CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature

And Studies

This chapter presents literature and studies written by Filipino and Foreign
authors whose works are found significant to this research.

Foreign Literature

Fire Service

Fire service is a technical term most commonly known as fire department or fire
brigade (Cote&Bugbee, 2011). It is a public or private organization that provides
predominantly emergency firefighting and rescue services for a specific geographic
area, which is typically a municipality, county, or fire protection district (Hensler, 2011).
In the United States, a fire brigade is the private firefighting organization of a company
or enterprise (OSHA, 2012). On the other hand, a fire department usually contains one
or more fire stations within its boundaries, and may be staffed by
career firefighters, volunteer firefighters, or a combination thereof (Grace, 2012).

A fire department may also provide "fire protection" or fire prevention services,
whereby firefighters visit homes and give fire safety advice and fit smoke alarms for
members of the public. In many countries fire protection or prevention is seen as an
important role for the fire service, as preventing a fire from occurring in the first place
can save lives and property (Hensler, 2011).

The Professional Firefighter

A professional firefighter (also known as a fireman) is a rescuer extensively

trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten property and
civilian or natural populations, and to rescue people from dangerous situations, like
collapsed or burning buildings or crashed vehicles (Merriam-Webster, 2012). In some
areas, they are also trained in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and operate
ambulances in addition to being a firefighter (Fire and Rescue NSW, 2011).

The complexity of modern industrialized life with a greater prominence of hazards

has created an increase in the skills needed in firefighting technology and a broadening
of the firefighter-rescuer's remit (Fire Academy, 2016). The fire service, or fire and
rescue service, also known in some countries as the fire brigade or fire department, is
one of the three main emergency services. Firefighting and firefighters have become
ubiquitous around the world, from wildlands to urban areas, and aboard ships (Daniels,
2014). According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, the English word firefighter has been
used since 1903. In recent decades it has become the preferred term, replacing
fireman, since women also serve as firefighters, and also because the term fireman can
have other meanings, including someone who sets, stokes, or tends fires, especially in
designated fireplaces – the opposite of the firefighting role.

Capability of Fire Service

Capability, Preparedness and Readiness are three terms that are often used
together but are not interchangeable. These are three very important concepts for the
Fire Service when it comes to the application and analysis of the competencies used for
measuring performance.
Capability refers to the ability of a member or unit to effectively complete a task.
The Fire Service has many units with differing capabilities. An engine company has the
capability to stretch hose lines and pump water thus extinguishing the flames. A truck
company has the ability to vent, enter and search (VES) thus venting the fire building,
causing conditions to improve to increase survivability of rescuers and victims, forcing
entry to a building to allow the stretching of the line and searching for the origin of the
fire and rescue of victims. The units, operating together as a team, have the capability
to extinguish the fire. Thus, it is important for the Incident Commander to know the
capability of the responding companies to assign tasks.
Preparedness is the state of full readiness (Encarta Dictionary, 2011). The Fire
Service is being prepared to increase its capability to operate at terroristic events
through training, equipment familiarization and exercise evaluation. It is this
preparedness that the Fire Service needs to analyze through the use of metrics in order
to have an idea of tasks and missions it will be able to support, the budgets it will need
and the manpower it will take to complete its sphere of operations.
Readiness is the state of being prepared for something (Cambridge Dictionary,
2013). In order to be ready to attempt a mission, you need to be prepared to handle the
outcome of your actions. If you are at heightened readiness, then you are prepared to
handle many outcomes. Readiness presupposes some kind of preparedness. All three
of these concepts are measurable through performance. The measurements can be
quantified or can simply be observed by qualified experts.

Defining Performance

Tomas et. al. (2011) stated that performance implies the action of doing things
that is using things, attending to conditions, processing, communicating and achieving
results. Performance is the actual work that is done to ensure that an organization
achieves its mission. In summary, performance encompasses inputs, conditions,
processes elements, outputs, consequences and feedback. According to Tomas (2011),
the end product of performance should be measured against four elements that are:
quantity, quality, cost or risk factors and time. The idea of measuring the end product is
fully supported as it can be argued that a product can be in any form that is good or
bad, hence the need to have it measured.
While the researcher acknowledges the above definitions, she argues that
application of the definitions should be treated with a provision that the output of that
action is positive to the organization. In the researcher’s own definition, performance
means an action by an employee that has produced an output relevant to an employee
or organization’s goals.

