Organisational Commitment Study Research Methodology

Organisational Commitment Study Research Methodology Table of Contents (Jump to) Research Methodology Introduction Research Design Sample Population Sample Selection Sample Size Procedures Measuring Instrument Gathering of Data Organisational Commitment Job Satisfaction Job Descriptive Index and Job in General Stress in General Human Resource Management Practices (HRM) Trust in Management Turnover Intention Turnover Statistical Methods Summary Results Conclusion Research Methodology Introduction This chapter addresses the research methodology used in the study of Organisational Commitment, its’ antecedents and consequences as described in the first chapter. The first section of this chapter after the introduction presents the research design. Sample and population are presented in the second section. The third section looks at measuring instrumentation, reliability, validity and scoring techniques. The third section looks at data gathering procedures. The fourth section describes methods for statistical analysis. The last section summarises this chapter. Research Design This study used a relational research design to determine the relationship between antecedents and consequences of organisational commitment. Research into organisational commitment is largely dependent on the perceptions of employees and employers. Perceptions are generally acquired through subjective self-reports or opinion. A design based on surveys is therefore appropriate. Relational surveys empirically examine the relationships between two or more variables, constructs, and/or factors. Descriptive surveys are primarily used to provide personal and demographic information. Correlation studies are used to: measure relationships; check consistency of those relationships; and to make predictions. This allows the researcher to test hypotheses by confirming or refuting their predictions which is consistent with Grounded Theory and the formation of theoretical frameworks. It follows that predictive validity is most often achieved by statistical methods such as correlation and regressi on (Saunders et al, 2009). Sample Population The population of the study is all past and present employees of company X. Sample Selection Given that this company is a small specialised Information Technology consulting company with a small population (n = 25) all employees were approached to participate. Electronic survey links were sent to the entire population and 100% response rate was achieved where all of the respondents completed all of the surveys. Sample Size Sample size determines statistical significance in a relationship. The central limit theory dictates that the larger the absolute size of the sample the closer the more likely it is to have a normal distribution. It has also been shown that the minimum sample size of 30 will produce a normal distribution or near normal distribution (Stutely, 2003). DeVaus (2002) provides this formula to calculate minimum sample size: Where: is the minimum sample size required is the proportion belonging to the specified category is the proportion not belonging to the specified category is the z value corresponding to the level of confidence required (see Table A2.1) is the margin of error required Table 1 Confidence Levels and associated z values This formula is used for small populations: Where: is the adjusted minimum sample size is the minimum sample size (as calculated above) is the total population Saunders et al. (2009) advise that, in cases where the population is less than thirty, data should be collected from the entire population. There are limitations associated with minimum size. In particular the margin of error cannot be smaller than the reciprocal of the population. It follows that in order to achieve a 5% margin of error the minimum sample size required is calculated thus: where is the sample size Applying the DeVaus (2002) formulae to the sample in this study requires the whole population if a confidence interval of 95% and 5% error is to be achieved. Procedures The researcher requested permission from the Managing Director of the organisation to conduct interviews and circulate surveys among the employees. In addition permission was granted to access human resource management records and employer/employee correspondence where legal, relevant and appropriate to the study. The researcher is an employee of the organisation with free access to the employees which facilitated the ease of data gathering and clarification where necessary. Most of the group are in possession of post graduate degrees and a number have a Masters level qualification which further facilitated the process as the group all have a deep understanding and appreciation for the process. An employee meeting was called in the presence of the Managing Director where it was explained that the participation in the study was optional or voluntary, anonymous, and that the information would be treated confidentially. In order to avoid any peer group pressure, no discussion was entertained in the group information session and employees were invited to discuss any interest or