Truman Doctrine And The Marshall Plan History Essay

Truman Doctrine And The Marshall Plan History Essay On the eve of their victory in World War Two, the leaders of the so-called Big Three nations (Winston Churchill from Britain, Joseph Stalin, from the Soviet Union, and Franklin Roosevelt from the United States) met to negotiate the post-war administration of the vast European territories liberated from Nazi occupation and the captured territories of the Axis nations themselves. The two meetings at Potsdam and Yalta were actually the second and third (respectively) following the first of the Big Three meetings at Teheran in 1943. At the time of the final meeting at Yalta, all three leaders expressed genuine optimism that a peaceful and fair collaboration that had begun of necessity in their combined effort to defeat Hitler could last beyond the war years and into a prolonged period of international peace thereafter (Alterman, 2004). However, there were fundamental conflicting interests and concerns that had begun to develop even before the conclusion of the war. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had already begun to view one another as rivals in Europe, both for territory captured from the Germans as well as for the technological spoils of war, such as German aviation and ballistic rocket technology in particular (Roberts, 2000). During the last year of the war, the Western Allies had feared that Stalin would continue his advance well into central and western Europe and all the way to the Mediterranean (Alterman, 2004). To a large degree, those fears were unfounded as Soviet troops halted after occupying the Baltic States and territories in Germany, Poland and the Balkans (Alterman, 2004). Nevertheless, the Soviet Union did also exert continual pressure elsewhere, particularly in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and Turkey. When Britain could no longer afford to support the needs of Greece and Turkey, the U.S. stepped up and in 1947, announced a broad approach to providing economic support to those regions (and others believed by the Truman administration to be potentially at risk of Soviet domination) economically in what came to be referred to as the Truman Doctrine (Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon,). That same year, U.S. Secretary of State, General George C. Marshall, introduced an even broader approach, that came to be called the Marshall Plan which included all of the mechanism outlined in the Truman Doctrine, in addition to a comprehensive fight against hunger, desperation, poverty, and chaos and whose aims included the revival of a working economy across the European continent but also in all the nations of the world ( Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon,). In fact, the principal motivation for this plan was a policy analysis authored by George C. Kennan, counselor in the U.S. embassy in Moscow entitled The Sources of Soviet Conduct (Roberts, 2000). That analysis led directly to the adoption of a containment policy by the Truman administration (and subsequent U.S. presidential administrations designed expressly to oppose perceive Soviet expansionist aims everywhere in the world (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Roberts, 2000). Throughout the Cold War, the official position of the U.S. was that its policies with respect to the U.S.S.R. were strictly defensive and designed, of absolute necessity, to prevent the global domination sought by Soviet Communist leaders (Alterman, 2004; Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon, ; McNamara, 1995). In truth, the U.S. policies to oppose Soviet Communist expansion and the imposition of Communism beyond Soviet borders were not unfairly viewed by the U.S.S.R. as an expansionist attempt to export and impose Western Democracy beyond U.S. borders. The Deterioration of Relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. after 1945 Even before the end of World War II, the provisions of the February 1945 Yalta Conference set in motion conflicting priorities and zones of occupation that helped trigger the eventual deterioration of the wartime alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Specifically, the agreement left Britain, France, and the United States in charge of Western Germany, Italy, and Japan while the Soviets controlled Eastern Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. By comparison, the territory controlled by the Western Allies was much more valuable in terms of its economic potential than that held by the Soviet Union. The same was largely true in connection with the relative economic potential of Western and Eastern Germany. Under the terms of the Yalta Agreement, the Western Allies administered what later became West Germany and the U.S.S.R. controlled what later became East Germany. Even the capital city of Berlin was divided into zones o f occupation; within a few years, the geographical layout of Berlin and the shared occupation between the Western Allies and the U.S.S.R. would trigger a prolonged crisis as well (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Although perceived by the West as being stubborn and acting out of a specific motivation to dominate Europe, Stalin expressed genuine confusion over the inability or unwillingness of the Western Allies to appreciate the importance of Eastern Europe from the Soviet perspective, particularly with respect to Poland (Alterman, 2004; Judge Langdon, ). Recent and not so recent history demonstrated full well the vulnerability of the Soviet Union to hostile invasion through Poland. Moreover, Stalins liberation of Poland from the Nazis had cost the Soviet Union as many as 20 million dead, making it the costliest war campaign in the entire history of warfare, by far. From the Russian point of view, Poland should rightfully have remained under Russian control for those two specific reasons alone (Alterman, 2004; Judge Langdon, ). In other respects, the Western Allies may have been right to question Stalins motives. During the war, both Churchill and Stalin had sent troops to occupy portions of Iran to prevent their rich oil fields from falling into the hands of the Nazis (Alterman, 2004; Roberts, 2000). Already at Yalta, Stalin had begun demanding oil concessions as a condition of removing Russian troops from Iran. Likewise, Stalin had insisted that Turkey permit the Russian Navy permanent unrestricted passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles. Stalin yielded on both accounts only after the U.S. expressed its intentions to back Iran and after the U.S. sent its own Naval warships to the region. Nevertheless, U.S. foreign policy thereafter would reflect the growing fears over such incidents that Stalin expressly intended to capitalize on any perceived