Work Performance

Work performance is a complex construct, taking into account the changing

nature of work and the organizations themselves. It speaks of work performance in
terms of quantity and quality expected from each employee. Thorndike cited by Labadia
(2010) started the process of defining work performance by articulating the ultimate
criterion. This ultimate criterion is a specification of everything that defines work success
across the full domain of specific job. He further explains that the ultimate criterion is
conceptual in nature and cannot be measured. Therefore, researchers and practitioners
use the ultimate criterion as a guide to choosing indicators of work performance, with
the knowledge that they will never fully capture the entire performance domain.
Kesseler (2007) conceptualized the criteria in assessing work performance by choosing
between subjective and objective methods of appraisal. Subjective methods refer to
“soft” criteria such as peer, self, or supervisory ratings.

Performance Measurement

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or

reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization,
system or component (Blount, 2014). It can involve studying processes/strategies within
organizations, or studying engineering processes/parameters/phenomena, to see
whether output are in line with what was intended or should have been achieved.

Evaluation vs. Performance Measurement

Evaluating programs can help figure out what works for the organization and
what does not. However, evaluation takes time and is costly. Performance
Measurement on the other hand is less time-consuming and can provide information in
time for day to day decisions. While both evaluation and performance measurements
are necessary they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. A con of
performance measurement is that the validity of the results can be questioned and it is
not clear as to whether or not positive outcomes were due to a specific program ( Boris,
et.al., 2013).
Highest Educational Attainment
Educational attainment is found to be positively associated with job performance
when other variables are held constant. Rogers (1991) have found positive relationships
between education levels and job performance. Holdaway, Friesen and Williams cited
by Labadia (2010) revealed that overall job performance of personnel was mostly
related to achievement, career orientation, recognition, interpersonal relations, and
feelings of responsibility, authority, and autonomy.
Length of Service
Federico (2012) stated that the relationship between performance and
organizational commitment in terms of length of service in an organization has positive
relationship. It was found out that employee with more tenure status were significantly
more committed to their organization. Older workers seem report higher levels of job
satisfaction than younger ones. Tenure does not appear to hold the same consistency in
its relationship with job satisfaction. The psychological consequences of increasing
service in a given job are probably more dependent on the characteristics of the work
situation. Hence, in considering the variable of tenure, one must be careful to attend to
the specifics of job situation.

Level of Competence

Distinguishing professional competence from professional qualification, Arlott

(2014) stated that professional competence has to do with ‘how to perform’, whereas,
professional qualification refer to the person’s level of education and knowledge in his
field. Carey (2012) wrote professional competence in terms of methodology or
instructional techniques in terms of management, performance, decision making and
communication. Stressing the need and importance of professional competences, the
study asserted that before going into the profession, the person must have a period of
internship like a doctor, a lawyer, or an Accountant during which he is groomed in the
techniques of the chosen field under an experienced professional. From the above, it is
deducible that professional competence has to do with the persons’ practical experience
in the act of preparing, planning, implementation and evaluation.

Firefighter Training and Performance

Several studies, chiefly within the rescue services, deal with firefighter’s
professional learning. Within these, four themes can be identified, of which the three
first may be termed learning in practice and the fourth as training-based learning about
practices: i) Personal experience of exercises and rescue initiatives may embody
knowledge and skills as “fire sense” (Lloyd & Somerville, 2006; Sommer&Njå, 2011)
Through accounts by experienced firefighters about problem-solving during rescue
initiatives, inexperienced firefighters can take part of a joint experience base consisting
of interpretation and assessment frameworks (Joung&Hesketh, 2006; Lloyd &
Somerville, 2006; Sommer&Njå, 2011) By participating in daily activities the less
experienced can partake of the collective and silent knowledge manifested in the work
methods, procedures and equipment of the workplace (Lloyd & Somerville, 2006;
Sommer&Njå, 2011; Taber et al., 2008) Training including textual sources like training
manuals and safety prescriptions can provide knowledge about practices. What is
common to these studies is that professional learning is highly related to working life,
where real learning is supposed to take place (Lloyd & Somerville, 2006; Taber et al.,
2008).

