Functional Skills

Functional Skills Functional skills are qualifications in English, maths and ICT that  equip learners with the basic practical skills required in everyday life, education and the workplace. To ensure that Functional skills are assessable to all learners they are available at Entry Level 1 through to Level 2. Employers are crying out for workers with sound Functional Skills – they are essential skills that are genuinely in demand. With good Functional Skills your students will have the ability to draw on a bank of transferable skills to help them succeed in all areas of life.Functional skills where introduced due to the Wolf Report to replace the old key skills as a result of a gap in skills whichThe Secretary of State for Education commissioned Professor Alison Wolf of King’s College London to carry out an independent review of vocational education. She was asked to consider how vocational education for 14- to 19-year-olds can be improved  in order to  promote suc cessful progression into the labour market and into higher level education and training routes.She was also asked to provide practical recommendations to help inform future policy direction, taking into account current financial constraints. The review has been informed by over 400 pieces of evidence from the public, a number of visits to colleges, academies and training providers, and interviews and discussion sessions with key partners in the sector. Alison Wolf comments in FAQ’s in edexel. com that , â€Å"Functional Skills pass rates are lower than Key Skills pass rates.This is still true post-pilot, and on one level may be due to this being a new qualification. However, rather than having negative connotations, this proves that standards are higher and a more legitimate marker of quality (cross-reference Key Skills where the pass rate is almost 100%). Functional Skills are challenging, worthwhile qualifications, denoting a marker of student excellence FAQs – Func tional Skills and the Wolf Report – Edexcelwww. edexcel. comFunctional skills ran as a three year pilot scheme from Sept 2007 and was officially rolled out nationally in Sept 2010 We use basic skills on a daily basis – while driving a car, cooking, making purchases, supporting our children in schoolwork. These daily tasks may present challenges for adult literacy learners, because they incorporate skills from a variety of academic areas – when driving you must read street signs very quickly; when cooking you use measuring tools or calculate with fractions.Yet some learners may state, â€Å"I don’t read much,† or â€Å"I never use math. † Teachers can help learners make connections between what they are learning in class and every-day functional skills by the contextualization of instruction. The 3 functional skills are MATHS Functional maths is what we use every day e. g counting money, calculating shopping bills basic money management addin g these childrens dinner money ? 2. 00 per day x 5 Days a week = ? 10, measuring area etc for carpets , wallpaper, cooking we weigh and measure ingredients.ICT Functional ict is everyday uses including online banking , paying household bills , renewing car insurance , online shopping and searching for best deals , reading e mails, texting friends ENGLISH Functional English is everyday tasks such as writing a shopping list , reading the mail reading the newspaper, reading the road signs when driving, checking shopping purchases on receipts, using e mail reading and replying. holding an everyday conversation requires speaking and listening skills. The delivery of Functional Skills should be embedded into all curriculum areas by using contextualized teaching materials, In my area of Art I can incorporate and plan functional skills in sessions by †¢ Maths , in art learners regularly use ratio to mix art materials , e. g paint and water 2-1, mixing plaster of paris 3-1 measuring dim ensions for drawing patterns e. g dividing a canvas in half or into four requires an overall measurement and then divided by 2 for half or 4 for quarters and so on. English, in art learners have to read to understand e. g study of an artist , YP read a biography of the artist and pick out relevant key points and write them down, so using sentence formation , punctuation . listening is a skill , to follow instructions in art either verbally or from a list which is used in making a clay pot , or plaster mould. †¢ ICT in art , learners use ict to find images , so using a google search , also knowing their way around a website to find relevant images or information.Usually images are printed and formatted to their specifications for tasks , so printing knowledge is used also saving work to relevant files are all everyday ict skills we use in day to day life and work How functional skills are implemented and supported in my organisation We are a small education setting with up to 30 YP at any time so I think we have a thorough pathway for YP Learners are assessed when they arrive at Aycliffe before entering education by the online goal assessment which gives a clear score on maths and English ability they are broken down into separate curriculum areas e. spelling , punctuation , number sequencing, adding , subtracting so can clearly give a good assessment for extra support regarding functional skills across the curriculum The senco then highlights areas for concern and distributes Strategy sheets to teaching staff and relevant support staff these give an indication of hints and tips useful in teaching a particular identified need in a student.Provision mapping and planning sheets are used to track continual level of need and progress, In Aycliffe secure centre we also use for identified pupils a computer programme called Successmaker which is has numeracy and literacy programmes aimed at all levels this is an excellent tool to boost the attainment in functiona l skills as learners are supervised on a 1-1 basis by teaching and support staff, and Successmaker shows a clear improvement and highlights areas for extra need.In our establishment the most level of need is in reading and we use SRA reading scheme which has 4 levels and the learners are assessed and placed in appropriate groups , we also have journal reading groups which are for competent readers which concentrate on reading own material and reviewing and understanding text. We also run an individualised Life Skills Programme , through assessment YP work through a life skills programme which offers a cross curricular array of Functional / Life skills from making a bed , budgeting and shopping for a healthy meal, booking a train ticket to accessing further education in their communities.

The life of Leopold and Loeb

Chicago teenagers attempted to commit the perfect crime. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnapped 14-year-old Bobby Franks, bludgeoned him to death in a rented car, and then dumped the boys body in a distant culvert. Although they thought their plan was foolproof, Leopold and Loeb made a number of mistakes that led police right to them within only a number of days. The trial, which featured the famous Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow, made headlines and was referred to as â€Å"the trial of the century.Who Were Leopold and Loeb? Nathan Leopold Nathan Leopold was an extremely brilliant young adult. He had an IQ of over 200 at the age of only 19, and had already graduated from college and was in law school. However, despite being brilliant, Leopold was very socially awkward and spent a lot of time by himself. Richard Loeb was also very intelligent, but not to the same calibre as Leopold. Loeb, who had been pushed and guided by a strict governess, had also been sent to college at a yo ung age. However, once there, Loeb did not excel; instead, he ambled and drank.Unlike Leopold, Loeb was considered very attractive and had impeccable social skills. It was at college that Leopold and Loeb became close friends. Their relationship was both stormy and intimate. Leopold was obsessed with the attractive Loeb. Loeb, on the other hand, liked having a loyal companion on his risky adventures. The two teenagers, who had become both friends and lovers, soon began committing small acts of theft, vandalism, and arson. Eventually, the two decided to plan and commit the â€Å"perfect crime. â€Å"

Module 3 TD-HRM 401 - Recruitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module 3 TD-HRM 401 - Recruitment - Essay Example Human resource management entails welfare of staff and performance hence through this evaluations will an organization realize its long-term goals. A human resource manager should be able to account for all the employees of a given organization. Plans should be based on performance of each individual. The organization may choose performance appraisal model to determine future cause of action. Each staff is given a target to achieve and when evaluating the actual output is compared to the target given hence giving the management the opportunity to recommendation positively or recommendation for improvement. The performance appraisals will eventually improve individual performance since each staff will be aiming for a reward hence performing above the set standards (Dransfield, 2000). The manager may use the Balanced Scorecard approach in his or her attempt to measure and improve individual performance. The approach links the employee directly to the output of the organization. The improvement of each employee will reflect on the overall performance of the company. The human resource will be compelled in designing formulas that w ill enhance individual performance and at the same time maximize on the potential of each individual. The contemporary performance management is aimed at maximizing employees input and hence maximizing on the organizational

Statistical works and solutions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistical works and solutions - Coursework Example The correlation coefficient for this graph is 0.903293.The data are positively correlated and is closer to 1 which is perfectly correlated. This means that both data will reduce or increase all together. Correlation Coefficient determines the association of two variables and varies between will vary from -1 to +1(Wigmore, 2013). In negatively correlated variables, variables changes in opposite direction, while in positively correlated variables, both variables increase and decrease in the same direction. From above HPI and GDP, Ecological Footprint and HDI are positively correlated while the rest are negatively correlated In conclusion, the outcome from the graphs, result generated from excel, namely mean, media and Correlation Coefficient are closely related. The characteristics of the data can also be obtained from the variables using more than one method, either graphically or by calculation which is generated from the excel. Lastly, it is recommended to use more than one method when doing data analysis in order to come up with true interpretation of the results. Pearson, K (1895) .Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Evolution. II. Skew Variation in Homogeneous Material. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering

Because it is too long so i wrote in the report format Essay

Because it is too long so i wrote in the report format - Essay Example This report has thus evaluated the factors that influence the decision of the organisation to hire a German engineer to help increase its car modelling and production. This is a sound idea but a number of factors arising from international human resource management must be considered and given due consideration. This paper finally advices on the best approach that the organisation should steps to help reduce the financial expenses that may arise from this decision. Introduction Background information The process of recruiting and posting of staffs is a major concern in international human resource management to organizations that operate beyond their domestic borders. Recruitment involves the process of searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in a good number and with different qualities so as to enable the organization chose the individual with the best skills. Recruitment for multinationals presents many challenges to organization due to the operational differences tha t exist in different countries around the globe. ... Ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric and geocentric staffing orientations are quite common in international human resource management. This decision to recruit a German foreigner thus means that the organization has adopted the use of foreign expatriates to occupy a number of positions in the organizations (Deresky, 2010). The success of such a policy is influenced by a number of factors which include the work visa and the immigration rules of the country. Aims of the study This report will thus evaluate the major issues that will arise and that requires consideration by the organisation in their quest to employ a German national as the engineer to help improve the car production business. It will thus analyse the visa issues and remuneration issues that will be considered by the organization before making this decision. As a foreigner, the company will have to implement an induction program to help familiarize the employee with the work culture of the country and how he can live comfortably in the country with his family members despite the cultural differences. The report shall thus analyse how such a condition will affect the company’s financial and human resource position. Scope of the study In completing this task and achieving the desired aims of this study, the Australian system shall be analysed in line with the emigration and the labour laws of the country. This will enable me analyse the labour related issues that may affect the working conditions for the German engineer and how he may be required to comply with international working permits. In line with the international human resource practises, the remuneration package for the engineer will also be analysed especially to determine how the variation with the

Social Stratification and Social Inequality Essay

Social Stratification and Social Inequality - Essay Example As compared to America, Japan is a much more patriarchal society which means that culturally, it would be difficult to find women as head or corporations or even on the directorial board of a company. Chieko (2001) reports that the position of women in the workforce is less than forty percent which is far lower than international standards. Women are seen to be fulfilling their duties in traditional roles rather than modern roles which are more acceptable in America. A quick examination for the American Fortune 500 list of companies shows that in 2003, women held 14% of board seats in various companies while they only had a 10% representation back in 1995. One in ten companies on the same list had 25% or more women on the boards (Lockwood, 2005). On the other hand, when it comes to Japan, the Asian Human Rights Commission (2001, Pg. 1) reports that, â€Å"The equality of men and women has not been fully achieved in practice, for the traditional concept that the woman is to stay at home is still deeply rooted†. Even when the women get to work, they face issues which are similar to the ones faced by American women workers. Of course the American women have some recourse in terms of legal action against sexual harassment at work but Japan has no law against sexual harassment. The Japanese government knows that there is a problem with sexual harassment since their own survey has shown that half of women working in Japan have faced sexual harassment. Some reports place the figure as high as 70% of women having faced sexual harassment since the majority do not report it (Asian Human Rights Commission, 2001). Perhaps the most significant problem for women in Japan comes from the way some Japanese laws may be structured to work against women. For example, if a woman reports that she was raped, she may have to prove with physical evidence that she resisted the rape. Other factors, such as the courts considering physical violence to be a natural

SAM 448 UNIT 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SAM 448 UNIT 5 - Assignment Example After discovering the client’s desire, the matters are whittled down to sizes that are communicated to the world in the next excellent meeting. The client also gets a picture why his presence in of assistance in the next meeting (Milne & McDonald, 1999). Specific questions that define the objective of the event will aid in finding out the priorities and goals of the meeting. Why should we get together? What is the point of the meeting or event or banquet or conference? Could the goal of the event be educating, inspiring, informing the audience or networking or making money? What is the objective group: Event members or spouses or children or suppliers or customers? As the meeting ponders the answers to these questions, the potential of the event will be determined. An objective statement will be obtained and can be communicated to the planning team. The attendees of the event will be identified as well as their desires during the event. The objectives highlighted will be used in meeting’s promotional material. As a result, everyone will sing from the same page (Freedman,

Design and Implementation of the Website Assignment

Design and Implementation of the Website - Assignment Example This ensures that these maxims are wide banded and thus are applicable to a wide range of design criteria2. The audience for this website is expected to span all kinds of age ranges, demographic and socio-economic backgrounds because emergencies could occur anywhere at any point in time. Therefore, there was a consistent need to ensure that the design criteria for the website were pervasive and would fit most audiences well. Lund’s usability maxims are presented below along with the appropriate design incorporation in the website. It must be kept in mind that these criteria are listed in order of decreasing importance according to their mean rating of importance derived from Lund’s work. 1.2.1. Identifying the User This website is intended for audiences looking for information on First Aid in general and more specifically audiences specific to Newcastle University. This indicates that the concerned audience could consist of: any age range between 10 and 65 years of age; any demographic background as there are international students on campus; any forms of disability; people with different levels of computer interaction and knowledge; people with little knowledge of first aid; people in a panicked state. The criteria listed above describe the typical user for the website. Among other concerns, the major concern was the state of panic in which certain users would visit the website. The website is intended as a first-hand reference for first aid in emergency situations so it can be expected that people in emergencies would visit the website for seeking out what to do. Given this overriding constraint, it would make a lot of sense if the website tends to deliver the required content with the least effort required by presenting an... The essay "Design and Implementation of the Website" describes all the necessary steps for creation an information site so that it will deliver useful even lifesaving information in the simplest possible manner. This website is intended for audiences looking for information on First Aid and for audiences specific to Newcastle University. This indicates that the concerned audience could consist of any age range between 10 and 65 years of age; any demographic background as there are international students on campus; any forms of disability; people with different levels of computer interaction and knowledge; people with little knowledge of first aid; people in a panicked state. The criteria listed above describes the typical users of the website. The major concern was the state of panic in which certain users would visit the website. The website is intended as a first-hand reference for first aid in emergency situations so it can be expected that people in emergencies would visit the website for seeking out what to do. Given this overriding constraint, it would make a lot of sense if the website tends to deliver the required content with the least effort required by presenting an intuitive interface that is operable by anyone. The key element here is simplicity of use that offers information just when required through the application of minimal computing expertise. Based on this usability criterion, the website was provided with a fitting logo on top that sticks out prominently to indicate the nature of the website.

Investigate the provision for Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a Essay

Investigate the provision for Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a primary school. Consider how this provision promotes educational equality of opportunity - Essay Example The code also promotes an effective approach in meeting children’s needs and puts the rights of children at the heart of the process hence allowing them to take part in decisions concerning their education (Cumming 2012, p. 52). The code of practice also sets out effective school based support with little paperwork for teachers and mainly emphasizes on monitoring the progress of children with special needs to reach the identified goals. Special education needs provision has been categorized into four broad areas of need that include communication and interaction, social, mental and emotional health and sensory (Hallet F & Hallet G 2010, p. 78). Communication and interaction is impaired when a child has difficulty in talking and expressing ideas and also got difficult to understand what is been said to them and still this makes them to have difficulties in social interaction with others. Cognition and learning is impaired when anindividual learns at a slower pace than the peers do (Atchinson & Dirette 2007, p. 52). Social, emotional, and mental health difficulties are manifested when a person becomes withdrawn or isolated and displaying disruptive and disturbing behavior. In order to promote special education, a committee was set up in 1993 which its main aim was to make recommendations for identification of children with special needs and for future advancement of special education services, special schools and classes according to the child’s need (Butler 1994, p. 145). Guidelines were put in place which even to date promote the provision of special education. These include, all children with special needs have right to proper education, and in provision of education to a special child, the needs of a specific child should be the paramount consideration. Active participation of parents with children who require special education and their wishes should be taken into consideration also, provision of adequate resources by the state is important to

