners like either individual car dealers as well as its suppliers, when designing such a strategy. Change is the most certain part in any environment, and business and markets are guided by various factors, which might necessitate a change in strategy. It is the job to the senior managers to ensure that a new strategy ensures sufficient plans for the acceptance of the strategy by people working in the various levels of the organizations. An example is given in the book by Murray and Richardson (2002, p.5) about the Canadian industrial supply company Acklands-Grainger which in less than a span of twelve months moved from a 4% growth rate to a 20% growth rate and higher profitability. The authors mention in their book (p. 24), that within 100 days of launch of a new strategic plan for the company several major steps like a new communications initiative to involve more people in the decision making process, were successfully implemented. This ensured that the employees of the company were by and large impressed by the strategy and were enthusiastic to take part in the strategy. Many people working in the frontline were however skeptical about the strategic change within the company, as they could see little change in their own work areas. To ensure the front-line people, the Strategy team committed to five deliverables at the end of 200 days of the launch of the new strategy to assure its front-line employees that things were really changing. These included specific changes to branch operations, improvements in logistics and improvement in training. Although the delivery of the five tasks was not perfect the outcomes ensured that the employees felt that there was a definite change and had specific development points which they could identify with and discuss. The example above, details how a change in strategy was successfully implemented within a company. It highlights an important point that while a strategy change is being developed by a company, the strategy must be flexible and should include detailed plan for implementation to being about the change from the point of view of the line-employees (Parnell, Lester, 2003, p. 295). Management planning is done by middle level management who divide the task into different smaller units and ensure that proper execution of the task would take place by making a effective integration plan. This planning is of a comparatively shorter time span than the strategic planning and usually lasts for a single project or a set of similar projects. They also cover only a partial division of the organization. Operational planning is done by the line managers and is of a shorter time span than the management planning. It usually refers to the day-to-day planning addressing the specific time-tables, task and measurable targets that managers in each different unit of the project make and maintain to ensure that the task get done in-time. Hence, operational planning deals with developing and implementing tactics in specific functional areas. The managers allocate time and teams consisting of a specific number of employees to perform a particular task (Dixon, 2003, p. 31). Strategic goals are achieved by setting and achieving tactical objectives. Hence, it is very important that the plans at different levels complement each other. Managers at different levels must have proper and effective communications, such that goals at every level are understood as well as the objectives behind these goals. Senior and higher-levels of management must ensure that there information flow s efficient and the line-managers are aware and clear about their roles and responsibilities. The job of the middle managers is to ensure that the objectives are understood by the line managers and proper goals are set to achieve these objectives (Nadkarni, Narayanan, 2007, p. 263). It is often seen that many times the organizations fail to achieve their objectives, despite the fact that the senior management is clear about their vision and strategies and line-management is skilled at their work. The problem in this case lies with the middle management who fail to translate the objectives into tactical goals for the various functional groups (Boone, Kurtz, P. 271). Following figure shows a sample organization chart which gives the level of managers and the strategic business decisions they can take. Fig: 2 Strategic Decisions taken by various Managers (Grant, 2002, p. 24)                      Strategic Leadership and Decision Making As an organization prepares itself for future success, by using its strategic planning, no other internal factor is more critical than the strategy formulation and leadership. For a successful strategy formulation and implementation leadership is a necessary factor. The term leadership encompasses visioning, developing, motivating communicating and involving. The book by Scott (2005) defines the terms as explained by Peter Drucker, who gives three essentials of leadership as â€Å"Defining, communicating, and establishing a sense of mission in a way that is understandable to others; Treating leadership as a responsibility rather than a rank and; Earning and maintaining the trust of others† (p. 108, 109). The book further gives that opinion of Drucker on leadership, who says that it should be based on being ethical and consistent in word and deed rather than being clever and deceiving. Strategic leadership is a newly developed type of leadership and is needed to initiate and direct the strategic management process. Strategic leadership covers five aspects of leadership: technical leadership, human leadership, political leadership, cultural leadership and educational leadership. These aspects contribute directly to environmental analysis, planning and structuring, staffing and directing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the strategic management process. Strategic leadership can be defined as encapsulating entrepreneurial processes (Slater, Olson, Hult, 2006, p. 1225) Strategic leadership is also seen as a concerned with strategy development and change. Essentially strategic leadership refers to the top management team, and strategic theory has evolved from upper echelons theory. Strategic leadership concerns developing the organization’s vision, mission, strategies, and culture and monitoring progress and changes in the business environment to ensure that strategies are focused. Strategic leadership concerns monitoring how well organizational culture, including values is supporting the organization’s vision and mission (Brower, Fioi, Emrich, 2007, p. 70). It also concerns with the monitoring of human capital and organizational structure and systems. Strategic leaders posses the following capabilities which is the actual difference between managers and leaders also. These are given as below: Visionary/ Strategic – An abstract vision of