weakness on the part of the West to oppose Communist grabs for global territories and resources (Roberts, 2000). The Importance of Kennans The Sources of Soviet Conduct In 1946, the U.S. State Department received a very long telegram from George C. Kennan, counselor in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, detailing his analysis of what he called The Sources of Soviet Conduct (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Among other conclusions, Kennan wrote that the Soviet Union was eternally committed to global expansionism and to the spread of Communist ideology at all costs. Kennan warned that the Soviet Union would never stop probing non-Communist societies for weaknesses and that the Western democracies had no other choice but to remain vigilante in their opposition to Communism lest is spread throughout the entire world to the extent efforts toward that end were not opposed appropriately by the West (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Kennan concluded that what would be necessary and appropriate to prevent Communist expansionism from dominating the word would be a comprehensive policy of global containment of any efforts toward that end by the Western democracies (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). At approximately the same time, also in 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his infamous Iron Curtain speech in which he warned of the same danger with respect to the European continent and advocated a strong opposition on the part of the Western democracies. (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000; Westad, ). In principle, this containment strategy would be adopted by the West, most immediately in the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Truman Doctrine By 1947, Greece was in the midst of internal warfare between the government and Communist rebels (Alter, 2004; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Roberts, 2000). Britain had been funding the counterrevolutionaries but eventually announced that it could no longer do so for economic reasons. The U.S. administration argued to Congress (and to the American people) that the fall of Greece to Communism would lead inevitably to the subsequent fall of Italy, France, and the entire Middle East to Communism as well (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Truman succeeded in obtaining congressional authorization for $400 million to fund anti-Communist rebels in both Greece and Turkey as well. This was the first implementation of what came be known as the Truman Doctrine, according to which It must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pres sures. Truman went on to say that this support from the U.S. should be primarily through economic and financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political process (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Officially, the Truman Doctrine focused on economic assistance to the needy populations of the struggling nations; unofficially, the real purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to fund anti-Communist forces and virtually any related effort to undermine Soviet attempts to spread Communism anywhere in the world. While being promoted primarily as a humanitarian gesture, the principal purpose of the Truman Doctrine and the reason for its existence was to oppose Soviet Communism (Gaddis, 1997). To be fair, there were reasons that the West was right to be so concerned about Soviet Communist expansion but there were also reasons that, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the West in general and the U.S. in particular overreacted in implementing the Truman Doctrine. The Western Allies had only recently learned a very difficult lesson after failing to respond appropriately to the rise of Nazism throughout the 1930s and to the expansionist aggression demonstrated by Hitler for years before the outbreak of World War II. Undoubtedly, that was foremost on the minds of Churchill and Truman and everyone else in foreign policy-making positions in the post-war era (Alterman, 2004; Roberts, 2000). The Soviets were hardly innocent either. In addition to the attempted exertion of influence in Iran over the removal of their troops and over control over shipping lanes in the Dardanelles, they also aggressively supported Communist revolutions anywhere they could in Eastern Europe, particular ly in Bulgaria and Romania in connection with Communist takeovers and in Poland by helping to eliminate the last source of political opposition to Communism (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). On the other hand, and again, in retrospect with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the Western Democracies were also somewhat blind to apparent signs of Soviet restraint and concessions to the West. After initially insisting on shared control over defeated Japan, the Soviet Union eventually accepted exclusive American control over that nation (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Likewise, they withdrew their troops from Manchuria, allowed free elections in Hungary and Czechoslovakia and a neutral democratic Finnish government, and they also withdrew significant numbers of their forces that had been assembled in Eastern Europe since the end of the War (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). It may be unfair to re-evaluate tensions of the time with the benefit of historical records available today (including those pertaining to Stalin that only became available after the collapse of Communist Russia). However, objectively, and with the benefit of hindsight, it would seem that a more measured and objective response on the part of the U.S. and her allies in the post-war years other than the full implementation of the Truman Doctrine might have allowed for a much less costly and potentially dangerous outcome than a four-decade-long Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan One of the major initiatives implemented within the general framework of the Truman Doctrine was General George C. Marshalls European Recovery Plan, which quickly became known as the Marshall Plan (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). In principle, the Marshall Plan aimed to do the same thing (i.e. contain Soviet Communism from global expansion) although through incentivizing cooperation and conciliation on the part of foreign nations in return for U.S. economic assistance. It was, in essence, a tremendous carrot instead of a stick-based approach to encouraging foreign nations to implement democratic governments and to reject Communist overtures (Roberts, 2000). The U.S. even invited the Soviet Union to participate but they refused, believing (probably correctly, given the overall objective of the Truman