concerns directly with the researcher in private. It is interesting to note that all employees wanted to participate and most had no desire to remain anonymous inviting the researcher to discuss any aspect of their responses with them. Three approaches were used during the gathering of data: Online Surveys; Interviews; and Analysis of Human Resource records and employee correspondence. Surveys are a popular, economical and convenient way to collect standardised data which facilitate easy comparisons (Saunders et al., 2009). Unstructured interviews were conducted to: determine aspects of the organisations’ Human Resource Management practices; determine reasons for Turnover with ex-employees where exit interviews or detailed resignation explanations were not available or unclear; determine impressions of Turnover survivors for perceptions about Turnover reasons. Human Resource records were used to determine biographical data such as: pay grade; age; tenure; absenteeism; education; and vacation habits Turnover reasons were collected from exit interviews and employee correspondence. Measuring Instrument This study aims to determine the relationship between Stress, Turnover, Turnover Intention, Organisational Commitment, HRM practices and Job Satisfaction. The following instruments were used in surveys to measure the variables: Organisational Commitment: Allen and Meyer (1990) Job Satisfaction: Brodke et al.’s (2009) Revised Job Descriptive Index (JDI) questionnaire based on the original of Smith et al. (1969) Job Stress: Stress in General (SIG) questionnaire of Brodke et al. (2009) Management Trust: Trust in Management (TIM) Brodke et al. (2009) Turnover Intention: three point questionnaire baed on Sjà ¶berg and Sverke (2000) Gathering of Data The online surveys were created in Google Forms using the organisations’ internal infrastructure which is hosted on Google Apps. Google Forms is part of the Google Apps suite and facilitates the creation, distribution, and collation of survey data electronically. The surveys were distributed from the facility in Google Forms by way of a link in an email. The anonymous survey responses are automatically collected and stored on Google Drive where the information is made available in a tabular format (Microsoft Excel). Organisational Commitment Organisational Commitment was measured using the Organisational Commitment Scales (OCS) developed by Meyer and Allen (1997). The reliability of the OCS has been demonstrated in numerous studies over the last two decades. The reliability of each of the scales can be seen through Cronbach’s alpha of: between 0.77 and 0.88 for affective commitment; 0.65 and 0.86 for normative commitment; and 0.69 and 0.84 for continuance commitment (Fields, 2002). The OCS is comprised of 22 items measured on a 7 point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Job Satisfaction The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was painstakingly developed by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin and published in their book, Satisfaction in Work and Retirement (1969). Patricia Cain Smith (1917-2007) relocated from Cornell to Bowling Green State University in the mid-1960s bringing the JDI Research Group with her. The group has operated since 1959 with different members and is one of the longest running research groups in the field. They make their family of scales available free of charge to researchers. The scales include: the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) including the Job in General (JIG); Stress in General (SIG); and Trust in Management (TIM). These scales consist of phrases and adjectives that describe facets of the job or the job overall. Participants select â€Å"Yes†, â€Å"No† or â€Å"?† in response to each word or phrase. â€Å"Yes† means the word or phrase describes the job. â€Å"No† means the word or phrase does not describe the job. â€Å"?† means that the respondent is unsure or cannot decide. The scales are scored 3, 0, 1.5 for â€Å"Yes†, â€Å"No†, and â€Å"?† respectively. The 2009 revision of the JDI, JIG, SIG and TIM are utilised in this study. Job Descriptive Index and Job in General The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General (JIG) are self-report measures of job satisfaction. The JDI measures satisfaction with five facets of the job: attitudes towards co-workers, the work itself, promotion opportunities, remuneration and supervision. The JIG scale measures overall satisfaction with the job (Brodke et al., 2009). There have been two major updates to the JDI since it was introduced by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin in 1969. The first update was made in 1985 (Smith et al., 1987) and the second was made in 1997 (Kihm, Smith, Irwin, 1997). The JDI Research Group (Bowling Green State University, OH, USA) then updated the JDI family of scales in 2009. Table 2 Correlations among the JDI facets (Brodke et al., 2009)* lists correlations among the JDI scales which demonstrates that each of the JDI facets and the JIG measures a distinct aspect of job satisfaction and no facet correlates higher than 0.50 with any other facet. Cronbach coefficients above 0.80 or higher are considered to have high levels of reliability. Table 2 Correlations among the JDI facets (Brodke et al., 2009)* Table 3 Validity Coefficients Pearson Correlations (Brodke et al., 2009) shows the correlations of the JDI facets with SIG and the single item measure of Overall Job Satisfaction: â€Å"Considering everything, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with your job?