Features of Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Features of Gender Inequality in the Workplace Introduction Over the recent few years, world has witnessed biggest recession in almost a century. Thus, its clear that its recovery would among other measures; require best of talent, ideologies and innovation. It is thus; more essential than earlier for nations and companies to pay attention to one of the basic cornerstones of economic development to them which is the skills and talent of their female human resources. From being customers to voters, employees and employers, women play an important part of the global economic recovery. Even as, it is not just limited to financial and economic system which is requirement of restructuring, rethinking and reforming. Women make up of almost half the population and without their engagement, empowerment and involvement one cannot expect to efficiently meet these recent challenges nor attain rapid economic recovery. The global gap between men and women still persists as there is still a lot of efforts to be taken in terms of education, health, legislat ions and politics before women can be able counted in power with men. With the help of Global Gender Gap Reports, for the last four years, the World Economic Forum has been able to quantify magnitude of gender-based disparities and has been tracking its progress over the years. This report has provided a comprehensive framework for being able to benchmark global gender gaps. It reveals that the countries which are role models who have effectively divided resources between women and men. According to Global Gender GAP report till date, some of the multi-stakeholder communities of very influential leaders comprising of 50% women and 50% men from politics, business, academia, media and civil society have mutually recognized the largest gaps in every region have committed to improve and enhance use of female talent through their strategies. Every individual in the organization has collectively agreed to empower women, developing globally replicable frameworks and bridging the gap in the world and achieving gender parity. There are different views and perspectives through gender empowerment and equality is an important issue to be addressed to economically and optimally utilize human resources. From values and social justice point of view, empowerment of women and providing them with equal rights and opportunities for fulfillment of their capabilities has been due for a long time. From the business, economic and competitiveness point of view, aiming at gender parity is an essential requirement for progress. Measuring the Global Gender Gap The World Economic Forum introduced Global Gender Gap Index in the year 2006 which is framework to capture the magnitude and scope of gender based disparities and to constantly track the progress. This index is a standard for national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health based criteria and offers individual nation rankings which provide efficient comparisons across regions in the world. The main focus of the rankings is creating awareness amongst the people across the globe of the challenges posed due to gender gaps and chances created by decreasing them. It is a straightforward method and quantitative analysis behind the rankings which serve as a base for designing efficient measures to decrease gender gaps. Basically there are three concepts which underline the Global Gender Gap Index. Firstly, it concentrates on measurement of gaps instead of levels. Secondly, it captures gaps in terms of outcome variables instead of gaps in means or input variables. Thirdly, i t ranks individual country as per the gender equality instead of womens empowerment. Gaps vs. Levels The Gap index is designed to quantify gender-related gaps in access to resources and opportunities in individual nations instead of the actual levels of available resources and opportunities in those nations. The index is constructed to rank nations on their gender gaps and not on the development levels. Rich nations have more opportunities in terms of education and health for the society but it does not relate to gender-related issues being faced by every nation at their individual level of income. Outcomes vs. Means The second fundamental concept which underlies the Global Gender Gap Index is that it accesses nations based upon the outcome variables instead of their input measures. The main focus of the index is a snapshot of where a man and woman stand in respect to some basic outcome variables associated to fundamental rights like health, education, economic participation and political empowerment. Gender equality vs. Womens empowerment The third feature of the gap index is that the ranking of nations is in accordance to their propinquity to gender equality instead of womens empowerment. The main focus here is on whether the gap between women and men in the selected variables is declined, rather than whether women are winning battle of sexes. Gender Inequality at workplace The most prevalent issue being faced among the UK workforce is inequality in the workplace since the beginning of the 21st century. Women have remained well below men in the terms of income due to latent prejudices related to sexuality in the modern British workplace, leading to major hurdle to greater political and cultural integration of the society. Companies today have to adhere to the most relevant legislation for the development of their business and for the society on the whole. The public sector is able to depend on the Government for funding while private sector businesses have no such kind of fiscal safety and are aware that their profit and loss are totally dependent on their optimal utilization of resources which include human resources as well. The most significant indicator of a countrys competitiveness is in its human talent which includes the skills, education and productivity of its workforce. Similar is the case in terms of a company wherein the employees talent is their pillar. In most of the developed world, women currently