Sexism and work place Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sexism and work place - Research Paper Example Socio-environmental factors like schools, employers, family, and peers cause the difference of sex in abilities, gender, and interests acquired and reinforced in childhood and adulthood respectively (Menendez et al., 2012). Factors contributing to Sexism Environmental factors contribute greatly to development of boys and girls by punishing and rewarding them based on what they have done. Labor division on sexes reflects occupational and domestic roles of men and women. Children should behave according to the roles of gender; boys, for example, are to behave in a muscular way and girls in a feminine way. Parents are responsible for shaping the behavior of boys and girls. Development of children’s gender roles is through contacts with peers, especially of the same sex. Children, once they go to school, are subject to the influence of a school authority figure. They spend more time with an adult role-model, from whom they choose and develop character. They get more punishment and rewards for their behavior. They receive first message of sex separation of positions in the system: male teachers run the school while women teach and are poorly represented in the administration. If a woman becomes an administrator, then she is at a lower lever. Both men and women graduate from colleges and universities more than before. Girls tend to have better grades than boys do, owing to their higher level of discipline, obedience, and orderliness. Sexism in organizations has been in existence since women started working. Disparity of wages and occupational segregation are the main inequalities affecting women. Separation of women and men is occupational segregation. For instance, men would choose to do a police job, firefighting, and engineering whereas women would become teachers and housewives. Disparity of wages is the difference in wages earned by women and men. Gender identifies an individual as either male or female; thus, ‘gender’ or ‘sex’ f requently refer to categorization of a group. The social role theory suggests that a demand generates roles exhibited by individuals. For instance, the role of women to raise kids needs nurturing character. The role of child-rearing is attached to women because of their reproduction function, tying women to nourishing and taking care of infants. Linking women, for instance, to rearing of infants attributes such traits to women as kindness, helping, and nurturing. The same theory associates men with traits like competitiveness, non-domesticity, aggressiveness and assertive roles, which need skills and bravery. The difference between men and women in status strengthens the expectations of gender stereo types. The stereotype is that female roles require fewer resources than male roles and that rearing of children is traditionally for women (Kurtz, 2002). Social punishment and rewards give incentive for individuals to behave according to expectations of group members. A person may act w ith the expectation of gender even when it is contrary to his/her personality. For example, a woman may act kindly contrary to her wishes just to avoid disapproval of others. Men and women act differently matching the stereotypes. The impact of this theory of social role for the difference in behaviors and traits is distinct. The theory suggests that beliefs of a cultural nature on both genders are not accidental. In this context, ideals of a

Organisational Behaviour Resit Assignment Essay

Organisational Behaviour Resit Assignment - Essay Example Managers as planners would be charged with the duty of establishing the organisation’s objectives and determining what needs to be achieved and setting the timelines. This calls for sensitivity to the environment of operation and appropriate decision making skills. While this function would be handled by top management in large corporate organisations, owners handle it in smaller firms. Discussion To explain this managerial function, Xerox Corporation provides an appropriate example. The history of this copier and printing equipment firm dates back to the 1930s with the first xerographic image being made in the US. The firm grew over years by merging with other similar firms with the 1960s marking the climax of its growth. Between 1960 and 1965, the corporation’s revenues grew from $37 million to $268 million (Dragolea & Cotirlea 2009). In the 1980s, the firm faced intense competition from its competitors from Japan and the US with its market share dropping from 86% to 17% between 1974 and 1984. This was largely attributed to the lack of strategic direction from the management. In order to return to profitability, the management sought to understand the operations of its rivals so as to adopt some of the best practices. The firm sought to implement competitive benchmarking after the study which was found to be ineffective because most of the copier companies in the market did not use most of those recommended operations. As such, through studying a supplier of outdoor clothing and sporting products, L. L. Bean, the firm implemented functional benchmarking. This saw the company spring back with customer satisfaction for Xerox’s printing copier systems rising by 39% and 38% respectively. Customer complaints were cut by over 60% with sales process recording 40% improvement. This success was a result of effectively planned turn-around strategy. Indeed, Xerox identified its weaknesses which made it uncompetitive in the market shared with its US and Japanese rivals. Its market share had greatly dropped and it therefore sought to recapture its status as a market leader in copier business. With this vision in mind, the next task for the chief executive, David Kearns was to determine how to get to that position as suggested by scholars defining planning (DuBrin 2009; Sims 2002). The chief executive crafted a program referred to as Leadership Through Quality that would see the firm mine information on what makes its rivals more effective and how they would adopt some of the identified best practices. Data on the operations of Xerox’s rivals was collected through mining information from relevant databases, trade journals and magazines, use of questionnaires and engagement of consultants (Dragolea & Cotirlea 2009). This was followed by a well planned strategy to see the firm regain its quality leadership in the market. Analysis According to DuBrin (2009), planning could be said to be either strategic or operational. The au thor differentiates strategic planning as top level management engagement with the input of other members of an organisation from operational planning as one that relates to everyday operations of a unit or the whole organisation. The planning that saw