Kuder and Major paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kuder and Major paper - Essay Example Workplace is extremely important to me where everyone’s views are respected with people being supportive to each other. I strongly believe that workplace must be attractive enough so that one can devote maximum time there willingly and not out of compulsion. I would like to earn prestige from my colleagues and seniors through my hard work and commitment and therefore organization should provide me enough leeway to go ahead in my chosen field. That is what precisely I mean by prestige and why it is important to me. I know that I will be able to climb higher ladders in my career path through my zeal and devotion to the work that I willingly choose. So I am not concerned about salary as much as I am bothered about my recognition in the job and that is necessary to have a sense of achievement in my life. While pursuing my high school in Qatar, I was determined to acquire a Bachelors degree from a good university in the US. The variety of subjects in my course provides me a basic and essential understanding about several important disciplines such as management, administration, finance, managerial accounts; banking, general management; knowledge of all these subjects provide me a basic platform to choose from the numerous career paths available to me. Often, I think and work innovatively too; however, I see that ‘innovation’ in work values, in Kuders assessment is registered low. As I said I would prefer to do my work independently without much of the supervision except wherever necessary. From my self-knowledge, I can state that while working at Qatar Petroleum for almost four months, I worked with my colleagues and modified ways so that the total service time to customers got reduced by 25%. I always have a feeling that my work is important to me and I see myself as an important link in the whole chain of process to accomplish a given task. I do recognize that my inefficiency will affect not only the work of others

The Addiction to Online Gaming Essay Example for Free

The Addiction to Online Gaming Essay Tragedy struck on November 20, 2001, when avid online gamer Shawn Woolley was found dead in his room. Found near his body was a . 22 caliber rifle, with his favorite game, EverQuest ® running in his computer. This instantly created the notion for Shawns mother, Elizabeth, that the reason behind her sons act of suicide was his addiction to the said game (Spain Vega, 2004). EverQuest ® has been one of the most popular â€Å"3D Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)† since its creation in 1998. Originally created by Sony Entertainment, the games popularity has broken boundaries, as it has spread not only in the United States, but all over the world as well. MMORPG is a kind of game wherein there is interaction among gamers through a virtual world (Spain Vega, 2004, p. 82). In the case of EverQuest ®, that virtual world is called â€Å"Norrath† (Spain Vega, 2004, p. 82). First, a player chooses a character, then develops its role in this said world. No one really wins in this game, as the character of the player progresses through time as it is played (Spain Vega, 2004). Jay Parker concluded that EverQuest ® is a highly addictive game. For Parker, â€Å"a chemical dependency counselor and co-founder of the Internet/Computer Addiction Services† in Washington, the game has this powerful effect on its gamers that it distorts their way of thinking, and players are somewhat pressured to play for extensive hours to be able to further develop their respective characters (Spain Vega, 2004, p. 83). However, researcher Sara Kiesler contradicted this claim and said that the gamers have their own issues, and the personality of the players themselves is the one that puts them at risk as he or she uses this as an â€Å"escape from reality† (Spain Vega, 2004, p. 83). Personally, I would go for Kieslers claim. If a gamer is diagnosed with or is likely to develop a personality disorder, a game like this may just aggravate the said disorder. Kwei-Fen Shei and Ming-Sung Cheng (2007) conducted a study that focuses on online gaming and its impact on fulfillment among adolescents. They concluded that, since gaming is highly suitable for the younger people, developers should also take into account not only the marketability of their product, but also the significance of the social aspects of psychological satisfaction that gamers can gain from the game, such as recognition and the desire for self-esteem (Kwei-Fen Ming-Sung, 2007). References Kwei-Fen, S. Ming-Sung, C. (2007). An empirical study on experiential value and lifestyles and their effects on satisfaction in adolescents: An example using online gaming. Adolescence, 42, 199-215. Spain, J. , Vega, G. (2004). Everquest ®: Entertainment or Addiction? In A. Gini A. M. Marcoux (Eds. ), Case Studies In Business Ethics, sixth Edition (pp. 81- 84). New Jersey: Pearsnon Education, Inc.

The Structure of a Financial Crisis Essay -- Economics Economy Finance

The Structure of a Financial Crisis INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The year 2001 had been unlucky for Turkey. Apart from the crisis in 1994 and November 2000, the country had to face another financial crisis, causing problems in the management of its economy. Why does a country delve deep into financial crisis? What are the possible immediate triggers for both the current and potential new crises? What precautions should be taken for the key issues like the fragility of the financial and banking system, belated reforms and privatisation, rampant corruption, exchange rate policy? And how can the governments satisfy the markets and people to undertake these reforms? The current crisis has not hit the country overnight. This article figures out the weakness of the system, years of neglect and mismanagement, possible solutions for other developing countries. One has to bear in my mind that even evaluating the aftermath of the 1994 crisis, Turkey was a rising star, with aspirations towards full membership to the European Union. Among the potential applicants of EU membership, - mostly the Transition Economies of Eastern Europe- Turkey was the mere applicant with a functioning Customs Union with the EU back in 1995. With a relatively large and dynamic market, having high hopes for rapid economic and social progress, Turkey seemed a valuable candidate for the European Integration. Now after the 2000 November and 2001 February crises, the shrinking of the economy suggests that Turkey can only catch up with the figures of year 2000, as far as the year 2004, let alone the EU membership and further growth. To indicate why such a failure has been suffered, we have to go back to the roots of mismanagement. And that begins with the problems of Privatisation practices. THE INITIATION OF PRIVATISATION Privatisation has proved to be a successful method for improving institutions and maintaining corporate efficiency all around the world. But under certain conditions either privatised firms can get into serious difficulties or delaying the privatisation programs could trigger economic crises, together with the impact caused by years of mismanagement, not undertaking the progressive reforms and corruption - as experienced in some of the transition economies of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Far East, and as is the case in this article, in Turkey THE FIRST ... ...90, January 2000, William Davidson Institute. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feldstein, Martin "Refocusing the IMF," Foreign Affairs, March/April 1998, pp. 20-33. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Harris- White, Barbara and White, Gordon (eds.), ''Liberalization and the New Corruption,'' IDS Bulletin, Vol. 27 No: 2 , 1996 †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nas, F. Tevfik and Odekon, Mehmet (eds.) '' Liberalization and the Turkish Economy'' 1988, Greenwood Publishing Group. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rittenberg, Libby, (ed.) ''The Political Economy of Turkey in the Post-Soviet Era: Going West and Looking East?'' 1998 Praeger Publishing †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shaker, Sallama State, Society and Privatisation in Turkey, 1979-1990 (Woodrow Wilson Center Special Studies)1995 Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Togan, Subidey, Balasubramanyam, V.N. (Eds.) ''The Economy of Turkey Since Liberalization,'' 1996 Palgrave Publishing. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ucer, E. Murat " Monetary Policy Practice in Turkey: From the 1994 Crisis to the Present." October 1999, mimeo, Credit Suisse First Boston, Emerging Markets Economic Research †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vishwanath, T. and Kaufmann, D. "Toward Transparency: New Approaches and their Application to Financial Markets", The World Bank Research Observer, Volume 16, No.1, Spring 2001.