Psychology Lifespan Essay Example for Free

Psychology Lifespan Essay Ellen DeGeneres never thought that announcing she was a lesbian would have been a big deal. She knew then that what she was doing would caused questions and controversy but not in a way where she would be considered the poster child for the Gay Community. The way Ellen came out to the world was a bigger shock to her than it was to her audience. This is when Ellen realized that she changed more than her own life coming out. Her fan base got bigger and her life opened up for the greater good. She felt like coming out should not change what she would be doing for humanity. On Ellen’s 50th birthday, she decided to raise money and get notice to her hometown, New Orleans, Louisiana, some help for the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina. This storm was one of the most deadly storms in United States history. During the storm the federal flood protection system failed and the levee broke, flooding 80% of the city and surrounding cities for weeks. Since Ellen had connections with many other celebrities, she used those connections to get help for her city. Brad Pitt was one of the celebrities that had a foundation going for rebuilding homes in New Orleans. With the help of Ellen putting out the foundation through her television show, Brad was able to get 150 homes built. She showed her passion for helping out when she told the world why this fundraiser was important to her. She shows that the place she looked at as home and helped made her who she was Ellen DeGeneres has been an inspiration to people for the past twelve years. Ellen’s life had just begun. Ellen DeGeneres came into the world January 26, 1956 in Jefferson, Louisiana at the Oschner Foundation Hospital. In the book, Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughters Journey (1999), Betty Degeneres, Ellen’s mother, said that she was a miracle. Ellen’s father didn’t want anymore chidren after her brother was born, four years earlier. He thought that one child was sufficient enough. But Betty was determined to convince him that they should try again for another child. According to Lisa Iannucci (2009) Ellen was just a normal child, she played with her sibling and played outside like any other child would do at that age. She was a tomboy that wore fancy dresses and played with Barbie dolls. She once had dreams of becoming a naturalist or zoologist. She had a love and passion for animals and wanted to later join the Peace Corps to study the apes in Africa. Growing up Ellen had a fascination for great comedians such as Jack Benny, George Gorbel, and the comedy team Bob and Ray. Watching these comics entertain crowds was a little informal training of Ellen’s career in the later years. Ellen discovered the benefits of comedy when her mother divorced her dad. Her mother had been so down and depressed that Ellen knew she could cheer her up with a laugh. Ellen used this same comedic value to get through the very tough times in her life. When Ellen was sixteen she started partying, becoming rebellious, and hanging out with the wrong crowds. In her small town of Metairie, she would drink beer with her friends and stay out all night. This was her reaction to her mother getting remarried in 1974 to a salesman. Her mother wanted to remove her from the city, so the salesman got a new job in Atlanta, Texas. The DeGeneres family packed up and moved to Atlanta. While in Texas, Ellen started to fit into her new life there. Ellen started dating her first boyfriend, Ben Heath. Her brother Vance was in a band in high school and was receiving a lot of attention. Ellen wanted some of this attention that her brother was getting and was starting to have dreams of becoming famous. Ellen craved for people to like her, she wanted to try to find a way to become famous so people would like her and want to be her friend. Ellen’s family looked like the perfect family from the outside, but something dark and eerie was going on inside. Behind close doors the salesman was crude and bossy and Ellen did not like who he was. During this time Ellen’s mother found out that she had breast cancer. She ended up having a mastectomy and had to do physical therapy and rehabilitation. Betty tried to hide her cancer from Ellen but she needed Ellen’s help to recover. This is when Ellen and her mother became close. During this time of recovery, the salesman molested Ellen. She didn’t want to get her mother upset so she didn’t mention it to her, while she was recovering. When her stepfather tried to molester again, she ran away to a friend’s house. Ellen left Atlanta, Texas and move back to Louisiana with her father after she graduated high school. Once Ellen moved to Louisiana, she enrolled into the University of New Orleans, to major in Communications. Ellen soon found out that college wasn’t for her and dropped out after one semester. Ellen started to search for a career since college didn’t go as planned. During this time of finding a career, Ellen was also finding herself. She was holding another secret about her sexuality from family and friends. She was starting to feel confused about her sexuality. This could have been a result of the nuture factor. Her homosexuality could have been triggered from her stepfather molesting her. Nurture refers to the childhood and how an individual grew up (MacKinnon, 1962). She liked boys in the beginning; she had some boyfriends in the past, but she was never really attracted to men. Once Ellen figured out what sexual orientation that she was, she started dating women but still haven’t broke the news to her family. She decided to tell her mom one day while they were walking along the beach. She started to cry, not because she was afraid, but because she was now free of this secret that she was holding. Her mom embraced her and accepted Ellen’s fate. During this time that Ellen came out about her sexuality, it was forbidden doing those times. In the 1950s consensual gay sex was a felony. The gay communities were trying to fight for rights in the 1960s but were still getting tortured and shunned. Betty started to be afraid for Ellen. Being homosexual was considered to be a mental health disorder by the psychiatric community. The National Gay Task Force Foundation was founded in 1973, in New York, and worked to change the American Psychiatric Association’s grouping of homosexuality as a mental heath problem. Ellen’s brother accepted the news well, but Ellen’s father did take it very well. He later kicked Ellen out of the house, thinking that she would influence her stepsiblings. He later helped her get an apartment and admitted that he regretted what he did to her. Ellen acquired many jobs; she sold clothes, was a bartender, washed cars, shucked oysters, and wrapped gifts. Just like she knew that college wasn’t for her, these jobs weren’t satisfying her neither, she was hungry to do something more. She now knew that she wanted to make people laugh for the rest of her life. She began performing at a few small venues in New Orleans. Her routines were different than other comedians of her time such as, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Richard Pryor. The difference between them and her was he bits didn’t have vulgarity and sexual references. Ellen joked about her everyday life and experiences. She did this to relate to her audiences. Ellen started to take off in her career. She started competing in comedy competition where she placed first in the â€Å"Funniest Person in America† competition. She later went to open for a few acts in Las Vegas where the producer from â€Å"The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson† was there and asked her to come on the show. Once she performed on the Tonight Show, this put her career in overdrive and she became a superstar. She became the first female comedic to seat on the big couch on the Tonight Show. She ended up coming back on six more times in two years. She later got a minor role on Open House in 1989. It was a spin-off of the fox show Duet. She then went and filmed her first HBO special Young Comedian Reunion, in 1986. Two years later she appeared in HBO’s Women of the Night. She got a small role in the movie The Coneheads, and got her own sitcom on ABC called These Friends of Mine. Ellen revealed her true sexual preference in Time magazine April 1997 issue. In this issue she talked about her life as a gay woman and hiding who she was in the comedian community. She made her character on her television show Ellen also comes out of the closet. This caused some controversy for the Christian religion organizations. She made her first appearance publicly with her sexuality at the White House Correspondents Dinner with actress Anne Heche on her arm. In 1998 Ellen honored at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. Ellen now was fighting for her lesbian life on and off the television. Her mother started to become an advocate to her daughter’s lifestyle. Betty started volunteering at the Human Rights Campaign. Her mother became the first nongay national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. She was helping to encourage and assist gay people in coming out and living honestly. Her mother also became an active member of Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). In 2003 Ellen started her own daytime television talk show called The Ellen Degeneres Show. People were afraid that Ellen would just bring up gay themes through out the show and didn’t want it to go on air. Once people got over the fact that Ellen was gay, her show started to skyrocket on television ratings. It was the television show that Ellen had always wanted. She could make people laugh and every loved her. In season two the show won five daytime Emmys. In 2005 Ellen won a Grammy for having the best comedy album for the audio portion of her book. She also won some awards at the People’s Choice Awards. While her show was getting good ratings, she met her current wife, Portia de Rossi. She met Portia at a photo shoot in 2004. Ellen and Portia quickly fell in love. They both ended their current relationships and started dating in 2005. They went on to get married in 2008 after California passed the Same-Sex Marriage Act. With all of Ellen’s life decisions, it had to do with her social and emotional development. She was always able to make transitions from one activity to another. Her ability to start a new when it came to her many careers before she found the right one was an example of her social/emotional development (Roeser, Eccles, Sameroff, 2000). She showed cooperation with others when she was getting ridiculed for her coming out, but she stayed humbled and didn’t let it get to her (Webb, 1994).