Doctrine) that the terms in connection with which Soviet participation was being welcomed would have undermined Soviet control over the Eastern European countries under Soviet influence (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ). Two years later, the Soviet Union would create Comecon, their own plan for an Eastern European Mutual Economic Assistance organization. The Marshall Plan was an unparalleled success in Western Europe: it facilitated infrastructure recovery in war-torn countries; it enabled economic growth while simultaneously reducing class conflict. More importantly, from the U.S. perspective, it established an economic dependency for U.S. goods and industrial machinery and for the U.S. goods, services, and labor to support it (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Certainly, the Marshall Plan was a more humane approach to expanding U.S. influence and discouraging Communist tendencies among Western European populations than the Soviet Union had employed in Eastern Europe. However, its fundamental purpose was much more similar. Moreover, the U.S. was guilty of the same degree of meddling in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations as was the Soviet Union, albeit through much more peaceful means that relied upon the carrot rather than the stick. Nevertheless, from the point of view of exporting its own political ideology to other nations, the U.S. was actually engaged in the same business as the Communists that the West continually portrayed as expansionist (Hunt, 1987; LeFeber, 1994; McDougall, 1997). For example, because of the dependence of Italy on American foreign economic aid and supplies of goods and services, the U.S. was able to convince the Christian Democrats to oust the Communist Party out of it governing coalition. In fact, General Marshall personally warned the Italians that continued economic aide was directly dependent on the Communists not succeeding in the elections of 1948. At the same time, the U.S. State Department recruited Italian relatives in the U.S. and Italian-American organizations in the U.S. to influence Italian political outcomes as much as possible (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; LeFeber, 1994; Hunt, 1987; McDougall, 1997). Ultimately, the U.S. cannot claim to have meddled or micromanaged Western European political affairs any less than their Communist counterparts in Moscow. While there is a strong argument that the methods chosen by Moscow were less humane, it would be a fiction to suggest that the Soviet Union exported Communism and was expansionist while the U.S. merely supported political self-determination and opposed the imposition of political ideology from abroad. Certainly, from the Soviet perspective, Washington was engaged in very similar processes that differed much more in their means than in what they hoped to achieve. Moreover, whereas the U.S. had the choice between brutality and economic pressure and incentivization, the U.S.S.R. had no such choice, at least not that could have competed against the economic and industrial strength of the U.S. Conclusion Throughout the Cold War, the predominant view in the Western hemisphere was that the Soviet Union was continually engaged in an aggressive campaign to export Communism while the West, led by the U.S. was merely resisting that expansion by supporting the freedom and self-determination of those nations that would otherwise have been at the mercy of Communist takeover. In reality, the U.S. was no less aggressive in exporting Democracy, although it had the economic means to do so much more gently and humanely, and by inviting membership in their democratic vision rather than by coercion and brutality. However, in terms of precipitating what became a four-decade-long Cold War between East and West, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and the policy of containment first articulated and promoted by George Kennan in 1946 were no less responsible than Soviet expansionism through intimidation and force. The Cold War eventually resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union by virtue of the strength of the U.S. economy and industrial capacity. However, it was really only a matter of luck and restraint on the part of Soviet leaders that prevented the Cold War from suddenly becoming anything but cold particularly in connection with the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In both cases, Soviet forces were armed with tactical battlefield nuclear weapons and authorized to use them on U.S. forces. Ironically, those facts only became public as a direct function of the fall of the Soviet Union and the doctrine of Glasnost instituted as a result (Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon, ). The Cold War grew out of a combination of factors and was probably not as inevitable or as much the result of aggressive Soviet expansionism as is widely believed in the West. To be sure, its roots were partly the result of the paranoid personality of Joseph Stalin. Similarly, the U.S.S.R. had given the Western Allies reason for concern over Stalins intentions in the Middle East (and elsewhere) even before the end of the war. The historical record suggests that at the time of the final Big Three meeting at Yalta, Stalin genuinely hoped for a collaborative and cooperative relationship with the American and British governments. On the other hand, even during those most hopeful of times, Soviet spies were busily at work successfully and thoroughly infiltrating the Top-Secret U.S. Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. However, the relative insensitivity of Western leaders to appreciate the legitimate historical basis and geographical realities facing the Soviet Union, especially in Eastern Europe is equally to blame. To a much greater degree than is often acknowledged by Western historians, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were, in fact, less about achieving the specific objectives laid out publicly as their fundamental purpose than they were about implementing a global containment strategy designed expressly to counter perceived Soviet expansionism. It is likely that but for paranoia and overreaction on both sides, the legitimate geopolitical concerns of both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. could have been negotiated more successfully and at far less cost to both sides. In that regard, the long-term effects and consequences of the American foreign policy approach with respect to the U.S.S.R. that was outlined and established by the Truman Doctrine and by the Marshall Plan within the first few years after the cessation of World War Two hostilities would have to be considered as responsible for the development of the Cold War as Soviet Communist expansionism.