account for over half of the college and university graduates and in a lot of emerging economies, gender gaps in higher education decreasing at a fast rate. Women therefore consist of an impressive portion of the talent pool available to businesses presently. Over a period of time, a countrys competitiveness greatly depends on whether and to what extent the female talent is utilized. To maximize its effectiveness and competitiveness and development potential, every company must to strive to achieve gender equality which means give the women employees same rights, responsibility and pay as the men for the same work. The government plays a vital role in helping to create the correct environment for enhancing womens economic participation, especially through flexible maternity leave policies and childcare provision. Also, it is of primary importance for companies to create ecosystems where the best talent including male and female can flourish. The subsequent examination into inequality at workplace should essentially adopt dualistic approach, by tracing both cause and effect of the issues of workplace gender inequality. This would involve comprehensive analysis of legislation, most suitable practice and human resources. Human Resource managers have become to comply within new legislations which prevent any kind of discrimination of the basis of gender discrimination which include Equal Pay Act, 1970. Equal Pay Act 1970 The Equal Pay Act, 1970 refers that people must be paid equally or same regardless of their gender. It means an employee cannot be paid less than somebody else of the opposite sex for doing: The same work or identical work (legally known as like work. Different work which is of equal worth to the employer (also known as work of equal value) Pay Discrimination at Workplace There are many ways in which pay discrimination can take place, examples of this include: Women being appointed on lower pay rate than her male counterparts. Women on maternity leave are not given bonus received by other employees. Womens jobs are offered different job titles and grades in comparison to men doing similar type of work. Part-time employees, generally women, have no holiday or sick pay entitlements. Major companies across globe are recognizing the needs to identify potential and capabilities of women and are coming forward with equal opportunities at workplace to ensure this gender gap reduces across the globe. It is the need of the hour for Human Resource Managers to identify and recognize talents and skills based on capability of the individual irrespective of the gender for long term growth and development of the company. With a number of laws and legislations allowing women to have equal opportunities at the workplace, Human Resources managers in the companies must respect and comply within the rules framework to enhance the goodwill of the company. Goodwill of the company plays an essential role in the development of the business in the society and any kind of negative publicity such gender discrimination would lead to the downfall of its market value. Thus, most of the companies are becoming socially responsible to ensure their reputation and goodwill is maintained in the corporate world. To illustrate, some policies companies have undertaken to promote equal opportunities for its staff let us briefly look at Marks and Spencers company policies. The company policy of Equal treatment for everyone states to encourage a working environment free from any kind of discrimination, victimization and harassment; making sure that everybody receives equal treatment in every aspect of employment policies and practices irrespective of their gender, age, marital status or hours of work; employing a workforce that reflects a diverse community serving and maximizing personal and commercial opportunities; constantly monitoring and reporting the composition of the Companys workforce and reviewing changes in attitude and implementation of Company policy and finally complying within the framework of legislation and rules of the government. Conclusion Women are a major part of the human resource of an economy and a company and thus their empowerment and development is essential for the development of the economy. Several studies have confirmed that decreasing gender inequality improves productivity and economic development and that the economic advantages of reducing back barriers to womens engagement in the workforce could be substantial. To illustrate, according to a research conducted recently, decreasing the male-female employment gap will have tremendous economic implications for developed economies boosting US GDP by about 9%, eurozone GDP by 13% and Japanese GDP by 16%. Decreasing the gender inequality in these nations could also play a vital role in addressing the future issues posed due to ageing population and increasing pension burdens. This means that companies would benefit from successfully integrating the female half of the available talent across their internal leadership structures. The studies which explored this aspect have displayed a positive correlation among gender diversity on top leadership teams and a companys financial results. However, regardless of increasing evidence in relation to the significance of womens economic integration and even when the global economys dependence on knowledge industries and skillful workers increases, there still a lot of significant gaps in the job opportunities available to women and in regards to wages paid to women compared with the male colleagues. Talent and human capital are the essentials for economic growth and development and business leaders and policymakers should ensure that any kind of barriers to womens entry to the mainstream workforce are eradicated and that equal chance and opportunity rising to positions of leadership are offered within the companies. They are important factors for determining that companies and economy on the whole is utilizing its existing resources in most efficient and effective manner and also encouraging flow of talent in the future as well.