† rated on a five point scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). Brodke et al. (2009) have shown that the JIG scale is a good predictor of Turnover Intention. Table 3 Validity Coefficients Pearson Correlations (Brodke et al., 2009)* Stress in General The relationships between workplace stress and negative personal and organisational outcomes are well documented. Stressors and Strains are important concepts related to stress. Stressors precede the experience of stress and strains are the outcomes of the stress experience. The SIG is a measure of the experience of work stress, which emerges between the initial existence of work stressors and the resulting physical and psychological strains (Brodke et al. 2009). This is the stress that is experienced as a result of work stressors prior to the acknowledgement of the strain. The SIG is thus a good measure of Job Dissatisfaction and predictor of Turnover Intentions. The 2009 revision used in this study is based on the SIG scale developed by Stanton et al. (2001). Brodke et al. (2009) showed that this SIG scale shows a reliability coefficient of 0.79. Furthermore the scale correlates positively and significantly with the Faces stress measure (r = 0.54, p Human Resource Management Practices (HRM) The Managing Director and a team manager were interviewed about all aspects of their interaction from recruitment to exit. Marketing material was collected and analysed. The JDI facets that measures Opportunities for Promotion and Supervision are also used in assessing perceptions of HRM practices. Trust in Management Trust in Management (TIM) self-report survey consists of twelve phrases and adjectives describing characteristics of senior management or executives. Participants select â€Å"Yes†, â€Å"No† or â€Å"?† in response to each word or phrase. â€Å"Yes† means the word or phrase describes the manager or executive. â€Å"No† means the word or phrase does not describe the manager or executive. â€Å"?† means that the respondent is unsure or cannot decide. The scales are scored 3, 0, 1.5 for â€Å"Yes†, â€Å"No†, and â€Å"?† respectively. The TIM is considered a single scale and is composed of four dimensions: Ability, Benevolence, Consistency, and Integrity. Table 4 Cronbach’s alphas and correlations among the TIM summary scores and the TIM dimensions (Brodke et al., 2009) shows how the dimensions of the TIM scale are correlated. Table 4 Cronbach’s alphas and correlations among the TIM summary scores and the TIM dimensions (Brodke et al., 2009)* Table 5 Validity Coefficients with Selected Outcome Measures Pearson Correlations (Brodke et al., 2009) shows the Pearson correlations with JDI facets. Brodke et al. (2009) contend that the TIM dimensions are distinct although highly correlated. Table 5 Validity Coefficients with Selected Outcome Measures Pearson Correlations (Brodke et al., 2009)* Turnover Intention This study makes use of Sjà ¶berg and Sverke’s (2000) three item Turnover Intention scale which measures the strength of the respondent’s intention to leave their current job. The scale is scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A high score indicates a higher degree of Turnover Intention. Nà ¤swall et al. (2006) showed the Cronbach alpha coefficients for this scale to lie between 0,76 and 0,87. Turnover Actual turnover information is derived from Human Resource records including ex-employee correspondence in the form of letters of resignation. Statistical Methods Data analysis was conducted using an installation of the statistical programming language â€Å"R† through the web based front-end â€Å"R-Studio† on a virtual Amazon Web Services Machine Image (R version 3.0.1, Nickname Good Sport, 2013-05-16). R is a GNU project which is free under the GNU General Public License. The researcher considered the following tests given the nature of the study: Descriptive Statistics are used to describe the location, shape, and dispersion of the sample data collected Inferential Statistics to calculate the strength and direction of the relationships between the research variables Regression tests were used to examine cause-effect relationships between the research variables Summary Data was primarily derived from the perceptions and experiences of employees. Statistical analysis was performed on the data in order to yield empirical evidence and to gain an understanding of the inter relationships between the antecedents and consequences of Organisational Commitment. Online surveys were conducted using various scales. Secondary data were collected from sources such as informal interviews and company HR records and policies. Data analyses are based on quantitative methods through a statistical analysis in order to answer the research questions posed.

