One Nation Under Wal-Mart an Example of the Topic Business Essays by

One Nation Under Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and it was incorporated in 1969. It first appeared on the New York stock exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer worldwide. In United States, it has an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and 45% of the retail toy business. This makes it the largest grocery retailer that exists in United States. Wal-Mart has its operations in United Kingdom as ASDA, Mexico as Walmex and Japan as the Seiyu Co. Ltd. However in 2006, operations in South Korea and Germany had to be closed and sold by management because of a highly competitive market and sustained losses that it had incurred (Davies 1997). Need essay sample on "One Nation Under Wal-Mart" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Our Customers Often Tell EssayLab writers: How much do I have to pay someone to make my essay now? Specialists suggest: Essay Help Provided Here With Beneficial Facilities! Cheap Essays Not Plagiarized Professional Writer For Hire Do My Assignment Best Essay Writing Company The Wal-Mart stores, division of the United States is the largest business subsidiary resulting in the 67.2% net sales of the fiscal year 2006. The Wal-mart stores, Inc, also operates under two segments: the Sams CLUB and the Wal-Mart stores segments. Supercenters, Walmart.com, neighborhood markets and discount stores comprise the Wal-mart stores segments. The neighborhood markets is comprised of frozen food, paper goods, pharmaceuticals, household chemicals, photo processing, dry grocery, bakery, meat, pet supplies, beauty aids and general merchandise departments (Shaw Barry 2007). Currently, Wal-mart is one of the largest companies in the world and has achieved much of its success in retail. It has more than 4,750 stores with an estimated 138 million shoppers who visit these stores weekly. The company has managed to conquer almost every corner of America increasing its strongholds in both the rural South and Midwest and also urban America. The companys marketplace is powerful such that it is estimated that 82% of the households in America purchase an item from Wal-Mart yearly. Households staples are controlled at 30% of the market, 15% and 15-20% of all magazines and all CDs are sold respectively. Wal-Mart is also behind the importation of 10% of all goods from China to United States (Shaw Barry 2007). Answers to Discussion Questions Question one I personally like Wal-Mart as a consumer because it is the largest retail company that exists in United States of America. I shop at Wal-Marts quite frequently because the prices offered at Wal-marts are cheaper compared to other retail stores in my area of residence. Apart from the low prices it guarantees to consumers, it also offers a wide range of products ranging from electronics, photo processing and toys to grocery products. These items are readily available at all times and at affordable prices. I like Wal-Mart stores because of the diverse activities that it offers to human mankind and other development activities globally. It employs about 1.8 million people worldwide in the more than 3,900 stores in United States of America and more than 2,799 stores in the west of the world (Shaw Barry 2007). Despite the cheap prices that Wal-Mart offers, I do not like its policies regarding its employees. This is because workers in Wal-Mart store earn low wages; they are also given low rates of the employee health insurance, cases of alleged sexism and a host of other issues. Question two There is a Wal-Mart store in my area of residence that offers a wide range of products. The impact of the store on the local community has been mixed. The Wal-Mart store has created both positive and negative effects on the local consumers hence changing consumer behavior as well. Wal-Mart store has had more of negative effects to my community as compared to the good things it has done for us. It has had much success on consumers part through the cheap and affordable prices of goods it offers hence attracting quite a large number of consumers who prefer to purchase from the store than purchasing from other stores. Another positive impact that Wal-Mart has created in my area of residence is employment generation to the local community. Its many stores that are spread throughout the state create many career opportunities to most people who are unemployed. However the negative impacts that Wal-Mart store has created in my community surpasses by far the good aspects that it has produced. Wal-Mart store has increased competition with the other business as a result of the lower prices it offers forcing other business to close down even though they were established long ago before Wal-Marts existence in the community. Buyers have chosen to go to Wal-Mart and this has greatly affected the sales of these other businesses that in turn make losses because of this. In other words, Wal-Mart has destroyed other local businesses in my area of residence. Despite the employment creation that Wal-mart offers, one employee turnover rate has been high in my community because of the low wage rate it offers to its employees. A part from the low wage rates, these employees have limited benefits