Factors of Affecting Online Game Satisfaction

Factors of Affecting Online Game Satisfaction CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Online gaming is one of the most popular entertainments among the citizen in this world no matter what ages they are. Due to the advancement in the technologies, it has brought lots of growth in this industry since early of 2000s. This growth has been developed online game market into the core of the world cultural industry (Sang, Yung, Jae, and Kyoung, 2004). Hsu and Lu (2003) stated that online game service has been a highly profitable e-commerce application in recent years and its market value has increasing markedly as well as number of player growth at the same time. Now a day, most of the household will owned at least one personal computer (PC) or a laptop and some even more than that due to the cheaper cost to have a computer. Consequently, the demand for computer has been grown rapidly throughout this recent year. The accessibility of internet also is easier with each passing year and the cheaper price to have broadband internet connectivity (Bizymoms.com). Generally, online game service can be categorized as business-to-consumer or B2C in e-commerce and it is also one the videogame and interactive entertainment industry. A strategic market research and consulting firm which focuses on the interactive entertainment and the emerging video game, online game, interactive entertainment and portable game markets namely, DFC Intelligence has made its forecast for worldwide videogame and interactive entertainment industry each year since year 1995. According to DFC Intelligence forecast on year 2008, the worldwide videogame and interactive entertainment industry revenue to reach USD 57 billion in 2009 with no signs of slowing due to the slumping economies and expensive hardware (Androvich, 2008). The rapid growth in videogame and interactive entertainment industry has been attracted lots of entrepreneur who would like to enter this profitable industry. Based on the report of DFC, PC was the top platform for games in 2007, with online game revenue alone eclipsing USD 7 billion on year 2006 and not including retail sales. The DFC also stated the total PC game revenue is expected to reach USD 19 billion by year 2013 (Androvich, 2008). In Malaysia, there were 15 million subscriber of internet and it was 62.8% out of the total population in 2008 (Internet World Stats, 2008). It was more than half of the citizens of Malaysia have used the internet and this has brought a great opportunity to the entrepreneur who would like to join this industry to be one of the online game service providers to share the profit since the number of internet users was increasing each year. It did not showed that the number of the online game subscribers but there is a business opportunity for the entrepreneur to start-up their business through online. Table 1.1: Internet Usage and Population Growth of Malaysia Year No. of Users Total Population % 2000 3, 700, 000 24, 645, 600 15.0% 2005 10, 040, 000 26, 500, 699 37.9% 2006 11, 016, 000 28, 294, 120 38.9% 2007 13, 528, 200 28, 294, 120 47.8% 2008 15, 868, 000 25, 274, 133 62.8% (Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/my.htm [2009, November 1]) A study showed that customer satisfaction is the immediate factor affecting the consumer retains loyalty (Cronin, Brady, and Hult, 2000). Most of the studies showed that higher levels of customer satisfaction will lead to customer loyalty. â€Å"A minor change in satisfaction could lead to a substantial change in loyalty increment† (Bowen and Chen, 2001). However, most of these studies were in offline environment. Wind and Rangasamy (2001) found that online environments offer more opportunities for interactive and personalized marketing. Eventually, these opportunities may influences customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online environment if compared to the traditional market or offline environment (Shankar, Smith, and Rangaswamy, 2003). The main purpose of this study is to identify the factors affects the customer satisfaction towards online game services and which could lead to customer loyalty. It is including the service quality, transaction cost, experience value, and technology acceptance factor. These four antecedents of online game service satisfaction and loyalty will test associations based on the model that has been constructs. 1.2 Background of the Research In this century, computer might be a need for a person if compared to the olden days where there was a limited growth in technologies. Now, computer seems like a tool which can do everything for you such as searching information, payment, shopping, and so on. This powerful electrical appliance has gain a well response from the citizen of the world. It has many functions can perform through computer and one of the most popular functions of computer is gaming. In the earlier 2000s, most of the games were played offline since the limited internet connectivity and expensive prices to have an internet connectivity. However, this situation has changed due to the technologies advancements and the industry has achieved economic of scale. To more understand what online games is, it is a must to brief its history. The very first online gaming activities were introduced in the late of 1960s and early of 1970s. Later, they started gain more popularity within 1970s to 1980s when dial-up Bulletin Boards became popular and the users started playing online game over them. Clyde and Thomas (2008) stated that the development of arcade game in the 1970s, and video and computer games in the 1980s; digital games have become an influential part of popular culture. The bulletin boards provided a multi-user platform which allowed few users to play at the same time. Now, it has been transformed to MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) which is popular all around the world presently (Bizymoms.com). At one time, games were used for educational purpose rather than entertainment (Clyde and Thomas, 2008). However, due to the changed in the perception of game role and the culture, it becomes an entertainment but there is still has some of the game designers and educators used it as educational purposed such as learning typing skills and so on. In the year of 1990s, due to the growth of internet technologies of Flash and Java, it has led to the increasing usage of the internet and the millions of new websites mushrooming across the World Wide Web. When enter to the millennium year, technological giants such as Sony, Microsoft and Ninetendo came out with advanced gaming consoles has changed the features of online gaming completely (Bizymoms.com). The people all around can play a same game with each other virtually at the same time. Currently, online gaming industry is growing each year and it has a great expansion in future. The online game service is one of the most competitive industries among the entire industries. The new and the existing online game service provider are delivering their best services to gain more market share to sustain its organization. To penetrate the market, the firm must meet the customer expectation which may lead to customer satisfaction. Eventually, it may bring customer loyalty. 1.3 Research Problem Customer is the one who contribute the profit to the firm because they are the one who are using the product or services. However, consumers are becoming wisely now a day when they would like to use certain product or services. They will tend to purchase the product only if the product can meet their expectation which might lead to satisfaction. To meet the customer expectation, it is a biggest challenge for the firm. Other than that, the growth of the online game has brought some a major problem to the service provider which is how to retain the existing online game users and will not shifting to other service provider or loyalty to the current provider (Yang, Wu, Wang, 2009). In order to survive in this competitive industry, many practitioners and academicians in this field have focused on how to improve online services to attract potential buyers as well as the current customers (Jun, Yang, and Kim, 2004). There are some of the factors to achieve customer satisfaction. However, the key factors especially in online game services which are able to make the customer satisfied with the products and services still under study or unknown (Dick, Wellnitz, and Wolf, 2005). If the key factors have been determined, the provider might be able to gain the competitive advantages which trying to meet the customer expectation. This research is emphasizing the customer satisfaction and loyalty in online game service. Specifically, it is trying to identify the key factors affects online satisfaction and online loyalty in order to guide the online game service provider to improve their service quality to garb more potential customers and retain the existing one. 1.4 Research Objectives The objectives were formed based on the research problem and there are formulated to achieve the main goal of this study which is to examine the factors of affecting the online game satisfaction and loyalty. To determine service quality has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine transaction costs has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine technology acceptance factor has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine experience value has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine online game satisfaction would have a positive impact on online game loyalty. To determine service quality, transaction cost, technology acceptance factors, and experience value will affect online game satisfaction and eventually online game loyalty. 1.5 Justification of the Study This study is significant for several reasons. First, it can identify the gaps between customer expectation and perception about online game service provider in order to guide them to provide better services. â€Å"It is commonly known that there is a positive relationship between customer loyalty and profitability† (Bowen and Chen, 2001). It is correct once the customer is loyal to the company because they will visit the firm after a purchase and some even recommend to their friends. In the online environment, the online satisfaction also grabs much attention from all of the researchers because to meet a customer expectation is the toughest challenges to the company. Also, it brings the profitability and the survival of the company. Online game service provider should concern about the medium which may influenced the online game satisfaction and online game loyalty. The importance of the study is to keep the online game service improvement in order to achieve the customer satisfaction from time to time. In online environment, the customer can easily compared the alternative than offline customer especially products and service (Shankar et al., 2003). As in online environment, the user is free to search the information to the product that they demand. As well as online game, there is large amount of online game service provider. Therefore, the user can easily compared the features of the game and service quality that provided by the firm. Once the factor has a positive impact on online satisfaction has been determined, the service provider is able to strengthen their weaknesses in order to sustain its market share. Besides, the study is providing guidelines for the service provider to develop their future or long-term plan. The importance of the online game satisfaction will give a direction to the service provider to plan for their future such as strategic plan. It also helps the company to gain competitive advantages in this industry. Commonly, most of the studies regarding to customer satisfaction and loyalty were did for offline environment and only limited for online environment. However, consumers still have some same characteristics in making decision when they would like to purchase a product. As the study has identified the factors affect the customer satisfaction and loyalty, the firms are able to fulfill the users need and wants. This action is trying to meet the customer satisfaction and eventually customer loyalty. Once the customer become loyal, the company may survive in this competitive market. On the other hand, it is also will benefit the user to gain a better service from the online game service provider once they have responded to what they are percept towards the online game service provider that they currently subscribed. Also, the service provider is able to understand what kind of service quality that the users perceived and expected. It will leads to a win-win situation if both of the parties could perform what they are request and give. 1.6 Definition of Important Terms There are some important terms in this study: Online satisfaction, online loyalty, service quality, technology acceptance factors, transaction cost, and experiences value. Online Game Satisfaction Online game satisfaction is customer satisfaction towards online game service. Oliver (1980) defines customer satisfaction as customers evaluation of a product or service with regard to their needs and expectations. It is just in virtual environment perspectives. Online Game Loyalty Online game loyalty is customer loyalty towards online game service. It can be defined as â€Å"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviuor† (Oliver, 1997). Service Quality Parasuraman, et al., (1988) defined service quality as â€Å"a global judgement, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service†, â€Å"and explicated it as involving evaluations of the outcomes (i.e., what customer actually receives from services) and process of service act (i.e., the manner in which service is delivered)† (Jain, and Gupta, 2004) Technology Acceptance Factors It is also known as technology acceptance model (TAM). Davis (1989) proposed TAM to explain and predict user acceptance of information systems (IS) or information technology (IT). In short, it is explaining â€Å"intention to use a technology† (Schepers and Wetzels, 2007). Transaction Cost It is a theory â€Å"seeks to explain why firms exist and how firm boundaries were determined† (Watjatrakul, 2005). Experience Value It refers to â€Å"shopping efficiency and making good product performance and functionality† (Wu and Liang, 2009). Wu and Liang (2009) added â€Å"its perceptions are based on interaction involving either direct usage or distant appreciation of goods or services†. MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) It is known as a virtual environment where it allows multiple geographically distributed users interact with each other at the same time (Papargyris and Poulymenakou, 2005). Besides, it is â€Å"offering an alternative channel for players to communicate, share experiences, socialize, and eventually from virtual communities† (Chee, Zaphiris, and Mahmood, 2007) Online Game Service It is a service provider who provides a server for the online game user to get into the network to interact with each other by playing games. 