Economic analysis report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic analysis report - Essay Example Also, that loan would enable citizens to access insurance services such as natural disasters and health facilities as a way of reducing their vulnerabilities towards risks. The financial system of Indonesia is dominated by banking institutions. As such, only a few people access credit services from those institutions. From this point of view, the loan from World Bank would promote non-banking financial sectors like mutual funds, pension funds and insurance services which have little or no financial barriers for the middle and poor members of the society. As such, it becomes apparent that the World Banks loan targeted the middle and poor members of the society, mainly to boost their lifestyles through empowering them financially. Achieving such a goal is possible through facilitating such less fortunate groups with easy access to cheap credit facilities and providing them with insurance services to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities faced by these young investors. The loan offered by the World Bank to the Government of Indonesia was vital to the government’s effort in maintaining its financial stability, improving financial management and preventing a financial crisis in the country. Another purpose of the loan was to promote the development of the micro-financing sector and non-banking institutions. As a fact, the micro-financing sector of Indonesia is still underdeveloped; thus with the signing of the loan from the World Bank, this sector would be among the primary targets for development as it helps a lot in protecting millions of families who live below the poverty line. Precisely, the World Bank funding would guard such families against hardships like unexpected natural disasters and deaths. Secondly, the loan would be used in addressing one of the financial goals being set by the government of Indonesia (World Bank

Economics of Multinational Enterprise Assignment

Economics of Multinational Enterprise - Assignment Example One of the ways of addressing the risks is by use of operational hedging. This entails introducing a significant degree of flexible in the main operations of a firm. These include the supply chain, channels of distribution, financial positions, and marketing activities (Aghion et al 35). The objective of this strategy is to create adaptable operations that can rapidly respond to any change in the currency movement. This ensures that the fluctuations that may affect the revenues and the costs are offset. Firms can increase their profits by hedging by adopting various strategies. First, they can source materials thus lowering the costs of transportation resulting in increased profits. Another imperative way that the MNEs can adopt is the use of currency invoicing. This implies that the firm can choose a particular denomination that ensures the firm's prices, as well as those of the competitors, are affected by the exchange rate in the same way. This implies that for any firm to retain a competitive position in the market and attain sustainable profits, it can price its products using a volatile currency as long as the competitors use the same price. According to Grassman’s Law, MNEs should use a vehicle currency by considering their stability, low transaction cost, and liquidity. Based on the three aspects, the US dollar has been used as a vehicle currency for a long time by most of Multinational Enterprises. In their efforts to enter the emerging economies, the majority of MNEs undergo challenges that are associated with the legal process, legislative issues as well as technological factors. As a result, the investment flows from the rich countries to the poor countries are adversely affected. However, by initiating strategic economic policies, the investment flows can have similar effects to those of the free trade. One of the strategies that the host countries should emulate is to ensure that the home currency does not depreciate.

Crossing Cultures; The Eruption of Rock'n Roll Essay

Crossing Cultures; The Eruption of Rock'n Roll - Essay Example Husbands went to work. Woman stayed home with the children. Children went to school and hoped to either be the quarterback or homecoming queen. It was the ideal interpretation of white middle class suburbia; a very orderly and conservative time. IT was, also, a time of segregation, racial tension, and a need for boiling social change just under the surface. â€Å"Rock ‘n’ Roll was everything that the 1950s suburbia was not.† ("America Rocks and Rolls") Needless to say, parents were shocked when they heard the â€Å"new† music that their children were listening to. Despite some popular ideas that rock ‘n’ roll just suddenly appeared onto the scene is hardly true, †It came about gradually over time through many cultural and musical influences.† (Garafalo, and Bowman) The origins can be traced to rhythm and blues, jazz, country, zydeco, latin elements all mixed together. In cities like New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cincinnati is where the seeds had first taking root. As great artists like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Little Richard were already bringing these inspirational beats and amplified instrumentation to audiences. This â€Å"black† music was spreading quickly and the sounds were attracting white teens. â€Å"Children were moving to a new beat.† ("America Rocks and Rolls") However, due to racial issues these talented artists were not getting the airplay they needed to be recognized beyond local circles. Record producers were seeing the potential of this â€Å"new† music and its obvious growing popularity. They hoped that by recording white performers covering the works of the black performers would make it more marketable. This was a failure. These hired performers had thinned out and softened the feeling and passion of the songs that had made them so inspiring to begin with. It was a not until a white southern boy, with good looks, a soulful sound, and gyrating hips became the â€Å"new† face that would popularize the

Risk management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Risk management - Research Paper Example nstance are events that create potential threats and uncertainty to an organizational priority, while at the same time tainting the overall reputation, image and identity of that organization. Communication crises, on the other hand involve the visual, written, printed or verbal interaction that an organization has with the target audience probable after the occurrence of a crisis. Crisis management, therefore, is a process that involves a company dealing with certain critical events and uncertainties that threaten to harm or disrupt the organizational working course, the public and the company’s stakeholders. Crisis management is a practise that begun in early 1980s after several multinational companies encountered defining moments that led to several business closures worldwide. In public relations, crisis management plays a fundamental role. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the management of crisis by identifying the different types of crises that may befall a company. Crises are disasters that characterize the actual cause of operational difficulty in an organization. A number of types of disasters or crises are possible in several industries (Ushanov, 2010). Natural disasters are caused by exceptional natural conditions like floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, poverty, and storms. Technological crisis arise from human activities concerning scientific application s that may be faulty. Unlike in the natural disasters, it is possible to hold individuals accountable for technological mishaps. Organizational crisis are those that involve disorganization in the organizational workplace, commonly arising from deception, misconduct and inappropriate managerial skills. Other types of crisis include the rumours, confrontational crisis, terrorist attacks and violence in the workplace. It is extremely hazardous for companies to overlook the possibilities of crisis befalling their organization. The uncertainties and threats that

Organ Donation Essay Example for Free