Does CSR Work? Essays -- Business Essays

Does CSR Work? Adam Smith founded the modern study of economics on the premise that all businesses are driven by the invisible hand to seek as much profit as possible while society will take care of itself. However, as the public’s opinion of big business has steadily declined in the recent decades, big business has developed a social conscience to improve all aspects of society from worker compensation to protecting the environment to helping the needy. As Stephen Cook indicates in the January 2003 edition of Management Today: â€Å"Everyone cares these days. You can hardly walk through the door of a major company in the western world without tripping over stacks of glossy reports telling you how they care for the environment, their community, their stakeholders.† John G. Ruggie believes that the increase in corporate social responsibility (CSR) stems from three reasons: 1) companies have made themselves targets by doing â€Å"bad† things in the past (Shell in Nigeria; N ike in Indonesia), 2)public perception that the global marketplace is more police-able and international rules and standards are more enforceable, 3) companies large growth as made them the only ones capable of policing themselves in a global capacity. However, two questions arise from this new branch of the corporate hierarchy: 1) does CSR produce results? And 2) does the public care about CSR. Gereffi et al. and John G. Ruggie both indicate that the social pressure has pushed corporations to act: Under increasing pressure from environmental and labor activists, multilateral organizations, and regulatory agencies in their home countries, multinational firms are implementing â€Å"certification† arrangements—codes of conduct, production guidelines, and monit... ...ally responsible, only a minority will punish socially irresponsible companies. Cook indicates similar trends in the UK where only 20% of the people would be prepared to boycott a product on social grounds. Cook, goes on to indicate, however, that the number of people who care is steadily increasing: â€Å"there’s been a 40% surge in UK purchases of ‘fair trade’ products giving a better deal to third world farmers.† As more and more of the world’s population becomes aware of the growing need for corporations to maintain a strong sense of social responsibility, corporations are adopting self-regulatory policies to please the public and enhance their own reputation. All this benefits both the consumers and corporations until a company makes another Enron-like blunder. Then all the good credentials these pacesetting companies have accumulated disappears instantly.