1.7 Organization of the Report This study will be constructed into five different chapters and there are: Chapter 1 is presenting the introduction and a brief overview of the study. The problems of the study, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and the chapter outline of the research are stated in this chapter. Chapter 2 provides an extensive review of international journals, reports, and articles from online and offline resources. Besides, all the reviews in this chapter are related to the problem of the research that will guide to construct the conceptual foundation and hypothesis of the study. Chapter 3 is describing the methods used in conducting this study in detail. Besides, it also presents the development of the research framework which proposed the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables. Next, the methodology applied is provided, sampling procedures, hypothesis development, data analysis and measurement. Chapter 4 presents the findings and data analysis of the research. It analyses and discussed the data collected in the research using the research instrument which has been developed in chapter 3. The hypothesis will be tested and it is also presents the results of statistical analysis used in this study (t-test, ANOVA, and etc.). Chapter 5 is presenting the conclusion and recommendation. There is also discussion of the studys implications, recommendations, limitations and suggestion for the future research. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Chapter 1 has discussed and highlighted the important issues which related online game service satisfaction and loyalty. All of these issues that mentioned in the chapter 1 are playing an important role for online game service industry in order to understand the expectation of the user and eventually grab more market share. As a result, to more understanding these issues, an examination of literature on related study were carried out. Generally, literature review provides the theoretical basis for the development of the research framework of this study, which will be discuss in the next chapter Chapter 3. This chapter consists of the following subject areas: (1) Definition of key terms; (2) online game satisfaction; (3) online game loyalty; (4) the factors might affect online satisfaction and loyalty; and (5) summary of literature review. 2.2 Definition of Key Terms 2.2.1 Online Game Service As technologies have became more advance, people have more rely on the technologies and they even expect technology will do all the things for us. Now, most of the people are prefer online rather than offline when they would like to purchase or acknowledge a transaction. In the olden day around 1980 where the technology has a limited growth, people can only play games in offline environment such as TV and handheld game console (Nintendo). In the late 1980s computer game was invented and started popular. Currently, computer games have been transformed into MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) which is popular all around the world (Bizymoms.com). Besides, the multi-player online role-playing games also known as Net games (Lo, Wang, and Fang, 2005). Generally, net game can be divided into three which is web games, network games, and online games. The below is the definition of this three types of net games. Table 2.1 Types of Net Games Types Definition Players Web games Games which use a website as an interface. Players must register to play. Network games Games which allow multiple players to use their own PCs to interact via Local Area Networks (LANs) or the internet. Also, many of these closely resemble PC games. Players must purchase and install game software. However, it does not require any fees beyond those for internet connections. Online games Games where require players to connect to the service provider and log in to a server. Player must subscribe to the service provider and select a role to interact with other virtual roles. Source: Lo, 2008 Online game is requiring player to log in to a server in order to play the games. It is means that the players must have internet connection to connect with the service provider. After the player subscribe to the games, the user has to select a role to interact with the rest of the subscribers. The special characteristic of online game is the user can continue to play their role after they have log out for few days. The player can keep continue playing where they have stopped when they have log out last time with the experiences and assets are remain. Online game user must install a client program for internet connection and online game providers to attend the online game (Lo, 2008). This program is inexpensive and sometimes even free. However, there are some need additional fees are paid to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) (Lo, 2008). Commonly, the charges of online game is based on the time where the player spent to playing games and usually it is prepaid which pay before they play the games. Due to the technology advancement and the cheaper price for paying the internet connectivity, consumers are more easily to connect to the internet and playing online game. This golden business opportunity has been attracted lots of firms entered to this industry. Online game service is the company which provides a server for the players in order to play game with others. The company main activities is improve the performance of the online game also maintenance of the server to avoid any shut-down or system down of the server. There are some features have attracted lots of people subscribe to online game and the number of players is keep increasing each day. The online games allow the player to build the role based on their preference, beliefs, goal, or other factors and most of the time the players play it in a team (Klang, 2004). The features in the online games has play an important role in order to gain more subscriber and also some other factors. 2.3 Online Game Loyalty In general, loyalty can be defined as faithful. However, in terms of customer loyalty, it is hard to define (Bowen ad Chen, 2001). Dennis (2003) stated that loyalty is the feeling where a customer has about a brand. This could be explained as the customer has a positive perception about the brand and this brand will always come in the first of the mind of this particular consumer if compared to the other firms which have offer the same service or product. Edvarson, Johnson, Gustafsson and Strandvik (2000) define loyalty as a customers intention to repurchase from the same firm again. On the other hand, loyalty can be measured in three distinctive approaches and there are behavioural measurements, attitudinal measurements, and composite measurements (Bowen and Chen, 2001). Behavioural measurements can be defined as consistent, repetitious purchase behaviuor as an indicator of loyalty. For example, if the customer is often and repeat visit the same firm and purchase the product from the firm can be said as loyalty under the behavioural measurement. Next, attitudinal measurements can be defined as used attitudinal data to reflect the emotional and psychological attachment inherent in loyalty. Lets put it in a situation where a consumer holds a favourable attitude toward an online game service provider, but it is not necessary that consumer will subscribe o this service provider. It might be expensive to the consumer but the consumer will recommend it to others since he holds a favourable attitude towards the service provider (Toh, Hu, and Withiam, 1993). Composite approach is the combination of the first two dimensions and measure loyalty by customers products preferences, propensity of brand-switching, frequency of purchase, recency of purchase and total amount of purchase (Pritchard and Howard, 1997). This approach is valuable tool to understand customer loyalty in several fields such as retailing, upscale hotels and airlines (Pritchard and Howard, 1997). Many of the researchers and also in common think that loyalty is generating positive and measurable financial results (Dennis, 2003). In short, there is a positive relationship between loyalty and profit (Bowen and Chen, 2001). When a company is able to retain 5 percent more of its customers, consequently, profits will increase 25 percent to 125 percent (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). The impact of loyalty has played an important role for the profit of the company. Based on the reasons mentioned above, online game loyalty (customer loyalty) is the independent variable for this study. On the past studies showed that online customer loyalty is result from customer satisfaction with the e-commerce channel. Also, the online satisfaction has the positive impact on online loyalty is the proved in the context of electronic commerce (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003; Rodgers, Negash, and Suk, 2005. As proposed by Yang et al. (2009), online loyalty is the final result of their study. For this study, online loyalty is defined as a customers favaourable attitude and commitment towards online game service provider that results in sustaining in the same service provider which based on the study of Yang et al. (2009). Hence, this study is proposing online loyalty as the dependent variable. 2.4 Online Game Satisfaction Satisfaction is the â€Å"overall customer attitude towards a service provider† (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). Oliver (1980) defined customer satisfaction as customers evaluations of a product or service based on their needs and expectations. In the other way, it is an emotional customer anticipates and what they receive (Zineldin, 2000). Customer satisfaction could be the big challenges for all the firms and to satisfy the customer expectation is not an easy job because customers are human being who has a complex mind. As a human being, we have different characteristics and different expectation. Some people might expect a basic service from the service provider but some might expect a high service from the service provider. When people would like to defined something which involve human attitude, it is hard to find a common or universal definition. Gerpott, Rams, and Schindler (2001) proposed satisfaction is based on the customers estimated experience of the extent when the service provider is able to fulfill customers expectations. There are some benefits of customer satisfaction and the major benefits of customer satisfaction is stay loyal longer (Zineldin, 2000; Hansemark and Albinsson, 2004). Besides, Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated that satisfied customer are relatively less price sensitive, tend to purchase additional products, and they are relatively hard influenced by the competitors. They proposed many company view customer satisfaction as the crucial to a companys survival and must be satisfied those customer all the time as the company has been promised them. In general, much research no matter in offline environment or online environment, customer satisfaction is not really a new concept and lots of research efforts have been made to understand its antecedents and consequences (Bai, Law, and Wen, 2008). To assess a firms productivity and its marketing performance, the measures of perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty was being used (Cortina, Elorz, and Villanueva, 2004). Besides, the great number of study of customer satisfaction is because its potential influence on consumer behavioral intention and customer retention (Cronin, Brady, Hult, 2000; Yang et al., 2009). A study of online retailing stated that satisfied customer tend to have higher usage of service and have stronger repurchase intention (Kim, Jin, and Swiney, 2008). Also, this particular customer will often recommend the product or service to their friends than those who are not satisfied (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1996; Kim et al., 2008). Anderson and Srinivasan (2003) have investigated the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in the context of e-commerce. They concluded that online satisfaction has an impact on online loyalty. However, they also stated that the relationship is just moderated both by consumers individual factors and firms business factors. However, the relationship between online satisfaction and online loyalty also has been found in numerous studies (Yang et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2008; Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003; Rodgers et al., 2005). Hence, this study is going to propose online satisfaction might have a positive effect on online loyalty. 