Montessori Practical Life Essay

In this essay I will be discussing the importance and different aspects of the practical life area in a Montessori classroom. Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed, therefore Doctor Maria Montessori began using what she called â€Å"practical life exercises† to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt themselves in their society. Doctor Maria Montessori developed her philosophy of education based upon actual observations of children; she observed that children prefer work rather than play. It is through work that children obtain independence, order, concentration and normalization. Practical life exercises are recognized to be the heart of Montessori education. In the first six years a child becomes a full member of his or her particular culture and family group absorbing language, attitudes, manners and values of those in which he or she comes into daily contact with. Children feel comfortable and safe when they find a s ecure and lovable environment, a child develops best if they are in an environment full of affection, love, caring and support. Doctor Maria Montessori in the Absorbent Mind writes â€Å"the hands are instruments of man’s intelligence†. It is only through the practice of movement that a child can learn and develop, for this reason Doctor Maria Montessori decided to incorporate the area of practical life into her classroom as this is where the practice begins (mymontessorimoments). Through the exercises of practical life the child learns to adapt to his or her environment, learns self-control, sees themselves as part of a society and most importantly grow intellectually  through working with his or her hands and master the skills needed for his or her future. â€Å"Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements† (Montessori, 1995). There are many links between the home and the school in the area of practical life. It is the first area introduced to the child in the classroom. Maria Montessori stated â€Å"Children feel a special interest for those things already rendered to them in the earlier period† (Montessori, 1995). The activities in the classroom are familiar to the child as many of them are done at home. The child can therefore settle in easily and master the skills with confidence while learning co-ordination of movement and relate back to past experiences at home (www.montmet.co.za). In an ideal situation practical life would be located near the entrance to the classroom, as a link between home and school as well as a foundation for the curriculum. The area should be attractive containing flowers, paintings, vases etc to draw the child to the practical life area. The area of practical life assists in the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking (www.sevencounties.org). Practical life sparks respect and love for any work, helps the child to perform the activities of daily life with joy, skill, and grace through which he or she is aiming for perfection. Exercises in practical life are just that, they are exercises so the child can learn how to do living activities in a purposeful way. The purpose and aim of practical life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his or her movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his or her surroundings. It is therefore important to â€Å"Teach teaching, not correcting† (quotes/Maria_Montessori) â€Å"No one can be free unless he is independent. Therefore, the first active manifestation of the child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through the activity he may arrive at independence† (quotes/Maria_Montessori). Practical life helps the child gain control of his or her movement particularly the development of the hand`s coordination. The fine muscles coordination is linked to the child`s conceptual development. As Doctor Maria Montessori quoted †The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself (quotes/Maria_Montessori). Practical life activities help the child to gain independence and enable the child to associate his or  her own physical, psychic, and moral needs. The practical life area contains an orderly arrangement of exercises involving familiar objects and the activities of daily life. These will be things that the children have already seen their parents or family members doing that the child wishes to imitate. For example: pouring, spooning, various cleaning exercises and others. The exercises are ordered, with earlier exercises providing a foundation and all the skills needed for the more advanced activities to follow. The organisation of the area helps children feel secure, familiarize themselves in the classroom, and develop the inner order necessary for clear and rational thought. Practical life exercises fall under four basic categories: care of the person, care of the environment, analysis of movement and grace and courtesy. Grace and courtesy provides the child with the absolute basics such as rolling out a mat, sitting on a chair, and how to ask the directress for assistance while busy with another child. This foundation provides the skills in order for the child to participate in classroom life and complete each activity. Analysis of movement promotes a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem through activities that are real, precise, and practical such as spooning or pouring which encourages motor skills. Care of the person includes skills necessary for dressing independently such as zipping, buttoning, and tying. The dressing frames in the classroom provide the child the opportunity to practice these skills, the children are also encouraged to try zip, button or tie their own coats shoes etc. Care of the environment includes teaching responsibility of the world around them. The children scrub chairs, wash dishes, care for plants and help feed the animals if there are any in their environment. â€Å"Therefore, the first active manifestations of the child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through this activity he may arrive at independence† (Montessori, The advanced Montessori Method, 2010).Montessori learning environments are prepared to allow children to be socially and intellectually independent. Montessori learning materials are designed to capture the child’s interest and attention and to encourage independent use. When children work with the Montessori materials, they perfect their movements as well prepare themselves for learning educational knowledge. All exercises reflect the environment in which the child lives, all activities  use real tools and are physically proportioned in order to help the children develop their motor skills and perfect precise movements. All Montessori equipment is attractive as experiencing beauty lays the foundation of self-appreciation. All children want to be independent, as adults we become used to doing everything for them, it is hard to let go of control. But, we need to feed their desire for independence. Children learn important life skills as they handle materials in practical life. Even more important is the confidence that the child gains when he or she achieves a new goal. â€Å"Help me to do it by myself† (Montessori, Secret ofChildhood, 1996). Maria Montessori believed in educating the whole being and not just the intelligence of a child. Before the start of western education and the school system as we know it today, all children actually learnt from birth to adulthood were these same practical life activities, and this was more or less all they needed to function well in their society. The responsibility of the parent is to help the child learn about the environment, community and society they live in so that the child can grow up into a fully functional member of the community (MontessoriStudents). It is therefore important that children learn how to not only dress themselves but also how to keep their surroundings clean, how to cook and how to behave and interact with others around them. So often today you find young parents are too busy to spend adequate time with their children in order to teach them basic life skills, instead you find young parents more concerned on their child’s academic performance. The Montessori curriculum can make up for this shortfall that unfortunately occurs due to our busy lifestyles. Montessori education can ensure that the child is given the right aids to life through the practical life exercises. Bibliography (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.montmet.co.za: http://www.montmet.co.za/ (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.sevencounties.org: http://sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7923&cn=28 DevelopmentalStages/Cognitive-Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 05, 2014, from www.aboutkidshealth.ca: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/HealthAZ/DevelopmentalStages/SchoolAgeChildren/Pages/Cognitive-Development.aspx DevelopmentalStages/Social-and-Emotional-Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 04, 2014, from http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/HealthAZ/DevelopmentalStages/SchoolAgeChildren/Pages/Social-and-Emotional-Development.aspx maria_montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.brainyquote.com: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_montessori.html (1995). Montessori. (1995). In M. Montessori. (1995). Absorbent mind. In M. Montessori, Absorbent mind. Henry Holt and company. (1995). The absorbent mind. In M. Montessori, The absorbent mind. Henry Holt and company. (1996). Secret ofChildhood. In M. Montessori, Secret of childhood. New York: Ballantine Books. (2010). The advanced Montessori Method. In M. Montessori, Spontaneous activity in education (p. 118). Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson publishing company. MontessoriStudents. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.static.squarespace.com: http://static.squarespace.com/MontessoriStudents.jpg mymontessorimoments. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.mymontessorimoments.files.wordpress.com: http://mymontessorimoments.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_7100_2.jpg quotes/Maria_Montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from www.goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/34106.Maria_Montessori

Teamwork in Action

TEAMWORK IN ACTION Retail store that sells music CDs 1. In retail store that sell music CDs, the single measure best reflects the overall level of activity is Number of CDs sold. – In respect to changes in the measure of CDs sold, a variable cost is a cost that varies, in total, in direct proportion while a fixed cost remains unchanged, in total, regardless of any change. ->Examples of fixed and variable costs in respect to small changes in the measure of selling CDs: Cost| Cost behavior| | Variable| Fixed| The cost of advertising new store| | X|Number of CDs supplied| X| | The cost of renting space for store| | X| The electrical cost in store| | X| The direct labor cost| | X| The cost of delivering CDs | X| | Variable Cost Number of CDs supplied| Cost of CD| Total variable Cost – CDs| 1| 35. 000| 35. 000| 50| 35. 000| 1. 750. 000| 100| 35. 000| 3. 500. 000| Fixed Cost Monthly Labor cost| Number of CDs sold| Average cost per CD| 5. 000. 000| 20| 250. 000| 5. 000. 000| 7 0| 71. 428,6| 5. 000. 000| 150| 33. 333,3| 2. Relationship between the number of CDs sold and others: Cost| Behavior of the cost| In Total| Per Unit| Fixed cost| Total fixed cost is not affected by changed in the number of CDs sold. | Fixed cost per unit decreases as the number of CDs sold rises and increases as this number falls. | Variable cost| Total variable cost increases and decreases in proportion to changes in the number of CDs sold. | Variable cost per unit remains constant. | | | | Total cost| Increases and decreases in proportion to changes in the number of CDs sold| Average total cost per unit| Increases and decreases in proportion to changes in the number of CDs sold|

Methinks vs. I Think

Methinks vs. I Think Methinks vs. I Think Methinks vs. I Think By Maeve Maddox An archaic verb form that survives in modern speech, thanks to its presence in a well-known quotation from Hamlet, is methinks. A Google search for â€Å"methinks† brings up more than five million hits. The quotation appears in the â€Å"mousetrap scene† in Hamlet. Traveling actors are performing a play written to Hamlet’s specifications. He wants to dramatize his father’s murder and produce a guilty reaction in his stepfather. The Player Queen gives a highly charged speech about her feelings for her husband, swearing that, should he die, she will never remarry. Hamlet asks his mother, â€Å"How do you like the play?† Uncomfortable with the speech because of her own remarriage, Hamlet’s mother replies, â€Å"The lady protests too much, methinks.† Modern speakers frequently misquote the line as, â€Å"Methinks the lady doth protest too much† and seem to believe it means something like, â€Å"I think the person is trying to hide something by denying it so strongly.† Methinks is not the equivalent of â€Å"I think.† The thinks in methinks comes from the Old English verb thyncan: â€Å"to seem† or â€Å"to appear.† The think in â€Å"I think I’ll drive to Tulsa this weekend† comes from Old English thencan: â€Å"to think.† Methinks means â€Å"It seems to me.† Originally, it was spelled as two words. The me is an indirect object: â€Å"It seems to me.† Now it is spelled as one word, although some modern speakers, imagining that it means, â€Å"I think† spell it as two words. Note: Using methinks as if it meant, â€Å"I think† equates to such baby talk as â€Å"Me wants a cookie.† The past tense of methinks is methought: Methought I heard a voice cry, â€Å"Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.† –Macbeth, Act II, scene ii. Another misunderstood word in the Hamlet quotation is protest. Modern speakers interpret it to mean, â€Å"to object,† but Gertrude means it in the sense of â€Å"to promise.† She thinks the Player Queen is overdoing her promise never to remarry should her husband die: Player Queen: Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife, If once I be a widow, ever I be a wife! Paraphrase: May nothing but trouble hound my steps for the rest of my life if I ever remarry after my husband’s death. Here are a few examples of how methinks is being used on the Web: Me thinks I have the perfect frame for it. Me thinks  Im in need of some serious psychiatric help. Me thinks  you drank a wee bit too much one night. Methinks  Jay Leno Is a Closet Conservative/Libertarian. Methinks ESPN’s Chris Broussard WANTS to get fired. Because so many speakers are already confused about the proper way to use the pronouns me and I, it may be a good idea to retire the use of methinks–at least at the beginning of a sentence. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should AvoidWriting the Century10 Humorous, Derisive, or Slang Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† or â€Å"Official†

Functions of Criminal Law Essays

Functions of Criminal Law Essays Functions of Criminal Law Essay Functions of Criminal Law Essay Criminal Law: Why We Need It Jayme Cole JUS201 Criminal Law March 16, 2013 Many may wonder what is criminal law and how and why was it put in place? There have been criminals since back in biblical times and thus the start of criminal law. During this time, laws where molded from the â€Å"eye for an eye† standard and thus becoming a set of established laws. This was not literal to the eye itself but the value of an eye, in other words â€Å"value for value†. When read in context, this is a statement of the modern â€Å"rule of proportionality† standard used in our courts today. Over time criminal law has developed into five functions: maintaining order, resolving disputes, protecting individuals and property, provide for a smooth functioning society and safeguarding civil liberties. (â€Å"Functions of criminal,†) These functions touch on different aspects of life and living by setting standards. In this paper I will discuss each of these functions and the role they play in society. First, I will touch on maintaining order. This provides predictability, letting people know what to expect from others. Without this, there would be chaos and uncertainty. To maintain order we rely on the services provided by the police departments, courts, and corrections. The purpose of police is to maintain order and also provide services. They operate within a community to prevent and control crime. They also assist prosecutors in criminal investigations by gathering evidence necessary to obtain convictions in the court. The purpose of the courts is to discover the truth and seek justice accordingly using their key players being prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. : Lastly, probation, parole, jail, prison serve as correctional agencies who’s purpose it to punish, rehabilitate and ensure public safety through means of incarceration, community based programs, electric monitoring/house arrest among others. (â€Å"The structure of,†) Secondly, let’s touch on resolving disputes. The law makes it possible to resolve conflicts and disputes between quarreling citizens. By means of arbitration and/or mediation one can actually have their issue handled outside of court and be provided a peaceful and orderly way to have their grievance, such as small laims, divorce, separation, abuse, harassment, evictions, etc. , handled. (â€Å"Resolving your dispute,† 2013) While mediation is a non-bonding process that allows a neutral third-party, usually the mediator, to work with both party to assist in bringing about an agreeable settlement. The mediator carries no authority. In arbitration, the arbitrator acts more like a judge hearing t he evidence presented and making a decision that is binding to both of the parties involved. Next, we have protecting individuals and property. This protects citizens from the rebellious criminals who inflict harm on others or take their property. Many of the criminal laws are intended for those who steal and harm the physical integrity of ones body. (â€Å"Functions of criminal,†) There are numerous laws against harming or attempting to harm another by methods of battery, assault, murder, homicide, rape, and domestic violence. When it comes to ones property there are another set of criminal codes providing penalties for criminal damage, trespassing, theft, robbery, extortion, burglary, and fraud. This is only a short list of crimes that a person and/or their property are protected from. Then, providing for a smooth functioning society enables the government to collect taxes, control pollution, and accomplish other socially beneficial tasks. (â€Å"Functions of criminal,†) Criminal prosecutions punish tax law violators and deter other persons who would violate those laws. They have also enacted guidelines and penalties for industrial and commercial sources such as oil refineries, power plants, garbage dumps, automobiles, steel mills and also chemical plants such as dry cleaning and restaurant establishments, to establish a clean air policy. Finally, there is safeguarding civil liberties meaning criminal law protects an individual’s freedom to exercise one’s rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country. Examples of the civil liberties that are safeguarded are your rights under the U. S. Constitution, more specifically would be the five listed in the First Amendment; speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. (â€Å"Civil liberties and,† 2013) These guarantee that the government cannot step in and tell you what religion you have to practice, if any. You can say what you want and think how you want. Actions to some thoughts can have varied results. Overall, criminal law regulates social conduct and proscribes threatening, harming, or otherwise endangering the health, safety, and moral welfare of people. It includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. They keep things fair for all without discrimination, if something is not fair a law can always be changed by utilizing your right to vote (â€Å"Why do we,† 2011). People say at one time or another they would like have no rules (laws) to live by. Think about if we lived in a law-free nation? It would be completely chaotic, ruthless and dangerous. Society itself would break down. Now, think about all those times the police get called for fights, loud noise, unruly kids, parties, bars, shop lifting, stealing, medical emergencies the list goes on and on until you are blue in the face. The cost of everyday items would be outrageous; you think gas is high now? Most people do not realize how many laws have effect in their day to day life, just think of what you do and what you use and what law is protecting you from harms way. References Civil liberties and civil rights. (2013). Retrieved from ushistory. org/gov/10. asp Functions of criminal law. (n. d. ). Retrieved from liffsnotes. com/study_guide/Functions-of-Criminal-Law. topicArticleId-10065,articleId-9927. html Resolving your dispute out of court. (2013). Retrieved from courts. ca. gov/selfhelp-adr. htm Sterling, J. (2002). Concepts of justice past and present. Retrieved from lawandliberty. org/justice. htm The structure of criminal justice. (n. d. ). Retrieved from cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/The-Struc ture-of-Criminal-Justice. topicArticleId-10065,articleId-9908. html Why do we need laws?. (2011). Retrieved from studyzone. org/testprep/ss5/b/absofgovl. cfm

