The Problems Of The Women In Current World Essay

The Problems Of The Women In Current World - Essay Example Research has been done on the present situation of the wage gap in the US in the last decade and the improvements made in the last 30 to 40 after the enforcement of equal wages acts and the women’s movement in mid 20th century. Women are still considered as second-grade custody workers in various job sectors. A decade ago in the US, the women were still being paid low as compared to the men for the same job that they were doing. Women caretakers and cleaners have a salary widely disparate from that of men and all because of gender difference. A salary gap of 8000 US dollars separated the women’s yearly income (22000 US Dollars) form the men’s yearly income (30000 US Dollars). (Barko 1) Even after 5 decades since the enforcement of the Equal Payment Act of 1963, American women earned 74 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the study published jointly by the AFL-CIO and The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Washington (Barko 1). An increase in the wages of women task force employed across different industry sectors and in different categories would bring more than 50 % of low-income dual-earner and single-mother households above the poverty line. The recent study has challenged the age-old argument of lesser industry experience, childbearing time off and child rearing time off supporting the low income of women stating that 43 % of wage gap remains unexplained. After the industrial revolution in the late 19th and early 20th century, many new fields of work emerged and the professional world witnessed a boom. New posts were created, new organizations came into existence and new business lines became viable profit-making options.

Macro assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Macro - Assignment Example Obviously with the major machinery meant for production of the new brand of soft drink Straw-berry getting totally damaged beyond repair, means that the production unit of this factory meant to be operational in the UAE has been crippled beyond repair. In other words, no manufacturing of the anticipated new straw-berry brand cannot be manufactured. Thus, our soft drink manufacturing company, Liquids Limited will have no brand of soft-drink to introduce to the UAE market in four months time as previously projected (Neyapti 31). Besides, the manufacturing plant has been imported using a lot of money that must have taken away a sizeable chunk off the company’s profits. With this in mind; the potion of liquids Limited given the circumstance is one of increased liability and weakness instead of strength. This state of weakness will increase the general capital out-lay, if another machine is to be bought to replace the one damaged on transit. The question which arises is where will that money come from? Who will carry the cost? How will it affect the cost of production? The company’s competitors, Drinks limited already seem to have an upper hand in being the first to introduce their brand of soft drink into UAE market. This is unprecedented, and could easily turn the tables of Liquids Limited in favor of Drinks Limited as it gives them the opportunity to capture a strong market segment, and work towards building brand loyalty. After having a brain-storming session with the head of production, and as the head of marketing, we effectively decided to discontinue with the proposed launch of the straw berry soft drink in UAE. This is because the imported manufacturing plant has been damaged beyond repair. This means that the liabilities of Liquids Company have increased. Launching a new product in a new market is an

European Union Regional Policy

European Union Regional Policy After the Second World War, there had been attempts to re-unify the war-torn countries in Europe. However, there were many obstacles along the processes made. Problems still existed between rival countries such as between France and Germany, and economic situations in the European countries after the war was in a need of development. In order to cope with such problems of economy and relation between these countries, a community was created in 1951 by having first coal and steel as their central shared interests. This European Coal and Steel Community later developed in to the European Economic Community and finally in to the well-known European Union. This kind of community allows its member to improve their economic conditions through custom union and free trade, while advances their diplomatic relationship through their interactions. Efforts to integrate Europe can also be seen in 6 enlargements of the Union; allowing other states of Europe to join after they have accepted the co mmunity law. However, allowing other states to be members of the Union means there will be differences between the new and the old members of the union especially in economic terms. The most significant enlargement was the 5th enlargement in 2004 which was when the ten poor states in Europe decided to join the Union. In order to lessen the financial gaps between the members, the Regional Policy came in and played a major role in improving the economic disparities between states to allow their economy to grow. This paper will be focusing on the background of the regional policy, reasons why it is needed, main objectives, geographical eligibility, and who decides the funding. Background The idea of balancing the economic status of member states in the community has been there since the very early years of the European integration, or around 1950s. There were three sectors of financial support which were created during 1957- 1988; the beginning of the integration, to help