Benefits of the Internet

Reviews and investigation have concluded that the Internet was one of the most important inventions in the last years, and its development is growing every day. People’s lives have changed since this technology arrived.The main idea of my speech will be to explain the audience how   we benefit from the internet today, and how its development has made our lives easier. It will be an informative speech, but the idea is not to make it a technical speech with technical content, but a speech easy to understand for others. I will have to take into account that almost everybody knows about the internet, but the audience may not realize how useful it is, and how we benefit from it.I will try to give the audience some examples that will make them understand what do I mean by â€Å"benefits†, trying to make clear stories about each of the main uses of the internet, as for example how people started using email instead of regular letters, or visiting web sites instead of spendin g hours in a library. I will have to be clear with my messages and try to maintain the audience’s attention by using simple ideas because people usually don’t like to listen about technology as it seems a boring subject. The information I will use it will be based on my own experience, so that will help the speech content to have a humanized aspect.I don’t think that I will be using many kinds of visual aids in this subject, although I might be presenting some transparencies with facts about the increase in the usage of the internet and the benefits of it, and this will help to reinforce the ideas to the audience while I explain them.While I was having a conversation with my classmates that helped me choose the topic for my speech, I tried to talk to them and see what each of them did with the internet and how they took advantage of it. This will help me to more or less see what can I focus on, and on what I will have to be more specific.The interest of the audi ence will be difficult to maintain if I don’t start with a good motivation, so I will try to begin the speech with something interesting and completely new about the internet, like a future project that engineers are working on that might not be known yet, but that the audience might like for the future. It is a wide topic, so I will try to make it as clear as possible, so as to be manageable and understandable.     

Christmas lights Essays

Christmas lights Essays Christmas lights Paper Christmas lights Paper To start a fire there has to be an ignition source. Possible sources could be faulty wires rubbing together causing friction and getting hot enough to start the fire, overloaded plugs and oil lamps etc. Some other sources could be cigarettes. They may not have been put out properly, matches and gas lighter. Another source could be computer/ other electrical items. If they are left on for a long period, they will become hot and possible trigger a fire. Christmas lights can also play a part in a ignition of a fire because they are also normally on for a long period causing the Christmas tree to become how and burst into flames. Items in the kitchen like ovens, kettles, chip fryers etc also have heat coming from them. If they are not working properly, they will also become a source of ignition. A drink placed near a electrical item can also start a fire. Lastly, arson could be an ignition source. If somebody wanted to have a financial gain, they could start the fire their self. Task 3 (D1) From studying the text I was given the main causes of the fire were people smoking. Because there were rags on the floor, when the fag was dropped/ attempted to be put out, it was not fully out and was the ignition source of the fire. Another cause may have been faulty wires/cables from the sewing machines. They may have been rubbing together causing friction, eventually making it hot enough to ignite and start the fire. Another reason may have been that the faulty cables/wires may have caused sparks which again could of caused the fire to start. Lastly, the only other thing I could find/ think of is, back in those days there may of been candles as lights and if one was to be knocked onto the floor where the rags were this again could have caused the fire to break out. The most likely explanation to the spread of the fire is that the hanging patterns, the rags on the floor and the shirts that were already made would be everywhere around the factory meaning it would spread very quickly. Lastly, in those day the factory may of only been small and if the fire started in a corner it would spread even quicker than it would of done if it was in the middle of the room. There are ways in which the fire could have been prevented. For example if the already make shirts were stored in a separate room, if the rags were pick up and put into a bin every time a bit was dropped or cut etc. Another way it could be prevented if people were not allowed to smoke in the work place and if the sewing machines were to be checked every so often and fixed if there were faults cables/wires.