Work Smarter 2.0

Work Smarter 2.0 If you are serious about taking your writing to the next level in 2014, no doubt youve taken steps to maximize your efficiency. After all, time is money, and as Zig Ziglar said, â€Å"Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.† In the technological age, the writer is faced with a bewildering array of websites, applications, programs and tools, which all proclaim to make the process of writing or researching easier. But which ones really work? And how? 1: rescuetime.com This is most obvious place to start, an application which runs continuously in the background on your computer, tracking and logging the time you spend on different websites, or engaged in other online activities. It then gives you a report, allowing you to see where you really spend your time! 2: https://unroll.me/ A large portion of any writers day is spent wading through junk mail. This is a time-saving program that allows you to bundle up all your subscriptions into one email and unsubscribe at a click, leaving you with a daily dose of just the good stuff. 3: boomeranggmail.com/ We all forget to reply to the occasional email, sometimes losing out on a potential sale in the process. This little gem helps ensure that never happens again. It enables you organize your inbox, manage your correspondence, and set reminders. Great tool when dealing with people in different time zones. 4: alexa.com/ Many writers now write guest blogs to help build their platform. But with so many websites and blogs scrambling for content, how do you know which ones are worth investing your time in? This tool bar allows you to instantly see how many hits a site gets worldwide, and therefore gauge how popular it is in real terms. 5: http://evernote.com/ This productivity tool takes all your notes and ideas, in whatever form they may come, and collates them in one place at the touch of a button. It even records your meetings and interviews, and lets you share the files with friends or clients. 6: focusboosterapp.com/ Procrastination is the enemy of every writer. This simple desktop and web application built around a timer is specifically designed to block out any distractions and enhance your concentration levels when your back is against the wall. 7: http://mind42.com/ When used correctly, mindmapping can be a very effective technique for improving productivity. This is one of the best free apps available, helping you get more organized 8: http://getpocket.com/ Its all too easy to get distracted 9: launchy.net/ This wonderful little tool allows you to launch the files and documents you are currently working on and open selected folders and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes, saving you from having to wade through endless start menus. Its not easy being a freelance writer. Sometimes life gets in the way. But Zig Ziglar is right: We all have the same 24-hours in a day. Its how we use them that counts. Combine some of these tools with a healthy dose of dedication to make 2014 your most successful year yet.

Principles of accounting 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Principles of accounting 1 - Essay Example Recently, the standards and principles of GAAP have been transited to IFRS with the aim of having a single set of accounting principles with universal applicability. It provides the rules along with regulations in compliance with which, financial statements and reports should be prepared. The accounting standards and principles that are included in the IFRS are universally identified, which implies that every entity, on a global context, must evaluate and represent their accounting information in accordance with the determined rules and regulations of IFRS (Needles, Powers and Crosson 24-25). The essay thus intends to discuss the advantages that can be acquired from a single set of accounting principle. Moreover, the discussion henceforth reveals the disadvantages attached with multiple accounting principles on a global context. The discussion also emphasizes on detailing the accounting standards adopted by IFRS for universal applicability, further detailing the accounting principles that business units operating in United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopts. ADVANTAGES OF IFRS 3 The accounting principles and standards adopted and implemented under the GAAP form the common set of standards and principles developed for recording financial transactions and information in an appropriate manner by publicly listed companies worldwide. Additionally, ‘International Financial Reporting Standards’ (IFRS) have formulated accounting standards and principles, which are adopted as common accounting practices in all the countries. It is identified in this regard that GAAP and IFRS are two different sets in relation to accounting principles that are used in different countries. Both the GAAP and IFRS work with a common objective of guiding companies through a set of common accounting principles on a global context. The accounting principles are principally based on the notion that financial reports with common objectives act as the tool to ensure that financial informatio n are evaluated and recorded in a transparent manner. Moreover, the management team and employees of a company entrusted with the responsibility of analyzing and preparing financial reports is likely to develop accounting reports in a simple and consistent manner. The recording of financial information under a single set of accounting principles can further facilitate in providing better information to worldwide investors along with creditors so that the stakeholders are able to acquire reliable and appropriate information (Wong, â€Å"The Trend of IFRS Conversion: What you need to know about the transition from GAAP to IFRS†). It is worth mentioning in this regard that the principles of GAAP have certain rules along with regulations that lack completeness in relation to several circumstances. In this regard, a single set of accounting principles is developed by the IASB with the objective of developing a transparent procedure of recording and communicating accounting informa tion in order to minimize accounting frauds and misrepresentation of financial statement assisting users, such as the employees of companies, to obtain adequate in relation to the employment benefits they are entitled with. Furthermore, a single set of accounting standards and practices on a global context will facilitate business organizations of different countries to compare their financial performances in an impartial manner providing significant information about the performances of a company

Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Heart of Darkness - Essay Example At this point the fact to be admitted is that when Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, and even at the time presented in the story, the British colonial empire was at its zenith. It enjoyed colonies in Hong Kong, Malaya, India, and Africa. On the one hand, the work allows the reader to look into Congo through the eyes of an imperialist. For example, the very beginning of the novel points out that Thames is â€Å"a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth† (Conrad 6). Thus, some critics argue that this point itself reveals how racist Joseph Conrad is. However, the mere fact is that the novel puts forward the message that even the notion of civilization is an illusion. To illustrate: for Marlow, reaching Congo is a realization of the hollowness of his own notion of civilization. He fails to understand why the cannibals employed on his ship should not eat the other passengers (Conrad 57). Also, he feels that the cannibals possess no morality and conscience so that t hey can control their own basic animal desires. However, in the same situation, Marlow reaches the conclusion that the people along with him on the ship must not look so appetizing. It is ironic here to note that the same civilized Marlow who believes that the cannibals have no moral values proves that if he were in the position of the Africans, he would do the same, too. In other words, Conrad effectively portrays that the concept of civilization and enlightenment are rather superficial in nature. Despite the so-called civility, there is an underlying beast in humans that just comes out in the right circumstances. In other words, in the case of Marlow, the trip to Africa made him understand the basic animal-like tendencies in humans that thrive in the wild. Also, he realizes the fact that the civility the Europeans try to introduce in the wild is rather phony in nature because the cruelties of the wild are not crueler than the cruelties of imperialism. Admittedly, one cannot deny t he fact that Conrad was an imperialist. It becomes evident from the fact that Marlow is highly careful to ensure that he does not fall prey to the charms of the wild as happened to Kurtz. While Kurtz admitted the rules of the wild, Marlow is not ready to descend into that darkness. Thus, one gets the insight that instead of rejecting Western culture and ideals, the purpose of Conrad is to point out that most of the time; the Western society is not functioning in the way it is supposed to function. In other words, the Western ideals fail to perform in a more human way than the ideals of the savages. Another perfect example is the way the slaves are treated by the West. He says â€Å"they were dying slowly---it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now† (Conrad 42). Again, one has to remember the fact that Conrad resorted to such a statement at a time when imperialism was at the zenith of its power around the world. Though it is possible for critics to claim that one can find fragments of imperialist ideologies in the work of Conrad, they cannot forget the fact that Conrad expresses in clear terms as to how ones morality and conscience will condemn the savagery committed by European imperialism as much as one condemns the savagery of the wild. Here, one gains the insight that Marlow - the conscience of Conrad - is in constant conflict with the

The affect of Advertisements in print news in both online and print Research Paper

The affect of Advertisements in print news in both online and print editions - Research Paper Example Such type of advertising is highly cheap and convenient for businesses as well. Advertisements are placed in newspapers and online mediums so that it can attract a lot of consumers and spread the advertising message amongst a wide customer base so that more popularity can be gained for the product or service being advertised (Graydon 2003). Organizations know that all potential customers do not use all the mediums through which the advertising message can be available to them. Therefore the advertisers place their ads in different types of print mediums to attract maximum amount of customer. Job tenders and job offers are usually placed in the newspapers so that the business class target market can view the ads and then apply accordingly. These types of ads may not prove to be successful online as senior professionals do not use the internet to a large extent as compared to the younger generation. There are a large number of people in developed countries that use the internet and have their accounts in the various social networking sites available. Organizations use the online print mediums so that they can advertise their product and focus on their target market easily and cheaply. Latest fashion related products can be advertised on the various social networking websites and a lot of local and international customers can be attracted by this medium. Such advertising in newspapers may attract low customers but through online print medium, high amount of customers may be attracted. The advertisements that are specifically targeted towards young generation can prove to be highly successful if the online medium is used as teenagers are highly associated with the internet and may view the ads at one place or the other in the cyber world. Online medium is an excellent place to advertise all the latest fashion related products and