Organ Donation Essay Many citizens constantly see television shows and media that negatively portray organ donation. One prime example comes from the new hit series, Nip Tuck. Nip Tuck has a storyline built around this image of beauty through plastic surgery while working with an underground kidney market. Many patients in this show wind up being murdered in some cruel intentional way just for a single kidney. Not only does this pull negativity to organ transplants already but someone watching also has to fear the person in need of that organ. Majority of the time Nip Tuck has wealthy, well connected businessmen who need the transplants. Symbolizing any type of authority figure with the power to take a life can begin to inflict a slight amount of oppression through the viewer’s mind. With Organ donation becoming thrown into this light constantly people willing to give donated organs to citizens of need has drastically begun to decrease. More Americans are becoming obsessed with living longer and experiencing more, ignoring the basic side effects of their actions and soon needing some form of organ donated. This growth in exploration has created a large demand for many of these operations, shoes that simply cannot be filled. Organ donation serves three main positive purposes, Scientific Studies, Medical transplants, and Hope. While many might not know a multi-organ procedure is possible many of the same failures an individual could have in their heart, could be linked to the trouble in their kidneys and surprisingly the procedure is relatively common. With a single organ donation there is always the risk of the individual’s body’s rejection of this new article. Now if we introduce two different organs in one operation, the odds Allee 2  of a body rejecting at least one of the organs grow drastically. This adds multiple different stresses on the body not only because of the two separate procedures but as well as on the inside as the body tries to become familiar  with these new tools. Studies show that clinical data on all episodes of treated rejection from a multi-organ transplant out of 56 patients; â€Å"48% of these patients have had no rejection in either organ, 27% experienced heart rejection alone, 14% experienced kidney rejection alone, and 11% had both heart and kidney allograft rejection†( pg. 861-867). Of course there are other factors that play into these tests such as age or condition of other organs but the main outlier in this study was actually the severity of any surgery. Many would look at these percentages in the study as a negative outcome. What wasn’t stated earlier about this experiment was that all 48% of the successful transplants were heart and kidney transplants. The other 52% that had trouble with the new organs were simply because of the isolated heart transplant procedure. This procedure allows for scarce to no mistakes throughout the entire process because of the preciseness. The argument is then discredited because of the relationships with many other surgeries because of the high risk factors. Technological advances are constantly erupting in the medical field from surgery techniques to the basic procedures and listed instructions being taught to the successors of the current medical staffs. The process of organ donation is only increasing in effectiveness and soon will become a large industry in the economic jungle, as of now organ donation may still be a recalled toy in some cases but the kinks are all becoming smooth and positively functional. Constantly refuted is the health and disease control of most transplant procedures which can contain a plethora of viruses. Facts show that a patient receiving a solid organ transplant was 10 times more likely to become infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease 15 years ago. New advancements and studies have designed an antivirus treatment that is over 95% successful at containing and illuminating CMV within six to twelve months. The patient will receive doses of antiviral prophylaxis either orally or by injection consistently for several months. As the patient shows progress and recovery the dosage is steadily decreased until the body becomes completely self-sufficient. Putting the disease concern to rest another opposition of organ transplants can come in the form of broken or fractured bones. When an individual  receives a transplant the bone structure around the area can become under pressure from the swelling organ trying to recover. A study was conducted in 1994 and scientists were shocked to find â€Å"fracture incidence was 13 times higher than expected in male heart recipients age 45–64 years; nearly 5 times higher in male kidney recipients age 25–44 and age 45–64 years; and 18 times and 34 times higher in female kidney recipients age 25–44 years and 45–64 years compared with NHIS data† (Department of Medicine, 1999). The study was taken from six hundred patients and out of those six hundred fifty six individuals had fractures during their recoveries. Another aspect in the recovery process is the fact that the patient’s body will be weak and low on nutrients due to the lack of food intake and nutrients. The longer a person’s recovery period the more likely he or she could develop weak muscle tissue, and bone structure leading to more incidents. The care programs developed in this day and age not only surpass any rehabilitation abilities from 1994. Now treatment not only includes multiple vitamin and nutritional supplements but also multiple electrostatic treatments specifically designed to work an individual’s muscle structure. This will provide motion and a large supply of blood flowing to the area or muscle needing the extra work. As the muscle structure improves a patient’s bone structure becomes stabilized and reinforced leaving the entire patients system in close to complete health. Organ donation has also been studied from multiple perspectives of the patient and donor. Scientists first wondered the thought process an individual went through to part with his or her organ. One would expect that a person about to go through this procedure would look for some knowledge or research before relinquishing their organ. A study found that not only did the majority of organ donors not have any factual information about their procedure from previous classes or events but the donors also had done absolutely no research on the topic. This showed the scientists that there was no apparent cognitive thought process for committing this act. Most of the studied donors discovered a sense of satisfaction after the procedure simply from the knowledge that they could have possibly saved a life. Another angle taken by scientists was more  direct towards the patient receiving the organ. UNOS is a private, nonprofit organization that coordinates the nation’s organ transplant system under contract with the federal government. In the year 2000, more than 5,500 Americans died awaiting transplants, and in the U.S., there are currently over 80,000 people awaiting transplants. Having abundance in patients waiting for an organ and the shortage in supply majority of the organs received are from people who have passed away and donated their bodies to science. Although a donor can survive his or her life even after giving up a Kidney, portions of the liver, skin bone marrow few individuals are willing to take this risk only increasing this shortage. Every 10 minutes, a new person is added to the organ transplant waiting list. When a patient receives an organ the family gains an immediate boost of moral and hope. The placebo affect organizes in full force when it comes to surgery. Knowledge alone can give the patient enough to fight and continue the upward rise to recovery. Ninety percent of Americans have openly stated that they are for organ donation. Life changes are difficult to make. Organ transplantation includes plenty of these changes in order for recovery and success. In the end change is for the better. Organ transplantation calls for a healthier diet and slowly working into exercise practices. Any patient will gain from this in the process and the new organ or area from the surgery will not be the only part of their body positively affected by this change. Organ donation is a necessary medical implement and there will always be a need as long as the technology keeps its firm grasp on the medical society. If the organization UNOS does not remain in supply and continue helping save lives many more lives will be lost. Not from loss in supply of the organs but more so from underground procedures. One example of this is constantly seen in Mexico. There was a woman who had needed some cash so she decided to donate a kidney. This individual was told no passport or information would be necessary and that she would simply take a bus to a small Mexican border town then be brought back. Border patrol intercepted a woman being forcibly taken across the border, found in the vehicle was a complete surgical kit, a  single shovel, and a large trash bag. Not only would this individual have never seen another day of life and laughter but this would just be the beginning if organ donation ceased to exist. Eliminating these organ transplant foundations would introduce patients to multiple diseases, possible contamination, and worst of all death from incorrect practice. All of the information only points to a positive present for organ transplants. As long as citizens see the dire need for support and donors, soon organ transplantation will have a successful future, full of keeping both hop es and dreams alive. Works Cited Abecassis M, Adams M, Adams P, et al. Consensus statement on the live organ donor. JAMA 2000;284:2919-2926 Bredehorn T. et al. (2002), â€Å"Questioning the relatives for organ and tissue donation,â€Å" Transplantation proceedings 34(6):2353-4. DiSalvo, Thomas. Clinical Transplantation: Williams Wilkins 1997, 27 March Volume 63 – Issue 6 pg. 861-867, Ed Lovern, â€Å"HHS launches bid for organ donations,† Modern Healthcare, 23 April 2001, 21. Lock M., Schmidt V.-H. (2003), â€Å"Twice dead: organ transplant and the reinvention of death,† Asian journal of social science (31)1:137-41. Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) National Waiting List, as of 2 August 2002. Available: http://www.unos.org/frame_Default.asp?Category=Newsdata. Accessed 8 August 2002. Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Carlos V. Paya, Div. of Infectious Diseases, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905 ([emailprotected]) U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Organ Donation: Donate Life, â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions.† Available at http://www.organdonor.gov/faq.html. Accessed 08/08/2002.