where the firm might want to be in the future is of limited use without its translation into an executable competitive strategy. Hence, strategic leaders must have both the vision and the means to achieve the vision. Systems Thinker – Strategic leaders create organizational and operating practices that carefully coordinate the interactions and dependencies between different operating areas. Hence, a characteristic of strategic leader is that they can see the connections between individual parts of the firm and its competitive strategy, but do not concern themselves with individual practices or procedures. Effective Motivator/Communicator/Teacher – Strategic leaders can see the firm’s strategy and can see the requisites to deliver the strategy, in addition to being equipped to build the hiring, compensation, and coaching systems in accord with the firm’s competitive strategy. Obsessive – Strategic leadership is not a part-time activity and hence strategic leaders need to be obsessed with the execution of the strategy in each act within the firm. Strategic leaders are driven to align all the activities in the firm with the delivery of the value proposition. (Brower, Fioi, Emrich, 2007, p. 69, 70) It is clear from the above discourse that strategic leaders, more than anything else, need to believe in their strategy. For the success of a strategy, strategic leaders should be prepared to endure short-terms costs and dips in performance, to facilitate making investments for future. These tradeoffs are managed with a commitment to the strategy and there is no major change between different high and low periods, since the focus is on the long-term direction. Despite the fact that strategic leadership is generally concerned with the upper echelons of management, the qualities themselves are not limited to the top management group. This fact must be understood by the senior managers of the firm so as to create an environment, to make sure that these qualities are recognized, expressed and nurtured within all the levels of the organization (Hitt, Ireland, Camp, Sexton, 2001, p. 482) Strategic leadership and decision making – Management is usually concerned with the following functions in some or the other way: Planning, organizing, staffing, and decision making (Parnell, Lester, 2003, p. 298). Decision making is the heart of management. Any function performed by managers at any level of management involves decision making. Managers at all times are faced with a various alternate solutions of a problem, and their task is to choose the most optimum solution from amongst these and implement it. Decision making process consist of: identifying the problem, analyzing the problem, developing alternate solutions, comparing alternate solutions, choosing the best solution and implementing and finally verifying the solution. During the decision making process is where a manager continuously tries to achieve a state of stability by implementing a course of action, while all the time dealing with the possible consequences of his actions. A key competency in strategic leadership is decision making about whether and when to act (Elbanna, Child, 2007, p. 435) Consistency of decision making in accord with the firm’s value proposition is important for a strategic leader. It allows the members of the organization to see the connection between their daily responsibility and the delivery of the firm’s strategy. Strategic leadership hence involves building a coherent set of original beliefs and practices that are aligned with the requirements of the seller’s value proposition. All have responsibilities for their own beliefs and for the performance of their coworkers, and hence strategic leadership is needed for all the levels of the firm. Effects of business environmental changes on strategy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Theorists and business strategists consider the most important recent trends in the macro environment as the forces the new economy. The new economic era started at the advent of the 21st century, but the factors which led to the change had already been felt and observed at least two decades back. The new information and communication technologies restructured the global markets, and whole industry sectors, by challenging the conventional economic thinking and hence redefining how business is done. The New Economy is almost a revolution in the way business works, economic wealth is generated, so cities are organized and individual exist within them (Grant ¸2003, p. 504). The figure below shows the key features of new economic environment that impact on business strategy, as compared to the key features of old economic environment. Old Economy New Economy Key industries Oil, Mining, Steel, Vehicles, Railways, Shipping Computers and Software, biotechnology, personal and financial services, Entertainment Key Resources Energy, Labor Information Knowledge and Talent Technology Power Trains, Machine Tools Information Technology Product Life Cycles Measured in decades Measured in Years or months Trade Patterns International Global Working Day 8 hours 24 Hours Communication Media Letters, Telephone, Fax Mobile devices, E-mail, Internet and Intranet Organization Structures Centralized Hierarchical, Functional Devolved, Flat, Functional Workforce Characteristics Mainly male semi-skilled or skilled No gender bias, high proportion of graduates    Fig -3 Key features of old and new business environments (Sadler, Ryall, Craig, 2003, p. 29) Key elements that have effected the environment to bring these changes are: Globalization: The globalization as we know it has happened in two stages. The first stage was post world war, when other countries came to be seen as new markets rather than colonial acquisitions. This brought about a change in the business organization. The second phase was in the late 1980s, when the internet emerged to be a n option where people could display their wares or even sell them, for instance in case of paid music downloads. Presently globalization is not only an advantage; it has become a must for any company wishing to enter the business domain (Pitt, 2005, p. 316). Small-World with reduced distances – The world as we know it is getting smaller everyday with the emergence of new technologies in wireless communication. People can now communicate visually and effectively with anyone across anywhere in the world at the same time. This has brought about a lot of new requirements which were heretofore quite unknown Knowledge Economy – A bye-product of the shrinking world is the awareness people have about other cultures and economic conditions in various parts of the world. The awareness of the new technologies is also increasing among people at a rapid pace, and is no longer confined within a select few number of people. Impact of new technology – People in the present day world are so used to rapid changes in technology that they almost expect smarter, cheaper and better performance devices almost every day. Hence, the importance of RD among the various industries has increased and is no longer an option but a necessity. (Pitt, McAulay, Sims, 2002, p. 159, 160) In the light of these discontinuous, large-scale changes facing the world, organizations might be required to undergo major, strategic reorientations.   