Analysis of treatment - Diabetic Leg Ulcers Essay

Analysis of treatment - Diabetic Leg Ulcers - Essay Example The literature review has provided information to be used in changing the present tools One of the more novel approaches to advanced treatment of the diabetic ulcer today is light therapy. In this therapy, there is a light emitting diode used (LED) and a super luminous diode (SLD) that will deliver low intensity laser light. This treatment is used in synchrony with conservative sharp debridement, offloading, bioburden management, and advanced dressings. According to Sutterfield (2008), the patients tested resulted in a healed wound in 8 weeks of treatment. During this same time period Blume, Walters, & Payne (2008) compared negative pressure wound therapy using vacuum-assisted closure with advanced moist wound therapy. This was a randomized multicenter controlled trial. There were 342 patients enrolled in this study and the mean age was 58. . Patients were randomly assigned to either the advanced moisture wound therapy or the negative pressure therapy. Evaluation of the ulcers occurred for 112 days and then they were followed for 3 to 9 months. The results showed that complete ulcer closure occurred with vacuum assisted closure 43.2% of the time and 28.9% of the time with dressing and topical. Lavery, Boulton, and Niezgoda et.al. (2007), also completed a study comparing diabetic foot ulcer outcomes from negative pressure wound therapy with historical standard ulcer care. They did this by analyzing Medicare claims data of 1,135 patients with diabetic foot ulcers that were treated with negative pressure and reviewed the results of a controlled wet to moist therapy meta-analysis that was a randomized study. Within 12 weeks, the negative pressure treatment showed significantly better results than the wet to moist dressings Further, Fernandez-Montequin, Betancourt, Leyva-Gonzalez et.al. (2009) studied the use of intralesional administration of epidermal growth factor-based formulation (Heberprot-P) in treatment of ulcers. They found that

Training and development management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Training and development management - Case Study Example Training need analysis will be extremely beneficial for the Omaha warehouse workers to meet the warehouses objectives (Jean 28). Training is a tool extremely powerful for a smooth functioning of an organization, but it is usage goes hand in hand with care in order to derive all the benefits. Here is the recommendation of performing a TNA: - First,  Learn about the proficiency and needs of each employee before the warehouse invests it effort, money and time on training. It is better for needs identification the shortcomings and needs before actually imparting training an employee (Jean 30). Secondly, Experienced and skilled trainer, who possesses an amount of understanding and knowledge that is good about objectives of an organization, the abilities of an individual and the present environment, should offer training. This will help in the improvement of the program in warehouses and plants (Jean

Analysis of treatment - Diabetic Leg Ulcers Essay

Analysis of treatment - Diabetic Leg Ulcers - Essay Example The literature review has provided information to be used in changing the present tools One of the more novel approaches to advanced treatment of the diabetic ulcer today is light therapy. In this therapy, there is a light emitting diode used (LED) and a super luminous diode (SLD) that will deliver low intensity laser light. This treatment is used in synchrony with conservative sharp debridement, offloading, bioburden management, and advanced dressings. According to Sutterfield (2008), the patients tested resulted in a healed wound in 8 weeks of treatment. During this same time period Blume, Walters, & Payne (2008) compared negative pressure wound therapy using vacuum-assisted closure with advanced moist wound therapy. This was a randomized multicenter controlled trial. There were 342 patients enrolled in this study and the mean age was 58. . Patients were randomly assigned to either the advanced moisture wound therapy or the negative pressure therapy. Evaluation of the ulcers occurred for 112 days and then they were followed for 3 to 9 months. The results showed that complete ulcer closure occurred with vacuum assisted closure 43.2% of the time and 28.9% of the time with dressing and topical. Lavery, Boulton, and Niezgoda et.al. (2007), also completed a study comparing diabetic foot ulcer outcomes from negative pressure wound therapy with historical standard ulcer care. They did this by analyzing Medicare claims data of 1,135 patients with diabetic foot ulcers that were treated with negative pressure and reviewed the results of a controlled wet to moist therapy meta-analysis that was a randomized study. Within 12 weeks, the negative pressure treatment showed significantly better results than the wet to moist dressings Further, Fernandez-Montequin, Betancourt, Leyva-Gonzalez et.al. (2009) studied the use of intralesional administration of epidermal growth factor-based formulation (Heberprot-P) in treatment of ulcers. They found that

Organizational culture and IT infrastructure in concurrence with Essay

Organizational culture and IT infrastructure in concurrence with knowledge management - Essay Example A culture does not typically change quickly, but in order to keep up with technology, an adaptable culture must be designed. In conducting the research for this paper, the focus has been placed on the following objectives: To identify and define organizational culture, IT infrastructure, and knowledge management. To create a framework of understanding on how these three aspects of an organization are effectively integrated. To conduct an analysis of these three concepts and formulate a working concept on how best to design and implement them within an organizational structure. Introduction The creation of IT infrastructure is designed to facilitate the management of knowledge in regard to how IT is implemented and in what ways the hardware and software will need to be attended. The choices that are made at this time will affect how responsibility is distributed and where responsibility will be held in regard to keeping systems up and running. Responsibility is in direct correlation t o knowledge and the level to which knowledge is managed and disseminated and can only be held when appropriate knowledge has been disseminated. Organizational culture is in direct alignment with how knowledge is managed and in how the IT infrastructure is designed in reference to its effective use. Literature Review Organizational culture is defined by Martin (2001) as a way to â€Å"explain ‘how things are done around here,’ the ways in which offices are arranged and personal items are or are not displayed, jokes people tell, the working atmosphere (hushed and luxurious or dirty and noisy), the relationships among people†¦aspects of working life† (p. 3). One of the primary factors in how a organizational culture is created is through the affect that leadership has upon the nature of the traditions, habits, and belief systems within a system. According to Schein (2004), â€Å"Culture is both a dynamic phenomenon that surrounds us at all time, being constant ly enacted and created by our interactions with others and shaped by leadership behavior, and a set of structures, routines, rules and norms that guide and constrain behavior† (p, 1). IT infrastructure is the â€Å"equipment, systems software, and services used in common across an organization regardless of mission, or project†¦the foundation on which mission, program, or project specific systems and capabilities are built† (Leonard, 2009, p. 139). Part of that structure is defined by the way in which the culture of an organization is developed and how that has influenced the management of information. In creating an IT infrastructure, an organization must also construct a way in which to manage the knowledge of its use at the various levels that this specific knowledge must be shared and integrated into formal use. According to Khosrowpour (2004), â€Å"Communication between IT and business should be pervasive throughout the organization, informal, regularly occu rring, and use rich methods such as e-mail, video-conferencing, and face-to-face†(p. 442). The report goes on to relay the idea that an important awareness has been reached about the connection between the organizational culture and the IT infrastruc

The Current Macroeconomic Situation of the US Essay Example for Free

The Current Macroeconomic Situation of the US Essay In the recent years, the US economy has gradually improved. However some areas such as the housing industry have still remained negatively affected. The following paper will discuss some of the causes that led to the crisis and what the Federal Reserve should do to address the affected areas. Introduction Despite the improvement in the US economy, there is still a decrease in interest rates, depreciation of currency and unstable markets due to fluctuations. The current debt loan of the US is also big and may lead to depression of the economy resulting in minimized growth. This is mainly caused by low interest rates which encourage borrowing for the business sector and the consumers looking for homes. In order to service these loans, the government relies on foreign aid. Current Situation The current recession and economic crisis was however majorly caused by the increase of subprime adjustable rate mortgages issued, the decrease in prime mortgages issued and the made up collaterized debt obligations. In addition, bank loans were offered to people who expected an increase in housing prices leading to their default. Moreover, supply and demand, inflation due to an increase of oil market prices which led to the increase in price of some basic commodities, money supply and GDP which influence the economy were significant causes (Tyler, 2010). Thus, the US economy is still undergoing financial crisis as a result of these decreasing interest rates hence the zero interest rate bound and the major increases in government spending. This leads to the discussion of money printing against bond financing which arises since the latter creates fears of inflation. The current situation consists of a â€Å"money multiplier† which is influenced by the ratio currency/deposits and reserved/deposits. The public is practicing the C/D more by keeping money in the mattress while the banks exhibit the R/D through their preference to cash than loans and investments. US Congress and the Federal Reserve The US congress and the federal government should improve the international market in order to improve the GDP and attract more investors. Additionally they should lower interest rates in borrowing to attract the public to buy housing units (Liu, 2010). Once, the interest rates hit zero the federal government should increase the monetary base by purchasing bonds unlimitedly since it cannot be negative. This is because highly positive interest rates rely on deflation (Lemgruber, 2008). ? List of References Lemgruber, A. C. , 2008. A Monetarist Analysis of the US Macroeconomic Situation. Emerging Markets Ecomonitor. December, 7. Liu, 2010. Feature: To End or not to End. August 15. Retrieved from Xinhuanet: http://news. xinhuanet. com/english2010/indepth/2010-08/15/c_13445774. htm on August 15, 2010. Tyler, 2010. The Current Macroeconomical Situation and the Global Recession: The Cause of The Current World Crisis. Armchair Economics. March, 24.