Case Study Of Mobilink Management Essay

Case Study Of Mobilink Management Essay The running title of the study is primarily outlined as Impact of Training and Development on Employee Performance and the Organisation A Case Study of MOBILINK. In depth, the research will focus on how training and development affects the performance of both employee and the Organisation. Employees are progressively stipulating change, preferences, flexibility, and variety in their work; suggesting that with the de-layering of organizations and  empowerment  of individual employees, the future for both the organization and the individual employee depends not in the promotion to the successively higher levels, but rather in developing the value of the individual as human capital (Seidler, 1996). The value of human capital is improved by achievement of higher performance potential such as new tasks, functions, and KSAPs (knowledge, skills, abilities, personal attributes) (McGregor, 1988). The paper discusses in detail the research proposal of the topic. Training and Development (TD) basically deals with the acquisition of understanding, knowledge, techniques and practice. In this research proposal, the background and problem of the study are presented; the objectives of the study are originated. Here, crucial concepts, questions, theory and assumption are stated. Finally, the methodology to be used is defined. Research Problem: The key problem that will be discussed in this study is how TD affects the performance of both employees and the Organisation. The following research problems will be discussed in the course of the study. Discussion of the Employee Training and Development in MOBILINK. i.e. in what specific ways does TD improve the performance of the staff and organisation. Discussion about other supportive elements or approaches that enhance the Training and development requirements according to the globalisation. Conclude the effects as much as the benefits that the employee can get and the positive return for the business in carrying out of training and development. Furthermore, following will be the sub questions of the problem; To evaluate need and importance of Training and Development in the organization. To evaluate how Training and Development works, functions and processes in MONILINK. To investigate the new methods and techniques in Training and Development and their exploitation in the commercial sector. To gain more information about the business of Telecom sector at a large level corporation spanning multiple geographical locations in multiple countries. To become good introduction of my university in the commercial sector and open up doors for career in the T D field in the long term in the future. I will use the case study method that will permit my study to observe, evaluate and formulate its own analysis concerning to the subject of training and development. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the study is to simply establish the sound answer on the effects of the training and development on employees and the organisation. The research particularly looks at the employee training and development pattern within the  Organisation and their positive return to the business. Moreover, the study offer discussions made by other authors concerning with the employee training and development. The study believes that training has a big relationship on the level of understanding, knowledge, and skill of an employee. In other way, the training also creates a big advantage for the organization in their incorporation that can be admitted as part of the organizational system. In addition, the training can comes in different forms and should not be stick in one training strategy or techniques for there are many reasons that might trigger to its development. Objectives of the Study: The key objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of Training and Development at MOBILINK. In the literature of employee training and development, human resource is the utmost source of the development of a business. In the same way, it is essential to study the current practices in the company training and development that are meant to contribute to the improvement of the employees skills and organisational performance.   To deal with this objective, I will conduct a survey on the new employees views of their training under Mobilink. Moreover, the survey intended to find out if new employees were satisfied with their jobs in their first month in the company. In addition, management personnel will be interviewed to evaluate their views on constructive employee training and development patterns and on employee retention and attrition. Literature Review: Training and development is essential to organizations which seek to gain a competitive advantage through a highly skilled and flexible workforce, and are seen as a major element to high productivity and quality performance. A skilled workforce can increase productivity by producing a higher level of work with greater value. The organisations seek to ensure the availability of reliable workforce to aid in the realisation of its strategic business plan. To achieve this goal, the company should train and development career (Wilson, 2005). It is worth noting that different companies have different approaches to their business. Further, education seems to be the same for the students of the same profession. This has the indication that the ultimate skills and experience enjoyed by the employee reflects their training in a particular organisation (Wilson 2005,p.102).Employee engagement practices are instrumental in promoting employee commitment to the mission and objectives of an organisa tion. According to the principles of effective human resource management, training and Development of employees is one of the reliable tools of ensuring their satisfaction at the workplace (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2009). This is due to the fact that training eliminates the demoralisation aspects brought by failure to efficiently realise ones expectations at the workplace. In addition, training gives employees an opportunity to achieve their professional career goals while earning a living. All these are important are important in meeting the social and economic responsibilities of both the individual and the organisation.Training and career development serves the important role of strengthening the reputation of an organisation. Reputation remains the best marketing tool for the products and services of any business. On the other side, the reputation of a company is defined by the effectiveness and reliability of its services to the customers (Aidele 2009, p.76). This means tha t an organisation should have in place a strong workforce to meet its market demands. This calls for engaging in employee training and career development since such is vital tools in promoting innovative solving of problems. Still, providing training and development gives the organisation the competitive advantage of identifying the best talent for its workforce as it eliminates certification qualifications to engage in seeking actual capabilities of its employees. Business leaders are always looking forward for the success of the organization and therefore, they should create a kind of strategy that can undergo the midst of challenges (Meek, 2007). Historically, the training suggests that there are benefits that the training might deliver in the entire organization. One predictable result is the improvement in the level of performance of the people. Another is the minimization of the organizational cost and the capacity of the employees to answer the consumer needs (Shea, 2008). Many people have seen Training and Development as inseparable but according to the report ,Developing the Developers by Megginson Pedler (1991) its been shown that most managers viewed Training Development as different and wanted to keep them as two separate terms. This report made the following definition; Training: The relatively systematic attempt to transfer knowledge or skills from one who knows to one who does not know. Development: Working with individuals or organisation to enable them to cross a threshold which has qualitative significance to them and their life. The significance of employee training and development has long been recognized as a critical matter for businesses (Ford et al., 1997).There are many elements involve in perusing the training and development in an organization. In organizational view, the active employee involvement and training is considered as one of the strategic concerns of the organizational leaders. Organizations personalized different training and development processes and procedures that can achieve the best result in the businesss sustainability. People, as the key for the organization, are the main target of the training