These reorientations may involve changes in products, services, markets, organizational structure and human resources. A change can be viewed either a technical problem, political problem, or a cultural problem. However, strategic change views the problem as a varied amalgamation of all the three problems. Strategic change refers to the non-routine, non-incremental, and discontinuous change that alters the overall orientation of the organization, and/or the components of the organization. (Hà ¥konsson, Obei, Burton, 2008, p. 65)   However, the exact boundary between a strategic and a non-strategic change is blurred. Sometimes it depends on the magnitude of change and at other times the time frame of the impact of the change is in question. Conclusion The paper gave a general discourse on strategic management processes. The process consists of various elements, and each of which is equally important to the process. The planning stage is the most critical out of these processes, which was described in the next section along with different types of planning. The nature of strategic planning was discussed in detail which also covered the strategic planning process. The subsequent section discoursed upon the role of various strategic managers on strategy building. After this the discussion shifted to strategic leadership and the power of decision making. Finally the effects of business environmental changes on strategy making was discussed, which gave the critical factors involved in strategic decision making in the present day world. A comparison of this was done with the economy just a decade or two past, and can be seen that there are few if any common factors between the two economies. Hence, the strategy making process has undergone a massive change in the recent times. Till then the strategy formulation process was an evolutionary one, with one element being added over another. But the present day world calls for revolutionary strategies since the success factors too have undergone changes. The paper hence gives an idea about the direction companies of the present day world need to take in order to be successful. While the topics covered are generic, and do not give a situation-level analysis for the choice of a strategy, there is enough information here to help strategic theorists understand the dynamics of the business environment and act accordingly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References Journal Articles Brower HH, Fioi CM, Emrich CC, (2007), â€Å"The language of Leaders†, Journal of Leadership Studies, Pages 67-80, Wiley Periodicals Inc, 20th November 2007, Volume 1, Issue 3, DOI 10.1002/jls.20026 Elbanna S, Child J, (2007), â€Å"Influence of Strategic Decision Effectiveness: Development and Test of an Integrative Model†, Strategic Management Journal, Strat. Mgmt. J. 28:431-453 (2007), DOI10.1002/smj.597 Farjoun M, (2001), â€Å"Towards an organic perspective on strategy†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 23, Issue 7, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 561-594, 28th March 2002, DOI 10.1002/smj.239 Grant RM, (2003), â€Å"Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: evidence from the oil majors†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 24, Issue 9, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 491-517, 14th April 2003, DOI 10.1002/smj.314 Hà ¥konsson DD, Obei B, Burton RM, (2008), â€Å"Can Organization Climate be managed? Making Emotions Rational†, Journal of Leadership Studies, Pages 62-73, Wiley Periodicals Inc, 28th February 2008, Volume1 Issue 4, DOI 10.1002/jls.20033 Hitt MA, Ireland RD, Camp SM, Sexton DL, (2001), â€Å"Strategic entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 22, Issue 6-7, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages, 479-491, 6th June 2001, DOI 10.1002/smj.196 Hutzschenreuter T, Kleindienst I, (2006), â€Å"Strategy-Process Research: What Have We Learned and What is Still to be Explored†, Journal of Management 2006; 32; 673, DOI: 10.1177/0149206306291485, SAGE Publishing Mayer KJ, Berkowitz J, (2008), â€Å"The Influence of Inertia on Contract Design:   Ã‚   Contingency Planning in Information Technology Service Contracts†, Managerial   Ã‚   Decision and Economics, Wiley InterScience, DO: 10/1002/m.d.e. 1390 Nadkarni S, Narayanan V K, (2007), â€Å"Strategic schemas, strategic flexibility, and firm performance: the moderating role of industry clockspeed†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 28, Issue 2, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 240-270, 30th January 2007, DOI 10.1002/smj.576 ORegan N, Ghobadian A, (2007), â€Å"Formal strategic planning: annual raindance or wheel of success?†, Strategic Change, Volume 16, Issue 1-2, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 11-22, 2nd April 2007, DOI 10.1002/jsc.777 Parnell JA, Lester DL, (2003), â€Å"Towards a philosophy of strategy: reassessing five   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   critical dilemmas in strategy formulation and change†, Strategic Change, Volume 12, Issue 4, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 291-303, 8th October 2003, DOI 10.1002/jsc.639 Pitt M, (2005), â€Å"A dynamic model of strategic change in growth-oriented firms â€Å",   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strategic Change†, Volume 14, Issue 6, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 307-326, 31st October 2005, DOI 10.1002/jsc.721 Pitt M, McAulay L, Sims D, (2002), â€Å"Promoting strategic change: playmaker roles in Organizational agenda formation†, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., 7th May 2002, Pages 155-172, Volume 11 Issue 3, DOI 10.1002/jsc.586 Short JC, Ketchen DJ, Palmer TB, Hult GTM, (2007), â€Å"Firm, strategic group, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   industry influences on performance†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 28, Issue 2, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 147-167, 20th December 2006, DOI: 10.1002/smj.574 Slater SF, Olson EM, Hult GTM, (2006), â€Å"The moderating influence of strategic orientation on the strategy formation capability-performance relationship†, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 27, Issue 12, John Wiley Sons, Ltd., Pages 1221-1231, 30th October 2006, DOI 10.1002/smj.569 Reference Books Alkhafaji AF, (2003), â€Å"Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation and Control in a Dynamic Environment†, Published: Haworth Press, New York Baker, MJ, (2003), â€Å"The Marketing Book†, Published: Butterworth Heinemann,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Massachusetts Boone LE, Kurtz DL, (2006), â€Å"Contemporary Business 2006†, Published: Thomson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southwestern, Ohio Dixon R, (2003), â€Å"The Management Task†, 3rd Edition, Published, Butterworth- Hienemann, Massachussetts Gilligan C, Wilson RMS, (2003), â€Å"Strategic Marketing Planning†, Published:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Butterworth Heinemann, Massachusetts Grant RM, (2002), â€Å"Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Applications’, Published: Blackwell Publishing, Massachusetts Muckstadt JA, (2005), â€Å"Analysis and Algorithms for Service Parts Supply Chain†, Published: Springer, New York McCourt W, Eldridge D, (2003), â€Å"Global Human Resource Management: Managing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People in Developing and Transitional Countries†, Published: Edward Elgar Publishing, Massachusetts Murray EJ, Richardson PR, (2002), â€Å"Fast Forward Organizational Change in 100 Days†, Published: Oxford University Press, New York Peters BG, Pierre J, (2003), Handbook of Public Administration, Published: SAGE Peter JP, Donnelly JH, (2002), â€Å"A Preface to Marketing Management†, 9th Edition,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Published: McGraw-Hill Professional, New York Sadler P, Ryall MJ, raig JC, (2003), †Strategic Management†, 2nd Edition, Published:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Kogan Page, London Sadgrove K, (2005), â€Å"The Complete Guide to Business Risk Management†, 2nd Edition, Publishing: Gower Publishing Ltd., Burlington Stevens RE, Sherwood PK, Dunn JP, Loudon DL, (2006), â€Å"Market Opportunity Analysis:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Text and Cases†, Published: Haworth Press, New York

Importance of Honesty

Importance of Honesty The importance of honesty is a value that has always been taught in the family, society and school. Honesty is a value that has many advantages and disadvantages. In occasions it is better to not say things because they will hurt the others. But then it is important to be honest with people. Because this way you will earn peopleÂÂ ´s respect. After looking at many definitions of honesty, the best one or the one that fits this particular context is the following: Honesty has its advantages and disadvantages. This is normal it is like resembling to fact that if white exists; black must also exist in order to contrast. The good thing about being honest is that people keep itÂÂ ´s ideals they show who they are. They do not lie because of the fear of being judged. The disadvantage of being honest is that it will hurt others, and that it might break up relations. In occasions the truth hurt and people do not want to hear the truth and they get upset with the person that is telling them the truth. ÂÂ ¹ definition http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2009/12/13/jun05.asp Honesty is the main reason to trust a person. It is the instrument to talk with the truth and win others trust. A person that has won itÂÂ ´s friend trust is a person that is honest. The society as well as itÂÂ ´s family members will have confidence and feel that they can rely on the person. When people are honest they begin to acquire fame. If you have good fame, it will be easier to have friends are you will feel n a good environment. Being honest also helps, because if you have nothing to hide, the behavior you will have is a relaxed one. But on the other hand when a person is not honest it is always worrying that the lies he has told are going to be discovered. He will always have to be careful, with each move or comments he makes. There are many forms of not being honest, one of them is when details are omitted or avoided. This is the most common form of being dishonest. The other form is when you make up lies in order to favor someone or achieve something. When people are not being honest it is because they fear that if they are honest something bad will happen. For example, women are more honest than man. When a women sees her friends boyfriend with another girl. She will call her friend and tell her about her boyfriend. Even though she is conscious that she might lose her friendÂÂ ´s friendship but she still tells the truth. Unfortunately people interpret this as being a nosy person. This is not true because woman only watch each others back. Woman also do not want to do to others what they donÂÂ ´t want to be done to them. Another example of being honest is when women ask each other, how they look and if that cloth suits them. They are always telling the truth. On the other hand men do not act this way, they always say what they know will get him something in exchange. They have the courage or can stand being with another person even though; they are married or have a girlfriend. They are not honest and many times live with this and feel no regret what so ever. Thanks to this it always attributed hat men cannot be loyal, that they are unfaithful because of their nature. A person that is not honest, is a person that is hated because everyone think that he is a hypocrite and that they donÂÂ ´t deserve the friendship. Or when they really need the help, no one will be there for them, because it will be very hard to difference when they are honest or dishonest. The books that are being analyzed are The PilotÂÂ ´s wife and the color of water. They show why it is important to be honest and how this affects peopleÂÂ ´s lives and change their lives. In the pilotÂÂ ´s wife Jack was not being honest with his wife, and the consequence of this was that even though he was dead his wife lost the confidence she had in him. She no longer believed the things he told her, or the love he had towards her. He was not honest with himself because he wanted to live a lie. And he did not want to be conscious and accept the things he did were bad, and that he was only making his wife suffer. Jack did not realize that magnitude of the problem he was getting in to just because he was not honest. After his death many people thought that jack had not been honest with society. Apparently the way in which jack died was considered a suicide and not an accident. His friend and relatives could not believe this, they thought that jack had a nice life and that he did not have any problems that would take him to do such an act. They also felt bad for Kathryn and her daughter, especially now that they knew that jack was not being honest with them. And that he had a double life. In the pilotÂÂ ´s wife there are many lies. Most of the characters were not honest; they were not honest with themselves