Occupational Safety and Health Administration an Example of the Topic Scholarship by

Occupational Safety and Health Administration Introduction Need essay sample on "Occupational Safety and Health Administration" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed EPA aims at keeping environment clean from hazardous substances in our environment. Its clients are the population of United Sates specifically and the rest of world globally. There are many people associated and employed including researchers, scientists, doctors, PhDs, masters of biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry and marine biology etc. It is a governmental owned agency working to protect health of people by striving to keep environment clean. EPA is working to clean air from the following hazardous materials. These include, smoke, acidRain, asbestos, Beaches, hazardousWaste, lead, mercury, mold, oilSpills, pesticides, radon, wastes. Undergraduates Usually Tell EssayLab specialists: I'm don't want to write my essay. Because I want to spend time with my boyfriend Specialists advise: Buy Essay Papers And Live Free From Troubles A report from Environmental Protection Agency states that environmental air of United States is 100% contaminated with hazardous carcinogenic chemical produced from industries, which exceeds the safety level mark recommend by EPA. According to EPA estimate there are 148 industrial poisons in 60, 803 census tracts (EPA). This toxic concentration of outdoor air also penetrates and equally contaminates indoor air to somewhat same extent and is equally hazardous. Working in closed environment with air conditioner ON does not protect us from this danger because contaminated air gradually penetrates into the indoor air through windows and doors. Students Very Often Tell EssayLab support: I'm don't want to write my essay. Because I don't have the time Essay writer professionals advise: We Write All Kinds Of Papers In addition, different types of chemicals in the environment jointly produce adverse effects and everyone is exposed to these simultaneously, which exaggerates danger to cancerous diseases. These chemicals have saturated the air to the extent that they have broke the standards set by EPA and are producing unsafe health effects, though no such standards were set to study its effects on specific malfunctioning of the body. Though, EPA has listed up to eight dangerous chemical pollutants but now exposure is much more severe and has reached threatening level that each of us is exposed to numerous industrial poisons more than just eight listed by EPA. These toxicants carcinogens are devastating. EPA file suit against Raymark Industries EPA filed a case against Raymark Industries because they were actively involved in asbestos brake manufacturing. EPA filed suit against Raymark Industries, Inc. a former asbestos brake manufacturer in Stratford, Connecticut, to recoup $200 million in past and future federal cleanup costs of polluted soils at the facility and other locations where contamination has spread. The suit also seeks to force the judicial sale of the Raymark property so that redevelopment efforts at the site can be realized. Raymark is a federal Superfund site. (EPA Release 1997) Most dangerous types of environmental contaminants are Pesticides, including insect killers, weed, fungi and rodent control killers and fumigants. Electrical and magnetic lines produced from electromagnetic devices like mobile phones and other electrical devices may have carcinogenic effect. However, increasing distance with such devices, reducing time spent within EMF fields will make its effects minimal. Asbestos, which is mostly used for fire extinguishers and construction material may increase risk to lung cancer with exposure to long period of time. Extreme care should be taken for use of such dangerous chemicals. It is important to seal off the area where work with asbestos containing substance is going on. While working with these types of chemicals it is important to cover completely with masks and gloves. Also formaldehyde gases used in construction processes may have carcinogenic effect. Drinking water is also contaminated with toxins especially the chlorinated water. Research shows that chlorinated water contains toxic by-product of chlorine and long-term exposure to it may cause cancer of colon and bladder. Use of disinfectants in water though may save us from diseases caused by pathogenic organisms but it increases risk of cancer. For diminishing microbial content of water other protective methods should be employed. Using an emergency authority provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA ordered the National Guard to cease artillery training exercises at the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The base sits on top of Cape Cod's sole aquifer that provides drinking water to some 500,000 citizens. This is the first time EPA has used this authority to protect groundwater under an active military range and has been the impetus for other states to investigate similar actions, and for the military to review its practices at other bases. (EPA Release, 2007) Hazards of inhaling passive smoke from cigarette or industrial smoke are more dangerous than other air pollutants.That is smoke from tobacco has more dangerous carcinogenic effect. Radiations generated from various radioactive devices have adverse environmental carcinogenic effects. Cosmic rays, ultraviolet and x-rays, which are ionizing radiations, are carcinogenic. However, long-term exposure to them produces such effects and only after 10-15 years later the effect were produced. Industrial areas expose greater risk to cancer. Smoke emitted from automobiles contains carbon monoxide to threatening level and adds to the bio-contaminants of human breath. Certain carcinogens are unsafe for pregnant woman and may produce birth defects. Nitrogen fertilizers used mainly for crop may cause contamination underground water. Landfills used mainly for dumping in solid wastes may cause excessive toxic carcinogens in underground water. Concentration of lead is also very high in environment. Radon gas produced from radioactive decay increases risk of lung cancer. EPA recommendations against the case Concerned agencies should take important steps improving wastewater purification plant to get eliminate toxic elements from water. In addition, an immense need is to clean superfund sites where toxic-wastes are disposed off and has reached to dangerous level. Additional plants are to remove pollution from drinking and irrigation water. New law and legislation is needed to prohibit manufacturing and working with these dangerous chemicals regarded as carcinogens. Risk of developing cancer varies according to different geographical areas. The need is to modernize working environment with new processing machines and implement new methods of production. Keep cleaning working and residential environment to the maximum. Further step is to recycle and reuse garbage and other chemical by-products to reduce waste products disposal to the minimum extent. In addition, one method is to reverse the chemical reactions and reacting dangerous compounds with reactive chemicals to convert it to usable and beneficial compounds. There is also need to change risk assessment methods because inpiduals susceptibility to these factors varies persely. However, there is also a need to educate people about it and take appropriate measures to reduce carcinogens concentration in environment. Major step is to minimize the exposure of workers at workplace. In the past and present there hasnt been much success in preventing environmental pollution because of the poor planning, weak decisions and inadequate standards set to take control of it. Special need is to save children, patients suffering from CVD, diabetes, and other diseases rendering them to higher risk of cancer, and to save immuno-compromised patients. Because this can increase mortality rate due to cancer in any region where appropriate actions will not be taken. Leukemia is a blood cancer caused by ionizing radiations. These radiations can also cause cancer of lungs, breast and thyroid. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is mostly caused by an additional factor dioxin. Death from these cancers can be reduced by minimizing this exposure to safe-healthy levels. Ignoring to take any appropriate measures is increasing environmental concentrations of carcinogens to lethal levels. This is in turn increasing nationwide cancerous diseases every year. Threat to lymph cancers is also increasing in developed countries especially in industrialized areas. Susceptibility to these carcinogens is worse in patients with diseases of immune system. People with increased risk threats are those with immunocompromised diseases and those with workplace exposures. Further research shows that PCBs can also suppress immune system. It is due the plastics, waxes, carbonless carbon paper etc. It is widely distributed and it is very important to vanish it completely from the environment. Certain other factors, which are though not carcinogens but put adverse effects on the bodys health and immune system that makes a person susceptible to the development of cancer and other diseases. If appropriate actions will not be taken right now then carcinogen levels will continue to rise every year and will make next generation severely affected by it. According to National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS), Cancer is initiated partially or completely by environmental factors. However, there are many more threats posed by these factors. It incurs additional costs of hospitalization, medicines, and loss of employment. In addition, billions of dollars of economic burden is to run new projects to clean heavily polluted environment. Works Cited Hoover, R.N. (1998). U.S. EPA Report On Air Carcinogens. National Cancer Institute. Published 1998 Lichtenstein P. Holm NV, Verkasalo PK, etal. Environmental and heritable factors in the causation of cancer. New England Journal of Medicine 2000;343:78-85