Agriculture of Pakistan

Agriculture is a vital sector of Pakistan's economy and accounted for 25.9 percent of GDP in 1999-2000, according to government estimates. The sector directly supports three-quarters of the country's population, employs half the labor force , and contributes a large share of foreign exchange earnings. The main agricultural products are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, in addition to milk, beef, mutton, and eggs. Pakistan depends on one of the world's largest irrigation systems to support production. There are 2 principal seasons. Cotton, rice, and sugarcane are produced during the kharif season, which lasts from May to November. Wheat is the major rabi crop, which extends from November to April. The key to a much-needed improvement of productivity lies in a more efficient use of resources, principally land and water. However, change is dependent on the large landowners who own 40 percent of the arable land and control most of the irrigation system, which makes widespread reform difficult. Assessments by independent agencies, including the World Bank, show these large landholdings to be very unproductive. Pakistan is a net importer of agricultural commodities. Annual imports total about US$2 billion and include wheat, edible oils, pulses, and consumer foods. Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers of raw cotton. The size of the annual cotton crop—the bulk of it grown in Punjab province—is a crucial barometer of the health of the overall economy, as it determines the availability and cost of the main raw material for the yarn-spinning industry, much of which is concentrated around the southern port city of Karachi. Official estimates put the 1999-2000 harvest at some 11.2 million 170-kilogram bales, compared with the 1998-99 outturn of 8.8 million bales and the record 12.8 million bales achieved in 1991-92. The government recently actively intervened in the market to boost prices and to encourage production. A major problem is that the cotton crop is highly susceptible to adverse weather and pest damage, which is reflected in crop figures. After peaking at 2.18 million tons in 1991-92, the lint harvest has since fluctuated considerably, ranging from a low of 1.37 million tons in 1993-94 to a high of 1.9 million tons in 1999-2000. The 2000-01 wheat crop was forecast at a record 19.3 million tons, compared to 17.8 million tons produced during the previous year. This increase is due largely to favorable weather and a 25-percent increase in the procurement price to about US$135 per ton. About 85 percent of the crop is irrigated. Despite the record production, Pakistan will continue to be a major wheat importer. The government has imported an average of US$2.4 million annually over the past 5 years. The United States and Australia are the major suppliers. Demand for wheat is increasing from Pakistan's rapidly growing population as well as from cross-border trade with Afghanistan. Pakistan is a major rice exporter and annually exports about 2 million tons, or about 10 percent of world trade. About 25 percent of exports is Pakistan's famous fragrant Basmati rice. Rice is Pakistan's second leading source of export earnings. Private traders handle all exports. Pakistan's main competitors in rice trade are Thailand, Vietnam, and India. Tobacco is grown mainly in the North-West Frontier Province and Punjab and is an important cash crop . Yields in Pakistan are about twice those for neighboring countries largely due to the extension services provided by the industry. Quality, however, is improving only slowly due to problems related to climate and soil. Farmers have started inter-cropping tobacco with vegetables and sugarcane to increase returns. About half of the total production is used for cigarette manufacturing and the remainder used in traditional ways of smoking (in hand-rolled cigarettes called birris, in water pipes, and as snuff). The share of imported tobacco is increasing gradually in response to an increased demand for high-quality cigarettes. Minor crops account for only 5 percent of total cultivated area; these include oilseeds (sunflower, soybean), chilies, potatoes, and onions. Domestic oilseed production accounts only for about 25 percent of Pakistan total edible oil needs. As a result, Pakistan spends more than US$1 billion annually in scarce foreign exchange to import edible oils, while its oilseed processing industry operates at less than 25 percent of capacity due to an inadequate supply of oilseeds. For 2000-01 total oilseed production was forecast to decrease 10 percent to 3.6 million tons. The government has highlighted development of the oilseed sector as a priority. Pakistan's fishing industry is relatively modest, but has shown strong growth in recent years. The