Divisional Hurdle Rates – Randolph Corporation

Introduction The Randolph Corporation is a multidivisional producer of electric sanders, sandpaper, industrial grinders and sharpeners, and coated ceramics. The Corporation also has a real estate development division. The diverse product lines of the company divide the corporation into four divisions, namely, real estate, ceramic coatings, equipment manufacturing and home products. The Randolph Corporation Stock performed below expectations recently, when compared to other player in the industry. The company’s main problem is believed to lie in the financial planning processes and in the risk consideration.To tackle these problems the assistant to the firm’s vice president suggests a target capital structure of 45% debt in every division and differing hurdle rated for low, average, and high risk projects. This paper critically reviews the different suggested measures and finally proposes measures that should be taken to improve the performance of the Randolph Corporatio n. Divisional Hurdle Rates To estimate the hurdle rates for every division of the Randolph Corporation that weighted average cost of capital (WACC) have to be calculated for every division. To apply the formula of the WACC the costs of equity have to be known.The cost of equity can be determined through the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). The results for every division’s equity cost and the computation of the hurdle rates can be seen in the Appendix. The divisions with higher risk have higher weighted average cost of capital. WACC/Hurdle Rate Real Estate9. 19% Ceramic Coatings10. 24% Equipment Manufacturing10. 55% Home Products9. 34% Fig. 1: Hurdle rate per division To account for different levels of risks between the company’s projects the assistant of the vice president suggested an inclusion of different levels of risk within every division’s capital budgeting procedure.Managers in the divisions are asked to classify projects as high, average or low risk. Rather risky projects will hereafter be evaluated at a hurdle rate of 1. 2 multiplied by the divisional rate, projects of average risk are to be evaluated at just the divisional rate while low risk projects have a hurdle rate of 0. 9 multiplied by the divisional rate. This produced the following rates, as shown in figure 2. WACC/Hurdle Rate Low RiskAverage RiskHigh Risk Real Estate8. 27%9. 19%11. 02% Ceramic Coatings9. 22%10. 24%12. 29% Equipment Manufacturing9. 49%10. 55%12. 66% Home Products8. 0%9. 34%11. 20% Fig. 2: Hurdle rate per division and risk level At this time the risk adjustment factors discussed here must be reviewed with a critical eye. Accoring to Brigham & Daves (2007), there is no theory that could serve as a foundation of justification for the size these risk-adjustment factors. The authors say that there is no specific value that can be assigned to accurately adjust for the risk and therefore determine higher or lower discount rates. Corporate Beta & Cost of Capi tal Taking a weighted average of the four divisional betas gives the overall corporate beta.The corporate beta is therefore affected by changes of the divisional weights and by changes of the individual beta of the particular divisions. The two following scenarios will illustrate this issue. The Corporate beta increases if the ceramic coating division had a large number of projects with returns exceeding the risk adjusted hurdle rates. When the growth rate of the coatings division surpasses the overall corporate growth rate the division’s assets and thereby its weight will increase moving the corporate beta closer to the beta of the ceramic coatings division.Since the cost of equity rise with increases of beta, the larger corporate beta should also raise the corporate cost of capital (WACC). How strong such changes are to be is however determined by capital structure and weights on other departments. The corporate beta also increases when the equipment manufacturing division makes heavy investments in projects that are deemed to be more risky than average. Investments in risky projects in the division would raise the division’s beta and could then eventually also increase the overall corporate beta, which lets the overall cost of capital rise.It can take some time for the effects of the risky investments to really be visible in the corporate beta. When this happens depends on the analysis frequencies and on the methods that are employed for beta estimation. It can take time until analysts notice the change in the corporate risk profile because they first need to see the higher volatility of returns of the company. Capital Structure Mrs Barbara Kravitz states to use the corporate target capital structure of 45 percent debt for each division.Hence, this unique capital structure implies not to account for different application and management in the several divisions. Moreover, some divisions can be threatened not being competitive in their market. T his is, because divisions operate in diverse markets with differing market conditions. So the risks are not assigned to the divisions of the company but to the corporate average. For instance, low-risk divisions have to accept higher a higher cost of capital, whereby high-risk divisions have to pay less for their risk relative to the market, i. . this approach does not account for risk-adjusted cost of capital. Considering another approach, divisions can issue their own debt, but the corporation guarantees the divisional debt. It is not a great difference to the Kravitz-approach. When the corporation guarantees the divisional debt, this debt can be supposed as to â€Å"as-if†-debt, i. e. divisional debt will be issued as if it would be issued by the whole corporation. Therefore, the capital structure is not as equal as with