Literature Review of Organizational Change, 2000 to 2008

Introduction There has been a considerable body of literature dedicated to assisting organisational leaders in their endeavours to implement change (Holt, Self, Thal Lo 2002). Many authors concur that the prime task of leaders is to bring about change and that leadership and change management are indeed inextricably linked (Burnes 2003, Stoker 2006, Maurer 2008). Robinson and Harvey (2008) maintain that the acceleration of globalisation has resulted in a tumultuous state of change as organisations struggle to adapt to new models of leadership. Consequently, few would dispute that with such increasing globalisation, deregulation, rapid pace of technology and shifting social and demographic trends that leading organisational change is†¦show more content†¦(2003) who argue that regardless of the specific phases of the change process or which type of change model is used, the extent of success at the end of the process is affected by the leader’s ability to influence members of th e organisation to adopt and implement change. Essentially these ‘influence strategies’ encourage affected employees to adopt and exhibit the appropriate behaviours that translate into organisational gains (Holt et al. 2003). Landrum, Howell and Paris (2000) also point out the importance of being able to apply leadership skills that will gain commitment from followers and change attitudes, beliefs and if necessary the goals of followers. Accordingly, it can be seen that one of the skills a leader and indeed a change leader must possess is the ability to influence employees. This gives rise to establish what specific skills an individual change leader requires to exert this influence. Graetz (2000) and Ellinger, Ellinger and Keller (2003) highlight that there has been a radical shift in the role of senior managers from the traditional authoritarian, command and control style to a more open, participative approach that emphasises a non-positional, team-based and empowering model. With the focus on cooperation, communication and collaboration, Graetz (2000) maintains that managers need to adopt a completely different range of leadership skills in addition to the traditional technical dimensions of management. Stewart andShow MoreRelatedA Study On Refining Organizational Training Essay951 Words   |  4 Pagescapabilities is at the core front of any organization. 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Identification of the Impact of Cultural Diversity Free Essays

string(67) " say wins in matters of conflicts or arguments in my organisation\." CURTIN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF HUMANITIES (DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT) IDENTIFICATION OF THE IMPACT OF HOFSTEDE’S CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ON THE DETERMINANTS OF PROJECT SUCCESS AMONG MANAGERS IN PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN MIRI, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA Uyi Rapheal Edomwandagbon 7e0b8198/14 Mitrabinda Singh Research thesis presented as a part of the requirements for the award of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE (Project Management) June 2012 Acknowledgement My most sincere thanks and gratitude goes to my supervisor, Mrs. Mitrabinda Singh for her consistence patience, valuable advice and guidance throughout this final year project in every aspect. In addition, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to all the lecturers in Curtin University who at one time or the other have been there for me throughout the duration of this Master of Science in Project Management course. We will write a custom essay sample on Identification of the Impact of Cultural Diversity or any similar topic only for you Order Now I would also like to say a Special thanks to all my course mates and seniors for their contributions and support in the writing of this research. Last but not least, I would like to thank all of my family both here and back home for giving me this opportunity, Ik and Mathilda for their unrelenting effort in supporting me and Manami for her encouragements and love. Abstract The research focuses on identifying the underlying impact of Hofstede’s cross-cultural dimensions on project success among private sector organisations in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. Cultural difference is predominantly existent in most of today’s private sector organisations but the effect has been greatly overlooked. Following the aim of the study a number of questions has been drawn which the research aims to answer and an in-depth analysis of past literatures and studies has been conducted and used for the purpose of the underlying research and a number of hypotheses have been drawn for testing this study. First, an identification of the factors necessary for project success was done, followed by an analysis of cultural dimensions developed by Geert Hofstede (1984). The effect of each of the dimensions in relation to organisations success factors was identified and these were applied to develop a correlation between the cultural dimensions and project success. The research study shall be conducted within selected strata of 20 private sector organisation in Miri with only the managers as participants, employing a quantitative approach using a set of questionnaire containing questions with 5-point likert scale and a demographic section of open and close-ended questions distributed among managers in Private sector organisations located in Miri, Sarawak. The resulting findings and conclusion shall help in establishing this relationship and provide substantial evidence on if cross-cultural differences in Private sector organisations contribute to the success of project in Private sector organisations located around Miri, Malaysia. The relationship as evaluated by Tukiainen et al. (2004) and (Matveev and Milter 2004) is that the heterogeneous group of managers coming from different nations have lower project success and according to Higgs(1996) the heterogeneous group get advantages to get higher project success than the homogeneous group. The homogenous group here is the group of managers who are Malaysians from Miri private sector organizations. To analyse the group differences an independent sample T-test is conducted. Multiple regressions have been conducted to test the hypotheses. Table of Contents Chapter 11 1. 1INTRODUCTION1 1. 2BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY2 1. 3PROBLEM STATEMENT3 1. 4RESEARCH OBJECTIVES5 1. 5OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS5 1. 6METHODOLOGY7 1. 7STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT8 Chapter 29 2. 1INTRODUCTION9 2. 2UNDERSTANDING PROJECT SUCCESS9 2. 2. 1Measuring project success10 2. 3CULTURAL DIFFERENCES13 . 3. 1Understanding Culture and Cultural Difference13 2. 3. 2Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions theory14 2. 3. 3The Effect of Cultural Difference on Project Success16 2. 4HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT19 2. 5CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESIS25 Chapter 326 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY26 3. 1INTRODUCTION26 3. 1. 1Application of study26 3. 1. 2Objectives of the research27 3. 1. 3Mode of enquiry27 3. 2FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM28 3. 3CONCEPTUALIZATION OF A RESEARCH DESIGN28 3. 4CONSTRUCTING AN INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION29 3. 5SELECTING A SAMPLE31 3. 6WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL33 3. 7DATA COLLECTION34 . 8PROCESSING AND DISPLAYING THE DATA34 3. 9WRITING A RESEARCH REPORT35 3. 10RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT36 Chapter 437 ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH37 4. 1INTRODUCTION37 4. 2DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS37 4. 2. 1Company Profile (Dem1)38 4. 2. 2Number of employees in organisations (Dem2)39 4. 2. 3Employee Nationality (Dem3)39 4. 2. 4Number of Diverse employees in participating Organisations (Dem11)40 4. 2. 5General Language of communication in Organisations (Dem12)41 4. 2. 6Employee perception of Cultural diversity issues (Dem13)42 4. 3PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS44 4. 3. 1Age of the respondents (Dem5)45 4. 3. Gender (Dem4)45 4. 3. 3Education level of participants (Dem6)46 4. 3. 4Job Profile (Dem7-Dem10)47 4. 3. 5Years in current position (Dem10)48 4. 4SECTION 2: PROJECT SUCCESS FACTORS (Q1-33)49 4. 4. 1 Perception of Time, Cost and Quality as measures of Project Success50 4. 4. 2Percentage of Effective team performance51 4. 4. 3Percentage project management process quality53 4. 4. 4Percentage satisfies organisational goal and purpose55 4. 4. 5Percentage perception on benefits to stakeholders, Users and clients56 4. 4. 6Percentage efficient conflict management57 4. 4. 7Percentage benefit to organisation59 4. SECTION C: PERCEPTION OF EMPLOYEES ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY DIMENSIONS (CulD 1-25)61 4. 5. 1I agree that power and authority is being distributed equally among employees in my organisation. 61 4. 5. 2I agree that a certain level of power must be exercised to ensure that team members or employees are dedicated to their work in my organisation (CulD2)62 4. 5. 3I allow my employees to question me or top management when in disagreement with project or work related issues in my org. (CulD3)62 4. 5. 4I agree with the statement that my employees must adhere to my organisations rules even if it jeopardizes our organisational goals. CulD4)63 4. 5. 5I agree with the statement that employee supervision in my organisation is strict (CulD5)64 4. 5. 6I feel I have sufficient time for my family and personal life outside my workplace CulD665 4. 5. 7I agree that my employee appraisal is deserved for doing a good job at my organisation. CulD765 4. 5. 8I agree that an employee with the strongest say wins in matters of conflicts or arguments in my organisation. You read "Identification of the Impact of Cultural Diversity" in category "Essay examples" CulD866 4. 5. 9I like to help others as much as I can. CulD967 4. 5. 10I agree to the statement that working is the only means of livelihood. (CulD10)67 4. . 11I sometimes receive complaints from my employees about being stressed by work load. CulD1168 4. 5. 12I agree that my organisations rules must be strictly obeyed by my employees at all times. CulD1269 4. 5. 13I agree that time is most valuable to my employees when handling tas ks. CulD1369 4. 5. 14I agree with the statement that uncertainties and risks are normal features of life. CulD1470 4. 5. 15I believe that simple tasks should be handled first before others. CulD1571 4. 5. 16I allow the contribution of my employees in decision making in my organisations. CulD1671 4. 5. 7I agree that hiring and promotion decisions in my organisations in my organisations should be based on their performance and organisational rules only. CulD1772 4. 5. 18I have a sense of personal satisfaction when I accomplish challenging tasks at my organisation73 4. 5. 19I believe that my employees always follow group made decisions even if their personal convictions are against it. CulD1973 4. 5. 20I have employees who generally prefer to work on their own without their group cooperation (CulD20)74 4. 5. 21I believe that my organisations goals is best measured by the future achievements than the present achievements (CulD21)75 . 5. 22I agree that employee rewards and appraisals sho uld not be based only on their performance (CulD22)75 4. 5. 23I believe that rules should be broken in order to achieve innovation76 4. 5. 24I agree that commitment to my clients and stake holders is important in maintaining my relationship with them CulD2477 4. 5. 25I agree with the statement that my employees value their meal time and breaks even when pressed by challenging tasks (CulD25)77 4. 6FURTHER ANALYSIS78 4. 6. 1Reliability Test78 4. 6. 2Factor Analysis79 4. 6. 3Correlation Analysis81 4. 6. 3. 1Assumptions for correlationError! Bookmark not defined. 4. 6. Test of Hypothesis (H1a – H1e)82 4. 6. 4. 1Multiple Regression Analysis83 4. 6. 4. 2Assumptions checking for regression analysis84 4. 6. 4. 3H1: All the Hofstede’s Cultural dimensions relates to Project Success among managers of private sector organizations in Miri90 4. 6. 4. 4H1a: There is a relationship between Power distance in managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. 91 4. 6. 4. 5H1b: There is a relationship between the Societal Collectivism (Individualistic/Collectivist) attribute of managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. 91 4. 6. 4. H1c: There is a relationship between gender differentiation of social values (Masculinity/Femininity) among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. 91 4. 6. 4. 7H1d: There is a relationship between uncertainty avoidance or the fear of unknowns among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. 92 4. 6. 4. 8H1e: There is a relationship between Long term orientation for goal accomplishment among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. 92 4. 6. 5Test Of Hypothesis (H2): Independent Samples Test93 Chapter 594 Recommendation and Conclusions94 5. 1Conclusion95 5. 1. 1Identification of the impact of Hofstede cultural dimension on determinants of project success among managers in private sector organizations in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. 95 5. 1. 2Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and project success96 5. 1. 3The Identification of whether heterogeneous group of managers coming from different nations get higher project success than the homogeneous groups. 97 5. 1. 4Conclusions relating to the main aim of the study97 5. 1. 5Value of the research98 5. 