The Use of Dreams in Epic Form essays

The Use of Dreams in Epic Form essays Present in most epics, dreams are used by Homer and Virgil in the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Aeneid to catalyze action in the plot. These epic dreams serve a vital purpose to the bard in his formulation of the epic and to the audience in their understanding of the epic. Inspired by gods, formulated in the minds of men, and acted upon to further the plot, these dreams bring about great changes in the course of the epic in which they are contained. Using these aspects of dreams to examine the concept of the dream among the early Greeks and Romans, we have to rely mainly on the literature that has survived to arrive at any conclusions about their dreams. However, reliance on literature, such as epic poetry, presents difficulties. Drama and literature are reflections of society, but not exact ones. Using American television as an example, there is very little accuracy in television as a reflection of American society. Keeping this tendency for inaccuracy in mind, the Greek view of dr eams that has developed from the study of dreams in ancient literature is that the dreams present information that otherwise would not be know to both the character and the audience, clarify problems, and inspire action (Robbins 3). In addition to dreams only being reflections of society, the characters of ancient literature are warriors, kings, and gods, which tells us very little about the lives of ordinary people. In spite of these difficulties, dreams in literature do suggest important ideas about the way dreams were conceived by these ancient peoples, and they do indicate the intent of the bard when he used them in his poems (Robbins 3). Looking at these dreams, such as that of Penelope in the Odyssey and Achilles in the Illiad, we are led to several conclusions: the first is that dreams were perceived as having meaning; they were not considered to be nonsensical, trivial, or just random ideas. Second, these meanings were interpretable, which mean...

6 Ways to Improve Productivity at the Workplace

6 Ways to Improve Productivity at the Workplace Employees spending long hours in the office are not an uncommon sight these days. But how much of the work day is spent productively is another matter altogether. As the saying goes â€Å"it’s not the number of hours you put into work, it is the amount of work you put in those hours†. So what can you do as an employer to increase productivity at the workplace? Here are some tips you can follow. Instill accountability in your employees. By making your workers accountable for their actions and decisions (regardless of their position), it encourages them to be more cautious and meticulous when it comes to their work, hence minimising the risk of errors. In addition, instilling accountability in your employees also gives them a sense of ownership, so that they too feel they have a stake in the company and how it performs. Manage but don’t micro-manage. The fine line between managing and micro-managing can be hard to distinguish. With micro-managing, the danger lies in your employees becoming overly dependent on you and unable to make their own decisions. To prevent such a scenario, start trusting your employees to operate in whatever style they are comfortable with to get the job done — after all, they passed the screening process during the hiring process so they must possess the necessary skills. Having faith in your workers† abilities encourages and empowers them with the confidence to give their all. On the other hand, don’t be quick to pinpoint the blame whenever trouble arises. Speak to him or her first to find out what can be done to prevent the same mistake from happening again. Motivate and reward for good results. While it may sound like common sense, many employers fail to give workers recognition for a job well done — which can result in employee morale dropping. Rewarding your hardworking employees with monetary bonuses clearly shows how much you value their work and will motivate them to continue doing their best for the company. But what if budget constraints prevent you from giving them a raise? Don’t simply remain silent and expect them to know that you recognise their efforts! In fact, it is times like these when keeping staff morale up is most important. Give your staff words of encouragement and assure them that once the situation improves, they will be rewarded accordingly. Or perhaps, offer other forms of rewards such as an increase in leave days or time off. Remember, recognition can come in many forms, not just monetary. Provide the proper equipment. When menial tasks can be automated using the office equipment, it often makes sense to do so. This helps free up manpower to work on more meaningful tasks. But it’s also important to choose equipment that is functional and easy to use. That’s why when purchasing office equipment, get the competitive edge with brands that have a history of reliability such as Canon. Offering a full spectrum of high quality imaging products from input to output, Canon business solutions are renowned for high efficiency while being low in maintenance. They also come backed with strong after-sales support to ensure your business continues to run smoothly. Provide upgrading opportunities. Just like purchasing the proper equipment helps make your employees more productive, so will upgrading their skills. By sending them for training courses, you equip them with the latest skills and introduce them to new (and potentially more efficient) ways of doing their job. However, not all skills upgrading requires spending thousands of dollars and dozens of hours in classes. Having your experienced staff share their useful knowledge with other workers can also be a form of upgrading. Break the routine. Aligning job tasks with an employee’s abilities makes perfect sense but having him or her perform the same duties 40 hours a week may become tedious and even counter-productive in the long run. To break the monotony, rotate job responsibilities from time to time and introduce new roles where possible. This allows your staff to expand their skill-set and also gives them a better understanding of how the business works. Low productivity in the workplace can jeopardise the sustainability of any business, especially SMEs, if left unresolved for some time. So be sure to monitor the efficiency of your workers; not by hovering over them like a hawk, but by communicating with them to learn about any grievances they wish to share. Tackling such issues sooner rather than later will go a long way in ensuring your business reaches its true potential.

Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Religion - Essay Example 206-207). The underlying idea behind the black womanist liberation theory is the liberation, freedom and respect of black women and all other people from all ages, genders, races, sexual tendencies, and ecologies. Moreover, black womanist theologians highlight that the unique experiences of their female ancestors have an immense importance in relation to the idea of God and survival in this world (Kamitsuka & American Academy of Religion, pp. 12-18). From example, notable black womanist theologian Jacquelyn Grant while presenting her critique on the white feminist theology and its racism expressed that black women are the ones that have felt and experienced Jesus more closely as anyone else because of the fact that their suffering have made sense Jesus as their co-suffer (Isherwood & McEwan, pp. 68-70). Since Jesus represented the divine incarnation of the Almighty, therefore they are in turn more closely to the creator of the world. Jesus opted for himself the life of despair, tyranny, inequ ality, weakness, and misery and the same has been the case with the black women, and they are blessed to be a part of the same situation in which Jesus lived his life to give a message to the World (Kamitsuka & American Academy of Religion, pp. 12-18). Therefore, the claim of the black womanist theologians is to own their history, learn from it and aim at creating at a better tomorrow for their upcoming generations (Bradley, pp. 206-207). However, the white feminist theology focuses more on oppression of females in general. This theology aims at recreating the role of women as religious authority in their respective religions to earn respect and power, removal or gender related or more specifically male related elements from the concept of God making it more acceptable to females (Isherwood & McEwan, pp. 68-70). Furthermore, highlighting and glorifying the role and image of females as mothers and wives that are the key stones of the society and the lives of the

Managing Human Capital Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Human Capital - Assignment Example The researcher states that merit-pay systems can, in fact, serve to demotivate and even generate anxiety, thereby only contributing marginally as motivators of desired performance. Merit pay is usually rolled into the base salary and hence performance in one year will have the effect on the salary in the future. However, this is based on performance appraisal and the methods of performance appraisal followed by the organization are a controversial issue. Even if linkages to productivity do not exist, the plan communicates a useful message to employees. It is generally believed that individuals should be rewarded based on their contributions and hence merit-based pay serves to fulfill the â€Å"norm of distributive justice†. Thus it diffuses concerns among the employees about fairness and equity. Theories of motivation also support the basis of merit for pay. Managers are encouraged to link important outcomes to desired behaviors. Whether they base their decision on the reinfor cement theory or the expectancy theory, managers need to demonstrate to employees a link between performance and rewards. All these would indicate that basis of merit for pay is necessary as well as beneficial. Researchers express doubts whether performance can be accurately measured and there have been suggestions to make the measurement objective instead of subjective judgments. Moreover, individual performance is linked to others in the organization and this poses difficulties in calculating the individual contribution to the organization. Instead of output measures, behavioral measures can be considered but none is satisfied with such measures. Employees’ acceptance of the feedback systems creates problems as they do not accept the evaluations as accurate. Perceived favoritism is a problem in merit compensation systems due to the subjective nature of the performance evaluation process.

Marijuana-A description of the drug and its aeffects Essay Example for Free

Marijuana-A description of the drug and its aeffects Essay Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. It is made from the dried leaves and flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. People smoke, chew, or eat marijuana for its hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects. The flowering tops of the Cannabis plant secrete a sticky resin that contains the active ingredient of marijuana, known as Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The plant has both male and female forms. The sticky flowers of the female plant are the most potent. Hashish is a similar drug prepared from the same plant. It differs from marijuana in that it is made of only the resin from the plant, but where marijuana is made up of flowering tops and leaves. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The membranes of certain nerve cells in the brain contain protein receptors that bind to THC. Once securely in place, THC initiates a series of cellular reactions that lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana. There are usually phases in marijuana use there are: intoxication, initial stimulation, which includes giddiness and euphoria, followed by sedation and pleasant tranquility. Mood changes are often accompanied by altered perceptions of time and space. Thinking processes become disrupted by fragmentary ideas and memories. Other feelings include increased appetite, heightened sensory awareness, and general feelings of pleasure. Negative effects of marijuana use can include confusion, acute panic reactions, anxiety attacks, fear, a sense of helplessness, and loss of self-control. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, reaction time, and driving skills. Although marijuana is not physically addicting and no physical withdrawal symptoms occur when use is discontinued, psychological dependence develops in some 10 to 20 percent of long-term regular users. Smoking marijuana can damage the lungs, and long-term use may increase the risk of lung cancer . Even infrequent use of marijuana can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and frequent chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways. Cancer of the respiratory tract and lungs may also be promoted by marijuana smoke. Marijuana use has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens. Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. It also produces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their carcinogenic form, levels that may accelerate the changes that produce malignant cells. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the lungs exposure to carcinogenic smoke.Some other effects of marijuana may occur because THC impairs the immune systems ability to fight off infectious diseases and cancer. In laboratory experiments that exposed animal and human cells to THC or other marijuana ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of the key types of immune cells were inhibited. In other studies, mice exposed to THC or related substances were more likely than unexp osed mice to develop bacterial infections and tumors Depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances are all associated with marijuana use. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared to their non-smoking peers. Workers who smoke marijuana are more likely than their coworkers to have problems on the job. Several studies associate workers marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers compensation claims, and job turnover. A study of municipal workers found that those who used marijuana on or off the job reported more withdrawal behaviors such as leaving work without permission, daydreaming, and spending work time on personal matters. Although no medications are currently available for treating marijuana abuse, recent discoveries about the workings of the THC receptors have raised the  possibility of eventually developing a medication that will block the intoxicating effects of THC. Such a medication might be used to prevent relapse to marijuana abuse by lessening or eliminating its appeal.

Attitudes Towards Love in Poetry Essay -- Love and Loss Poetry Poems E

Attitudes Towards Love in Poetry Love is an emotion that has been felt by people throughout time. It is extremely difficult to put any strong emotion into words, but through the pre-twentieth century ‘Love and Loss’ poetry we are able to see various different attitudes shown towards love and the way that love is conveyed through relationships. The poems referred to in this essay are â€Å"First Love† by John Clare, â€Å"How Do I Love Thee† by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, â€Å"A Birthday† by Christina Rossetti, â€Å"A Woman to Her Lover† by Cristina Walsh and â€Å"My Last Duchess† by Robert Browning. By studying the love and loss poetry, the poets lives and the cultures they lived in, it is easy to see why people have different perceptions of love. The poem â€Å"First Love† by John Clare reflects his attitudes towards love. It is a complex poem describing the physical and emotional affects of falling in love for the first time. In this poem, the narrator has experienced love at first sight and has feeling for nobody else. He says that â€Å"†¦ my blood rushed to my face And took my sight away.† This quotation describes one of the physical effects love brings; it shows that the poet is so fixated in one woman that he is blinded by everything else. It mirrors the clichà © ‘blinded by love’. This shows that Clare feels that love can be for only one person at a time, as he is concentrating on nobody else. The way Clare uses language shows that he finds first love an uncomfortable feeling. This is shown in the rhetorical questions he uses. â€Å"Are flowers the winter’s choice?† These are two images that have been unusually linked, flowers and winter. This is not a comfortable image. Flowers usually die in winter and this creates dea... ...ill be stronger after death, this shows an open attitude: that love is never ending and there is no loss of love from death. The final poem is â€Å"A Birthday†, which I believe is describing the love that Christina Rossetti has for God. She uses language to portray beautiful imagery to try and express how she is feeling. This is a celebration of her love and her attitude is that love brings a person only joy. All the pre-twentieth poets lived different lives in different cultures and so there attitudes would have formed in different ways. However like most others they have all felt love in some way or experienced the jealousy and pain it can bring. Their love and loss poetry shows love in different forms, neither more true than the other but all just showing the different attitudes that people of different cultures have learnt or felt is true about love.