domestic market is quite small, with per capita annual consumption of approximately 2 kilograms. About 80 percent of production comes from marine fisheries from 2 main areas, the Sindh coast east from Karachi to the Indian border, and the Makran coast of Baluchistan. Ninety percent of the total marine catch is fish; the shrimp which constitute the remainder are prized because of their greater relative value and demand in foreign markets. During 1999-00, total fish production was 620,000 tons, of which 440,000 tons consisted of sea fish and the remainder were fresh-water species. About one-third of the catch is consumed fresh, 9 percent is frozen, 8 percent canned, and about 43 percent used as fish meal for animal food. Livestock accounts for 40 percent of the agricultural sector and 9 percent of the total GDP. Principal products are milk, beef, mutton, poultry, and wool. During 1999, the livestock population increased to 120 million head. That same year Pakistan generated 970,000 tons of beef, 640,000 tons of mutton, and 190,000 tons of poultry. In an effort to enhance milk and meat production, the government recently launched a comprehensive livestock development project with Asian Development Bank assistance. Poultry production provides an increasingly popular low-cost source of protein. Modern poultry production is constrained by high mortality, high incidence of disease, poor quality chicks, and poor quality feed, combined with an inadequate marketing system. Frozen poultry have only recently been introduced. Forests cover an area of 4.2 million hectares or about 5 percent of the total area of Pakistan. The principal forest products are timber, principally for house construction, furniture, and firewood. Many of the country's wooded areas are severely depleted as a result of over-exploitation. The government has restricted cutting to protect remaining resources—though corruption often jeopardizes environmental efforts—and has lowered duties to encourage imports. Forestry production has since declined from 1.07 million cubic meters in 1990-91 to 475,000 cubic meters in 1998-99. Pakistan imports an estimated US$150 million of wood products annually to meet the requirements of a growing population and rising demand by a wealthy elite.

The Baron of the Separation of Powers

A French political thinker, Baron Montesquieu had various notable notions on society and politics but most remarkable would be his ideas on the separation of powers. Comparing the institutions of Great Britain with the more despotic institutions of the Bourbon monarchy of his age in France, as a case in point, Montesquieu in his Spirit of the Laws (De L’esprit des Lois 1748) explored what he posited to be a functional peculiarity of the British Constitution: the Separation of Powers.This analytical separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, and the necessary balancing of such is arguably the most notable contribution of the thinker Montesquieu to political thought and practice. Montesquieu is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et le Montesquieu (January 18, 1689 in Bordeaux – February 10, 1755). This review of his life and key ideas is an important effort toward a better understanding of the development of democractic ideals and ideas.In the following essay, we shall endeavor to highlight the main points in the life of the thinker and the key notions that he explored and which earned him such distinction in political thought. Highlights of the Life of The Baron and Thinker. Montesquieu, as a product of the period of Enlightenment, articulated many seminal concepts in political philosophy and thought but he is most noted for the aforementioned notion of the separation of powers (Pangle, 75). His life was a narrative of political concern and privileged study.Before marrying one Jeanne de Latrigue, a Protestant, he was a student at the Catholic College of Juilly. This marriage is notable as it brought him a substantial dowry at the relatively young age of 26. On top of this, he reportedly inherited quite a fortune from an uncle, including the title Baron de Montesquieu. These, it appears, had afforded him the luxuries of a passion for social commentary and political thought (Shackleton, 16) By that time he was married and titled, England had been through its so-called Glorious Revolution (1688–89) and had declared itself a constitutional monarchy.Furthermore, England had by then joined with Scotland in the Union of 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Then, in 1715, the Sun King, Louis XIV, was succeeded by a weaker monarch, Louis XV. Such developments meant a lot for the Baron as they are well noted in his writings such as in his magnum opus The Spirit of the Laws. The Spirit of the Laws was originally released in 1748 