the above mentioned approach, but quite similar.There is no big difference in the cost of capital for each division, because they do not bear the risk. Co st of capital depends on who bears the risk. Hence, the divisions’ costs of capital are very close to each other. But when each division is handled as an own and independent organization that rises its own debt, the cost of capital only depends on this special risk of the underlying division. In this case the divisions have the opportunity to achieve the optimal capital structure based on the risk of the division. This risk can be called as stand-alone risk and the beta coefficient can easily be calculated.Concerning stand-alone risk, investors may have a higher risk relative to the approach with corporate guarantees, but the division has to pay a higher WACC as well. Beta Value – Market Risk Analysis The outcome of beta estimation is always the historical beta, which offers no future perspective for sure. That is because past events included in the historical beta must not occur in the future. According to Brigham & Daves (2007), beta usually can be estimated through the relationship of company’s stock returns and market returns.Difficulties in estimating beta can arise, if there are differing holding periods and variations in the number of observations included in the estimation. Another problem is the multitude of indexes that represent the similar or quite the same stocks, for example S&P 500 or Wilshire 5000. Despite these indexes are highly correlated, beta estimations can differ. Some modifications of the beta coefficient are the adjusted beta and the fundamental beta. The former tries to transform the historical beta closer to an average beta of 1. 0.The latter seeks to incorporate information concerning the company to achieve a better estimate for beta. Moreover, beta values out of less-developed financial markets are not good estimates and therefore partly biased. Problems in estimating beta for divisions of a corporations could arise if the divisions are too small and therefore can be compared with less-developed financial marke ts. Hence, beta coefficients could be biased (Brigham & Daves, 2007). Thus we can suggest that beta values are very inconsistent and partly biased. Beta Value – Total Risk AnalysisFirst, the beta value is known as an estimation for the market risk a corporation is faced to. Therefore, it is difficult to find beta for the total risk of the corporation. Total risk is actually measured by the variance or the standard deviation, respectively. So, if one tries to find beta for total risk, it is also possible to calculate the WACC or the hurdle rates for each division, respectively, because there is a high correlation between divisional betas and project’s betas. The latter can be estimated through a Monte Carlo analysis.The resulting estimates for the variance of the projects can be included in the following formula for beta: ? _i=(? _i/? _M )*? _iM So one gets different beta values for different projects, with what it is possible to calculate the hurdle rates in two steps. First step is to insert the beta in the CAPM to receive the expected return, and second, to calculate the WACC with the new return (Brigham & Daves, 2007). Compensation Plan Randolph’s compensation plan cannot work out very well, because the corporation issues a uniform debt ratio in its capital structure.Therefore, some divisions cannot compete with other business rivals if there are no opportunities to raise the debt ratio for the division. That is, divisional manager are not able to compete with the market and therefore cannot create a high growth in sales or earnings. As the reaction of Debra Brown from the Real Estate Division has shown, this division faces troubles if the debt ratio of 45 percent will be implemented to the corporation. The problem is the unique capital structure for the whole corporation that is not consistent with the incentive-based compensation plan.Some divisions that do not need a high debt ratio to compete with the market could have a benefit as well as divisional managers will have an advantage to earn more relative to other divisions. So, Randolph should change its capital budgeting procedure in order to enable divisional managers the issuing of debt on their own. With this approach, some interdependences in the corporation would disappear and the divisional managers could concentrate on their division, while not being limited in doing their job. Additional to that, Randolph should also adjust its compensation plan, because division’s ROE strongly varies among the divisions.That is, because with the new implemented approach in capital budgeting the divisions face differing target capital structures. Thus, they also have differing opportunities to achieve a high or a low ROE. This incentive could be substituted by return on investment (ROI). Divisional managers now have a higher incentive to seek the goals given by the senior management. Conclusion To come to an end, one can see how differing hurdle rates and diffic ulties in estimating beta coefficient can lead to problems in capital budgeting as well as disparities in the compensation.Moreover, also the accounting for different risks can influence the calculations for WACC and therefore the hurdle rates. Some approaches cannot be calculated and are based on individual judgments (high/low risk hurdle rates). Finally, an appropriate incentive-based compensation plan can increase manager’s motivation on the one hand, and project management or divisional management, respectively, on the other hand. ? Reference List Bringham, E. , & Daves, P. (2007). Intermediate Financial Management. 9th Edition, Thomson South-Western. Mason Ohio Divisional Hurdle Rates. (1994). Randolph Corporation . The Dryden Press.