given to them accompanied by the low rates of health insurance. This has resulted into consumer resistance that starts with the employees themselves. Because of th ese factors costs have been shifted to the tax-payers and other businesses that are forced to pay the underinsured employees of Wal-Mart indirectly. As a result of the poor pay that Wal-Mart offers to the employees in my community, these workers have been forced to rely on food stamps, public aid, housing vouchers and state health subsidies among other things. Moreover, due to the low labor costs it offers, the producers of consumer goods in my area have been forced to reduce their labor costs as well hence driving them out of business. The Wal-Mart store in my community has become unpopular yet it offers cheap prices for goods and services. It seems to work out for consumers who are only buyers of these goods but for workers, producers and other establishments, it has done more harm than good. I would support the idea of a rival new store to be opened in my area that will offer great competition to Wal-Mart. I would support any other new company that is ready to establish high employee standards than what Wal-Mart is currently offering. I will not be in favor of any other extra Wal-Mart branch opening in my community because Wal-Mart has low standards for its workers despite the low prices it currently offers for its goods and services. It has low business ethics regarding employees. Introducing another branch of its own will lead to monopoly practices in the community. Question Three I think that the rise to retail dominance by Wal-mart would impact the society negatively. Retail dominance means that Wal-Mart dictates other businesses as well as consumer behavior in a society. Competition is created between Wal-Mart and other businesses such as the supermarkets who cannot cope with the low costs of goods that Wal-Mart offers since they (supermarkets) get their goods probably at a higher cost hence lowering would mean making losses in their business. Rise in retail dominance will result to Wal-Marts dictation on what it offers both the consumer and employees in terms of quality of products and wages respectively. Dominance by Wal-Mart will just mean yet another evolution of capitalism and Walmartization in America. Capitalism is a type of economic system whereby a larger part of production and distribution is privately owned just like what we see in Wal-Mart. Business ethics in this case is bound to go down because of the dominance such ethics include: the labor practices and quality of life that will be offered to the employees. Therefore dominance creates capitalism and this means that Wal-Marts retail dominance will make the production and distribution processes to be entirely owned by Wal-Mart. Retail Dominance will have a negative impact on workers. This means that the policy of the workers will be determined by Wal-Mart workers will continue receiving low wages and there will be major job lay-offs. The turnover rate will be high and also the costs on the tax payer will be increased. Question four A retailer can become two large and hence powerful. This can be seen in the case of Wal-Mart as it controls the prices it buys goods with. The low retail price it offers has had major adverse effects on other businesses and it has introduced high costs to these businesses. This has exerted a lot of pressure on these companies. Wal-mart Company can be said to be a powerful company in the worldwide. A part from being the worlds largest retailer, Wal-Mart is also the largest company worldwide surpassing General motors, Exxon Mobil and General Electronic. It exerts its power for the purpose of establishing the lowest prices to its consumers. Wal-Mart has got the power to dictate prices, hence other business or producers have to lay off their employees or close their plants and therefore, they opt for overseas products. In conclusion, I agree that a retailer can become too powerful just as experienced in Wal-Marts case. Question Five In my opinion, I do not think the opposition of Wal-Marts expansion process is causing any interference with out market processes but it could be a part of a political process in that politicians tarnish the companys name to gain political votes. Politicians could be using the weaknesses of the company in order to gain their political stand and strength. On the other hand I think the opponents of Wal-mart have valid concerns. This is because Wal-Mart poorly pays its employees by offering low wages to them. Wal-Mart has made other businesses to close down because of the low prices it offers for its goods and the costs that it has increased on the part of the tax payer. All these have resulted into low standards that the company has created (www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html). Therefore it is important that Wal-mart Company keenly looks into these issues so as to create consumer satisfaction. References Davies, F., (1997). Current Issues in Business Ethics. Routledge. ISBN 0415124492. Shaw, W. Barry V. (2007). Moral Issues in Business (10th Ed.) Wadsworth Publishing ISBN 0-495-00717. Wal-Mart You Dont Know, Accessed on 9 July 2007, from https://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know.