2.4.1 Online game satisfaction as a mediator Online game satisfaction will be the mediator between the online game loyalty and its determinants which are service quality, transaction cost, technology acceptance factor, and experience value. As proposed by Yang et al., 2009, service quality, transaction cost, and experience value will influence on online game satisfaction. However, this study is going to propose another antecedent which is technology acceptance factors which based on the studies of Lin and Sun, 2009; Hsu and Lu, 2003. In this model, online game satisfaction is a function of the four antecedents operating in a situation and helps to explain the influence of the antecedents on online game loyalty. As prior mentioned that online satisfaction has an impact on online loyalty, but, there are some factors might influence online satisfaction before it comes to online loyalty. To achieve the online satisfaction, the online game service providers have to meet the expectation of the consumer in some of the aspects as the four antecedents. Yang et al., 2009 stated that rare research examines the moderating effects of customer satisfaction in an integrated loyalty model and less formally tests that online game satisfaction in the online game service environment. Therefore, in this study, it proposes online game satisfaction as the mediator between the four antecedents and online game loyalty. The below table is to shows that the selected empirical research on determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty (online). Table 2.2: Selected empirical research on determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty (online) Independent Variables Key References Context Service Quality (SERVQUAL) Yang et al., (2009) Lin and Sun (2009) Lee and Lin (2005) Santos (2003) Online Game Service Online Shopping Online Shopping e-Service Quality Technology Acceptance Factors Lin and Sun (2009) Hsu and Lu (2003) Online Shopping Online Game Transaction Cost Yang et al., (2009) Liang and Huang (1998) Online Game Service Electronic M Factors of Affecting Online Game Satisfaction Factors of Affecting Online Game Satisfaction CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Online gaming is one of the most popular entertainments among the citizen in this world no matter what ages they are. Due to the advancement in the technologies, it has brought lots of growth in this industry since early of 2000s. This growth has been developed online game market into the core of the world cultural industry (Sang, Yung, Jae, and Kyoung, 2004). Hsu and Lu (2003) stated that online game service has been a highly profitable e-commerce application in recent years and its market value has increasing markedly as well as number of player growth at the same time. Now a day, most of the household will owned at least one personal computer (PC) or a laptop and some even more than that due to the cheaper cost to have a computer. Consequently, the demand for computer has been grown rapidly throughout this recent year. The accessibility of internet also is easier with each passing year and the cheaper price to have broadband internet connectivity (Bizymoms.com). Generally, online game service can be categorized as business-to-consumer or B2C in e-commerce and it is also one the videogame and interactive entertainment industry. A strategic market research and consulting firm which focuses on the interactive entertainment and the emerging video game, online game, interactive entertainment and portable game markets namely, DFC Intelligence has made its forecast for worldwide videogame and interactive entertainment industry each year since year 1995. According to DFC Intelligence forecast on year 2008, the worldwide videogame and interactive entertainment industry revenue to reach USD 57 billion in 2009 with no signs of slowing due to the slumping economies and expensive hardware (Androvich, 2008). The rapid growth in videogame and interactive entertainment industry has been attracted lots of entrepreneur who would like to enter this profitable industry. Based on the report of DFC, PC was the top platform for games in 2007, with online game revenue alone eclipsing USD 7 billion on year 2006 and not including retail sales. The DFC also stated the total PC game revenue is expected to reach USD 19 billion by year 2013 (Androvich, 2008). In Malaysia, there were 15 million subscriber of internet and it was 62.8% out of the total population in 2008 (Internet World Stats, 2008). It was more than half of the citizens of Malaysia have used the internet and this has brought a great opportunity to the entrepreneur who would like to join this industry to be one of the online game service providers to share the profit since the number of internet users was increasing each year. It did not showed that the number of the online game subscribers but there is a business opportunity for the entrepreneur to start-up their business through online. Table 1.1: Internet Usage and Population Growth of Malaysia Year No. of Users Total Population % 2000 3, 700, 000 24, 645, 600 15.0% 2005 10, 040, 000 26, 500, 699 37.9% 2006 11, 016, 000 28, 294, 120 38.9% 2007 13, 528, 200 28, 294, 120 47.8% 2008 15, 868, 000 25, 274, 133 62.8% (Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/my.htm [2009, November 1]) A study showed that customer satisfaction is the immediate factor affecting the consumer retains loyalty (Cronin, Brady, and Hult, 2000). Most of the studies showed that higher levels of customer satisfaction will lead to customer loyalty. â€Å"A minor change in satisfaction could lead to a substantial change in loyalty increment† (Bowen and Chen, 2001). However, most of these studies were in offline environment. Wind and Rangasamy (2001) found that online environments offer more opportunities for interactive and personalized marketing. Eventually, these opportunities may influences customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online environment if compared to the traditional market or offline environment (Shankar, Smith, and Rangaswamy, 2003). The main purpose of this study is to identify the factors affects the customer satisfaction towards online game services and which could lead to customer loyalty. It is including the service quality, transaction cost, experience value, and technology acceptance factor. These four antecedents of online game service satisfaction and loyalty will test associations based on the model that has been constructs. 1.2 Background of the Research In this century, computer might be a need for a person if compared to the olden days where there was a limited growth in technologies. Now, computer seems like a tool which can do everything for you such as searching information, payment, shopping, and so on. This powerful electrical appliance has gain a well response from the citizen of the world. It has many functions can perform through computer and one of the most popular functions of computer is gaming. In the earlier 2000s, most of the games were played offline since the limited internet connectivity and expensive prices to have an internet connectivity. However, this situation has changed due to the technologies advancements and the industry has achieved economic of scale. To more understand what online games is, it is a must to brief its history. The very first online gaming activities were introduced in the late of 1960s and early of 1970s. Later, they started gain more popularity within 1970s to 1980s when dial-up Bulletin Boards became popular and the users started playing online game over them. Clyde and Thomas (2008) stated that the development of arcade game in the 1970s, and video and computer games in the 1980s; digital games have become an influential part of popular culture. The bulletin boards provided a multi-user platform which allowed few users to play at the same time. Now, it has been transformed to MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) which is popular all around the world presently (Bizymoms.com). At one time, games were used for educational purpose rather than entertainment (Clyde and Thomas, 2008). However, due to the changed in the perception of game role and the culture, it becomes an entertainment but there is still has some of the game designers and educators used it as educational purposed such as learning typing skills and so on. In the year of 1990s, due to the growth of internet technologies of Flash and Java, it has led to the increasing usage of the internet and the millions of new websites mushrooming across the World Wide Web. When enter to the millennium year, technological giants such as Sony, Microsoft and Ninetendo came out with advanced gaming consoles has changed the features of online gaming completely (Bizymoms.com). The people all around can play a same game with each other virtually at the same time. Currently, online gaming industry is growing each year and it has a great expansion in future. The online game service is one of the most competitive industries among the entire industries. The new and the existing online game service provider are delivering their best services to gain more market share to sustain its organization. To penetrate the market, the firm must meet the customer expectation which may lead to customer satisfaction. Eventually, it may bring customer loyalty. 1.3 Research Problem Customer is the one who contribute the profit to the firm because they are the one who are using the product or services. However, consumers are becoming wisely now a day when they would like to use certain product or services. They will tend to purchase the product only if the product can meet their expectation which might lead to satisfaction. To meet the customer expectation, it is a biggest challenge for the firm. Other than that, the growth of the online game has brought some a major problem to the service provider which is how to retain the existing online game users and will not shifting to other service provider or loyalty to the current provider (Yang, Wu, Wang, 2009). In order to survive in this competitive industry, many practitioners and academicians in this field have focused on how to improve online services to attract potential buyers as well as the current customers (Jun, Yang, and Kim, 2004). There are some of the factors to achieve customer satisfaction. However, the key factors especially in online game services which are able to make the customer satisfied with the products and services still under study or unknown (Dick, Wellnitz, and Wolf, 2005). If the key factors have been determined, the provider might be able to gain the competitive advantages which trying to meet the customer expectation. This research is emphasizing the customer satisfaction and loyalty in online game service. Specifically, it is trying to identify the key factors affects online satisfaction and online loyalty in order to guide the online game service provider to improve their service quality to garb more potential customers and retain the existing one. 1.4 Research Objectives The objectives were formed based on the research problem and there are formulated to achieve the main goal of this study which is to examine the factors of affecting the online game satisfaction and loyalty. To determine service quality has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine transaction costs has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine technology acceptance factor has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine experience value has a positive impact towards online game satisfaction. To determine online game satisfaction would have a positive impact on online game loyalty. To determine service quality, transaction cost, technology acceptance factors, and experience value will affect online game satisfaction and eventually online game loyalty. 1.5 Justification of the Study This study is significant for several reasons. First, it can identify the gaps between customer expectation and perception about online game service provider in order to guide them to provide better services. â€Å"It is commonly known that there is a positive relationship between customer loyalty and profitability† (Bowen and Chen, 2001). It is correct once the customer is loyal to the company because they will visit the firm after a purchase and some even recommend to their friends. In the online environment, the online satisfaction also grabs much attention from all of the researchers because to meet a customer expectation is the toughest challenges to the company. Also, it brings the profitability and the survival of the company. Online game service provider should concern about the medium which may influenced the online game satisfaction and online game loyalty. The importance of the study is to keep the online game service improvement in order to achieve the customer satisfaction from time to time. In online environment, the customer can easily compared the alternative than offline customer especially products and service (Shankar et al., 2003). As in online environment, the user is free to search the information to the product that they demand. As well as online game, there is large amount of online game service provider. Therefore, the user can easily compared the features of the game and service quality that provided by the firm. Once the factor has a positive impact on online satisfaction has been determined, the service provider is able to strengthen their weaknesses in order to sustain its market share. Besides, the study is providing guidelines for the service provider to develop their future or long-term plan. The importance of the online game satisfaction will give a direction to the service provider to plan for their future such as strategic plan. It also helps the company to gain competitive advantages in this industry. Commonly, most of the studies regarding to customer satisfaction and loyalty were did for offline environment and only limited for online environment. However, consumers still have some same characteristics in making decision when they would like to purchase a product. As the study has identified the factors affect the customer satisfaction and loyalty, the firms are able to fulfill the users need and wants. This action is trying to meet the customer satisfaction and eventually customer loyalty. Once the customer become loyal, the company may survive in this competitive market. On the other hand, it is also will benefit the user to gain a better service from the online game service provider once they have responded to what they are percept towards the online game service provider that they currently subscribed. Also, the service provider is able to understand what kind of service quality that the users perceived and expected. It will leads to a win-win situation if both of the parties could perform what they are request and give. 1.6 Definition of Important Terms There are some important terms in this study: Online satisfaction, online loyalty, service quality, technology acceptance factors, transaction cost, and experiences value. Online Game Satisfaction Online game satisfaction is customer satisfaction towards online game service. Oliver (1980) defines customer satisfaction as customers evaluation of a product or service with regard to their needs and expectations. It is just in virtual environment perspectives. Online Game Loyalty Online game loyalty is customer loyalty towards online game service. It can be defined as â€Å"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviuor† (Oliver, 1997). Service Quality Parasuraman, et al., (1988) defined service quality as â€Å"a global judgement, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service†, â€Å"and explicated it as involving evaluations of the outcomes (i.e., what customer actually receives from services) and process of service act (i.e., the manner in which service is delivered)† (Jain, and Gupta, 2004) Technology Acceptance Factors It is also known as technology acceptance model (TAM). Davis (1989) proposed TAM to explain and predict user acceptance of information systems (IS) or information technology (IT). In short, it is explaining â€Å"intention to use a technology† (Schepers and Wetzels, 2007). Transaction Cost It is a theory â€Å"seeks to explain why firms exist and how firm boundaries were determined† (Watjatrakul, 2005). Experience Value It refers to â€Å"shopping efficiency and making good product performance and functionality† (Wu and Liang, 2009). Wu and Liang (2009) added â€Å"its perceptions are based on interaction involving either direct usage or distant appreciation of goods or services†. MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) It is known as a virtual environment where it allows multiple geographically distributed users interact with each other at the same time (Papargyris and Poulymenakou, 2005). Besides, it is â€Å"offering an alternative channel for players to communicate, share experiences, socialize, and eventually from virtual communities† (Chee, Zaphiris, and Mahmood, 2007) Online Game Service It is a service provider who provides a server for the online game user to get into the network to interact with each other by playing games. 