funding the development missions of the European Community; the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In 1986, the cohesion policy was introduced after the agreement on the Single European Act with the objectives of re-uniting and developing the economy of member states all together. However, in order to achieve the goal of market development through support and competition between states, the members of the Union have to be equally strong or at least, the differences between countries shall not be very high in economic sense, or the poorer ones will not be able to survive within the Union. Reasons for having the European Regional Policy The European Union expansion has been achieved, but only in the number of members, not in economic and social development terms. Different countries have different financial and social status, but to unite them together and to improve their economic growth, these differences have to be reduced to the extent that they will not affect the countries with economic and social disadvantages in a negative way, but allow them to grow stronger together and compatible with the more-developed nations in the community. The enlargement in 2004 has included 10 poorer countries in Europe in to the Union; Poland, Cyprus, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania and other 2 later on in 2007; Romania and Bulgaria, in to the European Union; making its numbers increased to 27 members (the EUs 5th Enlargement, 2004). The population of the union has increased significantly by 20%, but there was only 5% increase in the GDP or the Gross Domestic Product of the Union. The problem here is that now the GDP per person is lower than the average level of the European Union-27 in the percentage of 25% (one in four regions); making it a need to diminish their differences (Regional Policy, 2009). It is an idea agreed by all of the Unions members that in order to improve the economy of each state and of the union as a whole, competition within the market is required. To survive in the competitive market and to improve its economy, a state needs to make itself capable of competing. The regional policy is there for financing the in-needed regions projects and helping the countries within the union to reach their goal of economic expansion, competitiveness, and solidarity. Ideas and technology can also be shared between states as in the process of development. Main objectives There are three main objectives divided by the Union; Convergence, Regional Competitiveness and Employment, and European Territorial Cooperation, and three structural funds and instruments; the European Fund for Regional Development, the European Social Fund, and the Cohesion Fund. The policy for integrating and balancing the economic and social conditions in Europe is also known as the Cohesion Policy; whose current budget of 2007-2013 is 347.41 billion euro or around 35.7% of the overall budget of the European Union (Regional Policy, 2009). The Convergence Objective aims to promote economic growth and social development for the least-developed members of the Union in order to gain their ideal convergence. The areas of concern are environment, tourism, culture, transportation, energy, education, health, risk prevention, etc. The funding for this objective is consisted of around 282.8 billion euro (81.54% of the total Cohesion Policy funding) provided by the EFRD, ESF, and the Cohesion Fund [ibid]. The Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective helps supporting regions to toughen their economy by investing on the public and private sectors of the regional economy to emphasize on competition, attractiveness and employment. By doing so, they believe that it will provide more works with better standard for the people of each region which will also improve the regions economic and social conditions. This objective also has its aim on preserving the environment, improving transportation and communication system. The amount of funding for this objective is 55 billion euro (15.95% of the total Cohesion Policy funding) provided by EFRD and ESF [ibid]. The European Territorial and Co-operation objective is funded by the European Fund for Regional Development with the amount of 8.7 billion euro (2.52% of the total Cohesion Policy funding) [ibid]. This objective aims at improving the integrated regions social and economic conditions, transnational cooperation, and underlining the effectiveness of the Regional Policy. Geographical Eligibility The state members who are eligible for receiving the Cohesion Policy Fund are mostly countries from the 5th and 6th enlargements in 2004 and 2007, whose Gross National Income (GNI) are less than 90% of the average of the European Union. Regions which get this kind of funding are; Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia (Regional Policy, 2009). Spain is another country that fits in this category, however, for Spain it is a special case since its GNI was low enough for this category when EU had 15 members. In order to deal with this matter, Spain was put under the â€Å"phasing-out system,† so the country will not be much affected after the ten poorer states join the Union in 2004. The Convergence objectives funding is available for countries whose Gross Domestic Product per person is lower than 75% of the European Union average (Regional Policy, 2009). Examples of regions in this category (EU-25) are; the whole Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia, parts of Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Italy, France, United Kingdom, and Portugal. For the phasing-out system; which was introduced to help reduce the effect it might have on the poor countries receiving this funding before the