and, though published anonymously, quickly became popular among the commentators of the time.Notably, it got strong criticism from both supporters and opponents of the regime in France while the Roman Catholic Church banned it with the other writings of Montesquieu in 1751. However, in the rest of Europe, it received acclaim especially in Britain (Shackleton, 83). In the then formative Northern America, in the British colonies, Montesquieu was seen as an advocate of libe rty and is argued to have been the most often cited authority on politics (Lutz, 191). Montesquieu was able to travel throughout Europe including Austria, Hungary, Italy and England before resettling in France and eventually dying in 1755 and being buried in Paris.The Thoughts of Montesquieu. Echoed by the American calls for change at that time, Montesquieu's work was a great influence on many of the American Founders, such as James Madison. Montesquieu's proposition that â€Å"government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another† reminded Madison and others that a free and stable foundation for their new national government required a clearly defined and balanced separation of powers — a theory merely implicit in Aristotle (Thackrah 188).It must be recalled here that the Greek Aristotle advocated a form of mixed government, or polity, in which all citizens’ rule and are ruled by turn’. Based on the belief in political obligation founded i n distributive justice — the principle uniting citizen to citizen and all to the state in which equals are treated equally — this idea of the separation of powers was given greater expression by James Harrington who, in the seventeenth-century, who, argued for a written constitution.John Locke, it must also be pointed out, suggested that liberties could be more easily protected and the social compact upheld more effectively by a separation of powers and introduced a notion that was to have radical influence through the systematic theory elaborated by Montesquieu (Thackrah 188). In his magnum opus, Baron Montesquieu expressed his belief that the English constitution epitomized the separation of powers. The English model could create an effective balance of powers within the state, avoiding the despotic tendencies inherent both in absolute monarchy and in government by the common people.Following Montesquieu, the three powers normally considered to be separable in the ex ercise of government are (Thackrah 188): 1. The legislative which formulates policy and enacts it as law; 2. The executive which carries policy into action; 3. The judiciary which applies the law according to rules of procedural justice and resolves disputes. Montesquieu argued that the sign of the despot was to subsume these powers under one and to hold that one power to himself. Despots and independent judiciaries do not go hand in hand. Montesquieu thus believed in the totality of separation of powers.The executive power should not be exercised by members of the legislature but by a monarch, subject to impeachment for actions performed ultra vires (Thackrah 188). The differentiation of powers is not clear in the Western world; for example, in Britain executive power lies with the cabinet which is formed from members of the ruling majority party in Parliament, i. e. , of the legislature, and which effectively controls the operation of Parliament. Guarantees of liberty contained in the British constitution cannot be attributed simply to a separation of powers.The American constitution does not separate the powers completely, nor indeed could it do so without destroying the necessary unity of government (Thackrah 188; Lutz 193). Government in the Western world at least would be impossible if the three powers ceased to function in unison. As Thackrah cited from Roger Scruton, a political lexicographer, â€Å"laws enacted by the legislature must applied by the executive, and upheld by the judiciary and if a judge acts ultra vires, it must be possible for he legislature to hold him to account and for the executive to remove him from office† (189).If all three braches were united under a single head, the opportunity for an act of government to go through rapidly would be very much greater than if three individuals or sets of individuals had to concur before that act went through: and so the separation of powers imparts a brake to the activity of government. When all three powers act in concert the matters go forward: let one of them refrain and nothing can go forward at all. This means delay. To be more specific, Montesquieu devoted four chapters of The Spirit of the Laws to a discussion of England where freedom or liberty was supposedly sustained by a balance of powers.His anxiety lay over his observation that in his France, the intermediate powers (that is, the