Blue Colour

My Favourite Colour Open our eyes and everything we see is colourful. We all live in a world where colour is often a part of us despite affecting us in our daily lives. Colour in everyday life is varies, from knowing that a fruit is ripe to eat, to understanding how colour can affect and influence our lives. Scientifically, colour is is known as light of different  wavelengths  and  frequencies  and light is just one form of energy that we can actually see that is made up from photons. We are all surrounded by electromagnetic waves of energy of which colour is a small part. Color can influence our emotions, our actions and how we respond to various people, things and ideas. Much has been studied and written about color and its impact on our daily lives. When I close my eyes and visualize, the only colour that clicks my mind at first is the colour, blue. Blue is known as the coolest colour. The reason blue is my favorite reason is that of all the colors in the spectrum blue compliments almost all other colors. Blue is the master of backdrops. Interestingly, blue is the color of the universe and nature such as sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. Besides that, blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity, modernatization and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen color by conservative people. Blue is the calming color that makes it a wonderful color to use in the home, work and many more environments. Right now as I stare out my window, the horizon is almost a white-washed blue and as I look up the colors deepen to an ocean blue. Blue, in my eyes is the beautiful and soothing colour. My favourite football team is Chelsea Football Club. Co-incidentally, blue is their official colour and they are well known as ‘the blues’. In here, I realized sportiness in the colour blue. Furthermore, the reason I like blue is because I have come across some facts about the colour itself. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. So, one who is on healthy diet and would like to do some work out may paint their wall in blue for the calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize goodness and sincerity. Actually, blue represents both sides in a melancholic way as it has never been an overly emotional color. By overly emotional it is never been to the extremes although it can lead there. Blue is the color that refreshes the mind and the color of relief as it washes over you. Other than that, I am a male. Blue is often referred as a masculine color. According to studies, it is highly accepted among males. I too feel the masculinity and calmness when I am in blue. Most of my attires are in blue regardless of dark or light blue. That does not mean other colours are exceptional, but I prefer blue the most. Conclusively, there are unlimited reasons why blue seems to be the most interesting colour in my eyes, but it is the most wonderful colour that appears across my eyes. My day is delighted with blue, the inspirational colour.

Organizational Culture and Leadership Style on Job Satisfaction Level of Managers in SME, Penang Essay