Employee performance

Performances can be separated in organizational and employee performance.

Employee performance is also known as job performance (Atkins, 2011). However, it
seems that job performance is mostly subjectively measured in organizations and it will
appear that there are few alternative options.

Performance in Organizations
Performance in organizations can be separated in organizational performance
and job performance (Gideon, 2012). According to Gideon, the performance of
organizations is dependent upon the performance of employees (job performance) and
other factors such as the environment of the organization. The distinction between
organizational and job performance is evident; an organization that is performing well is
one that is successfully attaining its objectives, in other words: one that is effectively
implementing an appropriate strategy and job performance is the single result of an
employee’s work (Howell, 2012). Since the aim of this thesis is to provide a link
between motivating employees and their performance, organizational performance lies
outside the scope of this research and only job performance is addressed.
Job Performance
A good employee performance is necessary for the organization, since an
organization’s success is dependent upon the employee’s creativity, innovation and
commitment (Ramlall, 2008). Good job performances and productivity growth are also
important in stabilizing our economy; by means of improved living standards, higher
wages, an increase in goods available for consumption, etc. (Griffin et al., 1981). Griffin
et al. also argue that therefore research of individual employee performance is
important to society in general.
Employee production and employee job performance seems to be related; e.g. in
the U.S. performance is in some cases measured as the number and value of goods
produced. However, in general productivity tends to be associated with production-
oriented terms (e.g. profit and turnover) and performance is linked to efficiency or
perception-oriented terms (e.g. supervisory ratings and goal accomplishments)
(Monahan, 2010).

According to Lim (2014) crucial in a high job performance is the ability of the
employee himself. The employee must be able to deliver good results and have a high
productivity. Monahan (2010) also argue that this is something the organization can
know at forehand; they can select employees with the required abilities or they can
recruit those employees themselves. Of course the latter is more time consuming, but
can obtain better results in the end.

However, job performance is more than the ability of the employee alone.
(Cherry, 2012) refer to the managerial side of performance. Accordingly, performance is:
let an employee do what I want him to do. This implies that the organization’s hierarchy
and task distribution are also critical for a good employee performance. Lim (2014) adds
to this statement by arguing that employee performance can be perceived as “obtaining
external funds”. According to Cherry (2012) an employee’s performance is based on
individual factors, namely: personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.
Local Literature

Bureau of Fire Protection

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) of the Philippines is a government agency

whose role is to suppress and prevent the outbreak of destructive fires, enforce relevant
laws, and provide or help provide emergency medical and rescue services (R.A. 9514,
2008). But the BFP faces an uphill struggle in the performance of its duties in a
conflagration-prone nation such as the Philippines.

The country is saddled with aging and/or inadequately installed or constructed

infrastructure, including electrical systems, which thus pose a significant fire risk
(Sanchez, 2013). Additionally, the combination of two of the country’s defining
characteristics – extremely hot summers and drenching monsoon seasons – put the
country’s inadequate systems under their own particular sort of pressure year-round.
Nor does the BFP get any respite during the holiday season, either. The Filipino’s
addiction to fireworks, especially during the Christmas season, constitutes a further
threat to life, livelihood, and property.

It is no stretch to say that consequently, the BFP has its work cut out for it. To
make matters worse, since its creation, the BFP has come under scrutiny for having
gained something of a reputation for corruption and inefficiency (Sanchez, 2013).
However, much effort has also been expended over the years to bring the BFP to the
level of competence and professionalism it needs in order to properly discharge its
duties.