therefore the training among the business leader help them to provide the valid reason in creating the appropriate decision for the entire organization and have a great impact on their managerial skills and styles (Johnson, 2001; Farvaque, et al., 2009) Furthermore, the training and development for some business analysts were considered as a partnership or enhancing the employer-employee relationship (2009). Human capital is treated as a key to success for all industries. Human Resource Management practices play a pivotal role to gain profitability and market share that ultimately enhance the organizational performance in the long run (Qureshi, 2006). But in the current scenario, enterprises are facing problems in terms of shortage of brilliant workforce, dramatic rise in Retirements, poaching of the key people by competitors, and increasing turnover. As the business environment becomes increasingly competitive, organizations need to focus on improving all areas of their business especially human capital because the performance of the people employed has a major impact on profitability (Lloyds, 2010).It is now commonly accepted that employees construct an important cause of competitive advantage for the organisation. As a result, it is important that an organisation should adopt best TD practices to get best utilization of its employees. The above trend has point to enhanced interest in the impact of HRM on organizational performance, and a number of studies have established a positive affiliation (Gelade Iivery, 2003). Research studies have demonstrated that training has a positive influence on organizational performance. Zwick (2006) stated that increasing the training strength has an optimistic and significant effect on establishment of productivity.In the same way Bartel (1991) also demonstrated a direct and positive relationship between productivity and training program. The amount of training is an important antecedent for firms who wish to improve their productivity (Savery and Luks, 2004). But Cunha (2002) found no significance of training on organizational performance.Moreover, effective staff training and professional development can help to produce positive youth outcomes and increase retention of youth workers (Fancsali 2002, Huebner et al.2003, Astroth et al. 2004, Hartje et al. 2007).There are many models of training and development that have made greater progress into organizational settings, which have began to have a greater impact on instructional design. Specifically, Instructional Systems Design (ISD), Human Performance Technology (HPT), Performance-Based Instructional Design (PBID), and Total Quality Management (TQM), all of which originate from research in the area of organizational development. Role of Theory: Training and Development has been increasingly used in the literature as well as in the business world as a critical concept redefining the borders between business, society and the state. Extensive literature exists on the concept of TD. For the purpose of my research, I will use the theories developed about it. Methodology and Methods: Research Approach: I will get most of my research information through the books, Journals, Internet and newspaper articles. Webster and Watson (2002) states that the major contributions are likely to be in the leading journals. It can also come from some Official documents provided by the clients such as information about their system, IT infrastructure, training facilities and others. Information can also come from official policy manuals, plans and other stuff which is not confidential for the company. Research Context: My case study will be focus on MOBILINK GSM Pakistan, exploring its methodology of Training and Development to streamlining and improving the efficiency of its employee and the organisation. Given below is the brief introduction of MOBILINK and the Training and Development techniques used in the organization: MOBILINK Introduction: MOBILINK GSM (PMCL), a  subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, started its operations in Pakistan in 1994, and has become the market leader both in terms of growth and having the largest customer subscribers of over 30 millions and growing. MOBILINK is the first cellular service provider in Pakistan to operate on a 100% digital GSM technology. Currently there are about five thousand employees in Mobilink among them 500 employee are on temporary basis or outsourced. Training and Development in MOBILINK: MOBILINK mostly trains its employees by On Job Training which means that the employees are trained as they perform their jobs and along with their duties. The manager or supervisor guides them how to perform their jobs and guides them about the effectiveness in the work. Internees are trained in various departments and then mostly hired by Mobilink itself and their training is basically teaching them the ropes and the basics of everything. On a general basis the training done in Mobilink can be divided into two categories: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Soft skill training à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Technical Training Graham Burke, One of the the President PMCL Mobilink, said ; Mobilink will offer proper training plans to its employees in order to make them more reactive to their responsibilities Sampling Plan: Sampling involves taking a certain number of people to get them contributed in the research by taking their views about a matter or conduction of interviews about the topic under research. To add to emphasis to the studys purpose to analyse respondents opinion, interviews will be conducted from relevant persons in Mobilink. Data Acquisition Method: Primary data will be collected by adopting a qualitative approach by taking different focus groups, this will provide insight and inform the interview process (Threlfall, 1999; Gilbert,2008). To add to emphasis to the studys purpose to analyse respondents opinion, interviews will be conducted from relevant persons in Mobilink, for this purpose I will spent about 6-8 weeks in Pakistan(My home country) in order to get my required data. I will conduct structured interviews from some of the employees in Mobilink.Interviews will be recorded. Observation sheet will be filled by the researcher during the interview whereas some of the modifications will be made if necessary to explore a particular issue irrelevant to Training Development. Project Planning: Time Scales: The part of the research dealing with data collection from secondary sources will take approximately 4-6 weeks. Compiling and analysing of data collected from interviews and observations will take 6-8 weeks approximately. Final research will provide the study hypothesis in 6-12 weeks approximately. Critical Success Factor: Broad level of secondary data on the subject of Training and Development will significantly satisfy the objectives of the study. In broader sense, good knowledge of their systems, their facilities and their performance improvement plans and there success in the failure in the achievement of objectives will be a major success factor in the research. Cost Implications: It will work not too cost effective. The main reasons behind the cost saving is that I already had a plan to go to Pakistan during my holidays and Mobilinks one of the main office exists in Lahore, Pakistan which is my hometown. Most of the offices from where I am planning to collect data are located in the walking distance or close proximity. This will save me cost of fare, or overnight stay which I may have had to face if the locations were away. To get users input, recording equipment will be used to record their responses, although it will cost a one time expense of purchase of equipment, but it will save cost of stationary and printing and paper cost that would incur if responses are collected on printed questionnaire or survey forms. Ethical Issues: There can be ethical issues around the data collection and use of data for research given that organizations provide access to their information which be sometimes beneficial for their competitors to give them undue advantage. However I will manage secrecy of the information I will obtain during and after the completion of the research. All other ethical standards will be followed during the research to gain information from company or its employees. The challenges expected to be faced are lack of trust on person from outside the organization in providing information. I will use top-down approach to overcome this issue. I will take management in confidence and agree them to share information with me that will take away a number of resistances from lower staff. Although I will keep good terms and deal nicely with all staff regardless of their ranks, still having management on my back will open up several doors for me which otherwise would proof difficult to open.