1.7 Organization of the Report This study will be constructed into five different chapters and there are: Chapter 1 is presenting the introduction and a brief overview of the study. The problems of the study, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and the chapter outline of the research are stated in this chapter. Chapter 2 provides an extensive review of international journals, reports, and articles from online and offline resources. Besides, all the reviews in this chapter are related to the problem of the research that will guide to construct the conceptual foundation and hypothesis of the study. Chapter 3 is describing the methods used in conducting this study in detail. Besides, it also presents the development of the research framework which proposed the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables. Next, the methodology applied is provided, sampling procedures, hypothesis development, data analysis and measurement. Chapter 4 presents the findings and data analysis of the research. It analyses and discussed the data collected in the research using the research instrument which has been developed in chapter 3. The hypothesis will be tested and it is also presents the results of statistical analysis used in this study (t-test, ANOVA, and etc.). Chapter 5 is presenting the conclusion and recommendation. There is also discussion of the studys implications, recommendations, limitations and suggestion for the future research. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Chapter 1 has discussed and highlighted the important issues which related online game service satisfaction and loyalty. All of these issues that mentioned in the chapter 1 are playing an important role for online game service industry in order to understand the expectation of the user and eventually grab more market share. As a result, to more understanding these issues, an examination of literature on related study were carried out. Generally, literature review provides the theoretical basis for the development of the research framework of this study, which will be discuss in the next chapter Chapter 3. This chapter consists of the following subject areas: (1) Definition of key terms; (2) online game satisfaction; (3) online game loyalty; (4) the factors might affect online satisfaction and loyalty; and (5) summary of literature review. 2.2 Definition of Key Terms 2.2.1 Online Game Service As technologies have became more advance, people have more rely on the technologies and they even expect technology will do all the things for us. Now, most of the people are prefer online rather than offline when they would like to purchase or acknowledge a transaction. In the olden day around 1980 where the technology has a limited growth, people can only play games in offline environment such as TV and handheld game console (Nintendo). In the late 1980s computer game was invented and started popular. Currently, computer games have been transformed into MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) which is popular all around the world (Bizymoms.com). Besides, the multi-player online role-playing games also known as Net games (Lo, Wang, and Fang, 2005). Generally, net game can be divided into three which is web games, network games, and online games. The below is the definition of this three types of net games. Table 2.1 Types of Net Games Types Definition Players Web games Games which use a website as an interface. Players must register to play. Network games Games which allow multiple players to use their own PCs to interact via Local Area Networks (LANs) or the internet. Also, many of these closely resemble PC games. Players must purchase and install game software. However, it does not require any fees beyond those for internet connections. Online games Games where require players to connect to the service provider and log in to a server. Player must subscribe to the service provider and select a role to interact with other virtual roles. Source: Lo, 2008 Online game is requiring player to log in to a server in order to play the games. It is means that the players must have internet connection to connect with the service provider. After the player subscribe to the games, the user has to select a role to interact with the rest of the subscribers. The special characteristic of online game is the user can continue to play their role after they have log out for few days. The player can keep continue playing where they have stopped when they have log out last time with the experiences and assets are remain. Online game user must install a client program for internet connection and online game providers to attend the online game (Lo, 2008). This program is inexpensive and sometimes even free. However, there are some need additional fees are paid to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) (Lo, 2008). Commonly, the charges of online game is based on the time where the player spent to playing games and usually it is prepaid which pay before they play the games. Due to the technology advancement and the cheaper price for paying the internet connectivity, consumers are more easily to connect to the internet and playing online game. This golden business opportunity has been attracted lots of firms entered to this industry. Online game service is the company which provides a server for the players in order to play game with others. The company main activities is improve the performance of the online game also maintenance of the server to avoid any shut-down or system down of the server. There are some features have attracted lots of people subscribe to online game and the number of players is keep increasing each day. The online games allow the player to build the role based on their preference, beliefs, goal, or other factors and most of the time the players play it in a team (Klang, 2004). The features in the online games has play an important role in order to gain more subscriber and also some other factors. 2.3 Online Game Loyalty In general, loyalty can be defined as faithful. However, in terms of customer loyalty, it is hard to define (Bowen ad Chen, 2001). Dennis (2003) stated that loyalty is the feeling where a customer has about a brand. This could be explained as the customer has a positive perception about the brand and this brand will always come in the first of the mind of this particular consumer if compared to the other firms which have offer the same service or product. Edvarson, Johnson, Gustafsson and Strandvik (2000) define loyalty as a customers intention to repurchase from the same firm again. On the other hand, loyalty can be measured in three distinctive approaches and there are behavioural measurements, attitudinal measurements, and composite measurements (Bowen and Chen, 2001). Behavioural measurements can be defined as consistent, repetitious purchase behaviuor as an indicator of loyalty. For example, if the customer is often and repeat visit the same firm and purchase the product from the firm can be said as loyalty under the behavioural measurement. Next, attitudinal measurements can be defined as used attitudinal data to reflect the emotional and psychological attachment inherent in loyalty. Lets put it in a situation where a consumer holds a favourable attitude toward an online game service provider, but it is not necessary that consumer will subscribe o this service provider. It might be expensive to the consumer but the consumer will recommend it to others since he holds a favourable attitude towards the service provider (Toh, Hu, and Withiam, 1993). Composite approach is the combination of the first two dimensions and measure loyalty by customers products preferences, propensity of brand-switching, frequency of purchase, recency of purchase and total amount of purchase (Pritchard and Howard, 1997). This approach is valuable tool to understand customer loyalty in several fields such as retailing, upscale hotels and airlines (Pritchard and Howard, 1997). Many of the researchers and also in common think that loyalty is generating positive and measurable financial results (Dennis, 2003). In short, there is a positive relationship between loyalty and profit (Bowen and Chen, 2001). When a company is able to retain 5 percent more of its customers, consequently, profits will increase 25 percent to 125 percent (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). The impact of loyalty has played an important role for the profit of the company. Based on the reasons mentioned above, online game loyalty (customer loyalty) is the independent variable for this study. On the past studies showed that online customer loyalty is result from customer satisfaction with the e-commerce channel. Also, the online satisfaction has the positive impact on online loyalty is the proved in the context of electronic commerce (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003; Rodgers, Negash, and Suk, 2005. As proposed by Yang et al. (2009), online loyalty is the final result of their study. For this study, online loyalty is defined as a customers favaourable attitude and commitment towards online game service provider that results in sustaining in the same service provider which based on the study of Yang et al. (2009). Hence, this study is proposing online loyalty as the dependent variable. 2.4 Online Game Satisfaction Satisfaction is the â€Å"overall customer attitude towards a service provider† (Levesque and McDougall, 1996). Oliver (1980) defined customer satisfaction as customers evaluations of a product or service based on their needs and expectations. In the other way, it is an emotional customer anticipates and what they receive (Zineldin, 2000). Customer satisfaction could be the big challenges for all the firms and to satisfy the customer expectation is not an easy job because customers are human being who has a complex mind. As a human being, we have different characteristics and different expectation. Some people might expect a basic service from the service provider but some might expect a high service from the service provider. When people would like to defined something which involve human attitude, it is hard to find a common or universal definition. Gerpott, Rams, and Schindler (2001) proposed satisfaction is based on the customers estimated experience of the extent when the service provider is able to fulfill customers expectations. There are some benefits of customer satisfaction and the major benefits of customer satisfaction is stay loyal longer (Zineldin, 2000; Hansemark and Albinsson, 2004). Besides, Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated that satisfied customer are relatively less price sensitive, tend to purchase additional products, and they are relatively hard influenced by the competitors. They proposed many company view customer satisfaction as the crucial to a companys survival and must be satisfied those customer all the time as the company has been promised them. In general, much research no matter in offline environment or online environment, customer satisfaction is not really a new concept and lots of research efforts have been made to understand its antecedents and consequences (Bai, Law, and Wen, 2008). To assess a firms productivity and its marketing performance, the measures of perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty was being used (Cortina, Elorz, and Villanueva, 2004). Besides, the great number of study of customer satisfaction is because its potential influence on consumer behavioral intention and customer retention (Cronin, Brady, Hult, 2000; Yang et al., 2009). A study of online retailing stated that satisfied customer tend to have higher usage of service and have stronger repurchase intention (Kim, Jin, and Swiney, 2008). Also, this particular customer will often recommend the product or service to their friends than those who are not satisfied (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1996; Kim et al., 2008). Anderson and Srinivasan (2003) have investigated the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in the context of e-commerce. They concluded that online satisfaction has an impact on online loyalty. However, they also stated that the relationship is just moderated both by consumers individual factors and firms business factors. However, the relationship between online satisfaction and online loyalty also has been found in numerous studies (Yang et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2008; Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003; Rodgers et al., 2005). Hence, this study is going to propose online satisfaction might have a positive effect on online loyalty. 2.4.1 Online game satisfaction as a mediator Online game satisfaction will be the mediator between the online game loyalty and its determinants which are service quality, transaction cost, technology acceptance factor, and experience value. As proposed by Yang et al., 2009, service quality, transaction cost, and experience value will influence on online game satisfaction. However, this study is going to propose another antecedent which is technology acceptance factors which based on the studies of Lin and Sun, 2009; Hsu and Lu, 2003. In this model, online game satisfaction is a function of the four antecedents operating in a situation and helps to explain the influence of the antecedents on online game loyalty. As prior mentioned that online satisfaction has an impact on online loyalty, but, there are some factors might influence online satisfaction before it comes to online loyalty. To achieve the online satisfaction, the online game service providers have to meet the expectation of the consumer in some of the aspects as the four antecedents. Yang et al., 2009 stated that rare research examines the moderating effects of customer satisfaction in an integrated loyalty model and less formally tests that online game satisfaction in the online game service environment. Therefore, in this study, it proposes online game satisfaction as the mediator between the four antecedents and online game loyalty. The below table is to shows that the selected empirical research on determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty (online). Table 2.2: Selected empirical research on determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty (online) Independent Variables Key References Context Service Quality (SERVQUAL) Yang et al., (2009) Lin and Sun (2009) Lee and Lin (2005) Santos (2003) Online Game Service Online Shopping Online Shopping e-Service Quality Technology Acceptance Factors Lin and Sun (2009) Hsu and Lu (2003) Online Shopping Online Game Transaction Cost Yang et al., (2009) Liang and Huang (1998) Online Game Service Electronic M