2Recommendations for future research98 References99 Appendix A104 Appendix C105 Appendix C110 Appendix D111 Appendix E113 List of Figures Figure 2. 1:Research Model25 Figure 4. 1: Company profile38 Figure 4. 2: No of Employees in organisations39 Figure 4. 3: Nationality of Respondents40 Figure 4. 4: Number of Diverse employees in participating40 Figure 4. 5: Number of diverse staffs in organisation41 Figure 4. 6: Respondent language of communication in organisation41 Figure 4. 7: Language of communication42 Figure 4. 8: Do you feel your organisation has no culture problems43 Figure 4. 9: Do you feel these issues do not affect your organisation43 Figure 4. 10: Does your organisation have plans to handle issues in their organisations43 Figure 4. 11: Do you feel these issues do not affect organisational objectives44 Figure 4. 12: Participant Age45 Figure 4. 13: Participant Gender46 Figure 4. 14: Education level of respondents46 Figure 4. 15: Job position of Respondents47 Figure 4. 16: Participant work schedule47 Figure 4. 17: Number of years of Respondents have worked in their organisations48 Figure 4. 18: Number of years working in same position49 Figure 4. 19: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (Culd 1)61 Figure 4. 20: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 2)62 Figure 4. 1: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 3)63 Figure 4. 22: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 4)64 Figure 4. 23: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 5)64 Figure 4. 24: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 6)65 Figure 4. 25: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 7)66 Figure 4. 26: Bar c hart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 8)66 Figure 4. 27: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 9)67 Figure 4. 28: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 10)68 Figure 4. 9: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 11)68 Figure 4. 30: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 12)69 Figure 4. 31: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 13)70 Figure 4. 32: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 14)70 Figure 4. 33: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 15)71 Figure 4. 34: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 16)72 Figure 4. 35: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 17)72 Figure 4. 36: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 18)73 Figure 4. 37: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 19)74 Figure 4. 38: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 20)74 Figure 4. 39: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 21)75 Figure 4. 40: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 22)76 Figure 4. 41: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 23)77 Figure 4. 42: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 24)77 Figure 4. 43: Bar chart of respondent response on Cultural Diversity (CulD 25)78 Figure 4. 44: Scatter plot for PS and HCD81 Figure 4. 5: Scatterplot85 Figure 4. 46: Histogram85 Figure 4. 47: scatterplot of standardised residual against power distance86 Figure 4. 48: Histogram for assumptions testing88 List of Tables Table 1. 1 Structure of the research8 Table 2. 1: Five cultural dimensions [as referred by Hofstede (2005)] and attributes drawn from the literature17 Table 3. 2: Coding/Item Generation From Li terature To Measure Project Success (DV)30 Table 3. 3: Coding/item generation from literature to measure Cultural Diversity(IDV)30 Table 3. 4: Participating Organizations (Coded)33 Table 4. 1: Respondent perception of Time, Cost and Quality50 Table 4. 2: Employee perception of effective team performance51 Table 4. 3: Respondent perception on project management process quality53 Table 4. 4: Respondent perception on satisfying organisational goal and purpose55 Table 4. 5: Employee perception on benefits to client, stakeholders and users56 Table 4. 6: Respondent perception on efficient conflict management58 Table 4. 7: Respondent percentage on benefit to organisational60 Table 4. 8: Cronbach Alpha for project success (PS)78 Table 4. 9: Cronbach Alpha for Cultural Diversity (CulD)78 Table 4. 10: Factor analysis for project success80 Table 4. 11: Factor analysis for Cultural diversity80 Table 4. 12: Pearson correlation of variables82 Table 4. 13: Correlation statistics82 Table 4. 14: Descriptive statistics of correlation81 Table 4. 15: ANOVA88 Table 4. 16: Model summary89 Table 4. 17: coefficients table89 Table 4. 19 : Independent Sample Test93 1. 0 INTRODUCTION A diverse workforce, built of so many people of different backgrounds has a high contribution to how organizational objectives and goals are achieved due to the availability of a mix of people with completely different understanding, emotions, thinking and attitudes. But does this affect the success of projects executed in these organizations? Thus, an understanding of the impact of different cultural dimensions is effective in identifying how organizations with cultural diverse employees attain successes in project undertaken in their organizations and knowledge of whether the differences in culture or nationality have a positive or negative effect on their organizational success is important. The increasing globalization trend today is coupled with surge for the need of skilled labor and has seen the global migration of people from every part of the world to different countries creating a web of organizations with so many cultural diverse employees working together in the same organizations. The impact of the cultural differences is fast becoming the focus of so many researches as it tends to have a relationship with how organizations employing cultural diverse staff function. This research explores the relationship between the well known cross cultural theory of Hofstede and the determinants of project success outcomes among Private sector organizations in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia with an emphasis on Private workplace employee relationship and interaction and how the differences of their culture helps or stands as a barrier in their actualization of their goals and objectives. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The differences that are inherent in people such as their dressing, religion, languages and behaviors in their society and organizations values and shows how this differences in people is related to the way they interact with their environment, environment in this context refers not only to their physical environment but also to the people they have to deal as they go along with their everyday life. Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia is located on the eastern part of Malaysia with a population of about 300,000 people of the 25,581 approximate Malaysia population (Salleh 2007), consisting of Iban, Chinese, Malays, Berawan, Lumbawang, Malanau, Indian, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Bidayuh, Penan and other non-indigenous groups such as Europeans, Arabs and Africans etc. f different diverse backgrounds and religions and this collection of people are the overall make up of most of the Private sector workforce located here. The impact of these diverse work forces of people is sometimes overlooked and ignored which tends to undeniably affect how managers and employees relate with their counterparts of different cultures. This has an effect on workplace relationship can be a limiting or contributing factor to how their organizational goals are achieved on the long run. However, there have been a lot of researches carried out on cultural diversity among manager and on organizational themes, but the true impact of its effects on these organizations performance is quite limited to a wider sphere of cross-country organizations and not attributed to places such as Miri. Just as a the combination of different sounds produce music(good) or noise(bad), so does a combination of people of different diverse background could also have results that could be positive or negative in organizations. PROBLEM STATEMENT During a formal peer coaching session with some colleagues of different cultures, it was easy to recognize the effect that working in Malaysia with others of diverse backgrounds had on diverse employees in carrying out their daily work, in other words, general job satisfaction and if this views could be shared by others of different cultures working in similar multi cultures environments. Were they generally satisfied with their jobs or are they just there â€Å"working to get their daily bread†. A study of the effects of cultural diversity on a joint Russian and British project showed that there is a relevance of cultural differences to project success and that it could affect the output of the project (Murray-Webster and Simon 2004). Their analysis of the project led to the discovery that although all factors that are necessary for the success of the project were in place, there was an underestimation of how diverse teams could guarantee the success of that project and that it is appropriate that organisations conducting projects should have relevant understanding of the differences in work behaviour and individual preferences of the diverse project teams. Success of projects in organizations has been attributed to the existence of a comfortable work environment that encourages a workforce where employees feel empowered to exert maximum efforts that enable job satisfaction and comfort, with the ability to be able to deal with uncertainties that may arise. This also puts a stress on the organizations managers and insists that manager should be able to create an atmosphere were goals are clearly nderstood and employee participation is high (Belassi 2007). Kendra (2004) attributes that there is a high rate of failure in projects in organizations which was due to factors such as poor working relationships between employees, lack of trust among team members and proposes that the importance of organizations promotion of a shared cultural value could help in improving their project success rate. Kendra’s suggestions were based on organizational culture but on an individual level of analysis (were cultural diversity is less observed from) could be related and the impact could be seen from a much expanded view as these refers to groups of people with different backgrounds and understanding based on their cultures. Following Geert Hofstede (2005) in showing the way countries react to different cultures, there are some outstanding views on the application and adaption of the 5 dimensions of Hofstede on the basis that, although, it was correct, it seemed to be based on just Hofstede assumptions using only country values and it has to be seen from other perspectives which they broke down to be individual, organizational and country (Kirkman, Lowe, and Gibson 2006). An analysis of the individual level of cultural diversity would help in justifying this statement and thus this research shall be aimed at the individual and organizational level of cultural diversity with managers as our focal point. The willingness of employees to accept and succumb to the issues from difference in culture has a high impact in organizational success. mployees in cultural diverse organizations should have an understanding of their culturally diverse counterparts as it helps to improve their team efficiency and communication which are essential to induce success in the organization, thus cultural differences should not be ignored but appreciated and welcomed in cultural diverse organizations, in other to attain their organizational goal and objectives (Frey-Ridgway 1997). In other to achieve favorable outcomes by organizations, it is necessary to assume differences in people in an individual sphere and not in the category of culture based differences that is accomplished with a comfortable work atmosphere portraying equality between people (Day 2007), with an understanding and respect for the individual differences that are inherent in people and embedded in the organizations everyday processes (Magdaleno and Kleiner 1993). In the Malaysian context, the Malaysian employee is said to be Collectivist by nature, and are more open to their local subordinates than an outsider or foreigner in their workplace, but does this have an impact on their culturally diverse counterparts in the same workplace. Nelson and Quick suggests, the Malaysian culture is collectivist in nature but only a section or department of these people (Nelson and Quick 1997). The question arises here is â€Å"are managers from Miri private organizations have the same value for Hofstede’s cultural dimensions? † RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This research aims at identifying how Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in Private sectors of organizations in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia affects the determinants of project success and the main objectives of this research are as shown below * Identification of the Impact of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions on determinants of Project Success among Managers in Private Sector Organizations in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia * Whether heterogeneous group of managers coming from different nations get higher project success than the homogeneous group from Miri private sector organizations. The objectives will be achieved by doing a study on Managers from Miri private sector organization, which at least employ 2 managers from different nationalities. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS The following terms are associated with this research, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, project, project management process, project success, intercultural communication. A proper definition of these terms would provide a better understanding in the research. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Hofstede’s cultural dimensions developed (1980-2001) as a measure of culture is the dominant metric of culture as it closely relates to many cultural attributes from many different countries. This study also had used the largest sample for an empirical study on employees of IBM with employees belonging to 66 countries. This study helped to a large extent in bridging the gap between two different/dissimilar cultures (Yoo, Donthu, and Lenartowicz 2011). The five different dimensions are Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Collectivism, Long-Term Orientation, and Masculinity. The last dimension was taken from ‘Confucian work dynamism’ (Yoo, Donthu, and Lenartowicz 2011). Culture defines an individual in terms of distinction of people from another group (Kelley and Fitzsimons 1999). (Gomez-Mejia and Palich 1997) suggests that to measure differences in culture we need to calculate the cultural similarity indicators. The five dimensions of Hofstede in this study will be taken as the cultural similarity indicators. Cultural Difference The cultural differences refers to the individual differences in the cultures of people living together in a common society. By neglecting cultural differences and the refusal for its acceptance has been a problem and as Garcia (2011) suggests in her study of the long non-acceptance or recognition of cultural diversity in Europe and how it stands as a problem to the new Europe and the need for an understanding and education on the issues of cultural diversity for promotion to individuals of the future so as to cultivate an early awareness of it. The cultural difference in this study is identified from the nationality of the participants (managers from private sector organizations). Project Success Project success can be said to have been achieved when a project is completed with all objectives and goals being fulfilled. Defining project success can be in different ways, for software developers it could be on-time delivery, for designers it could be appreciation of a design, for a project manager it could be on-time, budget completion that meets the required quality of the output. Project success in this research is being defined by success factors which serve as characteristics by which the objectives of the project can be said to have been successful completed. These factors used in this research as a defining measure of success for projects are, time, cost, budget, efficiency of the project teams, conflict management and project management process, ability to satisfy the organizations goals, finally, benefits to stakeholder, clients and users. Project A project can be defined as any endeavor that has been undertaken to achieve a goal (Project Management Institute 2004). Project Management process A process is a set of interrelated activities and actions performed to achieve a predefined result. Project management processes are activities that are taken to achieve a project objective. The project management process quality as used in this research refers to the effectiveness of the project management process in the execution of the project. METHODOLOGY The study was carried out following the approach as suggested by Kumar (Kumar 2005) listed below: * Formulate research problem * Compile literature review * Develop the project schedule * Establish a research design * Collect and Analyze and process the data Suggestions and improvements * Establish research conclusions * Finalize report STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT The report comprises of 5 chapters and is structured in table (Table 1. 1) below: Table [ 1 ]. 1 Structure of the research Chapters| Description| Chapter 1. 0 Introduction| This chapter gives us an overview of the report and introduces us to the background of the research, aims and objectives of study and operational definitions of the terms used in the research. | Chapt er 2. Literature Review| This chapter consists of reviews of available literatures on project success and Hofstede cultural dimensions. | Chapter 3. 0 Research Methodology| This gives an idea of the overall research process while. It gives us a summary of how the research will be undertaken including the research design, literature review, population and sample, data collection instruments and process. | Chapter 4. 0 Analysis of Research| This chapter presents a detailed analysis of the study based on findings in addressing our aims and objectives and answering our research question| Chapter 5. Recommendations and Conclusions| This chapter gives a summary of the findings in the research study and addresses the value of the research with recommendations for future researches| 1. 0 INTRODUCTION This research shall be accomplished using management studies and articles from past researches by Authors with a focus on Cultural Diversity and Project Success, the identification of past find ings in the study of cultural diversity and project success and an exploration of how these findings are related and contribute to this study. Subsequently a look into the main aims of project management in accomplishing project within the confines of time, costs and quality, management responsibilities as well as the contribution to achieving organizational project success. UNDERSTANDING PROJECT SUCCESS The Project Management Institute defines a project as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result (Project Management Institute 2004). From this definition, it can be clearly seen that the word temporary means that it has an end time or duration and being unique means that it has an expected level of requirement or quality. The goal of every project is to be completed within the confines of time, cost and quality and a failure in any of these factors usually has a relational effect on the others and can undermine the overall goal of that project. For a project to be successful, an understanding of the project objectives and scope by the project team is essential. Recognising the actual needs of the client and satisfying those needs is what actually counts in saying the project was completed successfully, and these all depends on the three factors of the project completion in time, within the budget and with the required quality maintained. Although, it is inarguable about the Time, Cost and Quality factors for projects success, Dennis Lock suggests that the success of a project, though judged from these three objectives depends on some other factors and actions undertaken during the project and certain of these factors relate directly to employees in the organizations, such as; a strong support for the project and its manager from higher management, sound organizational quality culture, good project communication, well motivated staffs and a quick and fair resolution of conflict (Lock 2007). These views of other related factors that contribute to project success are instrumental to the measurement of project success and a project that is successful can be subsequently tagged as successful if these factors are met. Measuring project success In the determination of project success, it is essential to establish how we define it. The most common measurement of project success is by the measures of the success factors and the critical success criteria’s. From previous studies there is an undeniable difference between both terms. uccess factors are said to be measures that are put in place to ensure that the project becomes successful i. e. what must be done right to achieve the project success, while the success criteria are the indicators or benchmarks that are used to refer to a project as being successful (Cooke-Davies 2002), in other words, what has been achieved in the project that allows us to say that project has been successful. Basing the measurement of projec t success as used in this research is based on the simplicity in understanding it as they can easily be recognized and applied. There are so many factors that can be used to define project success (Prabhakar 2008) and these project success factors are industry dependent, thus there is a contrast in measuring the success of an IT project, a construction project or projects from other industries. A brief literature on the factors for measurement of projects from three industries will help to provide a connection between these factors or a general success factor for these project completions. For this purpose a look at the factors used in measuring project success from these industries, the construction industry, IT industry and a World Bank project. Chan (2001) developed a framework which he used for measuring construction projects, and he suggests that the success of a construction project can be measured by factors beyond the project management goals of time, cost and quality. Construction projects are different from other types of projects in the way they are taken and rely on different processes that might not be significant in other industries projects such as the IT or software development projects. Factors such as safety might not be important in describing a software development project success as it doesn’t have to deal with the use of equipments or machineries that are hazardous and although they could be considered but their impacts are too minimal to really have an impact. Baccarini (2004) suggests that project success is dependent on criteria’s based on two components which he called product success and project management success. He discussed that project management success depended on the project processes and stresses the importance of stakeholders and a good managerial process being in place. Product success has to deal with the final product or output of the project and how it satisfies the purpose of execution. Both of the components identified by Baccarini consists of underlying criteria’s which he used for the measurement of project success which are quite similar to the same criteria’s used by other researchers and are listed below. Project management success component * Meeting time, cost and quality requirements Project management success component * Meeting time, cost and quality requirements * Project management process quality Satisfying stakeholder project management process expectations * Project management process quality * Satisfying stakeholder project management process expectations Product success components * Meeting project owners strategic organizational objectives (client) * Satisfying user needs * Satisfying stakeholder where they relate to the product (users/customers) Wateridge (1998) suggests that in the IT industries, project succes s can be measured by some factors which he observed from studying other researchers work on project success measurements. His (Wateridge 1998) research led to his conclusion that IT projects success can be measured through the factors of; Meeting user requirements, achieving purpose, meeting timescale, meeting budget, user satisfaction and quality. An analysis of World bank projects (Ika, Diallo, and Thuillier 2012) suggests that the failure rate of these projects in Africa was at about 50% until 200 and also that these failures can be attributed to managerial and organizational factors, including poor project design, stakeholder management, delays, budget and in execution coordination. The findings from the study suggested that project success criteria’s that are effective in accomplishing success in these projects can be said to be in the measures of Time, cost, clear objectives, countries, benefits, impacts, sustainability. Atkinson’s studies (1999), on project success, have been widely used as a model by most researches in the measurement of project success. Atkinson’s model for measuring project success was derived from the primary project success measurement criteria of time, cost and quality and he accomplished his by dividing project into three stages, the delivery stage which was concerned with the efficiency of the project management process measured by Time, Cost, Quality and efficiency of the project management process; the post delivery stage which measured the product (resultant system), the product requirements and its benefits to stakeholders and another post delivery stage which measured the benefit and impacts to users and cust omers (Atkinson 1999). Based on these arguments, a list of project success factors that can be used as effective measures of success in projects are listed below, * Time, cost and quality are essential for project success * Efficient team participation is necessary for project success * Efficient project management process helps in improving project success and establishing a clearer objective * Ability to satisfy the organisations goals and purpose * Benefits to the user * Benefits stakeholder * Good conflict management * benefits to the clients CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Understanding Culture and Cultural Difference Edward Hall defines culture as â€Å"the way of life of a people, the sum of their learned patterns, attitudes and material things† (Hall 1980). Geert Hofstede (2005) defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the member of one group or category of people from another†. Programming of the mind as proposed by Hofstede refers to the thinking patterns of every individual developed by their learning through their lifetime. Following Hofstede’s theories on cultural diversity, it can be inferred that there is an underlying impact on organizations and while some researchers argue that, cultural differences brings creativity and innovation into organizations, others seem to contend that it leads to complexities and indecisiveness. Explicably, these theories will be applied into this research to understand the role of cultural diversity in an organizational framework. The cultural differences refer to the individual differences in the cultures of people living together in a common society. By neglecting cultural differences and the refusal for its acceptance has been a problem and as Garcia (2011) suggests in her study of the long non-acceptance or recognition of cultural diversity in Europe and how it stands as a problem to the new Europe and the need for an understanding and education on the issues of cultural diversity for promotion to individuals of the future so as to cultivate an early awareness of it. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions theory Hofstede’ 5 Cultural Dimensions Geert Hofstede’s (2005) studies on cultural diversity helped in proposing a systematic framework for Identifying cultural diversity based of the different values of people which is known as the cultural dimension theories. His work on cultural diversity by breaking down the different values into 5 dimensions by studying different cultures has been accepted by so many researchers in the study of cultural diversity and has become one of the focal points in the study of cultural diversity. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions divided cultural diversity by comparing values between countries and he observed that different countries had different cultural values which he grouped into Power distance Index, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty avoidance and later on, Confucian dynamism or Long-term orientation. EXHIBIT-1 ____________________________________________________________________ Power distance Hofstede’s (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005) power distance dimension explores the extent to which the less powerful members of an organization or institution within a country expect that power is distributed equally or unequally. This dimension stressed that individuals in a particular institution or organization in a country were not equal and points out the views of power holders in the country and the general acceptance by other less powerful members of the country. Individualism This dimension emphasizes the degree to which members of a society maintain interdependence among its members. Hofstede (2005) used the relationship of a society of being individualistic or collectivists by nature, individualistic cultures tend to have the attribute of being self committed and are more concerned with their self values and also their immediate families only. Collectivists on the other hand are more group oriented and members of the collectivist society are expected to be loyal to their groups. Loyalty in a collectivist society was important and overrides societal rules and regulations. Masculinity The masculine society is driven by competition, achievements and success with an emphasis on being on top, this dimension stresses the manliness of cultures and their zeal in trying to be the best. Collectivist societies on the other hand tend to demonstrate a leaning towards feminine values of caring for others and quality of life. This dimension clearly identifies societies and cultures with distinction between male and female roles in the society and stresses on sexual inequality between the male and female species of human beings (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). Uncertainty Avoidance This dimension illustrates how a society accepts the unknown, Hofstede (2005) defines it as a the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created institutions and beliefs that try to avoid these unknowns. Rules and norms are usually much emphasized in societies with high uncertainty avoidance rates and there is a fear for taking risks. Time Orientation This dimension was adapted from the teachings of confusions and was meant to illustrate the rapid economic development of some Asian countries. This dimension emphasizes on the societal values of having a long-term or short-term orientation, and this dimension stressed on how these orientation helps to achieve success using china and other Asian countries as a focus (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). Organizations today usually promote a long term orientation or short term orientation, long term orientation tends to work with the idea of future success and goals. ____________________________________________________________________ The Effect of Cultural Difference on Project Success Cultural differences amongst team has been attributed with some negative outcomes such as conflicts, misunderstanding and poor performance (Matveev and Milter 2004). The study suggests that cultural diversity created problems in communication, coordination and control, team dispersion within teams and further suggests that an intercultural competence model for use with multicultural teams depends on three components; cultural knowledge, skills, and personality orientation. Cultural knowledge relates to the understanding of cultural diversity amongst teams and a recognition of cultural differences in communication styles and interaction, fostered by being skillful in understanding and communicating among cultural diverse members and their personal orientation towards accepting what is represented as culturally diverse, in other words, their reaction towards diverse cultured members based on their emotions and behaviors. Previous studies tend to show an alignment to this understanding of the effect of the differences in cultural dimensions on Project success. Tukiainen et al. (2004) also affirms that cultural differences in project organisations produces creativity in problem solving but it also leads to problems of higher ambiguity and suspicion among members of global project teams. They also argue that cultural differences, in global projects, leads to problems in the outcome formulation of projects, project execution and outcome assessments, suggesting also that the existent of locus of power also affects the interaction between project teams. Table [ 2 ]. : Five cultural dimensions [as referred by Hofstede (2005)] and attributes drawn from the literature Cultural Diversity| High Index| Low Index| Power Distance| * High discipline within employees. * Poor employee-top management relationship. * Poor group decision making. | * Greater awareness of their responsibilities. * Poor group supervision. | Individualism (Low Individualism is usually collectivist). | * Poor decision making based on individual judgment. * Low conflict identifica tion. * Poor teams. * Good decision making due to greater creativity and innovation. * Emphasis on team work. * Better conflict resolution. * Good group relationship. * And interdependence. * Higher job commitment. | Uncertainty Avoidance| * Low acceptance of innovative ideas. * Low creativity. * High Risk avoidance. * Better product quality. * Less ambiguity| * Better precision in handling tasks. * Better job satisfaction. | Masculinity (Low Masculine Index are Feminist)| * Greater efficiency in handling task. Good productivity. | * Better work relationship between employees. * Better decision making. * Lower job stress. | Long Term Orientation (Low index are short term)| * Task executions are based on attainable ideas. * Adherence to tradition * Persistency in achieving goals. | Greater goal orientation. | The effect of cultural diversity in teams can be seen from Higgs’ (1996) study based on 4 of the cultural dimensions of Hofstede. He suggests that each of the dimensions have underlying advantages. It was easier to see the impact of cultural differences through the identification of patterns in management styles and motivations and effective cultural diversity management is related to certain positive factors of team performance which he stated as; a shared understanding and commitment to team goals and objectives, a clear understanding of team member roles and contribution, an understanding of the value of diversity and an effective pooling of knowledge and skills (Higgs 1996). The 5 Cultural dimensions and their nderlying characteristics are shown in table 2. 1. HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT H1: All the Hofstede’s Cultural dimensions relates to Project Success among managers of private sector organizations in Miri The above hypothesis is drawn based on the past findings of a relationship between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and its influence on managers and project success. Based on this hypothesis a regression model has been generated to test the varying relationshi p between each of the 5 dimensions of Hofstede as shown below, Y= 0+1 X1t+2 X2t+†¦ p X5t+et Where p= no. of independent variables and t= no. of respondents. A hierarchical regression analysis will be conducted based on the model below with the 5 cultural dimensions of Hofstede as predictors. PSt = 0+1 PD1t+2 IND2t+3 MAS3t+4 UA4t+5 OAS5t+et (Where PSt = Project Success, 0 is a constant (the intercept) that describes the value of PSt when all Xs’ are 0, PD = Power Distance, IND= Individualistic, MAS = Masculinity, UA = Uncertainty Avoidance, LTO = Long Term Orientation, t= no. Of respondents, et = error term) H1a: There is a relationship between Power distance in managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. The above hypothesis is drawn from the following literature review; In a project organization context, Power distance can be a negating or contributing factor to how their project goals are accomplished that depends on how the relationship between subordinates of different organizational level such as managers and employees influence the achievement of their organizational goal. K’Obonyo and Dimba (2007) in his study of the impact of cultural diversity on human resource management in Kenya claimed that the impact of the Kenya high power distance index creates a barrier between managers and employees in which employees see themselves as different from managers, while the managers are reluctant to allow the employees to engage in such things such as decision making. High power distance relates to the difference in equality between employees and top management which in turn affects how decisions are made in such organisations, decision making is not collective and the top management makes all the decisions. This emphasizes that in countries with a high power distance index, decision making is not a collective process and most decisions are usually taken by top management alone without the employee involvement. Power distance is relational to poor employee-top management relationship, with decision making only done by top management. Uncertainty avoidance high dimension was attributed with the non acceptance of innovative ideas and behaviors and low job mobility, that is, employees were more satisfied with their current job situations (Kundu 2001). Another study on the effect of cultural diversity using Hofstede’s first 4 dimensions was done on construction industries in Singapore and china (Pheng and Yuquan 2002). They suggested that low power distance is prone with less supervision of employees and decentralisation of task. High Power Distance was relevant and would have a similar effect on quality effectiveness in both high and low power distance cultures. (Kull and Wacker 2010) Higgs (1996) suggests that each of the dimensions have underlying advantages. Low power distance index in organisations tends to create awareness on employees responsibilities and a high power index creates discipline. H1b: There is a relationship between the Societal Collectivism (Individualistic/Collectivist) attribute of managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. The above hypothesis is drawn from the following literature review; Individualism and collectivism illustrates the nature of relationships between peers in different countries. Individualism relates to countries in which there was a low relationship between individuals and is more centered on self while collectivism were countries that are more group oriented (Brewer and Sunil 2011) . Thus, it can be inferred that collectivism contributes to better decision making based on the collection of minds and the interpersonal relationship that exists between them. Kundu (2001) suggests that high individualism contributes to individual decision- making, while collectivist nations had less individual decision making. Vosedek (2007) researched into the effect of cultural diversity on outcomes of work group tasks based on the individualistic and collectivist dimensions of Hofstede in relation to group and task conflicts. He (Vodosek 2007) suggests that when it comes to cultural diversity in organizations, three types of conflicts were present which he referred to as Relationship conflicts; characterized by incompatibilities between members of culturally diverse organizations and having the attributes such as tension and annoyance. Task conflicts were characterized by group member disagreements based on the non acceptance of decisions, ideas and opinions and lastly process conflict which was characterized by disagreement on how task should be done or handled. He also suggests that there was a general acceptance of opinions between people of the same group, than those of other outer groups and aligns that the organizational outcomes where harder to actualize in culturally diverse groups due to problems in their process, errors in communication and perceived prejudice that is associated with cultural diverse groups. Cultural diversity from his studies was related to group satisfaction and indicates the way the group performed in handling tasks. K’Obonyo and Dimba (2007) also suggests that employees in collectivist nations were more involved with group decision makings due to the good relationship and closeness between employees but were very poor at top management