The complex society today has its benchmark of goals and fulfillment that should be achieved by individuals. This set of goals and fulfillment includes securing a good job, preferably with a good pay and hopefully, with job satisfaction. What is job satisfaction? Job satisfaction is how content an satisfaction? Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia, SMECORP census report show in 2011, total have 645,136 SMEs in Malaysia. Penang occupied 6.3%from the total. In Malaysia SME total have 3.6million employees, which Malaysia, mployees, contributed a lot of job opportunities to Malaysians. 6.3% of 3.6million is about 3.6million 230,000 employees working in Penang SME. SMEs play an important role in all economies in the world by contributing 80 percent of global economic growth (Jutla, et al., 2002). The importance of SMEs in developing a nation must not be taken lightly and be underestimated (Ragesh et al., 2010; Noor Hazlina & Seet, 2009). The contribution of SMEs on the various Asian nations’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is significant as shown in the Table 1 as follows: As indicated in Table 1, more than 90% of the business establishments (except Singapore) are mainly SMEs. These SMEs provides job opportunities for more than 40% of their workforce. Table 3: International SME Development and Growth Source: Malaysia SME Annual Report 2007. Research Gap From the pass many studies (Aria Hassan, 2010; Block, L. 2003; Daft, R. L. 2005; Drucker, P.F. 1999; Harris, L. C. and Ogbonna, E. 2001), it showed some significant relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction; leadership style and job satisfaction. Not easy to find direct study three variable relationships together. However, another gap to be observed job satisfaction research mainly is oversea research. Even in Malaysia research also didn’t find a very specific research on Penang, SME manager on their job satisfaction base on two independent variables, organizational culture and leadership styles (Harris, L. C. and Ogbonna, E. 2001; Hsu, H. Y. 2009; Kim, S. 2002; Lee, H. Y. 2008; Lee, T. W. and Mowday, R. T. 1989; Li, Y. C. 2004; Rashid, M. Z. A., Sambasivan, M. and Johari, J. 2003 )    Research Problem In facing a variety of challenges, knowledge generation and dissemination are more critical than they had in the past. Drucker (1999) pointed out that personal know-how and tacit knowledge are not stored within an organization; in contrast, this knowledge is maintained by employees. According to past research, managers presented a high turnover rate in the SME industry, for example, Hu et al. (2005) found that the managers in electronics SME had the second highest rate of turnover among all managers in other industry and the rate of turnover was 42% of SME managers expected to remain in their current job for 3 years, 28% anticipated that they would keep the same job for 3-6 years and only 6% planned to remain in the same job for over 10 years. Past studies show that a positive corporate culture and effective leadership styles can enhance organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Ogbonna and Harris, 2000; Lok and Crawford, 2004). With a fit between positive organizational culture and suitable leadership style in the organization, a lasting success in business performance can be achieved. Very few attempts have been made to examine the three variables (organization culture, leadership styles and job satisfaction) in an integrated way. Therefore the fundamental issue guiding this study is to look more specifically on organizational culture and leadership styles and their effect on the job satisfaction of SME managers working in local Penang SME organizations in Malaysia. Research Questions This research attempts to examine the influence of organizational cultures and leadership styles on job satisfaction of SME managers in Penang, Malaysia. In examining the relations, the main research questions are: 1. What is the job satisfaction level of managers in the SME, Penang? 2. Are they satisfied with their current job? 3. To what extent the 2 factors affect job satisfaction of managers in the SME, Penang? 4. What is the moderating effect of age in the job satisfaction? Objectives of the Research The objectives of this research are to examine the association between different types of organizational cultures and leadership styles on job satisfaction of SME managers in Penang. The specific objectives of this research are to: To assess the job satisfaction level of managers in SME Company in Penang. To study the impact of these 2 factors affects the job satisfaction of the managers in SME Company in Penang. To examine whether age has any moderating effect on the job satisfaction of the managers in SME company in Penang. Significance and contribution of the study This study intends to contribute to the existing knowledge base, in particular the influence of organizational cultures and leadership styles on job satisfaction of the SME Manager in Penang. It is noted that even with the literature found from various databases, only a handful looked into the relationship of organizational cultures and leadership styles on job satisfaction of professionals. Very few attempts have been made to examine the three variables in SME Penang (Organizational culture, leadership styles and job satisfaction) in an integrated way. With increasing globalization, greater knowledge of the interaction of these factors on SME managers working in small and medium industry organizations can be beneficial. Thus, upon gathering the data, finding effective methods in managing SME managers are crucial in order to achieve a high level of innovation performance by SME organizations in Penang. The significance of this research can be summarized per below: 1) Contribute to the literature review on the relationship of organizational cultures and leadership styles on job satisfaction SME in Penang. 2) Able to identify types of organizational cultures and leadership styles adopted by SME in Penang. 3) Determine job satisfaction level of SME manager in Penang. 6 4) Identify effective cultures and leadership styles in managing SME managers in Penang. Definition of terms 1.7.1 Organization Cultures There are a number of definitions of organizational cultures that refer to norms of behavior and shared values among a group of members in an organization. According to Conner (1992), organizational cultures can be defined as the â€Å"interrelationship of shared beliefs behaviors and assumptions that are acquired over time by members of an institution†. In fact, cultures dominate in a way that impacts employee interaction, organizational functioning and eventually influences all decision making (Graham &Nafukho, 2007). Schein (1985) integrated the concept of assumptions, adaptations, perceptions and learning and then comprehensively defined organizational cultures as patterns of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with the problems of external adaptation and internal integration that all works well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems. Culture can also be expressed through the organization’s myths, heroes, legends, stories, jargon, rites and rituals. Corporate culture is a key component in the achievement of an organization’s mission and strategies, the improvement of organizational effectiveness and the management of change 7 (Samuel, 2006). A corporate culture can work for an organization to improve performance or against it by creating barriers that prevent the attainment of goals. However, it can be corrected by providing guidance on what is expected by conveying a sense of identity and purpose of unity to members, facilitating the generation of commitment and shaping behavior. 1.7.2 Leadership & Leadership Styles According to Stogdill (1963), different people will interpret leadership differently based on the individual perspective; there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept. Stogdill stated that the term leadership is a relatively a recent addition to the English language and it was used only for about two hundred years ago, although the term leader from which it was derived appeared as early as A.D1300. Leadership has been defined in terms of individual traits, behavior, influence over other people, interaction patterns, role relationships, occupation of an administrative position and perception by others regarding legitimacy of influence. (Yukl, 2006). Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and the perceptions and expectations of members. Some other definitions are as follows: 1) Leadership is â€Å"the behavior of an individual when he is directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.† (Hemphill & Coons, 1957). 8 2) Leadership is â€Å"an interaction between persons in which one presents information of a sort and in such a manner that the other becomes convinced that his outcome will be improved if he behaves in the manner suggested or desired† (Jacobs, 1970). 3) Leadership is â€Å"the initiation and maintenance of structure in expectation and interaction† (Stogdill, 1974). Job Satisfaction Locke (1969) defining job satisfaction as â€Å"the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one’s job values†. Spector (1985) defined it as â€Å"how people feel about their jobs and different aspects of their jobs. It is the extent to which people like or dislike their jobs. Schmidt (2007) stated that job satisfaction is a reflection of an individual’s behavior that leads to attractive outcomes and is typically measured in degrees of multiple perceptions using multiple constructs or categories. Overall, job satisfaction is associated with an employee satisfaction from both psychological and physical perspectives. Thus, job satisfaction is recognized as a complex construct that includes both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. (Herzberg, 1959). He also identified the intrinsic as derived from internal job-related rewards such as recognition, achievement, advancement and responsibility. Extrinsic factors result from external environment-related rewards such as salary, policies, and interpersonal relations in supervision and working conditions. Spector (1985) identified nine subscales for the Job Satisfaction 9 Survey (JSS): pay, promotion, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating conditions, co-workers, nature of work and communication. 