Women In The Workforce Sociology Essay

Women In The Workforce Sociology Essay It has been argued that, women have been excluded from the study of work, and that, when they are studied, the analysis has often been distorted by sexist assumptions (Acker, 1977; Acker and Van Houten, 1974; Brown, 1976; Kanter, 1975, 1977; Oakley, 1974). Prior to the industrial revolution, the family economy operated as a cohesive unit; typically all family members, regardless of age or gender, were engaged in productive labour (Tilly and Scott, 1978). Given gendered expectations, along with a gendered opportunity structure (Browne and England, 1997), we, therefore, assume that Women would benefit from arrangements providing the most family-related resources and Supports in terms of both economic capital (e.g. income, security) and social capital (e.g. less time on the job, a supportive supervisor). Wethington and Kessler (1989) found women with high employment commitments were more vulnerable to distress (see also Mirowsky, 1996). Nowadays women have more freedom in choosing the path for their future and they may decide whether or not to combine career with having children. Womens increased share of the labour force has prompted businesses to respond to their family needs by providing flexitime, or flexible work schedules (Wiatrowski, 1990). Bergmann 1986 highlights that middle class women are having fewer children; their labour force participation is now less responsive to their position in the family cycle. In fact as stated by Robinson, 1988 Women still do much more housework and family care than men, but the hours women spend performing these duties have been declining, particularly among younger women. The entrance of women of all ages into the labour force in the second half of the twentieth century has created another period of structural lag (Moen and Yu, 2000). However although there has been effort done to increase diversity, female employees still face the glass ceiling when it comes to the top management jobs. The glass ceiling is according to Maume,2004 a failure of women or a certain minority groups in climbing up the corporate ladder, despite seeing the top jobs but still not reaching them due to the discriminatory barriers. The expectations from the womens family and from the society may sometimes affect the decisions of women in their career objectives which may act as a barrier. The society sometimes treats women differently. Sometimes often careers are cut short because of for instance maternity leave which takes women out of the workplace for months at a time where the company needs to move on. However, over the last years there was a change in the perspective that women are not as effective as men and this was highlighted in the Economist Men -Tomorrows second sex. A One Chief Executive Officer of a large Mauritian multi-national stated recently: Women have done really well here and moved on. Ive never come across sexist views. There are some really good assertive women role models here. Women want to progress and peoples attitudes have changed. Women in hospitality Woods and Viehland (2000) found that although practitioners and researchers were concerned with females status in hotel management, only a few empirical studies examined this topic. Whether the issue has been scrupulously studied or not, relevant literature clarified that it was widely debated (Mann and Seacord, 2003; Del Sesto, 1993). In UK, the tourism sector was one of the area where there was the fastest growth and in the 80s three quarter of this growth was womens who were the most represented mainly in partime jobs ,insecure, low status and clerical post. Recent years have seen an emergence of studies that explore mobility, the role of women in the labor force and the expansion of the internationally hospitality workforce (Baum et al,2007 ; Devin,Baum,Hearns,Devine2007a,2007b;MatthewRuhs,2007).Today tourism presents both the opportunities and challenges for gender equality and womens empowerment. (Global report on women in tourism 2010). Females contribute a significant proportion of the labor force in several countries awareness of the factors and the constraints that might affect their participation is increasingly required for their managers ( Burrel et al, 1997). The participation and involvement of women in tourism sector is being encouraged and womens participation has increased directly and indirectly in tourism industry also Boxall and Purcell,2003 states that the career ladder within hotels is predicated on the conventional employment models of continuous employment and linear progression. (Bagulley, 1990, Hicks 1990; Jordon 1997 ; Wood 1992) Identify that the tourism and hospitality sectors are dominated by women and managed by men; in fact it is very common as the service sector is largely populated by women and they are more present especially at the lower level. Women are important to the hospitality labour market ( Doherty 1997). In many of the literature review it has been observed and declared by many authors that women are key participants in the tourism labour market ( Ashley,Roe and Goodwin 2001;Jameison 2003) ,although there is a belief that women tend to be disadvantaged in this sector as few women occupy the senior executive positions and those that do receive less pay ( Iverson,2000 ; Jordon 1997 ; Ng and Pine 2003 ; Skalpe,2007; Zhong and Couch,2007). However, we can put forward assertion was that girls are now outperforming boys at every level in school and closing the gap at university level. Women in fact predominate in the growing service sector, while men are trapped in declining heavy industries the sugar industry is an example (In Mauritius) and that employed men are no longer attractive marriage partners. (Tulsidas Naraidoo, 2011) It has been found that women are more likely to fill part time roles , 54% of female working in the sector work part time, compared to 46% of man-according to women case for change-executive summary 2010. Beyond the rapidly increasing numbers of female entering the workplace (Mc Dougal Briley 1994), we cannot neglect womens contribution in tourism development as for instance nowadays the proportion of women graduated in the sector is increasing at a rapid rate. Women are acknowledged as key participants in the tourism labor market (Ashley, Roe and Goodwin 2001; Jamieson 2003). According to Kate Purcell the womens jobs fall predominantly three categories: Contingently- gendered jobs which happen to be mainly done by women but for which the demand for labour is gender-neutral. Women work in such jobs as a result of employers pursuit of economic advantage rather than gendered preferences; they want cheap workers, and women particularly, married women seeking part time work have historically been available for employment for lower average rates of pay than men; partly reflecting their status as component rather than breadwinner. Crompton and Sanderson[8, pp. 155-8] sextyped jobs, where sexuality or other attributes assumed to be sex-related are explicit or implicit parts of the job specification In the hospitality industry it is a clichà © that the right kind of personality is a more important employment prerequisite than formal qualifications[13,14]. Where Filbys[16] finding that personality tends to be used as a synonym for sexual attractiveness and/or gender-specific tacit skills and attributes. He was told by a male manager he interviewed that recruitment of female staff was informed by a height for weight principle It has been noted that for some front house jobs it is essential to have a certain type of woman which, when pressed, he defined as ideally between 21 and 26, with long legs and a good figure. This is because the the customers expect it. This remark was highlighted by many other authors as Adkins [17, p. 