and were not honest with the society. For example jack was not honest with his wife, Kathryn. He never told her that he had two families. This action talks bad about jack, because he was not honest with her. If jack was really in love with Kathryn he would have been honest. It is better to be honest even though this was going to hurt them. He should have thought in the consequences of his lies. Jack was not honest in many things and to many people; he was not honest to his daughter. If he had a good relationship with her he could have had the confidence to tell her the truth. But he preferred to live a lie. He also lied about his mother; he made everyone think that she was dead. When she was alive, only after jackÂÂ ´s death did they find the truth. At the end of the book Kathryn, has not learned the lesson, because she is not honest, she goes and visits jackÂÂ ´s other wife. But she doesnÂÂ ´t reveal the identity she does not trust the other woman, or maybe thinks that now that jack is dead it is not important to clear things up. KathrynÂÂ ´s form f behavior is not correct, because she does not have the right to chose and lie to another person. Well maybe not lie, but the fact that she is not being honest. Apparently both characters from this book still have not understood completely the importance of honesty in their lives. These characters are not adolescents and thereby know how to difference good from bad. This criteria or ability is developed as time passes. At home it is very common that parents are always telling their children to be honest and t not tell lies, because sooner or later the truth is reveled and when this happens everyone gets hurt. Because they feel betrayed, or feel they no longer know that person. The color of water, in this book honesty plays a very important role. This is because honesty is something that was not present in the book. But it played an important role. The story talks about James and how he discovers his heritage, and familyÂÂ ´s background. James is a black person, but his mother is white, he does not understand why his mother is white and he is black. When he was a child he thought that he was adopted. He grew up thinking that his mom was not honest with him. That she was lying to him about many things. Because of this action James doesnÂÂ ´t trust her. Only after he has started a deep investigation he realizes that his suspects were true but in the way in which he thought. He realized that his mother was not being honest because it was something painful for her to remember. Her past was full of pain and bad things. After James knows the entire story about his mom he tries to justify her acts and then realized that he has done badly in not trusting his mother. All though his mother was not completely honest but she had her reason. In this case honesty had disadvantages which were that James got hurt when he knew the truth about his father, and that his grandparents will never accept him because he is black, the main reason why his mother ran away from home was because she was in love with a black man and her family especially her parents totally disapproved this. This book has a lot of secrets and mysteries, all about James childhood and his mother background. The mother keeps her pregnancy as a secret by several years. As a consequence this brings a lot o f honestyÂÂ ´s problems. This is the type of thing that will hurt others and she tried to be very discreet about these issues. She did not want things like these to be known. She did not want to be honest with her family because she knew that they would not support. That is what she decided to abort the baby; she knew her situation and thought in the baby. At that time Ruth was too young and knew that she would not be able to care for the baby. She understood her situation by being honest with herself. . Ruth has no idea why two of her mothers sisters have not spoken for decades; their syndrome is kept secret. Ruth also kept the secret of Tatehs sexual abuse of her. These secrets from the past live in the present, haunting Ruth and complicating her relationship with her family. Mamehs sisters were more about money than anything else, and any hurts that popped up along the way, they just swept them under the rug. They were all trying hard to be American, you know, not knowing what to keep and what to leave behind. ÂÂ ¹ RuthÂÂ ´s family was being honest and dishonest at the same time; they were honest because they said the truth about not liking blacks. They were lying to themselves, when they started to hide their back ground and wanted to be completely Americans. In their attempt to wanting to be more American they lost their essence and lied to everyone. Honesty can harm people because if you are honest, people might take this as something bad. For example if Ruth tells others that her parents or racist, the society will also think she has this behavior and might not want to be with her. In both books the presence of honesty is very important, especially in the development of the story. The good things that can be taken from these books are that they teach honesty as the best policy. These books show that honesty has good and bad things at the same time. In the pilotÂÂ ´s wife it is completely unacceptable to be honest. The action of not being honest, harmed many people, the consequence of this was not suffered only by the wife but by the society. After this everyone lost hope in Jack he no longer was the respected Pilot, he was at the beginning. ÂÂ ¹ Quote take by internet: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006040520860 At the end he was the liar, the one who cheated on his wife, among other things that were discovered as the novel developed. The topics and themes used in these books are topics which are reflected in our society. Not many people are honest with themselves, they invent things in order to feel good, or they think it is better to live in a world that they have invented or created to their convenience. A situation in which honesty can be avoided ad itÂÂ ´s consequences are not that bad, is in Ruths situation. When she took the decision to leave her family and change her name, she did not think this would bring her consequences. And it did not matter, it stared to be important when, James grew up and started questioning his mother. When he was a child and could not understand why he had another skin color, when she was the woman that gave birth to him. He did not understand if he came out of his mother, why were they so different. As a conclusion I can say that be a honest person is very important because you have the opportunity to be a better human being and also people will trust in you. When you are not honest you are involucrate in many problems and you are not happy so I consider that the best way to enjoy the life is always saying the true.