1.7.4 SME Manager SME manager can be explained in 2 parts- SME and the manager. SME is the industry and manager is the position in an organization. Small and medium enterprises or SMEs, also called small and medium-sized enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses, SMBs. SMEs are companies whose headcount or turnover falls below certain limits. The manager is an individual who is in charge of a certain group of tasks, or a certain subset of a company. A manager often has a staff of people who report to him or her. Job Satisfaction underpinning theory 1.8.1 Herzberg Job Satisfaction Theory: Herzberg developed his theory that there are two dimensions to job satisfaction: motivation and â€Å"hygiene†. Hygiene issues, according to Herzberg, cannot motivate employees but can minimize dissatisfaction, if handled properly. In other words, they can only dissatisfy if they are absent or mishandled. Hygiene topics include company policies, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. They are issues related to the employee’s environment. Motivators, on the other hand, create satisfaction by fulfilling individuals’ needs for meaning and personal growth. They are issues such as achievement, 10 recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. Once the hygiene areas are addressed, said Herzberg, the motivators will promote job satisfaction and encourage production. (Christina M. Stello, 2011) 2.0 Literature Review In this chapter, a literature review on the independent variable, organizational culture and leadership styles, also the dependent variable, job satisfaction. 2.1 Independent variable – Organizational Culture Organizational culture is generally seen as a set of key values, assumptions, understandings and norms that are shared by members of an organization and taught to new members as correct (Daft, 2005). It is argued that organizational culture may be the critical key that managers can use to direct the course of their firms (Smircich, 1983). A culture creates distinctions between one organization and others, conveys a sense of identity for its members, facilitates commitment towards the organization’s goals, enhances the stability of the social system, reduces ambiguity and serves as a control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees. However, a culture can also become a liability when it becomes too strongly entrenched within the norms, values and mindsets of the employees and resist changes. A culture can also become a barrier to change, diversity and other transformations required for the organization to adapt in today’s dynamic, 11 globalized business environment. The study of organizational culture can take on a multitude of aspects. Robbins (2005) elaborated that there are seven primary characteristics that, in aggregate, capture the essence of an organization’s culture: innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness and stability. Each of these characteristics can exist on a continuum from low to high. Daft (2005) discussed on the three levels of corporate culture, with each level becoming less obvious, i.e. visible, expressed values and underlying assumptions and deep beliefs. Culture can also be determined by its strength, which is the degree of agreement among employees about the importance of specific values and ways of doing things. A strong culture is one which core values are both intensely held and widely shared, and hence have greater impact on employee behavior. Research has found that a strong culture is linked to high agreement among members, increases behavioral consistency builds cohesiveness, loyalty and organizational commitment and more importantly, reduces turnover (Robbins, 2005). According to Wallach (1983), an organization’s culture can be a combination of three categories – bureaucratic, innovative or supportive – to varying degrees. Wallach’s (1983) framework is adapted for the purpose of this study. Wallach (1983) states that the Organizational Culture Index (OCI) profiles culture on the three stereotypical dimensions and can be derived from the combination of these three dimensions. 12 A bureaucratic culture is hierarchical and compartmentalized. There are clear lines of responsibility and authority. Work is organized and this culture is usually based on control and power. Such organizations are stable, cautious, usually mature, power-oriented, established, solid, regulated, ordered, structured, procedural and hierarchical. An innovative culture refers to a creative, results-oriented, challenging work environment. It is characterized as being entrepreneurial, ambitious, stimulating, driven and risk-taking. A supportive culture exhibits teamwork and a peopleoriented, encouraging, trusting work environment. These places are warm and people are generally friendly, fair and helpful to each other. Supportive cultures are characterized as open, harmonious, trusting, safe, equitable, sociable, relationships-oriented, humanistic, collaborative and likened to an extended family. Wallach (1983) further elaborated that an employee can be more effective in his or her current job and realizes his or her best potentials, when there is a match between the individual’s motivation and the organizational culture. For instance, by using McClelland’s three social motivators: a person with a high need of achievement will thrive in an innovative culture, an affinitive person will fare well in a supportive culture and a power-oriented person will perform best in a bureaucratic culture. This has significant implications in recruitment, management, motivation, development and retention of employees. Few published studies describing the corporate culture of Malaysian companies, which are generally more or less similar to other fast-growing, competitive, 13 developing Asian countries. Government offices are generally considered to be bureaucratic, while publicly-listed and private companies are more entrepreneurial in nature. This is exemplified in a study done by Rashid et al. (2003), where companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange were found to be predominantly competitive and value risk-taking, demanding goals and market superiority. Another study by Rashid et al. (2004) showed that among manufacturers in the country, many had mercenary culture, which emphasized on strategy and winning in the marketplace. To balance this, there exists to a lesser degree consensus, network and supportive cultures within Malaysian companies, consistent with the cultural values of Malaysian managers. Tradition, loyalty, teamwork and personal commitment are among some of the values prevalent in Malaysian companies. Independent variable – Leadership styles Daft (2005) defined leadership as an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Over the course of time, a number of dimensions or facets of leadership behavior have been developed and applied as researchers continue to discover what contributes to leadership success and failures. These included, among others, autocratic versus democratic, task-oriented versus peopleoriented, and the contingency approaches. The first studies on leadership styles conducted by Kurt Lewin and his associates in 1970s, identified the autocratic, democratic and delegative leadership styles. An autocratic leader is one who centralizes authority and derives power from position, control of rewards, and coercion. A democratic leader style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process but the leader maintains the final decision making authority. A delegative leader style, on the other hand, delegates authority to others, relies on subordinates’ knowledge for completion of tasks and depends on subordinate respect for influence. Subsequently, a series of studies on leadership styles (e.g. By Ohio State University, University of Michigan and University of Texas) were designed and conducted in the 1950s. This resulted in the development of reliable questionnaires (e.g. Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire, LBDQ) and models (e.g. Leadership Grid by Blake and Mouton) that would, in time, dominate much of leadership-related research and literature for years to come. Overall, the research into the behavior approach culminated in two major types of leadership behaviors – people-oriented and task-oriented. People-oriented leadership, which is equivalent to the consideration (Ohio State University), employee-centered (University of Michigan) and concern for people (University of Texas) focuses on the human needs of subordinates, respects their ideas and feelings and places importance on establishing mutual trust. Task-oriented leadership, which is equivalent to initiating structure (Ohio State University), job-centered (University of Michigan) and concern for production (University of Texas), focus on directing activities towards efficiency, cost15 cutting, and scheduling, with an emphasis on goal achievements and work facilitation. Theories of leadership then evolved to adopt a contingency approach when researchers failed to find universal leader traits or behaviors that would determine effective leadership. Following this school of thought, research focused on the situation in which leadership occurred. Leadership styles can be contingent upon situational variables, the nature of the followers and the leaders themselves. Many theories have been put forward, including Fiedler’s contingency theory, Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory, the Vroom-Jago contingency model, Leader-Member Exchange theory and the Path-Goal theory. Depending on the researcher’s conceptions and preferences, most leadership studies have been carried out in various ways. Nearly all leadership research can be classified into powerful influence, behavior, trait approach and situational approach. Currently, the most influential contingency approach to leadership is the Path- Goal theory (Robbins, 2005). This theory was developed by Robert House and extracts the key elements of the Ohio State leadership research on initiating structure