Equal Opportunities for Women in Management Positions

Equal Opportunities for Women in Management Positions Women in Management This paper looks at the issue of women in management within the financial services sector, focusing on high street banks in the United Kingdom, in the context of addressing the issue of gender discrimination within top management. This is done by looking at past and present published papers that revolve around the subject matter under a theoretical hypothesis. The theoretical hypothesis, which is based on published material on women in management, is used to explain the issues surrounding women in management. Three high street banks were assessed as case studies to identify the issue of gender discrimination within UK banks. The outcomes are also categorised under specific themes. Finally a critical review of matches and mismatches is used to compare and contrast similarities between the theoretical hypothesis and the empirical evidence gathered for this paper. Chapter 1: The Concept of Women In Management Since the end of the Second World War, organisations all over the world have been slow to recognize the importance of women in the development and building of strong solid leadership from within. This has raised serious issues with regard to top management particularly within the financial services sectors, being male dominated, not allowing women into positions of authority, or top management. Although, organisations all over the world have moved on since then, and there have been positive results so far in today’s modern day society, however the relative percentage of women in relation to men in top management positions still remains unsolved. In the United Kingdom, certain sectors seem to have made substantial progress with regard to addressing these issues, e.g. the financial sectors, and the health and social services. However, this is not the case across the whole spectrum of job sectors. E.g. the military, production services, distribution, Information and communication technology, and agriculture. Aims and Objectives The aim of this paper is to address the issue of top management, which is predominantly male dominated, within the financial services sector allowing and encouraging women to progress into management positions in their field of expertise. I.e. Understanding the problems associated with women breaking through the glass ceiling into top management within the financial services sector. The objective of this research is to first provide a detailed analysis of the theoretical aspects that women face when it comes to stepping into management positions within banks in the United Kingdom. Secondly, to understand the processes and mechanisms that are inherent within financial organisations that slowdown the pace of women into management positions. Thirdly, to highlight the issue of gender discrimination associated with the latter mentioned. Lastly, I will critically appraise the validity of published material so far covering women in management in the context of equal opportunity policies and flexible work patterns. Chapter 2: Existing Literature Reviewed Over the past 50 years gender inequalities i.e. women in management, particularly within the UK banking sector has been the subject of bureaucratic scrutiny to a certain degree. For example Crompton (1989)states that UK banks have increasingly become the major employers of female labour. However, women in banks have not historically had the same career opportunities as men, for a variety of reasons, ranging from deliberate male exclusion practices to the broken and often short-term nature of many women’s work histories. Additionally, the contrast between the experiences of men and women in the same occupation is used to question the conventional view of occupational class analysis, where the (male) occupational structure is treated as if it were the class structure. Rutherford’s (1999) case study of banking, also illustrates how the discourses of gendered biological and psychological difference might be used to justify the scarcity of women in management grades and in so doing reproduce the status quo of male domination. After all, if women were not suited to management in banking what would be the point of creating policies to attempt to improve their representation there? Thus jobs become infused with stereotyped characteristics, which are believed to be linked to gender, race (Liff and Dickens, 2000) and to some extent age. Alvesson and Billing (1997) talks about the pressures for homogeneity and cultural competent behaviour. This involves individuals, consciously or unconsciously, conforming and adapting to organisational norms in order to fit in or progress their careers, for example by adopting the expected and desired language, work style, appearance and so on. The demand for cultural competence reinforces and reproduces the dominant, from which those who do not comply, or conform, remain excluded. Collin son (1990) argues about the cultural assumptions underlying male manager’s stereotypes of male and female attributes. He states that when evaluating male candidates, involvement in sport was a definite advantage, whereas females sporting achievements we reread as indicative of a very narrow existence. Another example was behaviour of men which was described as ‘pushy’ when exhibited by female candidate and as ‘showing initiative’ when a male candidate was involved. Thus women were less likely to be recruited to what were viewed as gender-incongruent jobs. It must also be recognised that policy approaches, which focus on certain groups of employees most typically women and ethnic minorities, tend to engender employee resentment (Cockburn, 1991; Miller and Rowney, 1999). Webb (1997) adds that ironically the radical feminist agenda, which asserts women’s differences from men and their potential for creating a better world, had been adapted to the concerns of liberal feminism with providing rationale for the promotion of women in management, on the grounds that women’s nurturing capacities contribute to the diversity needed by post-modern organisations. Webb (1997) goes on to state that we need to move beyond the ultimately limiting debate about whether women are the same as or different from men to a renewed concern with the material conditions of women’s lives and with the construction of equality initiatives which address the continuing exclusion of many women from adequate standards of living. Rees (1998) argues that relative strenuous efforts to tackle discrimination and disadvantage within the organisation are hampered by structural inequalities at societal level, in particular the interrelationship between education, training and employment. The continued existence of social inequalities could be said to indicate that as a society we are not yet ready to value gender diversity, or ethnic diversity, adopting the language will not make it happen. However, this should not be used as an excuse for organisational inertia or fatalism. Businesses have social responsibilities (one of these is to treat employees fairly) and they also have a need for social legitimacy in order to survive in the longer term (Miller and Rowney, 1999). This would point to need for organisations to value workforce diversity, irrespective of the purchase of short-term solutions. Sisson (1995) also adds that the problem with regard to women in management within the UK banking industry is that most organisations are predominantly concerned with the bottom line, short-term profitability and this orientation militates against long-term agendas. This renders it all the more important that the retrograde step of abandoning or neglecting equal opportunity policy should be avoided. Dickens (1994) argues that there is not a business case but a series of business rationales that are contingent. Organizational and managerial receptiveness to them is uneven, and they lead to only selective action. He goes on to state that the business case ‘carrot’ shares a similar weakness to the legal compliance ‘stick’. Calls for action beyond the individual organisation in a multi-pronged approach requiring state action, in which equality legislation and business case rationales each have apart to play. Chapter 3: Research Approach and Methodology Employed Research Approach The research approach will be carried out using the positivist case research approach. According to Cavite (1996), positivist epistemology tries to understand a social setting by identifying individual components of a phenomenon and explains the phenomenon in terms of constructs and relationships between constructs. The theoretical constructs describing the phenomenon are considered to be distinct from empirical reality. Hence, empirical observations can be used to test theory. This looks at the world as external and objective. Positivism employs four major research evaluation criteria: a good research should make controlled observations, should be able to be replicated should be generalizable and should use formal logic. Under positivism, case research findings are not statistically generalizable to a population, as the case or cases cannot be considered representative of a population, however, case research can claim theoretical generalizability. This will also include comparing, contrasting and critically evaluating past and present papers, articles, journals, and established theories that have been published on the subject matter. Methodology Employed Multiple-Case Study Design This project uses the multiple case study method in order to enable analysis of data across cases and relating it to the theoretical perspectives in the available literature of Information systems strategy. This enables the researcher to verify that findings are not merely the result of idiosyncrasies of research setting (Miles andHuberman, 1984). According to Yin (1994), in such a method it is important to use: multiple sources of evidence. Due to the time constraint attached with this paper, only three case studies of Women in management within the UK banking sector were gathered. The appropriate number of cases depends, firstly, on how much is known about the phenomenon after studying a case and secondly, on how much new information is likely to emerge from studying further cases(Eisenhardt, 1997). The paper provides three case studies of UK high street banks namely HSBC, NatWest Bank, and Lloyds TSB. Comparing and contrasting the roles of the women who are in the top management in these banks. Qualitative Data Cavite (1996) states that qualitative investigation refers to distilling meaning and understanding from a phenomenon and is not primarily concerned with measuring and quantification of the phenomenon. Direct and in-depth knowledge of a research setting are necessary to achieve contextual understanding. Hence, qualitative methods are associated with face-to-face contact with persons in the research setting, with verbal data being gathered. Qualitative data can be collected in a number of forms. One major form of qualitative evidence is interviews, which may be recorded and later transcribed. Qualitative data are rich, full, holistic ‘real’ their face validity seems impeachable; they preserve chronological flow where that is important. In spite of the above mentioned, qualitative data have weaknesses (Miles1979; Miles and Huberman, 1984). Collecting and analysing data is time-consuming and demanding. In addition, data analysis is not easy, as qualitative data analysis methods are not well established. Recognised rules of logic can be applied to verbal data in order to make sense of the evidence and to formally analyse the data. Rubin and Rubin (1995) state that it is most desirable to disclose the identities of both the case and the individuals interviewed because, †¢ The reader is able to recall any other previous information he or she may have learned about the same case from previous research or other sources in reading and interpreting the case report. †¢ The entire case can be reviewed more readily, so that footnotes and citations can be checked, if necessary, and appropriate criticisms can be raised about the published case. Nevertheless, there are some occasions when anonymity is necessary. The most common rationale is that when the case study has been on controversial topic, anonymity serves to protect the real case and its real participants. The second reason is that the issuance of the final case report may affect the subsequent actions of those that were studied. In the case of this paper, the positions of the participants within the organisations interviewed are mentioned. However, anonymity is adopted to protect the Identities of the participants and the real case. Why? Because the issue of women in management within Banks in the UK has been a long standing problem, in which revealing their names could hinder future revelations on their part and their jobs. The remainder of this paper proceeds as follows: Chapter 4: Theoretical Hypothesis on Women in Management Chapter 5: Empirical Analysis (Three Banks) Chapter 6: Comparing and contrasting Theoretical Hypothesis and Empirical Analysis Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion. Chapter 4: Theoretical Hypothesis of Women In Management In order to have a clear understanding of women in management, we will first need to identify the meaning attached to this phenomenon. Since the mid 1990s, women’s representation amongst executives has doubled and amongst company directors it has tripled. At the same time there has been an overall increase in women working in management jobs. However, women still comprise less than a quarter of executives and only one in ten company directors. The ‘glass ceiling’, the situation where women can see but not reach higher level jobs and so are prevented from progressing in their careers, appears still to exist in many organisations. This is what led to the creation of the terminology ‘women in management’. Several key factors account for the continuing low representation of women in management. Firstly, like most other occupations, there is a tendency for some types of management jobs to be associated with either women or men. For example, whilst women are comparatively well represented in personnel and the public sector, men still predominate in production management and Information and communication technology. Secondly, opportunities to work part-time are limited, with only six present of managers and senior officials employed part-time. Although it may be difficult to carry out some management functions on a part-time basis, there are still far too few opportunities for flexible working at senior levels in organisations. With this in mind, we can now move on to discuss the theoretical perspectives of women in management. There are several already established theoretical perspectives that have been used to gather a better understanding of this issue, however, the ones used in this paper are: 1) Issues and problems facing women reaching the top (manager) 2) Why so few women reaching the top? 3) Why are women workers still going cheap? 4) What causes the gender pay gap? 5) Have women achieved equality in the UK banking industry? 