appraisal to employees. Subsequently, Kokt (2003) in his studies of the impact of cultural diversity on team performance in south Africa, suggests that team formation was more negatively realistic in cultural diverse groups than culturally homogeneous groups and that the problems in cultural diverse teams was more based on language, communication (Canen and Canen 1999) and the non recognition of the ability of cultural diverse individuals to be loyal to their groups but, that cultural diverse teams were also attributed with a better management of conflicts and engaged more diverse ways in problem solving and creativity which was positive to organizational success. His findings also suggests that assertiveness which is an individualistic nature had a negative impact on quality effectiveness as it was characterised low group decision making and poor conflict identification. (Kull and Wacker 2010). Collectivists are generally more committed to their jobs (Higgs 1996). H1c: There is a relationship between gender differentiation of social values (Masculinity/Femininity) among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. The above hypothesis is drawn from the following literature review; Higgs (1996) suggested that while masculine dimension tends to promote efficiency and increased productivity, feminine dimension tends to personal service and custom building. The view of cultural diversity as an edge to gaining competitive advantage by organizations is important in achieving organizational goals. Feminine dimension tends to contribute to better job satisfaction with organizations of countries of high index as it stresses more on interdependence between employees and reduced stress (Brewer and Sunil 2011). Low masculinity dimension countries had a good decision making process and lower job stress, while High masculinity cultures had a higher work performance K’Obonyo and Dimba (2007). H1d: There is a relationship between uncertainty avoidance or the fear of unknowns among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. The above hypothesis is drawn from the following literature review; A low uncertainty index is associated with lesser ambiguity and lesser fear of tasking risks, with a staff who were less ambitious (Pheng and Yuquan 2002). Uncertainty avoidance dimension is effective in improving quality as cultures with high uncertainty avoidance index are more aware of their process controls and ensured the use of quality standards based on the international organisations for standardization (Kull and Wacker 2010). Higgs (1996) found out that high and low uncertainty avoidance creates lower innovation and precision respectively. H1e: There is a relationship between Long term orientation for goal accomplishment among managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. The above hypothesis is drawn from the following literature review; An important factor associated with project success is Quality which depends on an effective quality management system. Study of (Kull and Wacker 2010) on quality management in Asia based on the Globe dimensions which are adapted from Hofstede’s dimensions suggests that future orientation (Hofstede Long term short term orientation) is not significant in improving quality, though, short term orientation are more goal oriented while long term orientation depended on past ideas which are more attainable. The long term orientation is being used in this correlation but it was not used in Hofstede’s research on Malaysia and so there is no scoring available for the dimension in Malaysia, but can be significant if we derive any result for this particular cultural dimension. Hofstede (2005) in his study suggested that this dimension in workplaces had an emphasis on family values, in which these organizations where seen as closely knit families with attributes such as having a sense of thrift (saving for future), shame (fear of losing face which breeds commitments in Long term orientation), persistence in achieving goals and respect for tradition (sticking to traditional rules that could impede innovation). H2: There is a group difference between Malaysian and non-Malaysian managers (in private sector organizations) in Miri and determinants of project success. This hypothesis is developed to find out the inherent difference that exists between Malaysian Managers and Non-Malayasian managers in Miri in actualizing their project success based on this question, Do Malaysian managers get better project success than non-malaysian managers?. Appendix B shows an illustration of the past studies and the possible relationship between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions at workplace and the project success. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESIS H1c Project success Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, (Power distance, societal collectivism, Gender Differentiation, Uncertainty Avoidance and Long term orientation) Power distance Individualism/Collectivism Masculinity/Feminism Uncertainty avoidance Independent Variables Dependent Variable Long term orientation H1a H1b H1d H1e H1 Nationality (Malaysian/Non-Malaysian) H2 Figure [ 2 ]. 1:Research Model Figure 2. 1 shows the conceptual framework above shows the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. The development of hypotheses is directed at answering the research questions and to investigate the relationship between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and determinants of project success. * RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Kumar (2005) suggests that a research project type is categorised based on three perspectives, which he listed as, * Application of the study * Objectives of the study * Mode of enquiry used in conducting the study This research type has been classified based on this three perspectives and this suggestion is being applied to how this research has being undertaken. Application of study In view of what this research seeks to find out, the research study is an applied research, applied research involves the use of traditional research methods in the collection of information in other to find out or enhance a phenomenon. Objectives of the research The research is a correlation research. Correlation research is done to discover a relationship between two or more aspects of a situation (Kumar 2005). Thus, this research is deemed to be correlation because it seeks to explore the relationship which Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have on project success among managers in Miri. Stangor (2010) suggests that an advantage of a correlation research is that it can be used in assessing behavior as it occurs in peoples’ everyday life by measuring the research variables and trying to find the linking relationship between the variables. Mode of enquiry This research employs a structured approach to how it is undertaken. A structured approach involves a research in which all the research process is predetermined. This research employs the use of quantitative research methods for data collection. A content analysis has been carried out to define the constructs and variables that will be used in creating the questionnaires for the quantitative analysis. (Hseih and Shannon) suggests 3 approaches of qualitative content analysis namely; conventional, directed, or summative. We have used directed approach which starts with a theory or relevant research findings as guidance for initial codes. Due to time constraint the other two approaches cannot be taken which may have more error free coding. The justification for the use of quantitative method is based on the sample collection method, which involves the use of a set of self completion questionnaires aimed at measuring project success and identifying the different existing dimensions of cultural diversity. The research process used is based on research guidelines and operation steps as suggested by kumar (2005), as listed below * Formulate research problem * Conceptualization of a research design * Constructing an instrument for data collection * Selecting a sample Writing a research proposal * Collecting data * Processing data * Writing a research report FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM The research was formulated based on the notion to identify an understanding on how cultural diversity can be used as a determinant of how success in projects is achieved in organisations with cross-cultural employees of different diverse background. The cultural dimensions of Hofstede has been used in the identification of different cultural characteristics that are inherent in employees and these has been used as an underlying construct in investigating how it affects project success in these organisations. Kumar (2005) suggests that a main function of formulating a research problem is to decide what you want to find out in the research. CONCEPTUALIZATION OF A RESEARCH DESIGN A research design helps to provide a workable and doable detail on how a research question will be answered. It involves detailed information on the how, when and where a research is going to be carried out. An in-depth review of past literatures and studies concerned with a research is fundamental to creating a research design and a timeframe in which the research is going to be carried out is instrumental in establishing duration of the research. This research is carried out by identifying how managers in private sector organisations located in Miri view the impact of cultural diversity in their organisations on project success. The timeframe of this research is developed from the time-frame that was given by the department for the completion of this research and is shown in Appendix A. Kumar suggests that a thorough literature review helps to bring clarity and focus to the research problem, as well as improve the research methodology, broaden the researcher knowledge on the research area and conceptualize the research How to cite Identification of the Impact of Cultural Diversity, Essay examples

Raymond Williams Science Fiction Essay Example For Students

Raymond Williams Science Fiction Essay Paternal Media is designed to guide people to educate country. This is based on Williams opinion of the BBC, whos role is to inform, educate and entertain. It should expose people to art, literature, classical music etc, elevating people to certain level of standards.   Commercial Plurality of operators, media a booming industry, free press. In this case the BBC in the UK would have to change their role in educating the nation in order to compete with the sheer number of television operators, such is the case today. Democratic Williams proposal, there would be plurality in media operators but legislation would exist through the cultural and political elite, forcing media institutions to behave acceptably, and continue to educate. Creating a freedom of speech scenario to a certain extent, where more or less anyone can get involved and have their say. The importance of communication in Williams theories mean that the media plays a huge role. A large amount of communication in todays society is through newspapers, television, film, the internet etc. As you can see from the four models above which are related to the media industry, the type of government, which can be affected by the long revolution that Williams proposes, will dictate the types of communication we can be part of, and the way in which we are communicated to. For example if the base structure continues to determine the superstructure, the media industry would be controlled by the bourgeoisie who would continue to develop their own people, with the lower classes not being educated enough to be able to appreciate what is being shown on television, played on the radio, or printed in the newspapers. However, if the long revolution came into effect Williams suggestion would mean that more education would be more widely accessible, people would be encouraged to read, and with the promotion of proper English, communication to people within the higher classes, whom have developed a separate version of English to the lower classes, would become less complicated. With these processes put into practice, people from lower classes will go to university and be able to gain positions in authority and the media. These people, from different backgrounds would then go on to produce their own forms of communication which will be influenced by their own experiences, in turn developing a more plural media industry, allowing more people to continue their search for that perfect moment. Bibliography Williams, R, Problems in Materialism and Culture, 1980, Redwood Burn LTD Williams, R, The Long Revolution, 1961, Chatto Windus Branston, G Stafford, R, The Media Students Handbook, second edition, Routledge, 1996. Munns, J Rajan, G, A Cultural Studies Reader, Longman London,1995 www. aber. ac. uk Williams, R, Culture and Society 1780-1950, Chatto Windus Blumler, J Gurevitch (1995) The Crisis of Public Communication: Routledge Briggs, A Cobley, P (1998) The Media: An Introduction: Longman Gardner, C (1979) Media, Politics Culture: Macmillan Grossberg, L et al (1998) Media Making: Sage Inglis, F (1990) Media Theory: An Introduction: Blackwell Levinson, P (1999) Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium: Routledge. 1 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg41 2 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg 9 3 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg125 4 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg 156 5 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg 214 6 Williams, R, Problems in materialism and culture, a series of essays, pg31, Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural theory 7 Williams, R, The Long Revolution, Chatto Windus, 1961, pg 10.