Religious Information Seeking on Social Media in Saudi

Religious Information Seeking on Social Media in Saudi Abdullah Almobarraz Religious Information Seeking on Social Media in Saudi Society ABSTRACT Reading and learning about religious information is a habit that Saudis practice to increase their understanding of Islamic rules. It is common now for people to learn about religion from social media. Therefore, the study reports on a survey that was distributed to people in Saudi Arabia to investigate the use of social media technologies for religious information seeking. The objective is to determine if Saudis utilize social media to search for religious information and to understand their information-seeking behaviors when using such a resource. In addition, the study is an attempt to investigate how religious information on social media changes and influences people, and what obstacles and difficulties Saudis encounter when they use social media to obtain religious information. Keywords: Information behavior, Internet resources, Religious information, Saudi Society, Social network, Social media Introduction Social media has become a popular tool used to search for information during the past few years. Currently, a growing number of people use social media in all activities related to their lives. Social media tools can also be excellent for searching out, learning, and publishing religious information. As people become more adept in their use of social media in religious learning and practice, questions begin to emerge about the implications of new media platforms and practices for faith formation, leadership, and religious practice across traditions (Anderson, 2013). By answering these questions, we can come to understand why social media is commonly used to change religious views and deliver beliefs to different types of people. As social media increasingly becomes part of our daily lives, people will find new ways to interact with religion and spirituality. In the digital age, a group of virtual religionists will emerge, comprising individuals who do not affiliate with religious institutions, but are nevertheless engaged in many aspects of a faith community through social networking (Miller, 2011). Research Problem Reading and learning about religious information is a habit that Saudis practice to increase their understanding of Islamic rules. In the past, most people learned about religion from traditional resources, such as attending religious events, reading books and journals, and watching television programs. But with the advent of social media, religious information and resources have become accessible through this new channel. However, we do not know how religion and new forms of social media interact or what impact they have on each other. Indeed, no study has thus far investigated the use of social media or its content on the subject of religion. Therefore, this study explores the extent to which Saudis utilize social media to find religious information and examines how this affects their knowledge and learning style. Specifically, this exploratory study employs a quantitative approach through the distribution of a questionnaire to collect data related to the population. Literature Review Social media plays a clear role in changing the way people talk about faith and share religious information and perspectives, so religious leaders find it a great way to involve younger generations who may not be growing up with religion in their households (Cyprian, 2015). Recent years have seen a concern with the publishing of new information to help religious scholars understand digital media-especially social media. Religious leaders can now find texts to guide them through the construction of websites, blogs, and social media (Hutchings, 2012). However, the use of social media is not limited to religious leaders, but is also used by laypeople. It has increasingly become an important source of religious information for many people in the world (Harvey, 2014). In an average week, one in five Americans shares their religious faith online (Pew Research Center, 2014). In addition to sharing their religious faith, people use social media to share information about their favorite relig ious organizations, activities, preachers, religious resources, Web sites, educational materials, new issues, and much more (Groenpj, 2011). Preston (2011) reported that although it is too early to say that social media has transformed the way in which people practice religion, the number of people discussing faith on Facebook has significantly increased in the past year. This trend is supported by the findings of Tallant (2013), who declared that over 43 million Facebook users are fans of at least one religious page, and 31% of users in the United States list a religion in their profile. At this very basic level, it is possible to see that members of religious groups are using Facebook and are incorporating their religious beliefs into their online activities. As the use of social media evolves into an essential part of peoples daily lives, religious organizations are also using social media tools in increasingly inspired ways to spread their influence and build communities (Newberg, 2013). For example, a recent study in China showed that digital and social media have allowed one of the largest international religious an d benevolent organizations to keep in touch with its more than 10 million followers worldwide, helping it in its mission to provide humanitarian relief (Cheong, Hwang, Brummans, 2014). Religious information in the Islamic world is also in the category of favored information. Baddawy (2014) surveyed 250 Muslim Facebook users and found that the highest percent of them are attracted by religious information. Mustafa et al. (2013) states that the attraction of information may contribute to religious understanding; however, this is reliant on how people perceive the Islamic information shared on social media. Religious information may lead to improper behavior due to various reasons, such as ignorance of a religion, ease of online publishing, and spread of fringe groups (Hammad Faraj Allah, 2011). In Saudi Arabia, over the past few years, social media usage has been one of the most rapidly adopted activities, with more and more users accessing the Internet via their smartphones and tablets (AlJabre, 2013). Research conducted by Global Web Index suggested that almost 25% of the population in Saudi Arabia is active on social media (Zarovsky, 2013). Moreover, a social media agency report showed that there are 3 million Twitter users (around 12% of the population), growing by 3000%, with an average 50 million tweets per month, 840,000 LinkedIn users (4% of the population), and 6 million Facebook users (23% of the population) (Social Clinic, 2014). The adoption of social media has had a great effect on Saudis behaviors and beliefs (Alsharkh, 2012). Religion, for example, is an essential part of society, and so information related to religious issues has a crucial influence upon the cultures and thinking styles of individuals. Almaghthaway (2011) states that these issues used to be delivered by preachers and through traditional resources such as newspapers and audio materials, but in the 20th century, this all began to change. The advent of greater literacy, the deterioration of religious establishments, and new forms of communication such as radio and television all contributed to breaking down the pre-modern modes of religious authority (Almaghthaway, 2011). The late 20th century brought forth a new phenomenon: the creation of Google. It is now common for Muslims to search for answers to religious questions by accessing the Internet. Social media, especially mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tables, contributes to the importance of the Internet as a source of religious information, which fosters discussion of contemporary religious issues. Increasingly, Saudis are posing questions to people they identify as religious authorities through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media apparatuses (Hellyer, 2013). Purpose of the Study and Research Questions Although some research has been conducted on the effects of social media on peoples lives, previous studies have not focused on specific areas of Saudi society. More specifically, no studies have examined the effect of social media on religious information seeking. Therefore, the current study serves to examine this issue by using a descriptive method to investigate how religious information on social media changes and influences people. The study was designed to address four questions central to understanding Saudis information-seeking behavior on social media regarding religious information: To what extent do Saudis use social media for religious purposes? What are the purposes and strategies of searching for religious information via social media? To what extent do Saudis trust social media to obtain religious information? What obstacles and difficulties do Saudis encounter when they use social media to obtain religious information? Methodology This study applied a quantitative research design involving a questionnaire distributed by e-mail to a group of participants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The participants represent various segments of society. The questionnaire contained 14 items in five categories in order to collect data related to participants use of searches via social media for religious information. The five question categories were (a) the demographics of participants; (b) usage level of social media; (c) purposes of and strategies for use; (d) behavioral trust in social media; and (e) obstacles to social media use. A total of 492 participants completed the questionnaire. Due to the nature of the research, descriptive statistical techniques were used to analyze and report the data. In the following sections, the findings are presented in relevant tables immediately after their corresponding interpretations. Data Analysis and Results Descriptive statistics on each variable of the study are used to investigate peoples use of social media related to religious information. The percentage for each survey item question is reported in the tables that follow. The results are divided into categories that address the previously mentioned five issues, namely the demographic characteristics of participants, social media use, purposes and strategies of use, trust in social media, and difficulties of use. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample As shown in Table 1, participants were relatively equally split by gender, with 54% men and 46% women. As for age groups, 40% were aged 20-30 years, 28% were 31-40 years, 17% were 41-50 years, 9% were less than 20 years, and 5% were in the 51-60 years age group. As for marital status, the majority of participants (62%) were married, 34% were single, 3% were divorced, and only 1% were widowed. As for level of education, half of the participants (50%) had a bachelors degree, 18% had completed high school, 13% held an associate degree, 10% had a masters degree, 6% had a doctorate, and the rest of participants (3%) had not completed high school. In terms of occupation, 45% reported being government employees, 23% were students, 15% were unemployed, 13% were private-sector employees, and 4% were self-employed. Table 1. Demographic characteristics Variable Item Percentage Gender Male Female 54% 46% Marital status Single Married Divorced Widowed 34% 62% 3% 1% Age (years old) 20-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 >60 9% 40% 28% 17% 5% 0 Level of education Less than high school High school Associate degree Bachelors Masters Doctorate 3% 18% 13% 50% 10% 6% Occupation Student Government employee Private-sector employee Self-employed Unemployed 23% 45% 13% 4% 15% Social Media Usage for Searching for Religious Information Table 2 shows the percentage of participants who strongly agree, agree, sometimes agree, disagree, and strongly disagree, respectively, with the use of social media to obtain religious information. Almost half of the participants (47%) agreed or strongly agreed that social media is their preferred source for obtaining religious information. This phenomenon could be a result of the widespread use of social media by Saudi religious scholars. Of the top 10 most-followed users of social media in Saudi Arabia, 5 are religious scholars (Tweepar, 2014). Therefore, a large amount of information related to religion will be available to those who look for it on social media. Table 2. Use of social media to obtain religious information Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 82 17% Agree 148 30% Sometimes agree 189 38% Disagree 48 10% Strongly disagree 25 5% Traditional Resources for Religious Information Participants were allowed to choose more than one option to specify the resources they used to search for religious information before the advent of social media. Table 3 shows that among the different pre-social media resources, Internet Websites were reported by 64% of participants as their primary resource, followed by books (55%). A much smaller percentage of participants (3%) indicated that they used newspapers to obtain religious information. Table 3. Resources used to search for religious information before the advent of social media Resources Frequency Percentage Books 271 55% Journals 19 4% Newspapers 16 3% Audiovisual materials 260 53% Websites 315 64% Other 29 6% Most-Consulted Social Media When seeking religious information, the majority of participants (71%) consulted Twitter, followed by Google+ (42%). Surprisingly, Facebook was consulted for religious information by only 11% of participants. This finding differs from the general state of social media in Saudi Arabia, as Facebook is favored in that country (Social Clinic, 2014). Table 4. Most-used social media for seeking religious information Media Frequency Percentage Twitter 348 71% Facebook 54 11% LinkedIn 10 2% Google+ 207 42% H5 2 1% Other 65 13% Purposes of Using Social Media Related to Religion Alzoman (2012) stated that Saudi youths mostly use social media to understand and learn about new events. This study is consistent with those previous results. As Table 5 shows, learning about religion was the biggest reason (43%) for using social media to obtain information about religion, followed closely by the desire to read posts written by religious scholars (40%) who have a good reputation and are highly popular and by the desire to find answers related to religious issues in society (34%), and by the wish to communicate with religious scholars (12%). Table 5. Purpose for using social media Purpose Frequency Percentage Finding answers to religious issues 166 34% Communicating with religious scholars 61 12% Learning about religion 213 43% Reading posts written by religious scholars 198 40% Other 63 13% Religious Information Sources Although most people use electronic databases and formal Websites rather than