Challenging the Identity of the Family in What Maisie Knew by Henry Jam

Challenging the Identity of the Family  in What Maisie Knew   Ã‚  Ã‚   Although Henry James did not confine himself exclusively to the scope of literary themes facing America, in his novel What Maisie Knew, he did challenge the changing identity of the modern family.  Ã‚  At the turn of the century, the dynamics of the family institution became an important theme in American literature due to such issues as the increased social mobility of the industrial age, the new emerging independence of women, and a modern view that lent itself to challenging tradition.  Ã‚  For many of James' contemporaries, Edith Wharton, for example, a colleague and friend of James, this theme became the focus of works like "The Other Two."  Ã‚  In this work, the new situations facing the family illustrate themselves through the central agent of the child, who remains the focus for bringing these circumstances to light.  Ã‚  While the child never enters the action of the story, she becomes the catalyst that brings about the adult confrontations that shape, not necessarily for the better, the identity of the family.  Ã‚  In James' novel, though set in Europe and intended to present an extreme case, the same type of situation remains.  Ã‚  The focus for this work, however, targets the psychology of the child.  Ã‚  James proves more interested in the effect that the dynamics of the modern family have on the children than on the issues themselves.  Ã‚  The situations that the members of Maisie's "family" create force her into a number of roles that strip the innocence of her youth and quickly introduce her to the corrupt reality of adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Maisie must encounter situations that, at first, are apparently beyond her control, she quickl... ...lues given by the narrator and the other characters in the novel, as well as Maisie's own actions, we can trace her understanding and her ability to affect her situation throughout the novel. Her own understanding Maisie never entirely reveals until the end of the novel, but we can see that she deserves more credit than she receives. What Maisie Knew. Ricks, Christopher (ed. and introd.). New York, NY: Penguin; 2010.

Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel: The Relationship between Society and

Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel: The Relationship between Society and the Individual Each of the four classical theorists Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel had different theories of the relationship between society and the individual. It is the objective of this paper to critically evaluate the sociological approaches of each theory to come to a better understanding of how each theorist perceived such a relationship and what it means for the nature of social reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Karl Marx noted that society was highly stratified in that most of the individuals in society, those who worked the hardest, were also the ones who received the least from the benefits of their labor. In reaction to this observation, Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto where he described a new society, a more perfect society, a communist society. Marx envisioned a society, in which all property is held in common, that is a society in which one individual did not receive more than another, but in which all individuals shared in the benefits of collective labor (Marx #11, p. 262). In order to accomplish such a task Marx needed to find a relationship between the individual and society that accounted for social change. For Marx such relationship was from the historical mode of production, through the exploits of wage labor, and thus the individual’s relationship to the mode of production (Marx #11, p. 256).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Communist Manifesto it is very clear that Marx is concerned with the organization of society. He sees that the majority individuals in society, the proletariat, live in sub-standard living conditions while the minority of society, the bourgeoisie, have all that life has to offer. However, his most acute observation was that the bourgeoisie control the means of production that separate the two classes (Marx #11 p. 250). Marx notes that this is not just a recent development rather a historical process between the two classes and the individuals that compose it. â€Å"It [the bourgeois] has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourge oisie ... ...lay in societal change. However it was only until the works of Durkheim and Simmel that the role of individual interaction and society is brought to the forefront. Durkheim largely viewed the individual as needing society as a mechanism of constraint to the aspirations of an eternal goal. Finally, Simmel was able to expand on Durkheim’s dualism by noting that society could be viewed as more than a mechanism of constraint rather as an accumulation of individual interaction. Either through a combination or as individuals each theorist distinct view of the relationship between the individual and society demonstrates a new understanding towards the nature of social reality. Works Cited   Bender, Frederic L. Karl Marx:  The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ed. 1988. Durkheim, E. Suicide: a Study in Sociology. Translated by J.A. Spaulding and G. Gibson (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1952). Simmel, Georg. "The Stranger." from Kurt Wolff (Trans.) The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Free Press, 1950. Weber M. (1971) 'The social  causes of the decline of ancient  civilization', translated in J. E. T. Eldridge,  Max Weber, London. Weber, M. (1976)