poorer 10 countries join the EU, which concerns countries who were eligible at the time when EU had 15 members are some regions in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objectives funding is available to regions who are not supported by the convergence objective, and until 2013- whose GDP is higher than 75% of the EU-15 average. Examples of these regions are those in Eire-Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, etc. The geographical eligibility for the European Territorial Cooperation Objective consists of cross-border cooperation; transnational and interregional cooperation- including regions within a distance of 150km. alongside of inner, outer land borders, and maritimes. Who decides funds? The European commission will discuss with its member states about the cohesion policy and the strategy for dealing with each states conditions in order to reduce the existing disparities between the more developed and the less developed regions within the Union. After come to an agreement, the Commission will draw out a proposal and hand it over to the European Parliament and the European Council who will take it into consideration and decide on the structural funds and their regulations. Conclusion The expansion of the European Union is going well throughout the decades; however, after accepting new members from the poorer regions, especially in the enlargement of 2004, the European Union has faced with a bigger problem of social and economic differences between member states. In order to cope with this matter, the Regional Policy has been emphasized on more than in the past to improve the newly-joined-less-developed regions and the old-less-developed regions economic and social status, so that they are compatible with the more developed countries. In order to improve the European Unions economic and social status, the market has to remain its competitiveness and solidarity, meaning that if the poorer countries are less capable, they may not be able to survive or improve their economy, but financially and socially fail. The Regional Policy helps improve the smaller bits of the member states in regional scale to make better environment for the future stronger economy of the cou ntries and strengthen their conditions, so that they will be able to compete in the domestic and international market, improve their social and economic situations and also those of the Union as a whole. References Regional Policy, 2009. Regional Policy. European Commission. [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/history/index_en.htm [Accessed 20 March 2010]. The EU`s 5th Enlargement, 2004. The European Union in the World. Enlargement. [online] Available at: http://www.dellbn.ec.europa.eu/en/enlargement/index.htm [Accessed 20 March 2010]. Malais J. Haegeman, H., 2009. Analysis on the European Union Regional Policy. European Union Regional Policy. [online] Available at: http://www.iiuedu.eu/press/journals/sds/sds1_july_2008/07_SECC_03.pdf [Accessed 20 March 2010].

Human Resource Management: Attraction, Motivation, and Retention Essay

Time has changed the way organisations operate. Contemporary organisations not only need to compete for reputation and tangible organisational resources, but also participate in the ‘war for talent’ (Bartlett & Ghoshal 2002). Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002) described the ‘war for talent’ as competing for talented and skilled workers by attracting them to work for the organisation as well as retaining their loyalty. Hence, this paper will focus upon three strategies of Human Resource Management (HRM), that is, attraction, motivation, and retention. It is important to address these because many of the Human Resource (HR) activities build upon these strategies to gain competitive advantage (Jensen 2005). Organisations can win the ‘war for talent’ and hence increase their competitive advantage by creating and maintaining loyalty within organisations, albeit sometimes requiring considerable investment, effort and commitment to overcome obstacles. This discussion will also form the basis of illustrating that HRM performs more than administrative duties and plays a vital role in determining an organisation’s success. Examples of organisations’ successes in attracting, motivating, and retaining employees will be illustrated throughout the discussion. This essay concludes with an analysis of the skills HR managers need to become a strategic partner in the organisation. Competitive advantage refers to an organisation maximising its strengths as a method to compete in the marketplace (Bartlett & Ghoshal 2002). This consists of cost leadership as well as differentiation in products and services (Global Reporting Initiative 2002). In addition, an organisation achieves competitive advantage by winning the ‘war for talent’, which is the ultimat... ...anagement in Australia: Strategy, people, performance 3rd., Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill. Dowling, P.J., Festing, M. & Allen D. Engle, S., 2008. International human resource management: Managing people in a multinational context 5th., Boston: Cengage Learning. Global Reporting Initiative, 2002. Sustainability reporting guidelines. Environment. Available at: www.globalreporting.org. Holland, P., Sheehan, C. & De Cieri, H., 2007. Attracting and retaining talent: Exploring human resources development trends in Australia. Human Resource Development International, 10(3) pp. 247-262. Jeffries, F.L. & Hunte, T.L., 2004. Generations and motivation: A connection worth making. Journal of Behavioural and Applied Management, 6(1) pp. 37-70. Jensen, E., 2005. HR’ s role in helping companies achieve high performance. Employment Relations Today, 32(2) pp. 39-52.