personal Websites to locate new information and keep pace with scientific developments in their fields of specialty (Alsharhan, 2002), the search for religious information seems to operate differently. Almost half of the participants (45%) reported that they turn to the personal accounts of religious specialists to find information about religion. This finding may be unsurprising for Saudi Arabia due to the good reputation religious scholars hold within that society. Institutional accounts, by contrast, did not have the same popularity with participants, only 21% of whom reported using institutional accounts (government and nongovernment) for this kind of search. Table 6. Sources for searching for religious information via social media Source Frequency Percentage Government agencies accounts 110 16% Nongovernment agencies accounts 46 7% Personal accounts of religious specialists 308 45% Subject headings and hashtags 201 29% Other 21 3% Handling Information Participants were asked what actions they usually take after finding the information for which they were searching. The majority (68%) declared that they search for other sources to verify the credibility of the information. Because any one can publish information on social media, participants might understandably not trust information the first time they see it. Social media is full of both no credible users and no credible information. Therefore, some users prefer to make some kind of evaluation before accepting information as credible. The behavior of the remaining 32% was as follows: 12% accept the information and use it for their original purpose, 12% discuss the information and comment on it, and 6% publish it in their social media accounts. Table 7. Action taken after obtaining information Action Frequency Percentage Accept it and use it for my original purpose 60 12% Search for other sources to verify the credibility 335 68% Publish it in my social media accounts 30 6% Discuss and comment on it 58 12% Other 9 2% Credibility Participants were asked to report their opinions regarding the credibility of religious information on social media and whether or not it can be trusted. A five-point Likert scale was given to measure this item, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The highest percentage of participants (45%) indicated that they sometimes trusted religious information on social media, whereas 32% of participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the credibility of social media. This matches the previous result indicating that users will search for other resources to verify the credibility of information they find on social media. The rest of the participants (24%) indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that social media is credible and trustworthy. Table 8. Religious information on social media is credible and can be trusted Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 20 4% Agree 96 20% Sometimes agree 220 45% Disagree 128 26% Strongly disagree 28 6% Social Media Sufficiency Table 9 shows the percentage of participants who strongly agree, agree, sometimes agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement that religious information on social media is sufficient and meets their needs. A plurality of participants (38%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement, whereas the next highest percentage (33%) thought that it is sometimes sufficient. This is not surprising, because many people feel strongly about their religion and therefore may care about the credibility of religious information more than some other types of information. The information found on social media may be posted by users who are nonspecialists in religion. This leads many people to search for more credible and trusted resources. The rest (29%) of participants agreed or strongly agreed that religious information on social media is sufficient and meets their needs. Table 9. Social media sufficiency Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 16 3% Agree 128 26% Sometimes agree 163 33% Disagree 148 30% Strongly disagree 37 8% Influence on Peoples Thoughts Table 10 reports participants opinions regarding the statement that social media affects religious thoughts on society. The majority of participants (82%) reported that they agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. This result is compatible with a referendum conducted by a local newspaper that indicated that social media sites influence the personality of users and change their intellectual and cultural attitudes (Okaz newspaper, 2013). Only a small percentage of participants (3%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. This finding shows the strength of social media in Saudi society, further confirming its role in societal and cultural transformation. Table 10. Social media affects religious thoughts on society Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 148 30% Agree 258 52% Sometimes agree 71 14% Disagree 12 2% Strongly disagree 3 1% Presentation and Dissemination of Religious Issues A recent study revealed that social media is very effective at improving the dissemination of information (Allen, Stanton, Di Pietro, Moseley, 2013). The present study reached the same result. Table 11 shows that most participants (76%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that social media is useful in presenting and disseminating religious issues. By contrast, only a small number of participants (8%) reported that they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement regarding the positive role of social media in publishing religious opinions and issues. Table 11. Social media is useful for presenting and disseminating religious issues Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 154 31% Agree 223 45% Sometimes agree 76 15% Disagree 31 6% Strongly disagree 8 2% Social Media Censorship Saudi Arabias Internet censorship is considered one of the most extensive in the world, and restricted and blocked Websites include those that are incompatible with Islam (Almobarraz, 2007). Therefore, participants were asked if they believed that the religious content of social media risked censorship. Table 12 shows that the highest percentage (44%) sometimes agreed that religious information on social media was blocked, whereas the next highest percentage (34%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. The rest of participants (22%) either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Table 12. Some accounts specializing in religious information are blocked Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 51 10% Agree 118 24% Sometimes agree 216 44% Disagree 84 17% Strongly disagree 23 5% Awareness of Religious Accounts Participants were asked if they were aware of specialized religious accounts. As shown in Table 13, combining the positive responses of agree and strongly agree indicates that a plurality of participants (45%) were aware of specialized religious accounts on social media. The combination of negative responses of disagree and strongly disagree indicates that 25% were unaware of such accounts. The rest of participants (30%) were neutral. Table 13. Knowledge and awareness of accounts specializing in religious information Opinion Frequency Percentage Strongly agree 39 8% Agree 182 37% Sometimes agree 147 30% Disagree 109 22% Strongly disagree 15 3% Presence of Religious Resources on Social Media Participants were asked about the resources they trust to find religious information presented on social