Aravaipa Canyon Essays

Aravaipa Canyon Essays Aravaipa Canyon Essay Aravaipa Canyon Essay In Edward Abbeys essay on Aravaipa Canyon, he comments on the enigmatic nature of life on Earth. He states that the world is not nearly big enough and that any portion of its surface, left unpaved and alive, is infinitely rich in details and relationships, in wonder, beauty, mystery, comprehensible only in part. The very existence of existence is itself suggestive of the unknown not a problem, but a mystery. Our environmental problems, moreover, are cultural. Politics, for example, are being destroyed by a bad way of life, not bad politics. And to see that the problem is far more than political is to return to reality, and look at what reality permits us to see. In Mark Twains essay, Thoughts of God, he seeks to explain how God differentiates between a human being and what is expected of him or her. Twain declares that God is excused for many things for which humans would not be excused, such as the creation of the fly. The real question is, why do we excuse God for violating the moral code when humans in the same situation would not be given the same favor under the same circumstances? If God is the symbol of man and man relies on his moral and ethics, what does God rely on? This implies that there must cease to be a true concept of morality if the one person we incorporate these laws from cant even abide by them himself. Maybe the concept of morality is one which we are simply unable to understand, especially since there is no universal standard of what is right and wrong. Often times, we are faced with situations or questions where we are made to choose a certain path or specific answer. Depending on which alternative one chooses, his or her answer or choice is most certainly based on whether he or she is being moral or not. Sometimes, you a forced to make the decision that you normally would not make. This is Joan Didions idea called Wagon Train morality. In her essay On Morality, she implies that morality has little to do with the concept of being good and that everyone has a different concept of morality to justify their actions and decisions, which falls under the subject of natural ethics. People who adhere themselves to a supposedly universal moral code can mislead themselves into thinking people who do not follow that code are unfaithful and are considered less human. Sontag also implies that there is no true understanding of the nature of morality or its effects in the world, and that they can be used for almost any purpose whether it is to sa ve the world or to destroy it. And referring back to the opening paragraph, politics, for example, for many years, have been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. Photography, on the other hand, gets people to view the world in only one way, mainly because photographs are concerned chiefly with appearances. This then brings up the photographers whom have little and sometimes even no appreciation of the aesthetic values of experience. And when they do have such appreciation it is rarely relevant to their purposes. Therefore, photography can only strive to be a substitute for existence, but cannot hope to provide the experience which comes characteristically. Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the camera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from not accepting the world as it looks. Meaning photos show nothing of the world around them, but instead just turns citizens into image junkies. Therefore, both Sontag and Edward want to state that the world is full of mystery and therefore it can be deceiving, because everyone is so used to believing everything one sees. And since weve invent ed a new society, and new ways of looking at society and nature, its essential upon us that we also invent new ways of understanding our experience of life and society. Henry James, on the other hand, wrote The Turn of the Screw in such an ambiguous manner that it is open to many different interpretations. However, it appears that no single interpretation has the ability to cover every aspect of the story and explain it in a way that is convincing to all. To see that the problem is far more than political is to return to reality, and look at what reality permits us to see. The primary distinction between humans and the rest of the natural world is our sense of consciousness and self-consciousness.

Sampling Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sampling Methods - Assignment Example For a health based proposal such as the one the researcher is currently working on, the population shall be made up of respondents from a hospital setting where the researcher shall have access to both care givers and service users. In this case, the care givers shall be nurses whiles the service users shall be the patients who receive care from the selected hospital. For a hospital as a research population site, there are certainly going to be a very large number of respondents that the researcher cannot interact with straight away. For this reason, a sampling method shall be instituted to select a hand-full of respondents. The sampling technique to be used shall be a purposive sampling technique. Generally, a purposive sampling technique is suitable for qualitative research as it offers the researcher the opportunity to select only a specified group of people whose description meet the variables set (Wolcott, 1994). Using a purposive sampling technique would ensure that the researc her does not interact with people whose presence may not be very meaningful to the research. The purposive sampling method shall be use by using the hospital folder of patients in an identified ward to select the best group of patients who meet the variables that will be outlined for the study. Commonly, purposive sampling is criticized for not guaranteeing internal validity because the researcher shall have some levels of manipulation of the respondents and could adjust the selection process to suit the hypothesis set (Trochim, 2006). This shall however be addressed by ensuring that an empirical data analysis technique is used. Ethical issues may also arise when respondents are forced to be part of the sample size once they are selected by researcher. This shall be addressed by ensuring that it is only respondents who express willingness to be part of the study shall be included.