nobility) which moderated the power of the prince were being eroded. It must be pointed out that Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes or trias politica (a term he coined): the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers included the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.These should be separate from and dependent upon each other. This was very novel or radical in the sense that this did away with the feudali stic structure of the French model at the time. Finally, like many Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu posited many other intriguing ideas. He endorsed the idea that a woman could head government (but then she supposedly could not be effective as the head of a family). He accepted hereditary aristocracy but was an ardent opponent of slavery. Another one of his more notable propositions is that climate may influence the nature of man and his society.He in fact asserted that certain climates are superior to others as, for example, the temperate climate of France is supposedly ideal and such could affect political dynamics. His view in this regard has been referred to as being seminal in that it included material factors in the explanation of social dynamics and political forms (Althusser 102). The Thinker Lives On. Today, many governments, including ours, have been designed with concern for a separation of powers. It is without question one of the pillars of contemporary political pra ctice, given the primary importance that society gives to the notion of democracy.Democracy is seen as the practice of upholding the rights and interests of free peoples. Hence, so long as democracy lives, the thinker and his thoughts, Montesquieu and his thesis on the separation of governmental powers, live on. Works Cited Lutz, David. â€Å"The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought,† American Political Science Review 78, 1 (March, 1984):189-197. Althusser, Louis. Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx, NLB, 1972. Pangle, Thomas, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism.Chicago: 1989. Person, James Jr. , ed. â€Å"Montesquieu† (excerpts from chap. 8) in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, (Gale Publishing: 1988), vol. 7, pp. 350-52. Shackleton, Robert. Montesquieu; a Critical Biography. Oxford: 1961. Schaub, Diana J. Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's ‘Persian Letter s'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995. Spurlin, Paul M. Montesquieu in America, 1760-1801. New York: Octagon Books, 1961. Thackrah, J. R. Politics. Oxford, London: Heinemann Publishing, 1990.

Power Of The Producers By Enrico Mattei - 1492 Words

In the second half of the 20th century, as a syndicate Western oil companies came to supply more and more of the worlds oil, they also quietly came to dictate the price. The power these companies wielded as a result, was immense, and some individual disagreed as to whether these companies should have such power. Despite the abundance of critics, there were only a few figures who developed enough valor to take action against this inequity. In the 6th installment of The Prize titled, â€Å"Power to the Producers,† we follow the lives of a few men who contradicted the authority of the major players in the oil industry. In the 1950’s, in an attempt to slowly reintroduce Iranian oil back into the market, following an international embargo on the†¦show more content†¦He grew up in a poverty stricken Italy and came to fight in WWII on the Partisan side against the faciests (and Mussolini). Following the end of the war, he was put in charge of AGIP, a failing Italian national oil company. Mattei was a natural leader and following the discovery of large quantities of oil in northern Italy (despite drilling for oil) he managed to grow AGIP into a successful company. As the company grew to prominence, even major oil corporations began to see it as a threat and many time over Mattei was offered blank check for AGIP, to which he stubbornly refused. Mattei was a clever individual and understood that if he didn’t expand his company rapidly, the â€Å"Seven Sisters† would soon enter his native Italy, and using their own resources, outcompete him (in an effort to get rid of him). Determined to not let that happen, AGIP began a campaign of aggressive expansion, most of the time without the necessary permits. Mattei also used his position as a government agent (his company was national property after all) to conduct exclusive business ventures between other government leaders. It was through these governments to government dealings, that Mattei came across, Gamal Abdel Nasser, an Egyptian nationalist who would become one of his greatest allies. Nasser had recently become the leader of Egypt having staged a successful