Promote professional development Essay

Outcome 3: Be able to prepare a professional development plan 3.1 Select learning opportunities to meet development objectives and reflect personal learning style I need to ensure that my own training is up to date and current. I will source training courses and liaise with my manager to get authorisation for them. I work with my service manager to understand the organisational objectives for my role and to establish if I need training to meet these objectives. Sometimes I will only need to do some research to gain the knowledge that I need. As a trainer it is important that I attend refresher training to keep my skill up to date and in line with current legislation. We are all different and as such have preferred methods for learning new skills, by understanding the memory process we may be able to develop effective learning. The Atkinson-Schiffrin model described by Malim and Birch puts memory into 3 steps with the input of information going into the brain at level 1 which is the short-term m emory this information is then analysed and any unwanted information is discarded here. Anything your brain considers useful goes into the long-term memory where it is retained. However, if we do not recall certain information within 1-8 hours the possibility of recalling that information drops dramatically and the more time goes by without recalling it the worse chance we have of remembering it. By the time a month has gone by the information may be lost in the depths of our brain. This ‘lost’ information is not lost forever, it is possible to recall it but it may mean you will need to just relax and try and ‘clear your mind’ or it may mean you will have to read about the information again. As trainers we are not always able deliver training in a way that suits every individual. We need to understand the different methods of learning. Honey and Mumford are best known for their learning style questionnaire. This self-administered questionnaire determines your preferred learning style. The styles are: Activitists (Do) – Immerse themselves fully in new experiences; Enjoy here and now; Open minded, enthusiastic, flexible; Act first, consider consequences later; Seek to centre activity around themselves. Reflectors (Review) – Stand back and observe; Cautious, take a back seat; Collect and analyze data about experience and events, slow to reach conclusions; Use information from past,  present and immediate observations to maintain a big picture perspective. Theorists (Conclude) – Think through problems in a logical manner, value rationality and objectivity; Assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories; Disciplined, aiming to fit things into rational order; Keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and systems thinking. Pra gmatists (Plan) – Keen to put ideas, theories and techniques into practice; Search new ideas and experiment; Act quickly and confidently on ideas, gets straight to the point; Are impatient with endless discussion. 3.2 Produce a plan for own professional development, using an appropriate source of support we have a Performance and Development process (PDP). Part of this process involves setting objectives and producing a development plan for the next 12 month period. I work with the service manager to produce a development plan that reflects my personal objectives and the objectives that are set . The objectives set should be SMART: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-limited 3.3 Establish a process to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan As part of the Performance and Development Process the objectives are reviewed every quarter. If the objectives have been meet new objectives can then be set. If the objectives have not been meet then the progress is discussed, it may be decided to modify the objectives if they are no longer SMART. As managers we meet regularly with our service manager and the HR consultant. We discuss the effectiveness of the process and any improvements that could be made.