4.1 Issues and problems facing women reaching the top (manager) Several factors account for the continuing low representation of women reaching the top. One of the key issues is that women consider family obligations and the predominance of ‘male values’ in corporate culture to be the main obstacles to career advancement for them. The nature of the obstacles blocking women’s progress to higher management varies, however, from those encountered at lower levels. Higher ranking female bank managers seem to experience discrimination to a greater extent, both on terms of structural and cultural barriers, where insufficient personal contacts and dominance of ‘male values’ adversely affect their advancement. The difficulties women face in reaching the top is also reflected in the higher levels of education and effort often demanded of them. The hurdles facing women aspiring to management jobs can be so formidable that they sometimes abandon efforts to make it to the top of large firms. They often take their energy and know-how to smaller and more flexible companies or set up their own businesses. Another principal constraint on the level and type of labour market participation of women is the responsibility they carry for raising children and performing household tasks. An important feature of professional and especially managerial work is the extended working hours that seem to be required to gain recognition and eventual promotion. It can be practically impossible to reconcile the long hours often required of management staff with the amount of time needed to care for a home and children, not to mention care of the elderly. Yet the availability of part-time managerial work varies across organisations. Women who desire both a family and a career often juggle heavy responsibilities in both domains. Those who opt for part-time work early in their careers may find their advancement hampered, even after a return to full-time employment, since their male counterparts will have invested heavily in career building during the same period. 4.2 Why so few women reaching the top? Few women gain access to the highest positions as executive heads of organizations and, despite some improvements, many would claim that the pace of change is still far too slow given the large number of qualified women in the labour market today. Where figures are available (ILO data, 2002), they show women holding from 1 present to 5percent of top executive positions. While it must be acknowledged that time is still needed for women at junior and middle management levels(those in the pipeline) to move into executive positions, the fact still remains that women are not moving quickly enough nor insufficient numbers into line or strategic positions. Yet this factories crucial for enlarging the pool of women aspiring to senior positions and for building a critical mass of senior women for networking and providing role models for those down the line. Speeding up women’s movement towards the top requires that recruitment and promotion methods be objective and fair. Above all, there has to be awareness and commitment from directors of companies as to the benefits for their organizations from promoting women to high-level managerial positions. Women seem to experience the most difficulty in obtaining executive jobs in large corporations, even though they often have greater opportunities at junior and middle management levels in these same corporations. Another reason for this purge is the educational attainment required for top management positions. Evidence provided byte Equal opportunities Commission in the United Kingdom suggest that, in some cases women do not have the educational qualifications to get into management positions, and even when that is not the case, they still do find it hard to break into management, due to the fact that its predominantly male dominated. Another reason is that few senior women are in the so called ‘line’ positions that involve profit and loss or revenue generating responsibilities, and which are critical for advancement to the highest level. Additionally, in the United Kingdom, the share of women among financial managers rose from 11 present to 17percent in the 1980s and still increasing, although they are still outnumbered by men in top management positions in the 21st century. 4.3 Why are women workers still going cheap? Much of women’s work has historically tended to be undervalued or unrecognized. While the United Nations system and governments are making more systematic efforts to value and account for women’s work in national statistics, research on women in management is a relatively new field and comparisons over time and across countries are limited. This is further made complicated by the range of definitions employed and the non-availability of statistics for different countries overtime. Under a report provided by the United Nations in 1996 called the Human development report, it states that ‘no society treats its women as well as men’. A gender related development index was created to record achievements and monitor progress. This is based on life expectancy, educational attainment and income, but adjusts the latter mentioned for gender equality. They noted that life expectancy rates are positively affected by care in different forms, such as social support and social relationships. For example, unmarried adults have higher mortality rates than married ones and, according to them, children in a caring environment fare better in terms of health than those who lack this attention. It is not only the weak and sick that need care to prosper; even the healthiest of adults need a certain amount of care. A deficit in care services not only destroys human development, but it also undermines economic growth. That these factors are overlooked has considerable implications for gender equality, as women still carry the main responsibility for care. Gender discrimination is perpetuated through the lack of value placed on women’s caring role in society. As managers, women are affected byte common assumption that in the event of building families they will bear the main burden of responsibility arising out of this. Thus, there is not the same degree of investment in women. They are less likely to receive the same encouragement or career advice through mentoring as men. Another important factor is that in some countries equal opportunity policies tend to be established within organizations, however, in some countries they are not strictly adhered to. In the Ukase scheme known as ‘Opportunity 2000’ was launched in 2000. Its member included 300 organizations ranging from the financial services to the educational departments. They agreed to increase the number of women into management positions, and between 1994 to 2000, women’s share of management positions increased from 25 present to 35 present. Therefore, one can say although women are still going cheap in certain jobs in other parts of the world this is not the case universally. 4.4 What causes the gender pay gap? A difference in management positions does tend to contribute to earnings differentials. Although rates of pay may be similar, actual earnings can vary because of the different salary packages offered to managers, which provide various fringe benefits and access to certain schemes for boosting bonuses. Earnings gaps may also reflect differences in seniority and concentration of women in low-paid managerial sub-groups. Additionally, certain jobs tend to be affiliated with men and to women, i.e. productions and manufacturing jobs tend to be affiliated with men, while nursing, and household jobs tend to be affiliated with women, this contributes to the pay gap between men and women. Within the Banking sector in the United Kingdom, there has been an increase of the number of women into both middle and top management. However, the positions they tend to head are not profit-making positions or revenue generating positions, which are positions of higher pay and responsibility. They tend to be based within the retail, customer services, and bookkeeping departments, which are areas of significance to the organization, but are of less repute. 4.5 Have women achieved equality in the UK banking industry? In the area of finance, women have certainly increased their share of management positions, although at a varying pace. In the United Kingdom, the share of women among financial managers rose from 11 present to 17 present during the 1980’s and at the turn of the century increased to 25 present. While women have captured an ever-increasing share of the labour market, improvements in the quality of women’s jobs have not kept pace. This is reflected in the smaller representation of women in management positions, particularly in the private sector, and their virtual absence from most senior jobs, i.e. Directorships, or Presidents of Banks. Wage differentials in male and female managerial jobs stem from the reality that even when women hold management jobs, they are often in less strategic lower-paying areas oaf company’s operations. They are also linked to the fact that women managers tend to be younger on average, as most senior jobs tend to be dominated by older men. Despite the persistent inequalities at managerial level, the continuous entry of women into higher-level jobs is being addressed; however, they still remain under-represented in senior management. With few exceptions, the main challenge appears tube the sheer slowness in the in the progress of women into senior leadership positions in organizations, which suggests that discrimination is greatest where the most power is exercised. However, the growth in entrepreneurship and increasing numbers of women running their own businesses, both large and small, heralds a different future for societies. The economic power gained by women will play a key role in the struggle to sweep aside gender inequalities in all walks of life in which the UK banking sector is no exception. Chapter 5: Empirical Analysis In this chapter I present (3)case descriptions from my research on Women in management within the Banking Sector. The descriptions are organised in terms of the following headings; Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience, the position of women in the financial industry in general, the position of women in the UK banking sector, the changing role of women in the UK banking sector, pay differentials, women broken through glass ceiling, employment law and maternity right, and balancing work and family responsibilities. Due to the short timespan to collect data and incorporate to this paper I have been limited to three UK high street banks. The names of the individuals interviewed are not mentioned to protect confidentiality. It must be said that there are some differences in the both the quality and quantity of data available between the cases described, but in each case there is sufficient data for comparability across the features mentioned above. Women managers or the most senior of positions with regard to women in the three high street banks are analysed to address the issue of women in management. See Appendix A for the questions used. All interviews lasted approximately 40 minutes. 5.1 Case Study 1: Natwest Bank Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience The Woman interviewed was the manager of the branch. She is responsible for 25 people in the branch. She argues that in the past there were no female managers, most women, were household wives and lacked career progression. She believes that a lot has changed over the past 20 years and that within the bank a lot of progress has been made with regard to women into management positions. Additionally, she states that there is a continuing need to have women in management positions because it depicts the bank as being an equal opportunities bank. The position of women in the financial industry in general She argues that they are a lot more women in Finance ministries, central banks, and banking supervisory agencies, which are among the most important political institutions with regard to the coordination and regulation of the financial system than the case maybe in the past. The position of women in UK banking sector She states that although there has been a huge increase in the number of women in management positions within the bank, relative to male managers, it is small percentage that are in this category compared to over 50 years ago. The changing role of women in the UK banking sector She believes that the role of women in the bank has changed over the years. In the past women within the bank were more concentrated in the retail department, but more and more women are going into the trading of stocks and products which are revenue generating departments within the bank. Pay Differential She states categorically, that she is quite happy and content with how much she is being paid and comparing herself to her male counterpart sat other branches of the bank, there isn’t a difference with regard other pay package (it’s the same). Women broken through glass ceiling She believes that within NatWest bank the case of women breaking through the glass ceiling is not an issue. As far as she is concerned if you have the right qualifications and attributes, you will make it through regardless of gender differences. Employment law and Maternity right She argues that there are policies within the bank that ensures equal opportunities for both male and female employees to get into top management. And that women are encouraged to take maternity leave if needs be, and when they are ready to come back to their previous position the job would still be there. Flexible part-time work is available for those who fall under this category she says. Balancing work and Family For the hours she works, it could affect family life being the manager of the branch, however, for the top directors within the bank the want staff to have a good work and family life balance. They do encourage women, if they need to go out on maternity leave and come back to their previous job. 5.2 Case Study 2: Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience The Woman interviewed was the branch counsellor (Customer services/accounts); she is the most senior woman (retail). She is responsible for 5 people. She argues that in the Bank there were few female managers compared to their male counterparts. Although she believes a lot has changed over the years with regard to women getting into management positions, she states that due to the lack of proper qualifications and starting a family, women have not in general been able to move into management positions. The position of women in financial industry in general She argues that there are not enough women in the financial industry. She acknowledges that there have been improvements but that there is still barrier. The position of women in the UK banking sector She believes that only the determined ones (women) get through. However, from heron knowledge of the bank, there are not a lot of women in top management positions. The changing role of women in the UK banking sector The branch counsellor states that when a woman says she works in a bank it would be depicted that she works as a secretary. This is due to the lack of qualifications and top management being male dominated, the role of women within the bank has remained static. Pay Differential She states that there are certain grades within the bank and each and every person is categorised into one of those grades. The salary band is applied in that manner. She states that for the job responsibilities, she is quite content and happy with what she is being paid, however there is still need for improvement. Women broken through glass ceiling She argues that there is a glass ceiling within the bank and women can only go so far. She adds that women tend to leave to have children and look after the home. Also, she says that there are gender diversity policies within the bank, but they are not adhered to from top management. Employment law and maternity right Within the bank there is policy that allows for part-time flexible work patterns. Legally, they have to keep the position for you, if for example you left to have baby. Equal Opportunities for Women in