A brief history of the BFP from the legal perspective

According to the official website of BFP Region 10, then-President Ferdinand

Marcos enacted Presidential Decree 765 in August 1975 which created the Integrated
National Police (INP) by integrating all city and municipal police and fire departments
and jails. These integrated forces were placed under the operational control of the
Philippine Constabulary. The Philippine Constabulary had the operational control over
said integrated forces. The INP was “made responsible for public safety, protection of
lives and properties, enforcement of laws, and maintenance of peace and order” within
Philippine territory. It could take necessary measures to “prevent and control fires,
investigate the commission of all crimes and offenses and bring offenders to justice” to
ensure public safety.

In 1990, the BFP was created and situated under the umbrella of the Department
of Interior and Local Government (DILG) by virtue of Rule 111, Section 49 of Republic
Act 6975, also known as the “Department of Interior and Local Government Act.” Said
act mandated the BFP to perform the following functions as stated in the official website
of the City of Dasmariñas:

Be responsible for the prevention and suppression of all destructive fires on

building, houses and other structures; forest; land transportation vehicles and
equipment; ships and vessels docked at piers or wharves anchored in major sea ports;
petroleum industry installations; plane crashes; and other similar incidents;

Be responsible for the enforcement of the Fire Code of the Philippines (PD 1185)
and other related laws;

Shall have the power to investigate all causes of fires and if necessary, file the
proper complaint with the city or provincial prosecutor who has jurisdiction over the
case;

In time of national emergency, all elements of the BFP shall, upon direction of the
President, assist the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] in meeting the national
emergency; and shall establish at least one (1) fire station with adequate personnel,
firefighting facilities and equipment in every provincial capital, city, and municipality
subject to standard rules and regulations as maybe promulgated by the DILG.

Such activities as Fire Prevention Month, an annual nationwide observance

every March – traditionally the start of summer – administered by the BFP along with
local government units, firefighting agencies, schools and other key institutions, are also
legally mandated. In the case of Fire Prevention Month, by Presidential Proclamation
No. 115-A signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos in November 1966.

Legislation geared towards boosting the competencies of the BFP and its
personnel has frequently been created and implemented over the years. For instance,
in June 2004, Congress enacted Republic Act 9263, or the “BFP Professionalization Act
of 2004,” which aimed to boost the qualification standards of appointment at the BFP.

In December 2008, the Revised Fire Code of the Philippines or Republic Act
9514 was signed into law, establishing a comprehensive and updated Fire Code for the
country, thus repealing the outdated and then-30-year-old Presidential Decree 1185.

In May 2009, then-President Gloria Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9592, or
“An Act extending the five years reglementary period for complying with the minimum
education qualification and appropriation eligibility in the appointment of the
BFP,”according to the BFP Region 10’s official website.

Extant legislation also covers the competence of Fire Safety Practitioners. As

pointed out by BFP-NCR Regional Director Chief Supt. Santiago Laguna to
SecurityMatters, these practitioners are covered by the BFP Memorandum Circular No.
2009-017 in November 2009 entitled “Guidelines on the Issuance of Certificate of
Competency for Fire Volunteers, Members of Fire Brigades, Fire Safety Practitioners
and Organizations Dealing with Fire Safety.”

Foreign Studies

Experienced Firefighters and Performance

Experienced firefighters take longer to make decisions under stress than novice
firefighters, according to research conducted at Iowa State University. But that’s not
necessarily a bad thing.

After conducting dozens of virtual reality trials in which real firefighters with
varying levels of experience responded to fire simulations, experts at Iowa State said
this week that seasoned firefighters took a more analytical approach than their less
experienced colleagues when making decisions.

“The experienced firefighters put a heavier emphasis on enhancing their

situational awareness and creating a mental map for themselves,” said NirKeren, an
associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.

Keren said experienced firefighters are more likely to make good decisions when
faced with a crisis, even if it takes them longer to decide on a course of action.
Surprising results

The Iowa State University study ran contrary to conventional wisdom regarding
the value of experience in making stressful decisions, Keren said.