and consideration, and the expectancy theory of motivation. The theory states that the main goal of the leader is to help subordinates attain the subordinates’ goals effectively and to provide them with the necessary direction and support to achieve their own goals as well as those of the organization (Silverthorne, 2001). In this theory, the leader increases follower motivation by either; (1) Clarifying the follower’s path to the rewards that are available or 16 (2) Increasing the rewards that the follower values and desires. Path clarification means that the leader works with subordinates to help them identify and learn the behaviors that will lead to successful task accomplishment and organizational rewards. Increasing rewards means that the leader talks with subordinates to learn which rewards are important to them, i.e. whether they desired intrinsic rewards from the work itself, or extrinsic rewards such as promotions. The leader’s job is to increase personal payoffs to subordinates for goal attainment and make the paths to the payoffs clear and easy to travel. The Path-Goal theory suggests a fourfold classification of leader styles: directive, supportive and participative styles. It is assumed that leaders are flexible and that the same leader can display any or all of these behaviors depending on the situation. Directive leadership tells subordinates exactly what they are supposed to do. Leader behavior includes planning, making schedules, setting performance goals and behavior standards and stressing adherence to rules and regulations. Mehta et al. (2003) added that this leadership style provides specific direction to subordinate work activity by organizing and defining the task environment, assigning the necessary functions to be performed, specifying rules, regulations and procedures to be followed in accomplishing tasks, clarifying expectations, scheduling work to be done, establishing communication networks and evaluating work group performance. Directive leadership behavior is similar to the initiating structure or task-oriented leadership style. 17 Supportive leadership shows concern for subordinates’ well-being and personal needs in which the leaders are open, friendly and approachable. The leader creates a team climate and treat subordinates equally. Mehta et al. (2003) further elaborated that a supportive leadership style is one in which the leader creates a facilitative task environment of psychological support, mutual trust and respect, helpfulness and friendliness. Supportive leadership is similar to the consideration or people-oriented leadership described earlier. Participative leadership consults with subordinates about decisions. Leader style includes asking for opinions and suggestions, encouraging participation in decision making, meeting, discussion and written suggestions, similar to the selling style in the Hersey and Blanchard model mentioned previously. Various studies in organizational behavior have found that allowing subordinates to participate in decision-making leads to increased motivation (Mehta e t al., 2003). Achievement-oriented leadership sets clear and challenging goals for subordinates. Leader behavior stresses high-quality performance and improvement over current performance. Achievement-oriented leaders also show confidence in subordinates and assist them in learning how to achieve high goals. The two situational contingencies in the Path-Goal theory are the personal characteristics of group members and the work environment. Personal characteristics can include subordinates’ locus of control, experience, perceived ability, skills, needs and motivations. Work environment contingencies can include the degree of task structure, the nature of the formal authority system and the work group itself. Task structure describes the extent to which tasks are defined and have explicit job descriptions and work procedures. The formal authority system includes the amount of legitimate power used by leaders and the extent to which policies and rules constrain employees’ behavior. Work group characteristics consist of the educational level of subordinates and the quality of relationships among them. The outcome of matching the right leadership behavior with the right situation while taking into consideration the various subordinate and work environments contingencies will result in favorable outcomes such as increased effort, improved satisfaction and performance (Daft, 2005). The study of leadership behaviors as conceptualized under the Path-Goal theory has been applied in many types of researches and has been generally accepted as a good measure of subordinate’s perceptions of leadership style based on participative, supportive and directive. For example, in the context of international marketing channels (Mehta et al., 2003), small and middle-sized firms (Li, 2004), company managers (Silverthorne, 2001), steel industry (Downey et al. 1975), automotive industry (Chang et al., 2003) and market orientation of UK firms (Harris and Ogbonna, 2001). Researchers of marketing channels in the distribution and logistics industry have attempted to show the path-goal theory’s usefulness as a strategy to 19 secure the compliance of channel members and have conceptually and empirically linked it to channel related phenomena such as manifest conflict, cooperation, channel efficiency and effectiveness, role clarity, role conflict, role ambiguity, and channel member satisfaction (Mehta et al., 1996) Not everyone agrees that a particular style of leadership will result in the most effective form of organizational behavior. Different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needs to know when to exhibit a particular approach. No one leadership style is ideal for every situation since a leader may have the knowledge and skills to act effectively in one situation but may not emerge as effectively in a different situation (Rad and Yarmohammadian, 2006). Leaders affect their subordinates both directly through their interactions and also through the organization’s culture (Li, 2004). Past research on corporate leadership in Malaysia frequently focused on its unique, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and collectivist society. It is acknowledged that leadership in Malaysia is deeply entrenched and connected to its diverse Asian culture, traditions and values. Hence, commonly-accepted leadership theories from the west and how it is thought to affect other organizational behavior factors may not be directly transferable to the Malaysian context. Organizational success in obtaining its goals and objectives depends on managers and their leadership style. By using appropriate leadership styles, managers can affect employee job satisfaction, commitment and productivity.       Many factors related to turnover have been identified by previous research to be significantly correlated with job satisfaction (Chang, Choi, & Kim, 2008; Moore, 2000). In a review of past literature, Rad and Yarmohammadian (2006) justified the need to investigate job satisfaction is exemplified in the seemingly observed relationship between the levels of job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, grievance expression, tardiness, low morale and high turnover. Thus, job satisfaction is an immediate antecedent of intention to leave the workplace and turnover. Unsatisfied workers will leave their jobs more than their satisfied colleagues. Furthermore, more satisfied employees have more innovative activities in continuous quality improvement and more participation in decisionmaking in organizations. 21 2.4 Relationship between organization culture, leadership styles & job satisfaction Research involving two or all three subjects of organizational culture, leadership styles and job satisfaction has attracted considerable interest from both academics and practitioners. Examples of a few key studies in the area are: (1) Corporate culture and leadership style in United Kingdom (Ogbonna and Harris, 2000), Canada and Korea (Dastmalchian et al., 2000). (2) Organizational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and commitment (Lok and Crawford, 1999, 2004). (3) Leadership style and organizational culture to effect change (Brooks, 1996; Smith, 2003). (4) Leadership and organizational culture in a private organization toward performance (Block, 2003). Despite numerous references to a relationship between organizational culture and leadership styles in many parts of organization theory and research, little systematic research has been conducted to investigate the link between the nature of the relationship of these two concepts and their effect on job satisfaction. Since these two concepts are important in the functioning of an organization (Lok and Crawford, 2002, 2004; Ogbonna and Harris, 2000; Fiedler, 1996; Schein, 1992), further research is required to provide the insight information to the leaders and organizations. 22 On the other hand, previous research on corporate culture in Malaysia (Kamal, 1988; Jaina, Md. Zabid, Anantharaman, 1997) focused more on different ethnic backgrounds (Malays, Chinese, and Indians) and used Hofstede’s model of organizational culture (Hofstede, 1980). Job satisfaction is recognized as an important topic in organizational culture because of its relevance to the physical and emotional health of employees (Oshagbemi, 1999). Although a considerable number of researchers have argued that there is a constant interplay between organizational culture and leadership, there are limited empirical studies examining the relation between leadership and culture as well as their joint effect on important organizational outcomes (Trice and Beyer, 1993). More importantly, research has found that the harmonious combination of appropriate leadership styles with certain types of organizational cultures can positively influence employees’ performance (Harris and Ogbonna, 2000). According to Yousef (2000), the relationship between leadership styles and job satisfaction has received a lot of attention in the past research however findings have been mixed (Savery, 1994; Yousef, 2000). Research therefore does not directly link employee satisfaction to a specific leadership style. Instead, many suggest that leadership style needs to adapt to the culture or situation as it attempts to reduce employee dissatisfaction. Based on a comprehensive literature review by Yousef (2000), several researchers have also looked into the relationship between leadership styles and job performance. The findings were inconsistent as well. A couple of 23 studies in the steel industry and electronic meeting systems reported higher satisfaction and performance levels under directive leadership style when given a highly structured task, while supportive leadership style is preferred for unstructured problems (Kahai et al., 1997). Results from investigations of the antecedents of commitment have not been entirely consistent (Yousef, 2000).   