109]). Patriarchally-prescribed jobs where patriarchal practice determines and prescribes appropriate job incumbency. Patriarchal prescriptions, though, is a distinct and equally powerful tendency, deriving from largely unarticulated understandings that male dominance in the home and in the public sphere and womens dependency are normal and that these norms derive from natural differences between the sexes. Bell and Newby have identified that there is thee is the deferential dialect between male and female often, as reinforcing womens economic dependency on men by providing opportunities for component waged jobs[10] which the HCTC[3, p. 37] note, without irony, appeal to women who wish to combine the opportunity to earn an income with their domestic responsibilities. The more higher level and very well paid the post is, the more likely it will be filled by a man, even though , women may be greater in number in the industry. Gender roles play a great role for womens low involvement in direct tourism business in one hand and on the other hand many employers of this sector think that women cannot continue the job due to their social and biological reproductive responsibilities. Such attitude of the employers about women may be due to the discriminative nature of the patriarchal system of the society. Tourism provides good opportunities for female employees contribution and participation in the tourism employment. Womens entrepreneurship as well as their leadership is important. Female employee in the tourism sector earn low pay and they are sometimes under utilised and under represented. However tourism offers positive pathways to the female success in tourism. The global report on women in tourism 2010 by UNWTO and UNIFEM (now UN Women) findings were as follows: 1. Women make up a large proportion of the formal tourism workforce. 2. Women are well represented in service and clerical level jobs but poorly represented at professional levels. 3. Women in tourism are typically earning 10% to 15% less than their male counterparts. 4. The tourism sector has almost twice as many women employers as other sectors. 5. One in five tourism ministers worldwide are women. 6. Women make up a much higher proportion of own-account workers in tourism than in other sectors. 7. A large amount of unpaid work is being carried out by women in family tourism businesses. Research indicates that religion, culture, and society can influence womens employment (Constance 2005; Feldmann 2007; Foroutan 2008; Read and Oselin 2008; Read 2004) and also a good example is in the context of Malaysia, Amin and Alam (2008) also found that religion significantly influenced a womans decision regarding employment. However religion may not be the only factor discouraging women of working in hotels but also poor employee facilities and the absence of childcare facilities available in the country (Dayal and Didi 2001). 2.2.1 Women contribution to the hospitality industry Women are acknowledged as key participants in the tourism labor market(Ashley, Roe and Goodwin 2001; Jamieson 2003). The tourism sector is very labour intensive; it provides different jobs opportunities from high skilled jobs to unskilled jobs. However Women are often concentrated in low status, low paid and precarious jobs in tourism industry as quoted in the global report on women in tourism 2010. According to Garavan etal., 2006;Woods and Viehland, 2000, senior managers are predominantly male; women middle managers are in housekeeping, front desk, personnel and training and conference and banqueting, whereas male managers are in finance and control, property and security and purchasing the latter more likely to lead to the general managers job also as stated in the report of the fifth UNWTO international conference on tourism statistics the apparent rate of women in the sector seems also to be related to the cultural issues, especially for employment in housekeeping, laundry, food preparation, guest services and so on. Many countries have a high presence of the feminine labour force in tourism t his is because of the high demand of unqualified workers, especially for young women. Initially in the other hand females describe themselves much less satisfied than males in the hospitality sector. In America more than 50 % of the people who are employed in the tourism sector are women. According to Edgell, one in every fifteen people all over the world is employed in tourism sector and half of them are women. In the third world women constitute the basement of employment in tourism sector because they may work part-time, seasonally and without full salary. However, the industry plays a very important role for the education and independence of women. Since tourism is a hospitality industry, the role of women is looked upon as significant and the trend of women participation is considerably increased since the mid of 70s. According to World Tourism Organization, in tourism business 51 percent are women (MOT/UNDP, 2006). Barriers face by female employees in hotels Even though women are important for the tourism sector, barriers to the advancement of female employees continue to persist; literature has singled out societys stereotypes and prejudices against women in positions of power (Catalyst, 2002, 2005). In fact a number of possible barriers to womens career advancement have been identified (Brownell 1993), including: the glass ceiling based on gender discrimination lack of role models an absence of mentoring opportunities exclusion from informal networks gender discrimination and sexual harassment (Knutson and Schmigdall, 1999) From Richard Martell and Christopher Parker view it is stereotype which acts as a major barrier to women, they stated that women lack characteristics most needed to succeed and consequently were often judged to be less qualified than men. However from the executive summary of the case for change: Women working in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism 2010, identify five other key barriers which according to them appear to be most significant in preventing women advancement to senior roles in the sector: the difficulty of combining work at senior roles with caring responsibilities a dominant masculine organisational culture preconceptions and gender bias lack of networking and exclusion from informal networks of communication Lack of visible women in senior positions. What can be noted is that all the authors writings upon the barriers that stop women advancements are quite the same basically. It resemble in the sense that for example the lack of example of women at senior post, the stereotype at work or even the lack of networking. There is a serious need today to establish what kinds of work women may perform and if there are any barriers to their full integration and to identify policies and practices which might be helpful for employers who wished to make better use of their female workforce. (Tulsidas Naraidoo, 2011). ). However Woods and Kavanaugh (1994) according to whom gender discrimination was an invisible barrier that kept women from reaching top positions in many management circles There are other barriers identified also for instance: Other authors have cited the old boy network (Brownell, 1994a; Diaz and Umbreit, 1995); Women may have to work twice as hard and do twice as good a job in order to warrant a promotion (Brownell, 1994b, Gregg and Johnson, 1996). Moreover Sekam 2000 sited that for family reason as well as organisational demands become to both working women and their organisation that fail to tap the full potential of experienced women thereby becoming less productive themselves. Family constraints is another barrier that women can faced it can be perceived ad a function of a females commitment to and actual involvement in duties associated with parental ,marital and homemaker roles on one hand and the amount of support she receives from her spouses and relatives on the other ( Chin-Ching 1992).Sometimes in some countries in hotel industry part-time or of informal work is the flexibility it can give to women who may be required to spend more time wo rking in the home (with family or care responsibilities). (ILO report). On the other hand some research indicates that religion, culture, and society can influence womens employment (Constance 2005; Feldmann 2007; Foroutan 2008; Read and Oselin 2008; Read 2004). 