Yusuf ibn

Introduction Yusuf ibn-Ayyub Salah-al-Din (commonly known as Saladin) stands apart as the single most prominent figure in the history of the Middle East. Because of his exploits in the Crusades, Saladin is perceived as the chief â€Å"hero† of the Crusades by both his Islamic side and the Christian side. Saladin was able to establish a strong dynasty and lead his army to victory against the Crusaders. This paper will set out to discuss Saladin with emphasis on his military expeditions, and his encounters with the crusaders.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Yusuf ibn-Ayyub Salah-al-Din specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Early Life Saladin was Born in the village of Tirkik, Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in the year 1137 to a prominent and influential Kurdish family from the area. A few years after his birth, his family immigrated to Aleppo (which is modern day Syria). Saladin grew up in modern day Syria and he was an avid scholar of the Islamic religion. He embarked on religious studies until the age of 18 when he was appointed deputy to his uncle, Asad Ad-Din Shirkuh, who served as a military governor for Nur al Din, the emir of Syria (Grossman 303). Early Expeditions Saladin’s first military expeditions were carried out in the north of Egypt under his uncle Shirkuh’s command. Saladin engaged in a military expedition in support of Shawar, the caliph of Egypt, who had been driven out of Egypt by powerful local lords. Shawar had asked for help from Nur al Din to regain his position as Fatimid in Egypt. This military campaign was a success and Shawar was able to defeat his rivals and reestablish himself as Fatimid. Following this victory, Saladin and his uncle remained in Egypt to represent the interest of the Syrian Emir. Shawar was opposed to the presence of Syrian forces in Egypt and this led to his falling out with Saladin’s uncle. As a result, Shirkurh and Saladin engaged in military expeditions against Shawar. Shirkurh commanded four military expeditions into Egypt to fight against the Fatimid and the local lords who were resisting Syria’s over-lordship (Grossman, 303). These rebellious local rulers were acting with the support of the Crusaders in the Holy Land who also feared Syria’s overlords. With Saladin’s help, Shirkuh carried out military expeditions against these local rulers as well as the caliph of Egypt therefore establishing Egypt as a Syrian stronghold. Shirkuh’s death in 1169 gave Saladin a chance to become the head of Syrian forces in Egypt. Saladin’s Personality Historians record that Saladin was serious and contemplative by nature. In his early years, he was not enthusiastic about the military expeditions by his uncle but took on active fighting roles during the invasion of Fatimid Cairo. He established himself as a courageous soldier and a brilliant strategist. Saladin was a just ruler and he was often personally involved in the grievances brought forward by his subjects.Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Gibb documents that in reaction to the abuses carried out by his governors and officers, Saladin issued decrees prohibiting illegal taxes and other oppressive practices against his subjects (48). Saladin’s justice can further be demonstrated by his decision to spare all the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem even though his army was far superior to the Christian forces and he could have destroyed them if he wanted to (Byfield 73). Saladin was a modest person, owing to his religious background. He wore simple clothes and he treated the men of religion with whom he regularly associated himself with as colleagues in spite of the fact that he was the Sultan. However, he commanded great discipline among his subjects and did not condone unruliness. Byfield states that Saladin has an instinct for iron discipline and when his Sudanese guards were accused of being disloyal to him, he massacred them (74). Rioters in Cairo were hanged and the unruly Bedouin Arabs were engaged in battle under Saladin’s command. Saladin’s Mission in Syria, Egypt and Palestine Nicolle observes that Saladin’s prominence began when he took on the role of Nur al Din’s governor in Egypt (15). As the governor of Egypt, Saladin set out to change the official faith of the country from Shi’a to Sunni effectively abolishing the Fatamid caliphate in Egypt. The conversion of Egypt from Sunni to Shiite was very significant since it made it bridged the division that Syria and Egypt had had for centuries because of religions considerations. Saladin also embarked on an ambitious recruitment effort for a new army that would be loyal to himself and not the Fatimid Caliph who had died in 1171. At the same time, Saladin tried to foster loyalty to him self instead of Nur al Din, the Emir of Syria under whom he served. When Nur al Din died in 1174, he was succeeded by his ten-year-old son. In the months following the Emir’s death, Saladin marched from Egypt with his loyal army, took over Syria, and proclaimed himself Sultan of the vast territory (Byfield 74). Saladin ventured into Palestine in 1177 following the breakdown of the truce with the Crusaders. He hoped to recover some of the territory that the Crusaders had taken and establish a Muslim stronghold in Palestine. War against the Crusaders Saladin’s first engagement with the crusaders was in 1170 when he tried to capture the southernmost fort of Jerusalem. This early efforts were unsuccessful and the Crusading knights were able to rebuff Saladin’s forces. A truce was signed and this fragile peace deal was able to last for a decade.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Yusuf ibn-Ayyub Salah-al-Din specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The fragile truce lasted until 1180 when the Frankish Prince Reynald of Chatillon attacked Holy Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation to these attacks by Prince Reynald, Saladin vowed to vanquish the Christian forces and execute Reynald for his action against the Muslims. Saladin’s victory over Frankish forces at Hattin is regarded as one of the most spectacular in military history. He was able to defeat the Frankish knights in the battlefield and force them to abandon their quest to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. Having destroyed the Christian army, Saladin continued to seize the remaining Christian strongholds. In a few months, Saladin was able to launch an attack against Jerusalem. His attempts at breaching the walls of the City of Jerusalem using siege engines was thwarted by Christian defenders who protected the city. However, the Christian force was weak and they therefore bargained for a peaceful surrender wi th Saladin. Following this surrender, Saladin was able to seize Jerusalem on October 2, 1187. The Third Crusade was prompted by the great defeat of the second Crusade by Saladin in 1187. On hearing the news of how Saladin had decimated the Christian army, Richard I (popularly referred to as Richard the Lion Hearted) declared that he was staging a Third Crusade to recover Jerusalem. In the first clash between Saladin and Richard the Lion-Hearted, Saladin’s Army was defeated. A serious of battles continued with Richard pressing Saladin’s forces until they withdrew to Damascus. The Ayyubid Dynasty Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty and established Egypt as its power base. This dynasty was able to survive though to the 13th century. As the governor of Egypt, Saladin was able to establish an Ayyubid army that was solely loyal to him. With this Egyptian Ayyubid army, Saladin set out to expand his empire first in Egypt, and then next to Syria where the Emir had died. This ex pansion missions were successful and Saladin was able to establish himself as the ruler of vast territory in the Middle East. The Death of Saladin Saladin died in 1193 after a period of brief illness. By his death, he had succeeded in creating a vast and strong Dynasty that would last for over a century. Historians record that because of his irresistible impulse for giving; he did not even have enough money left to pay for his funeral when he died since his vast wealth had been given to his poor subjects. Saladin was buried by his subjects in a magnificent tomb in Damascus with an inscription reading, â€Å"Oh mighty God, let his soul be acceptable to thee† (Grossman 304). Following Saladin’s death, his brother al Adil took over the leadership of the Dynasty. Conclusion This paper set out to provide an informative discussion on Yusuf Ibn Ayyub, who was one of the most fascinating personalities in the history of the Middle Ages. The paper has highlighted Saladin’ s early life and his early military expeditions. It has highlighted that through warfare and diplomacy, Saladin was able to bring Egypt into harmony with the Syrian government. However, this great figure will always be remembered for his military conquest against the Frankish Knights and the seizing the Holy City of Jerusalem.Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Works Cited Byfield, Ted. A Glorious Disaster: A.D. 1100 to 1300: The Crusades: Blood, Valor, Iniquity, Reason, Faith. New York: Christian History Project, 2008. Print. Gibb, Hamilton. The Life of Saladin. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. Print. Grossman, Mark. World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. Boston: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print. Nicolle, David. Saladin and the Saracens: Armies of the Middle East 1000-1300. London: Reed International Books, 1986. Print. This essay on Yusuf ibn-Ayyub Salah-al-Din was written and submitted by user Alexzander H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How Does George Eliot bring about our sympathy with Silas Essay Example

How Does George Eliot bring about our sympathy with Silas Essay Example How Does George Eliot bring about our sympathy with Silas Essay How Does George Eliot bring about our sympathy with Silas Essay what came with loss may go when found. There are many different factors to the pity Silas Marner gets, but in the day Silas Marner was written the world was a horrible place which pivoted on religion and was surrounded by no doubts about religion. I personally do not feel sorry for Silas Marner and as we read through the book became more aware that I hated the book and was bored out of my mind. I was forced to make constant notes because I couldnt remember any of the book because I disliked it so much.

This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process

This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Consistently coming up with strong content marketing ideas  is  challenging. You  have deadlines to hit. There are performance goals to meet.  The drive to be creative on-the-spot adds more pressure that you dont need. What you do need, however, is a reliable process for generating genius ideas fast. What if we told you it was possible to come up with 30 content ideas  in just 30 minutes? Not just any 30 topics, either. We mean topics your audience  will actually want to read about. Most things that sound too good to be true are usually garbage. However, this is the actual (garbage-free) process we use here at . We can confirm from first-hand experience that this process works, and the results speak for themselves.Table Of Contents Why It Is Important To Have A Content Brainstorming Process Write Down As Many Potential Content Ideas  As You Can (10 Minutes) How To Rank Your Content Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Narrow Down Your Best Content  Topics (10 Minutes) How To Apply This Brainstorming Process If You’re Working Solo 4 Important Tips For Making This Content Brainstorming Process Work How To Validate Content Ideas  With Keyword Research What If I Can’t Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My TopicThis Is The Best Way To Generate 30 Incredible Content Ideas  In JUST 30 Minutes In this post, we'll teach you how to: Use a free-writing exercise to generate tons of topics fast. Use a 3-point scoring system to  sort out your top blog topics. Identify only the very best topics you'll actually write about. There isn't a secret involved. There is, however, a smart methodology behind our brainstorming process. It just involves a little bit of quick thinking and intuitive judgement to make the best use  of your limited time. Pro Tip: While these techniques work best with a team, you can use the same process if you're working alone too. Why It Is Important To Have A Brainstorming Process Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. Sometimes you'll have the most awesome inspiration when you least expect it. Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, or right before we head to bed at night. However,  bloggers and marketers don't always have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. Your boss likely expects brilliance from you all the time (doubly so when deadlines are approaching). You have no excuse not to deliver, either. Consistent creativity keeps you paid and keeps your content  efforts  moving forward. Recommended  Reading:  20 Ways To Be Creative When You Don't Feel Inspired Establishing a formal brainstorming process is the best way (or at least the most reliable way) to never run out of ideas. It achieves the following three things: It forces you to consciously  consider what your audience wants from you. It helps get the creative gears turning in your head, producing ideas you might not otherwise have thought of. It leverages the power of your team to generate more ideas than one person could alone (although it's still a useful process for those going solo too). Back To Top #Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. #inspirationWrite Down As Many Potential Ideas As You Can (10 Minutes) The first step is to write down as many ideas as you can think of. This works best with a whiteboard and markers, Post-It Notes, or anything else you can pin up on a wall later. Give all your team members something to write with. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Instruct everyone to free write as many ideas as they can think of before the timer runs out. It's important that no one looks at each other's writing or talks to anyone (yet). Don't worry whether your ideas are any good right away. The goal is to simply get your thoughts out of your head and out into the world. If in doubt, write it down anyway. You'll have time to sort out what's good and what's not later. Pro Tip: Aim for  quantity over quality at first. Overthinking cramps the creative process. Back To Top How To Rank Your Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Now it's time for some constructive criticism. If you wrote your ideas down on note cards or sticky notes, now is the time to paste them up on a wall. They can be posted anywhere as long as everyone can easily read them. Here's what our board looked like after using this process: Position all your ideas on the left side of the wall or white board. Then, to the right, make three columns labeled 1, 2, and 3. How To Score Each Topic There are two ways you can approach this. Let's walk through each one. Method One: Read Your Ideas Out Loud Have one person on your team read each idea (or read them aloud to yourself). Then, have each team member rank each idea a 1 (weak), 2 (average), or 3 (exceptional). Say each response out loud. Place each idea into its respective column on the board. This approach lends itself well to collaboration. It gives the team an opportunity to discuss why they think an idea is good or bad. However, it also has a tendency to encourage group-think. Members might hear another person say "3" and be compelled to follow suit. This makes it important to stress honesty with each answer. Method Two: Score Ideas Silently Have one person read off each topic. Then, each team member submits their score to the reader via chat message.  You can use essentially any messaging system you'd like. We use Hipchat at , but Slack is another popular option to consider. You could even simply use Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts. The reader then looks at each score, and places them into a document (you can use Word, Google Docs, Google Keep, Evernote, or anything else similar). Keep track of every idea that scores a unanimous 3. You can keep track of other ideas too if you'd like, but the unquestionable 3's are what you want to remember. Finally, the reader presents the team with a list of 3s. Your team can then discuss  which of those ideas are worth writing about. The advantage to this technique is that it provides more honest feedback. When people can't hear what other people are saying, they tend to respond the way they truly think, without outside influence. However, it also cuts down on collaboration and discussion. This makes this approach faster, but sometimes, added communication can be beneficial for sorting out the best ideas. Pro Tip: You have to be fast when scoring each topic. Use your gut. Give yourself just a few moments and don't dwell on one idea for too long. Which Content  Brainstorming Method Does Use? We've used both Method One and Method Two. Generally, our content marketing team prefers Method Two. It produces slightly fewer ideas overall, because less ideas get scored highly. However, these ideas tend to be stronger. Both approaches  are effective, however, and Method One might be a better choice if  having a higher quantity of ideas is important. Back To Top Narrow Down Your Best Content Ideas  (10 Minutes) You've now generated a ton of ideas in 30 minutes. Now, the final phase of this process is to sharpen  your best concepts. For our team here at , we usually leave a brainstorming session with around 30 to 50 ideas. From there, you'll narrow down the best ones that you'll actually write about. Review your final list of 3's and identify the following for each idea: What problem would this post solve, or what question would it answer? What angle would this post take? What are some quick, hypothetical headlines that might work with this post? The goal is to make sure you have a clear picture of what each post will look like. 4 Key Indicators For Strong  Content Ideas We need to further clarify what  makes a topic a 3 (versus a 1 or a 2). A 1 does not satisfy the following requirements while a 2 might satisfy one or two (but not all four). Strong ideas that should qualify as a 3, however, meet the following standards: Strong ideas are unique.  In this context, we'll define "unique" as something you haven't already written about. If a given topic is something you've covered previously, you'll need to ensure you're taking a different angle, or are exploring a different facet of that topic. Strong ideas  match your audience's interests. If you're just starting out, you might not know what your audience is interested in. However, if you're getting a lot of questions about something, that's probably a good topic to write about. Strong ideas fit within your expertise.  Your ideas should fit within the topical scope of what your brand or company  is about. For example, a great post about how to change your own motor oil  wouldn't be a good fit for a food blog. Strong topics are well aligned with your expertise and with what readers expect from you. Don't let this deter you from thinking outside the box. Just be sure that the topics you choose are: Relevant to your audience. Things you're an expert on (or something you can make yourself an expert on through research and testing). The strongest  ideas are those you can do better than anyone else.  This ties into the previous point about staying within your topical area of expertise. In order to write a blog post that's going to drive organic search traffic and kick up a storm on social media, it needs to be good. The strongest content  ideas  are those you can do better than anyone else.In fact, it needs to be better than good.  It needs to address its given topic with more and better information than at least 90% of what else is out there. If you're in a competitive niche, this might mean using the skyscraper technique to build off what larger competitors have already done. The main takeaway  is to ask whether you can write a better post on a topic than any other post that already exists. If that answer is no, the next question to ask is "Can you can write a post that's different from any other post out there?" That could mean your post introduces a new perspective on a topic. It could also mean your post adds information or provides findings from your own original research. Pro Tip: Make it a point to monitor social media chatter about your industry or  the areas your content covers. Then, when it comes time to plan content, you'll have more ideas in your head to pull from. Back To Top How To Apply  This Content Marketing  Brainstorming  Process  If You're Working Solo Let's say you're working alone. If you're a one-person blogger or marketing department, then how do you make this process work? The short answer is much the same as you would with a team. The only difference is you write and rate your ideas yourself. However, there are a few tips to keep in mind: You'll need to be your own worst critic. Without outside perspective, it might be tempting to say, "All of my ideas are genius!" However, you only want to publish your very best ideas. Make sure you filter accordingly. Read your ideas out loud, even if only to yourself. Like we said earlier, posts that sound good on paper occasionally sound weak out loud. You will need to be your own worst critic. #writing #bloggingBack To Top 4 Important Tips For Making This Brainstorming Process Work The more you run through this process, the more efficient you'll get. You'll also likely find yourself coming up with better ideas over time, too. In  order to get the most from this approach to brainstorming, there are some things you'll need to keep in mind. Don't think, just act. Go with your gut when judging ideas. The ones that get you the most excited right away are usually the ones you know you should write. Focus on quantity first, then edit for quality. Letting yourself free write ideas loosens up your creative muscles. This can help surface ideas you might not have otherwise. Monitor your success. Once you have written a few posts using this process, pay close attention to which posts do best. If a post underperforms, then ask yourself why it didn't do well. Conversely, note what goes right with posts that really take off. This will help you better identify what a "3" looks like for your blog. Don't take it personally if your ideas get shot down. If an idea gets shot down, try not to take it as a commentary on yourself. The idea behind this process is to generate lots of ideas quickly. A lot of those ideas naturally won't make it. Back To Top How To Validate Blog Post Topics With Keyword Research Once you've invested your half-hour into your blog topic brainstorming  process, the next step is to do some keyword research. If you have a team member who is particularly interested in SEO, this is a good additional task for them to take on. The goal here is to find keywords related to your topics that you can use in your blog posts. This may take a little bit of additional time. However, it's worth it to ensure your blog topics drive traffic. Use these three quick keyword research tactics to gauge which of your proposed topics are best: 1. Use the SERPs.com Keywordini tool: 2. Then, copy the keywords from the CSV export: 3. Next, paste those keywords into the Google Adwords Keyword Planner: Need help with the keyword planner? Watch this video: 4. Try using those keywords in searches on Facebook or Twitter. Then, see what discussions are happening around those keywords. This will give you an idea of what kinds of words and language people use when discussing your topic. 5. Manually search those  keywords in Google as well. Review the top 10 results. Next, ask if the posts that currently exist for that keyword accurately match the same idea behind your topic. Pro Tip: It's important to understand the search intent behind keywords. For example, let's say you want to write about carpet cleaning. That could mean home carpet cleaning or commercial carpet cleaning. If it turns out that most people who are looking for that keyword want their home carpets cleaned, but your business only works with commercial clients, then you might need to find a better keyword. Back To Top What If I Can't Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My Topic? You might have an idea that you know your audience would love, but isn't relevant to any keywords with strong search volume. Does this mean you should abandon that idea? Not necessarily. Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #blogYou could spend a lot of time creating something that gets a strong initial push on social media and email  but then fails to drive sustained traffic from search engines. However, it's possible that your idea doesn't get searched a lot because it answers a question people don't know they should be asking. In these cases, it's helpful to find a way to align your idea with something people are searching for. Struggling To Find Good Keywords? Here are three tips you can follow when you're struggling to find good keywords (when you know you've got a strong  topic): Ask your social media audience  for their thoughts on a given topic. If you get a lot of responses or stir up some discussion, that's a good indicator there's interest out there. Try searching for keywords around topics related to your suggested topic. This might help you come up with more ideas that are better matched to your audience's interests. Keyword Studio is an excellent paid tool well suited to this purpose. Use Hubspot's Blog Topic  Generator. Just enter three nouns related to your topic: You'll now have five fresh blog topics related to your main idea.  These hypothetical ideas may include keyword variations or other verbs or adjectives, too. Those additional words, combined with nouns related to your topic, may create keyword phrases you  might not have thought of. Try taking some of the variations this tool produces, and look them up using  Google's Keyword Planner (or another keyword tool). It's possible you could come up with some strong keywords after all. Here's how to never run out of #blog #topics againBack To Top Now Try Brainstorming Some Blog Topics! This process provides us with roughly a month's worth of ideas each time we run through it. Depending on how often you publish, you may need to try going through these steps more often. However, one thing that's for certain is you'll never run out of blog topics. Try putting this process to use with your own team. Then, come back and let us know how it went. If you have additional tips or difficulties, we want to know! This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Consistently coming up with strong content marketing ideas  is  challenging. You  have deadlines to hit. There are performance goals to meet.  The drive to be creative on-the-spot adds more pressure that you dont need. What you do need, however, is a reliable process for generating genius ideas fast. What if we told you it was possible to come up with 30 content ideas  in just 30 minutes? Not just any 30 topics, either. We mean topics your audience  will actually want to read about. Most things that sound too good to be true are usually garbage. However, this is the actual (garbage-free) process we use here at . We can confirm from first-hand experience that this process works, and the results speak for themselves.Table Of Contents Why It Is Important To Have A Content Brainstorming Process Write Down As Many Potential Content Ideas  As You Can (10 Minutes) How To Rank Your Content Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Narrow Down Your Best Content  Topics (10 Minutes) How To Apply This Brainstorming Process If You’re Working Solo 4 Important Tips For Making This Content Brainstorming Process Work How To Validate Content Ideas  With Keyword Research What If I Can’t Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My TopicThis Is The Best Way To Generate 30 Incredible Content Ideas  In JUST 30 Minutes In this post, we'll teach you how to: Use a free-writing exercise to generate tons of topics fast. Use a 3-point scoring system to  sort out your top blog topics. Identify only the very best topics you'll actually write about. There isn't a secret involved. There is, however, a smart methodology behind our brainstorming process. It just involves a little bit of quick thinking and intuitive judgement to make the best use  of your limited time. Pro Tip: While these techniques work best with a team, you can use the same process if you're working alone too. Why It Is Important To Have A Brainstorming Process Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. Sometimes you'll have the most awesome inspiration when you least expect it. Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, or right before we head to bed at night. However,  bloggers and marketers don't always have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. Your boss likely expects brilliance from you all the time (doubly so when deadlines are approaching). You have no excuse not to deliver, either. Consistent creativity keeps you paid and keeps your content  efforts  moving forward. Recommended  Reading:  20 Ways To Be Creative When You Don't Feel Inspired Establishing a formal brainstorming process is the best way (or at least the most reliable way) to never run out of ideas. It achieves the following three things: It forces you to consciously  consider what your audience wants from you. It helps get the creative gears turning in your head, producing ideas you might not otherwise have thought of. It leverages the power of your team to generate more ideas than one person could alone (although it's still a useful process for those going solo too). Back To Top #Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. #inspirationWrite Down As Many Potential Ideas As You Can (10 Minutes) The first step is to write down as many ideas as you can think of. This works best with a whiteboard and markers, Post-It Notes, or anything else you can pin up on a wall later. Give all your team members something to write with. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Instruct everyone to free write as many ideas as they can think of before the timer runs out. It's important that no one looks at each other's writing or talks to anyone (yet). Don't worry whether your ideas are any good right away. The goal is to simply get your thoughts out of your head and out into the world. If in doubt, write it down anyway. You'll have time to sort out what's good and what's not later. Pro Tip: Aim for  quantity over quality at first. Overthinking cramps the creative process. Back To Top How To Rank Your Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Now it's time for some constructive criticism. If you wrote your ideas down on note cards or sticky notes, now is the time to paste them up on a wall. They can be posted anywhere as long as everyone can easily read them. Here's what our board looked like after using this process: Position all your ideas on the left side of the wall or white board. Then, to the right, make three columns labeled 1, 2, and 3. How To Score Each Topic There are two ways you can approach this. Let's walk through each one. Method One: Read Your Ideas Out Loud Have one person on your team read each idea (or read them aloud to yourself). Then, have each team member rank each idea a 1 (weak), 2 (average), or 3 (exceptional). Say each response out loud. Place each idea into its respective column on the board. This approach lends itself well to collaboration. It gives the team an opportunity to discuss why they think an idea is good or bad. However, it also has a tendency to encourage group-think. Members might hear another person say "3" and be compelled to follow suit. This makes it important to stress honesty with each answer. Method Two: Score Ideas Silently Have one person read off each topic. Then, each team member submits their score to the reader via chat message.  You can use essentially any messaging system you'd like. We use Hipchat at , but Slack is another popular option to consider. You could even simply use Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts. The reader then looks at each score, and places them into a document (you can use Word, Google Docs, Google Keep, Evernote, or anything else similar). Keep track of every idea that scores a unanimous 3. You can keep track of other ideas too if you'd like, but the unquestionable 3's are what you want to remember. Finally, the reader presents the team with a list of 3s. Your team can then discuss  which of those ideas are worth writing about. The advantage to this technique is that it provides more honest feedback. When people can't hear what other people are saying, they tend to respond the way they truly think, without outside influence. However, it also cuts down on collaboration and discussion. This makes this approach faster, but sometimes, added communication can be beneficial for sorting out the best ideas. Pro Tip: You have to be fast when scoring each topic. Use your gut. Give yourself just a few moments and don't dwell on one idea for too long. Which Content  Brainstorming Method Does Use? We've used both Method One and Method Two. Generally, our content marketing team prefers Method Two. It produces slightly fewer ideas overall, because less ideas get scored highly. However, these ideas tend to be stronger. Both approaches  are effective, however, and Method One might be a better choice if  having a higher quantity of ideas is important. Back To Top Narrow Down Your Best Content Ideas  (10 Minutes) You've now generated a ton of ideas in 30 minutes. Now, the final phase of this process is to sharpen  your best concepts. For our team here at , we usually leave a brainstorming session with around 30 to 50 ideas. From there, you'll narrow down the best ones that you'll actually write about. Review your final list of 3's and identify the following for each idea: What problem would this post solve, or what question would it answer? What angle would this post take? What are some quick, hypothetical headlines that might work with this post? The goal is to make sure you have a clear picture of what each post will look like. 4 Key Indicators For Strong  Content Ideas We need to further clarify what  makes a topic a 3 (versus a 1 or a 2). A 1 does not satisfy the following requirements while a 2 might satisfy one or two (but not all four). Strong ideas that should qualify as a 3, however, meet the following standards: Strong ideas are unique.  In this context, we'll define "unique" as something you haven't already written about. If a given topic is something you've covered previously, you'll need to ensure you're taking a different angle, or are exploring a different facet of that topic. Strong ideas  match your audience's interests. If you're just starting out, you might not know what your audience is interested in. However, if you're getting a lot of questions about something, that's probably a good topic to write about. Strong ideas fit within your expertise.  Your ideas should fit within the topical scope of what your brand or company  is about. For example, a great post about how to change your own motor oil  wouldn't be a good fit for a food blog. Strong topics are well aligned with your expertise and with what readers expect from you. Don't let this deter you from thinking outside the box. Just be sure that the topics you choose are: Relevant to your audience. Things you're an expert on (or something you can make yourself an expert on through research and testing). The strongest  ideas are those you can do better than anyone else.  This ties into the previous point about staying within your topical area of expertise. In order to write a blog post that's going to drive organic search traffic and kick up a storm on social media, it needs to be good. The strongest content  ideas  are those you can do better than anyone else.In fact, it needs to be better than good.  It needs to address its given topic with more and better information than at least 90% of what else is out there. If you're in a competitive niche, this might mean using the skyscraper technique to build off what larger competitors have already done. The main takeaway  is to ask whether you can write a better post on a topic than any other post that already exists. If that answer is no, the next question to ask is "Can you can write a post that's different from any other post out there?" That could mean your post introduces a new perspective on a topic. It could also mean your post adds information or provides findings from your own original research. Pro Tip: Make it a point to monitor social media chatter about your industry or  the areas your content covers. Then, when it comes time to plan content, you'll have more ideas in your head to pull from. Back To Top How To Apply  This Content Marketing  Brainstorming  Process  If You're Working Solo Let's say you're working alone. If you're a one-person blogger or marketing department, then how do you make this process work? The short answer is much the same as you would with a team. The only difference is you write and rate your ideas yourself. However, there are a few tips to keep in mind: You'll need to be your own worst critic. Without outside perspective, it might be tempting to say, "All of my ideas are genius!" However, you only want to publish your very best ideas. Make sure you filter accordingly. Read your ideas out loud, even if only to yourself. Like we said earlier, posts that sound good on paper occasionally sound weak out loud. You will need to be your own worst critic. #writing #bloggingBack To Top 4 Important Tips For Making This Brainstorming Process Work The more you run through this process, the more efficient you'll get. You'll also likely find yourself coming up with better ideas over time, too. In  order to get the most from this approach to brainstorming, there are some things you'll need to keep in mind. Don't think, just act. Go with your gut when judging ideas. The ones that get you the most excited right away are usually the ones you know you should write. Focus on quantity first, then edit for quality. Letting yourself free write ideas loosens up your creative muscles. This can help surface ideas you might not have otherwise. Monitor your success. Once you have written a few posts using this process, pay close attention to which posts do best. If a post underperforms, then ask yourself why it didn't do well. Conversely, note what goes right with posts that really take off. This will help you better identify what a "3" looks like for your blog. Don't take it personally if your ideas get shot down. If an idea gets shot down, try not to take it as a commentary on yourself. The idea behind this process is to generate lots of ideas quickly. A lot of those ideas naturally won't make it. Back To Top How To Validate Blog Post Topics With Keyword Research Once you've invested your half-hour into your blog topic brainstorming  process, the next step is to do some keyword research. If you have a team member who is particularly interested in SEO, this is a good additional task for them to take on. The goal here is to find keywords related to your topics that you can use in your blog posts. This may take a little bit of additional time. However, it's worth it to ensure your blog topics drive traffic. Use these three quick keyword research tactics to gauge which of your proposed topics are best: 1. Use the SERPs.com Keywordini tool: 2. Then, copy the keywords from the CSV export: 3. Next, paste those keywords into the Google Adwords Keyword Planner: Need help with the keyword planner? Watch this video: 4. Try using those keywords in searches on Facebook or Twitter. Then, see what discussions are happening around those keywords. This will give you an idea of what kinds of words and language people use when discussing your topic. 5. Manually search those  keywords in Google as well. Review the top 10 results. Next, ask if the posts that currently exist for that keyword accurately match the same idea behind your topic. Pro Tip: It's important to understand the search intent behind keywords. For example, let's say you want to write about carpet cleaning. That could mean home carpet cleaning or commercial carpet cleaning. If it turns out that most people who are looking for that keyword want their home carpets cleaned, but your business only works with commercial clients, then you might need to find a better keyword. Back To Top What If I Can't Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My Topic? You might have an idea that you know your audience would love, but isn't relevant to any keywords with strong search volume. Does this mean you should abandon that idea? Not necessarily. Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #blogYou could spend a lot of time creating something that gets a strong initial push on social media and email  but then fails to drive sustained traffic from search engines. However, it's possible that your idea doesn't get searched a lot because it answers a question people don't know they should be asking. In these cases, it's helpful to find a way to align your idea with something people are searching for. Struggling To Find Good Keywords? Here are three tips you can follow when you're struggling to find good keywords (when you know you've got a strong  topic): Ask your social media audience  for their thoughts on a given topic. If you get a lot of responses or stir up some discussion, that's a good indicator there's interest out there. Try searching for keywords around topics related to your suggested topic. This might help you come up with more ideas that are better matched to your audience's interests. Keyword Studio is an excellent paid tool well suited to this purpose. Use Hubspot's Blog Topic  Generator. Just enter three nouns related to your topic: You'll now have five fresh blog topics related to your main idea.  These hypothetical ideas may include keyword variations or other verbs or adjectives, too. Those additional words, combined with nouns related to your topic, may create keyword phrases you  might not have thought of. Try taking some of the variations this tool produces, and look them up using  Google's Keyword Planner (or another keyword tool). It's possible you could come up with some strong keywords after all. Here's how to never run out of #blog #topics againBack To Top Now Try Brainstorming Some Blog Topics! This process provides us with roughly a month's worth of ideas each time we run through it. Depending on how often you publish, you may need to try going through these steps more often. However, one thing that's for certain is you'll never run out of blog topics. Try putting this process to use with your own team. Then, come back and let us know how it went. If you have additional tips or difficulties, we want to know!