Management Positions Equal Opportunities for Women in Management Positions Women in Management This paper looks at the issue of women in management within the financial services sector, focusing on high street banks in the United Kingdom, in the context of addressing the issue of gender discrimination within top management. This is done by looking at past and present published papers that revolve around the subject matter under a theoretical hypothesis. The theoretical hypothesis, which is based on published material on women in management, is used to explain the issues surrounding women in management. Three high street banks were assessed as case studies to identify the issue of gender discrimination within UK banks. The outcomes are also categorised under specific themes. Finally a critical review of matches and mismatches is used to compare and contrast similarities between the theoretical hypothesis and the empirical evidence gathered for this paper. Chapter 1: The Concept of Women In Management Since the end of the Second World War, organisations all over the world have been slow to recognize the importance of women in the development and building of strong solid leadership from within. This has raised serious issues with regard to top management particularly within the financial services sectors, being male dominated, not allowing women into positions of authority, or top management. Although, organisations all over the world have moved on since then, and there have been positive results so far in today’s modern day society, however the relative percentage of women in relation to men in top management positions still remains unsolved. In the United Kingdom, certain sectors seem to have made substantial progress with regard to addressing these issues, e.g. the financial sectors, and the health and social services. However, this is not the case across the whole spectrum of job sectors. E.g. the military, production services, distribution, Information and communication technology, and agriculture. Aims and Objectives The aim of this paper is to address the issue of top management, which is predominantly male dominated, within the financial services sector allowing and encouraging women to progress into management positions in their field of expertise. I.e. Understanding the problems associated with women breaking through the glass ceiling into top management within the financial services sector. The objective of this research is to first provide a detailed analysis of the theoretical aspects that women face when it comes to stepping into management positions within banks in the United Kingdom. Secondly, to understand the processes and mechanisms that are inherent within financial organisations that slowdown the pace of women into management positions. Thirdly, to highlight the issue of gender discrimination associated with the latter mentioned. Lastly, I will critically appraise the validity of published material so far covering women in management in the context of equal opportunity policies and flexible work patterns. Chapter 2: Existing Literature Reviewed Over the past 50 years gender inequalities i.e. women in management, particularly within the UK banking sector has been the subject of bureaucratic scrutiny to a certain degree. For example Crompton (1989)states that UK banks have increasingly become the major employers of female labour. However, women in banks have not historically had the same career opportunities as men, for a variety of reasons, ranging from deliberate male exclusion practices to the broken and often short-term nature of many women’s work histories. Additionally, the contrast between the experiences of men and women in the same occupation is used to question the conventional view of occupational class analysis, where the (male) occupational structure is treated as if it were the class structure. Rutherford’s (1999) case study of banking, also illustrates how the discourses of gendered biological and psychological difference might be used to justify the scarcity of women in management grades and in so doing reproduce the status quo of male domination. After all, if women were not suited to management in banking what would be the point of creating policies to attempt to improve their representation there? Thus jobs become infused with stereotyped characteristics, which are believed to be linked to gender, race (Liff and Dickens, 2000) and to some extent age. Alvesson and Billing (1997) talks about the pressures for homogeneity and cultural competent behaviour. This involves individuals, consciously or unconsciously, conforming and adapting to organisational norms in order to fit in or progress their careers, for example by adopting the expected and desired language, work style, appearance and so on. The demand for cultural competence reinforces and reproduces the dominant, from which those who do not comply, or conform, remain excluded. Collin son (1990) argues about the cultural assumptions underlying male manager’s stereotypes of male and female attributes. He states that when evaluating male candidates, involvement in sport was a definite advantage, whereas females sporting achievements we reread as indicative of a very narrow existence. Another example was behaviour of men which was described as ‘pushy’ when exhibited by female candidate and as ‘showing initiative’ when a male candidate was involved. Thus women were less likely to be recruited to what were viewed as gender-incongruent jobs. It must also be recognised that policy approaches, which focus on certain groups of employees most typically women and ethnic minorities, tend to engender employee resentment (Cockburn, 1991; Miller and Rowney, 1999). Webb (1997) adds that ironically the radical feminist agenda, which asserts women’s differences from men and their potential for creating a better world, had been adapted to the concerns of liberal feminism with providing rationale for the promotion of women in management, on the grounds that women’s nurturing capacities contribute to the diversity needed by post-modern organisations. Webb (1997) goes on to state that we need to move beyond the ultimately limiting debate about whether women are the same as or different from men to a renewed concern with the material conditions of women’s lives and with the construction of equality initiatives which address the continuing exclusion of many women from adequate standards of living. Rees (1998) argues that relative strenuous efforts to tackle discrimination and disadvantage within the organisation are hampered by structural inequalities at societal level, in particular the interrelationship between education, training and employment. The continued existence of social inequalities could be said to indicate that as a society we are not yet ready to value gender diversity, or ethnic diversity, adopting the language will not make it happen. However, this should not be used as an excuse for organisational inertia or fatalism. Businesses have social responsibilities (one of these is to treat employees fairly) and they also have a need for social legitimacy in order to survive in the longer term (Miller and Rowney, 1999). This would point to need for organisations to value workforce diversity, irrespective of the purchase of short-term solutions. Sisson (1995) also adds that the problem with regard to women in management within the UK banking industry is that most organisations are predominantly concerned with the bottom line, short-term profitability and this orientation militates against long-term agendas. This renders it all the more important that the retrograde step of abandoning or neglecting equal opportunity policy should be avoided. Dickens (1994) argues that there is not a business case but a series of business rationales that are contingent. Organizational and managerial receptiveness to them is uneven, and they lead to only selective action. He goes on to state that the business case ‘carrot’ shares a similar weakness to the legal compliance ‘stick’. Calls for action beyond the individual organisation in a multi-pronged approach requiring state action, in which equality legislation and business case rationales each have apart to play. Chapter 3: Research Approach and Methodology Employed Research Approach The research approach will be carried out using the positivist case research approach. According to Cavite (1996), positivist epistemology tries to understand a social setting by identifying individual components of a phenomenon and explains the phenomenon in terms of constructs and relationships between constructs. The theoretical constructs describing the phenomenon are considered to be distinct from empirical reality. Hence, empirical observations can be used to test theory. This looks at the world as external and objective. Positivism employs four major research evaluation criteria: a good research should make controlled observations, should be able to be replicated should be generalizable and should use formal logic. Under positivism, case research findings are not statistically generalizable to a population, as the case or cases cannot be considered representative of a population, however, case research can claim theoretical generalizability. This will also include comparing, contrasting and critically evaluating past and present papers, articles, journals, and established theories that have been published on the subject matter. Methodology Employed Multiple-Case Study Design This project uses the multiple case study method in order to enable analysis of data across cases and relating it to the theoretical perspectives in the available literature of Information systems strategy. This enables the researcher to verify that findings are not merely the result of idiosyncrasies of research setting (Miles andHuberman, 1984). According to Yin (1994), in such a method it is important to use: multiple sources of evidence. Due to the time constraint attached with this paper, only three case studies of Women in management within the UK banking sector were gathered. The appropriate number of cases depends, firstly, on how much is known about the phenomenon after studying a case and secondly, on how much new information is likely to emerge from studying further cases(Eisenhardt, 1997). The paper provides three case studies of UK high street banks namely HSBC, NatWest Bank, and Lloyds TSB. Comparing and contrasting the roles of the women who are in the top management in these banks. Qualitative Data Cavite (1996) states that qualitative investigation refers to distilling meaning and understanding from a phenomenon and is not primarily concerned with measuring and quantification of the phenomenon. Direct and in-depth knowledge of a research setting are necessary to achieve contextual understanding. Hence, qualitative methods are associated with face-to-face contact with persons in the research setting, with verbal data being gathered. Qualitative data can be collected in a number of forms. One major form of qualitative evidence is interviews, which may be recorded and later transcribed. Qualitative data are rich, full, holistic ‘real’ their face validity seems impeachable; they preserve chronological flow where that is important. In spite of the above mentioned, qualitative data have weaknesses (Miles1979; Miles and Huberman, 1984). Collecting and analysing data is time-consuming and demanding. In addition, data analysis is not easy, as qualitative data analysis methods are not well established. Recognised rules of logic can be applied to verbal data in order to make sense of the evidence and to formally analyse the data. Rubin and Rubin (1995) state that it is most desirable to disclose the identities of both the case and the individuals interviewed because, †¢ The reader is able to recall any other previous information he or she may have learned about the same case from previous research or other sources in reading and interpreting the case report. †¢ The entire case can be reviewed more readily, so that footnotes and citations can be checked, if necessary, and appropriate criticisms can be raised about the published case. Nevertheless, there are some occasions when anonymity is necessary. The most common rationale is that when the case study has been on controversial topic, anonymity serves to protect the real case and its real participants. The second reason is that the issuance of the final case report may affect the subsequent actions of those that were studied. In the case of this paper, the positions of the participants within the organisations interviewed are mentioned. However, anonymity is adopted to protect the Identities of the participants and the real case. Why? Because the issue of women in management within Banks in the UK has been a long standing problem, in which revealing their names could hinder future revelations on their part and their jobs. The remainder of this paper proceeds as follows: Chapter 4: Theoretical Hypothesis on Women in Management Chapter 5: Empirical Analysis (Three Banks) Chapter 6: Comparing and contrasting Theoretical Hypothesis and Empirical Analysis Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion. Chapter 4: Theoretical Hypothesis of Women In Management In order to have a clear understanding of women in management, we will first need to identify the meaning attached to this phenomenon. Since the mid 1990s, women’s representation amongst executives has doubled and amongst company directors it has tripled. At the same time there has been an overall increase in women working in management jobs. However, women still comprise less than a quarter of executives and only one in ten company directors. The ‘glass ceiling’, the situation where women can see but not reach higher level jobs and so are prevented from progressing in their careers, appears still to exist in many organisations. This is what led to the creation of the terminology ‘women in management’. Several key factors account for the continuing low representation of women in management. Firstly, like most other occupations, there is a tendency for some types of management jobs to be associated with either women or men. For example, whilst women are comparatively well represented in personnel and the public sector, men still predominate in production management and Information and communication technology. Secondly, opportunities to work part-time are limited, with only six present of managers and senior officials employed part-time. Although it may be difficult to carry out some management functions on a part-time basis, there are still far too few opportunities for flexible working at senior levels in organisations. With this in mind, we can now move on to discuss the theoretical perspectives of women in management. There are several already established theoretical perspectives that have been used to gather a better understanding of this issue, however, the ones used in this paper are: 1) Issues and problems facing women reaching the top (manager) 2) Why so few women reaching the top? 3) Why are women workers still going cheap? 4) What causes the gender pay gap? 5) Have women achieved equality in the UK banking industry? 