2.3.1 Segregation in the hospitality industry The theories of occupational segregation on womens employment were first presented in depth by Hakim (1992). In fact the tourism industry has shown a wide adoption of segregational occupation (Crompton and Sunderson 1990). In the industry women frequently carry out the most undesirable and lowest status work ( Adid and Guerrier 2003; Korczynski 2002) Many authors have identified the factors which contribute to the professional marginalisation of women. The interlinked factors include gender stereotyping ( Heilman,2001) ; a lack a role model , mentors and peers for women in the workplace ( Noe,1988) and the glass ceiling ( Davidson and Cooper,1992; Reich 1995). Problems of gender domination include women workers crowded into a narrow range of jobs, lack opportunities for promotion and development and insufficient opportunity to develop a broad range of skills (Gardner and Plamer 1997; Haganand Jensen 1998). The Global report on women in tourism 2010, states that gender stereotyping and discrimination means that women mainly tend to perform job such as cooking, cleaning and hospitality. Vertical and Horizontal sex segregation has been shown to exist in the hotel industry ( Ludkins 1999). As in most organisations and occupations, there are male and female occupational groups vertically and horizontally segregated throughout large hospitality organizations and hotels themselves, reflecting economic and power differences. Many studies of gender segregation have focused on international country comparisons (Jensen et al., 1988, OECD, 1999) and industry and cross sectoral comparisons (Game and Pringle, 1983; Pringle, 1988). Segregation by gender results in individual costs to women workers in terms of narrower range of employment choices and opportunities along with lower pay but there are also broader economic and social costs. It is contended that gender segregation of the workforce inhibits flexibility in responding to pressures of structural adjustments and prevents expanding national skills bases resulting in a less competitive economy. (OECD, 1991) The sexual division of labour resulting in the domination of industry sectors, organisations and professional by one gender is argued to be a major factor shaping workplace relations. (Game and Pringle, 1983; Burton, 1991) In general, gender inequality in the labour market is closely connected to educational and professional, both vertical and horizontal, segregation. The labour market is divided into womens jobs and mens jobs, and women find it hard to access managerial posts. (HCT ILO REPORT). Stockdale (1991, p.57) has defined occupational sex segregation as existing where the jobs, that women do are different from those done by men ( horizontal segregation) and women work at lower levels than men in the occupational hierarchy ( vertical segregation). It is still the case that relatively few women achieve management roles in the service areas and as a consequence few make to general management positions. This segregation within the management ranks impacts adversely on the pay of women managers and their influence in this field. Tulsidas Naraidoo, 2011. 2.3.2 Sexual issues in hotels. Urrys[18] observation that such the service and commercial industry involve the sale of an experience, where the quality of the social interaction, including the visual presentation of interactive service workers, is an intrinsic part of the service itself. If women are routinely seen as (indeed, employed as) sex objects, what implications does this have for their career development opportunities, as individuals and as a category? Interactive service jobs in hospitality, tourism and leisure, exemplify occupations where gender (and indeed, sexuality) are explicit aspects of the job. In fact tourism is associated with freedom and relaxation that have traditionally been visualized in marketing and PR with images of attractive young women. (HCT ILO REPORT). Woods and Cavanaugh (1999) stated that almost one-quarter of both males and females agreed that most women in the hospitality industry had been subjected to sexual harassment at work. The ILO report that women are, more often than men , faced with precarious types of jobs, violence at work, stress and sexual harassment. It is a fact that when working in the hotel industry the service worker must be socially attractive and friendly with the customer . An author even gave an example of a young girl who was told on starting waitress to wear her skirt as short she would feel comfortable. The main characteristics of the sexual issues are obviously the sexual harassment on the place of work that is at the hotels. Woods and Kavanagh (1994) found that hospitality managers perceive sexual harassment to be pervasive within the industry.In many customer contact roles in the service sector, sexiness is a part of the role itself, the job flirt is encouraged as a part of the service style (Hall, 1993) and there may be a thin line between selling the service and selling sexuality. The hospitality industry can be susceptible of having incidents odf sexual harassment due to the ambiguity of hospitality service , that is , the odd working hours as well as the conditions of work. 2.3.3 The gender role stereotyping perspective in hotels. Stockdale (1991, p.57) assumption about the segregation and stereotype the assumption that people in particular jobs and the jobs themselves have the characteristics of only one gender. Women in the hospitality industry are widely employed in subordinate jobs for their nurturing and/or sexual attributes. Moreover differential treatment of women has been reported in recruitment, pay and career development prospects (Brown, 1979). The reason for the different treatment is the gender role stereotyping perspective. In fact women have been socialized to adopt attitudes and behavior that are in conflict with the demands of a successful managerial career (Schein, 1973, 1975; Terborg, 1977). Sinclair (1997) found that women have been excluded from some occupations within the tourism industry due to traditional ideologies of gender and social sexuality which is very stereotyped. Stereotyping can have negative impacts to womens advancement in the workplace, since negative stereotypes of women influence how their workers perceive them, how their other colleagues perceive their work, their selection for further training and development, and finally, the rapid pace they move in their career. Athought there are such stereotyping in the industry, studies show that female students are more committed to careers in hospitality and tourism and seem to better fit success in this sector than do their male classmates and colleagues (Kuslavan and Kuslavan, 2000; Burke et al., 2008). The female employees must be able of wearing two different hats one at work and one at home 2.3.4 Breaking of the Glass Ceiling in the Hospitality industry. The term was earlier used by Morrison et al. (1987) in their fascinating book Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Can Women Reach the Top of Americas Largest Corporations? That gave new insight to the issues women face in their journey through the executive echelons of the corporate organizations and Maume 2004, stated that glass ceiling is the failure of women and