Organizational culture plays an important role as well in generating commitment and enhancing performance (Lok and Crawford, 2001). In particular, studies in various industries and countries showed that innovative and supportive cultures had strong positive effects on commitment and job satisfaction, while bureaucratic cultures had a negative impact (Lok and Crawford, 1999; Rashid et al., 2003; Wallach, 1983). Results from various organizations in the United Arab Emirates suggest (in support of many western studies) that those who perceive their superiors as adopting consultative or participative leadership behavior are more committed to their organizations, more satisfied with their jobs and their performance is high. When employees are dissatisfied at work, they are less committed and will look for other opportunities to quit. If opportunities are unavailable, they may emotionally or mentally â€Å"withdraw† from the organization. Thus the job satisfaction is an important attitude in assessing the employee’s intention to quit and the overall contribution of the employee to the organization. 24 Rashid et al. (2003) surveyed over 200 companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Combining these findings with studies from other countries, both western and non-western, it is reasonable to expect that different types of leadership styles and organizational cultures do affect organizational commitment, which in turn, influences both job satisfaction and employee performance. Samad (2005) studied 584 managerial-level of employees in Telekom Malaysia and reported that job satisfaction did play a positive moderating role in the relationship between organizational commitment and job performance. However, Leong et al. (1994) found a weak correlation between the two variables, Lee and Mowday (1989) found negligible relationship and Wright (1997) reported a negative relationship between the two. In summary, many studies across different industries and geographical regions revealed strong correlations between organizational cultures with job satisfaction. There are very few relevant studies in the Malaysian context have been published to date but through our findings, no research being done on the relationship of organizational cultures, leadership styles and job satisfaction of SME managers working in SME industry, which has significant contribution to the Penang. 2.5 Theoretical Framework For the purpose of this research proposal, Hsu (2009) conceptualization of the relationships between organizational culture, organizational commitment and job satisfaction together with Lee (2008) study on â€Å"Association between 25 organizational culture and leadership behavior and organizational commitment, job satisfaction and employee performance- A Malaysian Perspective† performance are partially adapted. Based on the literature review, the theoretical framework per Figure 1 below; igure Figure 1: Research Framework From the literature and framework above, the following research hypothesis derived. H1: Organizational Culture affects Job Satisfaction of the employees. Job H2: Leadership Style affects Job Satisfaction of the employees. H3: Age has a moderating effect on the level of Job Satisfaction Research Methodology Research Instrument This study adopts a quantitative approach and the data solely depends on the primary data. The instrument to be used to collect the data in this research is a set of questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of two main sections – Section A and B. Section A is regarded respondent’s profile, such as Gender, Age Group, Position in this organization, Highest Level of Academic Qualification and Total Year of Working Experience in this company. Section B is pertaining to the measurement of variables under studied. There are total three variables in this study – one dependent variable which is Job Satisfaction, and two independent variables which are Perceived Organization Culture and Perceived Leadership Style. The Job Satisfaction is measured with ten items, and Organization Culture and Leadership Style, they are assessed by 20 and 15 items respectively. This is self-administered questionnaire. Respondents will be asked to indicate their agreement on each item on a 5-points Likert scale. The scale points are 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree, and 5=Strongly Agree. A set of questionnaire is appended in Appendix A for reference.    Population and Sample The population for this study composed of all managers in the SME in manufacturing sector companies located in Penang. A two layer sampling method will be employed in selecting the respondents for this study. In the first layer, the companies that formed the respondents will be selected using a simple random sampling method. The list of all the SME in the manufacturing section publishes on the SME website will be used as the population. Each company will be assigned a number and random numbers will be generated to select 380 companies to form the participants. In the second layer, 5 sets of questionnaire will be given to the Human Resources managers of the 380 companies selected. The questionnaire will then be distributed to the managers in their company. The selection of managers is at the discretion of the Human Resources managers. 3.3 Pilot Test Test Pilot is a trial run of procedures and instruments that you plan to use. Pilot test will be conducted with 50 managers of SME in the manufacturing sector randomly picked from the population to ensure that the instrument used is reliable. The returned data on the questionnaire will be entered into the SPSS statistical software. A reliability test will be run and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient value will be examined. It is suggested that Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.7 and above is considered good reliability of the measure. However, if the Cronbach’s Alpha value below than 0.7, then we will look further into the value of 28 â€Å"Cronbach’s Alpha if item Deleted†. We will screen through all the items to determine which item if this item deleted will improve the Cronbach’s Alpha value. If necessary, we will add in additional items to enhance the reliability of the measure. In addition, we will also examine the value of â€Å"Corrected item-Total Correlation†. The value of 0.4 to 0.6 is considered acceptable. This statistic can be used to test validity of the measure. If the value is too small such as 0.05, it means this item is no correlated to other items. In other words, this item is not relevant in this measure. Contrary, if the value is too high such as 0.8, then it means this item is too correlated with other items or it is duplicated with other items. The pilot test will be repeated to achieve the acceptable level of reliability and validity. 3.4 Method of Analysis This study will employ descriptive statistic and an inference statistic approach to test the hypothesis and achieve the objectives of this research. However, before we begin any actual data analysis, we will perform the goodness of measure test. 3.4.1 Goodness of Measure Reliability is one of the elements to ensure the goodness of measure. It is suggested that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient should be above 0.7 for reliability to consider the scale as consistent scale. As presented in the Pilot Test, the 29 reliability will be assessed and enhanced before the actual data collection and analysis. In other words, the goodness of data has been pre-assessed. 3.4.2 Descriptive Statistic A descriptive statistic table will be generated using the SPSS statistical software. The table will report the total numbers of respondent and the demographic statistics, mean values and standard deviation of Job Satisfaction, Organization Culture and Leadership Style. These are the basis statistics to describe the samples. From this descriptive statistics, specifically from the mean score of Job Satisfaction, we will know the satisfaction level of managers of the SME manufacturing section in Penang. This statistic is able to achieve the first objective of this research – To assess the job satisfaction level of managers in SME companies in Penang. 3.4.3 Inferences Statistic Various statistical analysis techniques will be employed in this study. These techniques are multivariate analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Each technique has its own purpose in related to the objective of the research and hypothesis testing. To test the following research hypothesis, multivariate analysis will be carried out. 30 H1: Organizational Culture affects Job Satisfaction of the employees. H2: Leadership Style affects Job Satisfaction of the employees. The outcome of this data analysis will help us achieve the second objective – To study the impact of these 2 factors affects the job satisfaction of the managers in SME companies in Penang. To test on the following hypothesis, we will carry out the hierarchical multiple regression analysis. H3: Age has a moderating effect on the level of Job Satisfaction. With the outcome of this test, the third objective of this study will also can be achieved – To examine whether age has any moderating effects in the job satisfaction of the managers in SME companies in Penang. The above data analysis plan and its purpose of each test in regards to the research objective can be summarized in the table below.    Dastmalchian, A., Lee, S. and Ng. I. (2000). 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