Great-Man Theory Essay

Introduction As I have read about it, a particular interest in my has been raising about the wonderful way many people has utilized their natural abilities as a medium of reunion and leadership. I found a string link between this gifts or skills these men had and their particular behavior in the time they lived. I would like to talk about the special characteristics that had to be present; more specific the building process of a divine individual, a prophet capable of guiding its people and the importance they have represented to humanity, whether realistic or not, since the theory has been around ever since. Great-Man Theory In order to get to know more about the theory of the great man, we should not ignore that this is a theory based on leadership. So, what is leadership? Scholars have defined leadership as â€Å" the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task†. To my personal beliefs, leadership is: a medium to an end, it is a very particular tool with which gifted individuals in the interpersonal field can either alone or together command, guide, and lead another group of people towards completing an established goal by cheering, supporting and setting a relation with the subordinates based on a strong dose of trustworthiness. Now, the Great-Man theory of leadership according to Winston & Patterson (2006) refers â€Å"to the idea that leaders possess innately superior qualities that distinguish them from other people, including the ability to capture the imagination and loyalty of the masses.† In other few words, that leaders are born, not made. Winston & Patterson (2006) also quote that â€Å"a leader achieves influence by humbly conveying a prophetic vision of the future† meaning that he resonates with the follower beliefs and values in such a way that the follower can understand and interpret the future into present-time action steps. According to Leadership Central (2012) Dr. Thomas Carlyle a true believer of this theory would say that â€Å"effective leaders were a package of Godly motivation and the right personality.† Under this definition, the same Dr. Thomas Carlyle, this time quoted by Lapham’s Quarterly (2012) included as great-man leaders historical characters such as â€Å"Muhammad, Shakespeare, Luther, Rousseau, and Napoleon† undoubtedly amazing leaders that shaped their time. But, other many scholars – and I think I am going to take their side – refute this theory. Although Cherry (2012) gives a different definition, and I quote â€Å"the great man theory is a conjecture aimed at explaining the history of the effect of the great born men or heroes: people of great authority, thanks to their charisma, intelligence and wisdom have used their power in such a way as to leave a decisive historical impact† there is a powerful contradictory hypothesis quoted by Leadership Central (2012) in which they say â€Å"Herbert Spencer one the most forceful critics of the theory explains that the great-man theory is a nativist hypothesis of leadership† and in this approach, leaders cannot be made, but just born. Of course, the leader nativism is highly refutable, cultural skills are by definition highly refutable and acquirable only through human interaction and an environment conducive to the transmission of knowledge. Leadership Central (2012) focuses in that â€Å"many factors in life shape the individual’s skills to lead† and I believe their in the right position, since leaders are a product of society, which means leaders are shaped by the time they live in and not the way around. Let’s take another example of a another so called â€Å"great-man’ leader. This time we have John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a famous character not only in his home country, but around the globe. His incredible abilities as a leader are not put in doubt, though the fact that he was this good just because he was born that way for sure are. Although factors such as â€Å"your up-bringing, education, experiences are only modeling your leadership abilities† says Lapham’s Quarterly (2012), a person’s background and circumstances may have influenced what they are, it is only in their hands the responsibility of what they want to be. Other examples to refute this nativism theory are Stephen R. Covey’s paradigms shifts and rescripting. Since a paradigm is the way an individual perceives, understands, and interprets the surrounding world, â€Å"a paradigm shift is a change in thinking when we gain additional insight and understandings† (Covey, 1989). Anything could influence the way a individual thinks, and this individual could perform a rescripting process, proving that a person does not have to be born with superior skills to acquire a leader scheme, but he can obtain them throughout lived experiences. Cherry (2012) explains that the term â€Å"Great Man† was used â€Å"because, at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership†. To make it clear, this leadership theory leaves behind women despite they could have innate abilities (I’m not saying this is the only ability they have) which is the basis of the â€Å"great-man† theory. For example, we have had great women capable of leading people, on the one hand the ex-prime minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher also known as the â€Å"Iron Lady† which is the longest-serving British prime minister of the last century. We also find Oprah Winfrey, who not only is one of the most richest women in the world, but named also as the most influential women in it. So, was Dr. Carlyle in the right position, or is it the time he lived that did not allow women to arise as great leaders? Earlier when I gave my own definition of leadership and said that leadership is a matter of persons who can either alone or together exercise their leadership skills, I knew it was not only me, it results that Winston & Patterson (2006) think similar to me, since they say that â€Å"leadership may be provided by a group of persons†. Having said that, we can now refute another focus of this great-man theory concentrated in that leadership â€Å"can only be exercised by one person, the great man† (Cawthon, 1996). While some might say this is true, because most of companies, countries, or firms have one person as it’s head leader, well this is true. But, let’s face it there can not be more than one president in a nation, there can not be more than one president in a firm o company. Although there is the board of directors, which is the group in charge of every decision the company should take. All in all, yes, according to Cherry (2012) â€Å"you can find more individuals as leaders than groups as leaders†, but that does not mean, groups don’t exist, to the contrary, they exist more than ever, and a good example of that is the music group â€Å"The Beatles† which you can say was the most influential band of the last century leading into a simple cause millions of people. You can find also groups leading millions of people to manifest against the violation of human rights, more recently the group called Invisible Children Inc. who â€Å"only employs 43 people but with its movement has encouraged thousands more† to spread the word about Joseph Kony’s crimes (ICU, 2012). â€Å"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has† (Mead, 1970). I completely agree with Cawthon (1996) when he says that many people, of course â€Å"scoff at the theory, because it is anecdotal and unscientific†. At the end, the great-man theory does not have any credibility, because even though the ability to lead is directly linked to one’s personality, the belief that leaders are born and not made finds no veracity. In our times, it is meaningless to think of it as a viable explanation for a person’s skills in guiding, since it’s been proved that the this theory popularized in the 1840’s but suggested much earlier, only took into consideration men born in a social status that would allow them to lead regardless of their abilities, from there the hypothesis of the innate leader. Nowadays that particular matter has been changed, since a person’s background is not judged but instead their ability to be a leader is highly paid. As Cawthon (1996) says â€Å"Individuals in every society posses different degrees of energy, moral force and intelligence, and in whatever direction the masses might be influenced to go, they are always led by the superior few†. In the managerial world, Winston & Patterson (2006) say â€Å"a growing number of leaders from different parts of the world are being formed† so do not let people fool you when they say someone was born to be a leader, because given today’s uncertainty many so called traditional leaders are being superseded by those with best abilities to manage people. So, you better base your leadership skills in what you have learned, most importantly in what you truly are and let other people influence you before you can exercise a bigger influence on them, because leadership is doing the right things. Do not ever live upon other’s expectations, you are what you choose to be, for that, being a leader is not being born a leader living what others have scripted, but rescripting your life and forging yourself through stimulating yourself from experiences and knowledge acquired in life. After all If your actions inspire others to learn more, dream more, become more and do more, you are a leader. REFERENCES Cawthon, D.L (1996). Leadership: The great man theory revisited. Business Horizons, 39(3), 1-4. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from Academic Search Premiere. Cherry, K. (2012). The great man theory of leadership. Journal of Effective Management, 3(2), 10-17. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from Academic Search Premiere. Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. Provo: Free Press. Invisible Children (2012). More about us. Retrieved April 14, 2012, from www.invisiblechildren.com Lapham’s Quarterly. (2012). Great man theory. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/voices-in-time/great-man-theory.php Leadership Central. (2012). Great man theory. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from www.leadership-central.com Mead, M. (1970). Culture and commitment. San Francisco: Natural History Press. Winston, B. & Patterson, K. (2006). An integrative definition of leadership. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 1(2), 7-14. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from Academic Search Premiere.