other minority groups in climbing up the corporate ladder, despite seeing the top jobs, but still not reaching them due to discriminatory barriers, is what many think of as glass ceiling. There have been many studies about the breaking of glass ceiling of women in each and every industry. Cotter et al. (2001) profound description of the term as a specific form of generic inequality existing at the apex of hierarchy contradicts others (Reskin and Padavic, 2001; Maume, 2004) claiming its existence in lower levels and working class jobs. Cotter et al. (2001) three criteria for the glass ceiling occurrence suggest that it occurs when despite similar credentials women (and minorities) face barriers in their career advancements, it also occurs when due to limited promotional prospects; women are discouraged from the initial placement on the job ladder, thus raising mens numbers to survive till the top levels and lastly, while organizations may be willing to pay out high salaries to women, they still hesitate to place them in positions where they can make an impact on organizations profitability, therefore, glass ceiling is created. The glass ceiling as in every industry affected also women in the hospitality industry. It has been highlighted by many authors that the industry is a female dominated industry however it is manage by men. Among the reasons for the glass ceiling phenomenon such as the lack of role models, mentoring, networking options, and the complexities of the dual role as working woman and housekeeper (Crampton and Mishra, 1999), literature has singled out societys stereotypes and prejudices against women in positions of power (Catalyst, 2002, 2005). According to Frank (2006 do find evidence that gay/bisexual men suffer from glass ceilings comparable to those faced by heterosexual women (p. 485). Existing management resistance must be offset by the multiplier effect of more female role models advancing beyond the glass ceiling. 2.3.5 The promotion issues in hotels. Like the retail services, tourism and hospitality are sectors which are highly dominated by women however managed by men (Bagguley, 1990; Hicks, 1990; Jordon, 1997; Wood, 1992) Sometimes men get more privileged than women these differentials were reinforced by differences in fringe benefits, with men in the commercial hospitality sector significantly more likely than women to be entitled to valuable perks such as company cars, free or subsidized meals, low-cost housing, private health insurance, company share ownership schemes and product discounts. . Many authors tend to attribute the finding that males are promoted more frequently and rapidly than equally qualified females to the influence of gender based stereotypes (Owen and Todor, 1993; Cordano et al., 2002; Tomkiewicz et al., 2004). The hospitality business, therefore, provides fewer opportunities for promotion that are sufficient to meet the expectations of females (McCuddy et. al., 2010). 2.3.5.1 Women in management level in Hotels Ludking (1999) notes the lack of women in general manger positions despite the high percentage of women in college and university hospitality programs. Although women are now graduating in higher numbers than men from educational institutions (Fagenson and Jackson, 1994) and more women are entering the paid workforce (Hind and Baruch, 1997) and taking up managerial roles (Parker and Fagenson, 1994), the poor representation of women at senior management level continues. Pursuing a managerial career in every industry requires skills and competencies imparted to men as a social group. Employees and managers holding this type of stereotypic view are likely to perceive women as ineffective managers in job positions incongruent with females more traditionally passive gender role. (Schein, 1973, 1975, 1978; Rosen and Jerdee, 1974; Powell and Butterfield, 1979; Brenner et al., 1989; Schein et al., 1989; Schein and Mueller, 1992; Schein et al., 1996; Heilman et al., 1995; Powell et al., 2002). It is not hard to find in the western context where patterns of gender inequality persist in leadership positions even with womens increasing visibility in the lower echelons of management (Weyer, 2007). Ezell et al. (1981) measuring the effects of having being supervised by a woman on perceptions of female managerial competence found significant differences only in the area of the motivation of a woman to manage. In the present study, direct contact could not help in suppressing gender stereotypes. By June 1996 only three of 72 Hong Kong Hotels had female general managers (Pine 1997). Womans desire for advancement into a senior-level leadership position becomes more difficult because of the prevalent traditional role assumptions (Schaap et. al., 2008). Moreover, research conducted in the U.S.A. indicates that, even in America, a disproportionate low number of highly educated females attain executive status in the industry (Li and Leung, 2001). The career ladder within hotels is predicated on the conventional employment models of continuous employment and linear progression (Boxall and Purcell, 2003). Some literatures state that the recruitment and selection processe may not be transparent. Both may be likened to an invisible web that works against women (Green and Cassell, 1996; Lan and Wang Leung, 2001; Rees and Garnsey, 2003). 2.4.1 Harassment at work An additional negative aspects to womens work in hotels is that they are subject to high level of sexual harassment from both guests and peers due to their low status and low-educational levels ( Poulston 2008). Research by Eller (1990) clearly indicates that more men and women experience sexual harassment in the hotel industry than do individuals in society-at-large. Today in many hotels there are a high level of female employee of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. 2.5 Inequality issues in hotels. Research shows the different ways in which tourism can contribute to economic growth, poverty reduction and community development. However, less attention has been paid to the unequal ways in which the benefits of tourism are distributed between men and women, particularly in the developing world. Gladys Acosta, UN Women Director for Latin America of the newly-establish UN agency UN Women, pointed out that womens contribution to the tourism sector is often invisible. According to Purcell and Quinn (1998) that it is a fact that in the early career stages, female hospitality graduates received lower pay, fewer fringe benefits and less intrinsic job satisfaction. However Woods and Kavanaugh (1994) according to who gender discrimination was an invisible barrier that kept women from reaching top positions in many management circles. There also continues to be wide discrepancies in remuneration between the genders (MunËœ oz-Bullo ´ n 2009; Tugores 2008. The hospitality sector has an important role: it should respect the equality of men and women; they should promote human rights and more particularly the individual rights of the most vulnerable groups, notably children, the elderly, the handicapped, ethnic minorities and indigenous people. ILO report (Development and challenges in the hospitality and tourism sector 2010). Kinnaird and Hall (1994) comment that women fulfill the majority of jobs in tourism, especially those which are poorly paid, low skilled and part-time also it is to be noted that in the tourism sector unskilled or semi-skilled women tend to work in the most vulnerable jobs, where they are more likely to experience poor working conditions, inequality of opportunity and treatment, violence, exploitation, stress and sexual harassment. (ILO ) Carli and Eagly (2001) observe that, although womens status has improved remarkably in the twentieth century in many societies, women continue to lack access to power and leadership compared with men (p. 629).