Audience, Anaylsis and Reception

Knowing the audience that you are presenting in front of is as important to knowing what you will be talking about. Most individuals are prepared with notes and other Items to help them stay on topic and well informed on the subject they are presenting on. Knowing the audience will let you know how detailed of a report you will have to write, if it is for the boss, they might except information on the topic, how the topic can be improve business, how Is this different from other organizations, the finances on how much it will take to get down.Yet If It Is for your fellow employees, they might Just want to know more Information on the topic and how It will Improve the business. Having an Idea of the audience that will be reading your report as an example like corporate executives or special guests that might be Glenn feedback on the report Is Important also. These Individuals might have specific knowledge on the topic and their research and analysis might be expected In the report and management might except feedback from them about the report.They might also except acknowledgment in the report on the Information you gotten from their research and/ or previous analysis. These potential understanding can help make a smoother report on the presenters part because they will know more of what to except after the report is read. And if these needs are not might more than likely management will look for a revised report with more specifics, management might want to let you go based on a bad report.If I had to write a report at my workplace I old know that my boss and her husband are difficult individuals to satisfy, I would have to make sure to provide as much details as possible on the subject, where I obtained the information, how credible are those resources and how will this improve their business with the finance numbers on how much will it take to get done. If the needs were not might with my report, management will except from me to improve upon what I already wrote; taking the feedback given to me or they will let me go based on a poor report on a topic that is in my Job description.

A Midsummer Nights Dream And Richard II Vs Othello Essay

This paper will examine the treatment of women in William Shakespeare’s one or two plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II vs Othello. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, we encounter four main female characters who come from three different backgrounds. It is a play that shows a good picture of woman’s lack of freedom. It is a story of several couples about of which there is a fairy king, Oberon, who proves his dominion over the queen of the fairies. There was a conflict between Oberon and Titania about who should keep the Indian child, whose mother had died recently. Titania does not want to give the child up but Oberon wants to make him a servant. Ultimately, Oberon wins by using a trick on Titania, revealing his weakness. Shakespeare†¦show more content†¦He treats her as if she is property and not his own flesh and blood. Hermia demonstrates her strength because she repeatedly refuses her father’s pleas and Theseus as well. In this play , Helena, Hermia, and Hippolyta are women residing in the Athenian society. Hermia, is in love with Lysander and runs away. Hippolyta is captured by King Theseus and forced to marry him. Helena is desperately in love with Demetrius, who does not like her back. Hippolyta is to marry Theseus, you can say she represents the leadership in the mortal world. Titania is another leading character who is the queen of the fairy land. Hermia and Helena represent young women who are trying to find the right partner for themselves. Othello serves as an example to demonstrate the expectations of the Elizabethan society patriarchal society, the practice of privileges in patriarchal marriages, and the suppression and restriction of femininity. There were only three women in Othello. Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca: the way that these women behave and conduct themselves is undeniably linked to the moral expectations of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan society and to the patriarchal Venetian society that he creates. He viewed women as possessions. For example, Othello speaks to his ensign Iago, describing him as a man of â€Å"honesty and trust†, in forming the Duke that â€Å"To his conveyance I assign my wife† (I.3.283) (TNS, 2014). Desdemona is treated as his possession; he implies that she is a