Scarlet Letter & Hester essays

Scarlet Letter & Hester essays It is adequate to begin a composition of this caliber with the quote, It (the scarlet letter) had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself (56). This confinement, undoubtedly, keeps Hester closer to God than without the scarlet letter attached to her bosom. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, an extremely religious book, the letter A, which was impressed on Hester Prynnes bosom, did not completely shun her out of society. Even in a Puritan society, the letter actually brought Hester closer to God himself. A direct reference to the scarlet letter bringing Hester closer to God would be easily exemplified in Hawthornes continuous attempt to connect Pearl with the letter. It was most obviously seen when Hester stated, God gave me the child... See ye not, she is the scarlet letter (116). Pearl was an emblem and product of sin (97) because of Hester, yet God gave Hester the child. Clearly, the letter A, a symbol of sin, is constantly reminding Hester that she is directly tied to God. Another strong connection of Pearl to the scarlet letter is when Pearl actually makes a letter of her own to place on her bosom. Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated... on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mothers: A letter- the letter A (185). Hesters own gift from God, as she had stated before, then wore the same symbol as her mother did. Even more so, Hester would always have rather wore the scarlet letter on her bosom than announce Pearls father. In fact, Hest er once told the clergymen, my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one (71). At times, Pearl seemed to see the scarlet letter as a symbol of her father. When she was just a baby, Pearl would often ...

Obesity and Physical Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity and Physical Activity - Essay Example In fact, of a recent study done on city ranking, which ranks some of the largest metro areas against each-other, the Twin Cities ranked 46 out of 46 for levels of deaths associated with Heart Disease. The actual count comes down to 109 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the number 1 city (which is Detroit) having 236.4 heart disease deaths per 100,000 people 2. There are multiple reasons why the levels are so low, but probably one of the largest reasons has to be the low levels of air pollution and the emphasis on physical activity within the Metro Area. Many schools across the metro have been cracking down on teaching students about physical activity, and often there is not much else to do in the winter time anyway. A lot of people love to take walks early in the morning to get used to the cold so that it doesn't bother them throughout the rest of the day. Not only that, but the community has become strongly involved in the spread of information about obesity and physical activity. In fact, there is a number you can call to hook up with Health Partners in the Twin Cities and speak about obesity as well as request several documents and fliers to hand out to people. Health Partners also offers educational training courses and public announcements as well through this hot-line.

Employees Job satisfaction in Pakistan banking sector Essay

Employees Job satisfaction in Pakistan banking sector - Essay Example s not feel like his job is contributing anything to his growth or the organization; he also feels that the job is not in tandem with his ideals and values for work anymore. The problem with Salim was that he was not feeling ‘job satisfaction’ anymore. To elucidate this concept, I carried out research into different resources including journals, magazines, websites and books. Job satisfaction is the consequence that one feels ‘from the perception that one’s job fulfils or allows the fulfillment of one’s important job values† (Henne & Locke 222). These job values are individualistic in nature therefore when one job satisfies person A, it is not unlikely that the same job will not satisfy person B. This is because their definitions of what their job values are and how the current job is fulfilling them is quite different. To understand what constitutes job satisfaction, I looked into the work of Saleh & Hyde who say that job satisfaction is the combined result of ‘intrinsic’ and extrinsic’ factors (47): intrinsic factors include things like the kind of work performed, sense of achievement and responsibility associated with it, development of new skill and maturing of the mind; extrinsic factors are more tangible such as the work environment and ambience, salary and bonuses, rewards and promotions, job security and interpersonal relationships developed. Saleh and Hyde found that the people who are more intrinsically motivated are able to gain higher levels of satisfaction (52). The study correlated the intrinsic values to the theory of activation where a certain activation level, which is devoid of external factors, determines how positively or negatively – in turn satisfied or dissatisfied – the individual feels towards any stimulus. Authors Saleh and Hyde write that simple jobs provide lesser stimulation to reach the activation level (52) and thus, will likely take harder to reach the threshold for satisfaction; this explains why a new job is