4.1 Issues and problems facing women reaching the top (manager) Several factors account for the continuing low representation of women reaching the top. One of the key issues is that women consider family obligations and the predominance of ‘male values’ in corporate culture to be the main obstacles to career advancement for them. The nature of the obstacles blocking women’s progress to higher management varies, however, from those encountered at lower levels. Higher ranking female bank managers seem to experience discrimination to a greater extent, both on terms of structural and cultural barriers, where insufficient personal contacts and dominance of ‘male values’ adversely affect their advancement. The difficulties women face in reaching the top is also reflected in the higher levels of education and effort often demanded of them. The hurdles facing women aspiring to management jobs can be so formidable that they sometimes abandon efforts to make it to the top of large firms. They often take their energy and know-how to smaller and more flexible companies or set up their own businesses. Another principal constraint on the level and type of labour market participation of women is the responsibility they carry for raising children and performing household tasks. An important feature of professional and especially managerial work is the extended working hours that seem to be required to gain recognition and eventual promotion. It can be practically impossible to reconcile the long hours often required of management staff with the amount of time needed to care for a home and children, not to mention care of the elderly. Yet the availability of part-time managerial work varies across organisations. Women who desire both a family and a career often juggle heavy responsibilities in both domains. Those who opt for part-time work early in their careers may find their advancement hampered, even after a return to full-time employment, since their male counterparts will have invested heavily in career building during the same period. 4.2 Why so few women reaching the top? Few women gain access to the highest positions as executive heads of organizations and, despite some improvements, many would claim that the pace of change is still far too slow given the large number of qualified women in the labour market today. Where figures are available (ILO data, 2002), they show women holding from 1 present to 5percent of top executive positions. While it must be acknowledged that time is still needed for women at junior and middle management levels(those in the pipeline) to move into executive positions, the fact still remains that women are not moving quickly enough nor insufficient numbers into line or strategic positions. Yet this factories crucial for enlarging the pool of women aspiring to senior positions and for building a critical mass of senior women for networking and providing role models for those down the line. Speeding up women’s movement towards the top requires that recruitment and promotion methods be objective and fair. Above all, there has to be awareness and commitment from directors of companies as to the benefits for their organizations from promoting women to high-level managerial positions. Women seem to experience the most difficulty in obtaining executive jobs in large corporations, even though they often have greater opportunities at junior and middle management levels in these same corporations. Another reason for this purge is the educational attainment required for top management positions. Evidence provided byte Equal opportunities Commission in the United Kingdom suggest that, in some cases women do not have the educational qualifications to get into management positions, and even when that is not the case, they still do find it hard to break into management, due to the fact that its predominantly male dominated. Another reason is that few senior women are in the so called ‘line’ positions that involve profit and loss or revenue generating responsibilities, and which are critical for advancement to the highest level. Additionally, in the United Kingdom, the share of women among financial managers rose from 11 present to 17percent in the 1980s and still increasing, although they are still outnumbered by men in top management positions in the 21st century. 4.3 Why are women workers still going cheap? Much of women’s work has historically tended to be undervalued or unrecognized. While the United Nations system and governments are making more systematic efforts to value and account for women’s work in national statistics, research on women in management is a relatively new field and comparisons over time and across countries are limited. This is further made complicated by the range of definitions employed and the non-availability of statistics for different countries overtime. Under a report provided by the United Nations in 1996 called the Human development report, it states that ‘no society treats its women as well as men’. A gender related development index was created to record achievements and monitor progress. This is based on life expectancy, educational attainment and income, but adjusts the latter mentioned for gender equality. They noted that life expectancy rates are positively affected by care in different forms, such as social support and social relationships. For example, unmarried adults have higher mortality rates than married ones and, according to them, children in a caring environment fare better in terms of health than those who lack this attention. It is not only the weak and sick that need care to prosper; even the healthiest of adults need a certain amount of care. A deficit in care services not only destroys human development, but it also undermines economic growth. That these factors are overlooked has considerable implications for gender equality, as women still carry the main responsibility for care. Gender discrimination is perpetuated through the lack of value placed on women’s caring role in society. As managers, women are affected byte common assumption that in the event of building families they will bear the main burden of responsibility arising out of this. Thus, there is not the same degree of investment in women. They are less likely to receive the same encouragement or career advice through mentoring as men. Another important factor is that in some countries equal opportunity policies tend to be established within organizations, however, in some countries they are not strictly adhered to. In the Ukase scheme known as ‘Opportunity 2000’ was launched in 2000. Its member included 300 organizations ranging from the financial services to the educational departments. They agreed to increase the number of women into management positions, and between 1994 to 2000, women’s share of management positions increased from 25 present to 35 present. Therefore, one can say although women are still going cheap in certain jobs in other parts of the world this is not the case universally. 4.4 What causes the gender pay gap? A difference in management positions does tend to contribute to earnings differentials. Although rates of pay may be similar, actual earnings can vary because of the different salary packages offered to managers, which provide various fringe benefits and access to certain schemes for boosting bonuses. Earnings gaps may also reflect differences in seniority and concentration of women in low-paid managerial sub-groups. Additionally, certain jobs tend to be affiliated with men and to women, i.e. productions and manufacturing jobs tend to be affiliated with men, while nursing, and household jobs tend to be affiliated with women, this contributes to the pay gap between men and women. Within the Banking sector in the United Kingdom, there has been an increase of the number of women into both middle and top management. However, the positions they tend to head are not profit-making positions or revenue generating positions, which are positions of higher pay and responsibility. They tend to be based within the retail, customer services, and bookkeeping departments, which are areas of significance to the organization, but are of less repute. 4.5 Have women achieved equality in the UK banking industry? In the area of finance, women have certainly increased their share of management positions, although at a varying pace. In the United Kingdom, the share of women among financial managers rose from 11 present to 17 present during the 1980’s and at the turn of the century increased to 25 present. While women have captured an ever-increasing share of the labour market, improvements in the quality of women’s jobs have not kept pace. This is reflected in the smaller representation of women in management positions, particularly in the private sector, and their virtual absence from most senior jobs, i.e. Directorships, or Presidents of Banks. Wage differentials in male and female managerial jobs stem from the reality that even when women hold management jobs, they are often in less strategic lower-paying areas oaf company’s operations. They are also linked to the fact that women managers tend to be younger on average, as most senior jobs tend to be dominated by older men. Despite the persistent inequalities at managerial level, the continuous entry of women into higher-level jobs is being addressed; however, they still remain under-represented in senior management. With few exceptions, the main challenge appears tube the sheer slowness in the in the progress of women into senior leadership positions in organizations, which suggests that discrimination is greatest where the most power is exercised. However, the growth in entrepreneurship and increasing numbers of women running their own businesses, both large and small, heralds a different future for societies. The economic power gained by women will play a key role in the struggle to sweep aside gender inequalities in all walks of life in which the UK banking sector is no exception. Chapter 5: Empirical Analysis In this chapter I present (3)case descriptions from my research on Women in management within the Banking Sector. The descriptions are organised in terms of the following headings; Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience, the position of women in the financial industry in general, the position of women in the UK banking sector, the changing role of women in the UK banking sector, pay differentials, women broken through glass ceiling, employment law and maternity right, and balancing work and family responsibilities. Due to the short timespan to collect data and incorporate to this paper I have been limited to three UK high street banks. The names of the individuals interviewed are not mentioned to protect confidentiality. It must be said that there are some differences in the both the quality and quantity of data available between the cases described, but in each case there is sufficient data for comparability across the features mentioned above. Women managers or the most senior of positions with regard to women in the three high street banks are analysed to address the issue of women in management. See Appendix A for the questions used. All interviews lasted approximately 40 minutes. 5.1 Case Study 1: Natwest Bank Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience The Woman interviewed was the manager of the branch. She is responsible for 25 people in the branch. She argues that in the past there were no female managers, most women, were household wives and lacked career progression. She believes that a lot has changed over the past 20 years and that within the bank a lot of progress has been made with regard to women into management positions. Additionally, she states that there is a continuing need to have women in management positions because it depicts the bank as being an equal opportunities bank. The position of women in the financial industry in general She argues that they are a lot more women in Finance ministries, central banks, and banking supervisory agencies, which are among the most important political institutions with regard to the coordination and regulation of the financial system than the case maybe in the past. The position of women in UK banking sector She states that although there has been a huge increase in the number of women in management positions within the bank, relative to male managers, it is small percentage that are in this category compared to over 50 years ago. The changing role of women in the UK banking sector She believes that the role of women in the bank has changed over the years. In the past women within the bank were more concentrated in the retail department, but more and more women are going into the trading of stocks and products which are revenue generating departments within the bank. Pay Differential She states categorically, that she is quite happy and content with how much she is being paid and comparing herself to her male counterpart sat other branches of the bank, there isn’t a difference with regard other pay package (it’s the same). Women broken through glass ceiling She believes that within NatWest bank the case of women breaking through the glass ceiling is not an issue. As far as she is concerned if you have the right qualifications and attributes, you will make it through regardless of gender differences. Employment law and Maternity right She argues that there are policies within the bank that ensures equal opportunities for both male and female employees to get into top management. And that women are encouraged to take maternity leave if needs be, and when they are ready to come back to their previous position the job would still be there. Flexible part-time work is available for those who fall under this category she says. Balancing work and Family For the hours she works, it could affect family life being the manager of the branch, however, for the top directors within the bank the want staff to have a good work and family life balance. They do encourage women, if they need to go out on maternity leave and come back to their previous job. 5.2 Case Study 2: Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Continuity and Change in Women’s twentieth century in comparison to now experience The Woman interviewed was the branch counsellor (Customer services/accounts); she is the most senior woman (retail). She is responsible for 5 people. She argues that in the Bank there were few female managers compared to their male counterparts. Although she believes a lot has changed over the years with regard to women getting into management positions, she states that due to the lack of proper qualifications and starting a family, women have not in general been able to move into management positions. The position of women in financial industry in general She argues that there are not enough women in the financial industry. She acknowledges that there have been improvements but that there is still barrier. The position of women in the UK banking sector She believes that only the determined ones (women) get through. However, from heron knowledge of the bank, there are not a lot of women in top management positions. The changing role of women in the UK banking sector The branch counsellor states that when a woman says she works in a bank it would be depicted that she works as a secretary. This is due to the lack of qualifications and top management being male dominated, the role of women within the bank has remained static. Pay Differential She states that there are certain grades within the bank and each and every person is categorised into one of those grades. The salary band is applied in that manner. She states that for the job responsibilities, she is quite content and happy with what she is being paid, however there is still need for improvement. Women broken through glass ceiling She argues that there is a glass ceiling within the bank and women can only go so far. She adds that women tend to leave to have children and look after the home. Also, she says that there are gender diversity policies within the bank, but they are not adhered to from top management. Employment law and maternity right Within the bank there is policy that allows for part-time flexible work patterns. Legally, they have to keep the position for you, if for example you left to have baby.