“One of the most interesting things we found was that firefighters with a high level
of experience, who we expected to be faster decision makers and have a lower stress
level, did not. In fact, the opposite occurred,” he said. “The experienced firefighters took
significantly longer to make decisions, and their stress levels were at least as high as
novice firefighters, if not higher.”

The study was conducted in 2011, but the researchers involved in the project
decided to slow down and look for factors that could explain the surprising results. For
instance, inexperienced firefighters were more likely to take cognitive shortcuts when
deciding on a course of action. Another factor may be that experienced firefighters may
have a better understanding of the consequences of a bad decision and therefore feel
more stressed, Keren said.

Measuring Job Performance

Breaugh (1981) states in his research that there are four different performance
dimensions on which employees are measured, named: quality, quantity, dependability
and job knowledge. This theory combined with Vroom’s (1964) theory results in the
work of Hunter (1986). He designed the route in which most employers can rate their
employee’s productivity. His theory is presented in figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1; Hunter’s (1986) Job Performance Scheme

 According to Hunter (1986) learning the job is the key to job performance, and
general cognitive ability predicts learning. Therefore general cognitive ability is the key
predictor of job performance. General cognitive ability together with job knowledge
indicates job performance and allows the employee’s supervisor to rate performance.
According to Hunter this is a simplified but an effective and objective way to measure
employee performance. Kostiuk and Follmann (1989) add to the statement of Hunter
(1986) that employees with good abilities in combination with sufficient experience are
twice as productive after two years and therefore learning the job is indeed a key to
performance. Hunter (1986) argues that supervisory ratings based on ability provide
more objective measurements.

However, despite the higher objectivity in the theory of Hunter (1986) this type of
measuring job performance is still based on supervisor ratings. And supervisory ratings
are commonly rejected as being objective (Bishop, 1989). Griffin et al. (1981) concluded
in their literature review that there are few true objective options to measure job
performance; one alternative is used in the research of Umstot, Bell, & Mitchell, in 1976.
Namely; take job performance as “the average number of units produced per hour for
one day; adjusted for set-up and called productivity”. Griffin et al. (1981) argue that
there are some other options to measure job performance objectively, but they have
more to do with productivity; e.g. job performance taken as “number of units produced
divided by total time worked (i.e., items per minute)”.

It seems that performance in organizations is commonly measured

subjectively, but there exist few alternatives for objective ways. However, the scope
of this thesis is not on designing an objective measurement for job performance.
Therefore, in this thesis, the measurement of job performance is taken as an entity.

Firefighter Training and Performance

National and international research points to the needs and obstacles of

development in training oriented towards the rescue services. In Persson’s (2010) study
of interorganizational cooperation in organizations for crisis preparedness great
deficiencies are observed in both organizations’ and individual actors’ familiarity with
knowledge acquisition and learning processes, which leads to fragmentation and
neglect of the societal perspective. Persson’s conclusions are that an increased
awareness of knowledge acquisition and learning about cooperation is needed within
the organizations and that learning through dialogue, adopting perspectives and
reflection should be prioritized. Studies by Kobziar et al. (2007) and Butler & Goldstein
(2010) about American firefighter training highlight the prevailing opposition against
changing the direction of traditional firefighting. Despite directives about broadening the
mission to include proactive risk and safety work as well as organically sustainable
development, the old orientation is still given priority. The authors indicate, for instance,
how established structures and professional practice concur in curbing the necessary
development of these educations.

Local Studies

The following local studies are found relevant to the present study for the reason
that their findings can support or address some of the problems or topics of this study.

According to the study of Capadosa (2013), performance evaluation can aid in

identifying the area where an employee needs training. The findings of his study
suggest that performance evaluation provides the top management relevant feedbacks
about employee performance and more importantly, it can help employees know where
they stand with respect to goal achievement.

The study of Canas, et al., 2006, entitled ” Firefighting Capability of Libmanan

Fire Station”, revealed that the firefighting facilities of the fire station was moderately
adequate and some did not conform with the standard set by the National Fire
Protection Association. Another findings in the study was on the leadership of the
municipal Fire Marshal, community cooperation and manpower was moderately
capable.