Public Cultural Event Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Cultural Event - Research Paper Example I cannot call Dubai a developing country because as soon as you arrive at the airport, the terminal is exactly like the ones you will find back in the States. Honestly, it is even better than back home. I was new here, but they were used to seeing 'aliens' like me all the time, which is why I was not given a second glance. For me, these Arabs were strangely beautiful to look at, with their gleaming white 'gowns' and turban-like headgear. I was truly in a modern desert with crystal clear glass for a terminal roof. I was greeted by a man who touched my nose with his, which honestly speaking, greatly alarmed me at first, but apparently that is how everyone here greets one another as it is a part of their culture. As I had arrived just days before the Dubai Shopping Festival officially began, the airport was lit with banners showing the symbol of the festival; a red and green shopping bag with a family drawn on it. Names, dates and venues of various shows were also advertised with bright pictures on these banners; Dubai was certainly proud of its famous cultural festival and wasted no space to inform visitors of what fun they would be experiencing in the upcoming days. I was driven to a hotel that really matches the likes of those back in States, the hotel I was to stay at could have really given The Trump Towers a run round the windmill. On the way to the hotel, I kept clicking away at the skyscrapers looming above; Dubai can easily be called New York 2.0 or maybe even 3.0. All along the road the streets were brightened with streetlights linked with trails of red, green and white lighting; the official colors of this festival. Seeing them gave me butterflies, making me realize how badly I was anticipating the famous Dubai Shopping Festival. Yes, this festival that everyone kept talking about back home was the only reason I was here. A festival of color, lights and people from all around the world, it truly is a cultural phenomenon. As a travel enthusiast this was a must see for me and I had been planning to visit since it first began. At the hotel I was greeted by the manager himself, who was so pleased at having a western national lodge at his hotel; they really respect the West and its inhabitants in this city. The view from my room was something I could have only dreamed off; the whole city was lit up. Dubai, during this festival, really looked like something out of an episode of Star Trek minus the floating cars. This hotel was really growing on to me and I was already thinking about apartment shopping, which would be no problem at all thanks to the amazing deals and bargains this festival offers to shoppers throughout its month long fiesta. The Dubai Shopping Festival kicks off with a stunning display of fireworks, illuminating the night sky and the city with hundreds of breathtaking colors and designs and leaving all the watchers awe-struck. These spectacular fireworks brighten up the city every night throughout the duration of the fes tival, but are especially electrifying on the opening and closing nights of the

Sociology Research Essay Example for Free

Sociology Research Essay Sexism is also known as  gender discrimination  or  sex discrimination, is defined as prejudice or discrimination based on sex; or behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex. Sexism is a form of discrimination or devaluation based on a persons sex, with such attitudes being based on beliefs in traditional stereotypes of gender roles. The term  sexism  is most often used in relation to discrimination against women, in the context of patriarchy. Sexism involves hatred of or prejudice towards a gender as a whole or the application of gender stereotypes. Sexism is often associated with gender-supremacy arguments. Gender stereotypes A 1952 magazine feature stereotyping women drivers. Gender stereotypes are widely held beliefs about the characteristics and behavior of women and men. Gender stereotypes are not only descriptive, but also prescriptive beliefs about how men and women should be and behave. Members of either sex who deviate from prescriptive gender stereotypes are punished; assertive women, for example, are called bitches whereas men who lack physical strength are seen as wimps. Empirical studies have found widely shared cultural beliefs that men are more socially valued and more competent than women at most things, as well as specific assumptions that men are better at some particular tasks (e. g. , mechanical tasks) while women are better at others (e. g. , nurturing tasks). For example,  Fiske  and colleagues surveyed nine diverse samples, from different regions of the United States, and found that members of these samples, regardless of age, consistently rated the category men higher than the category women on a multidimensional scale of competence. Gender stereotypes can facilitate and impede intellectual performance. For instance,  stereotype threat  can lower womens performance on mathematics tests due to the stereotype that women have inferior quantitative skills compared with men. Stereotypes can also affect the assessments people make of their own competence. Studies found that specific stereotypes (e. g. , women have lower mathematical ability) affect women’s and men’s perceptions of their abilities (e. g. , in math and science) such that men assess their own task ability higher than women performing at the same level. These biased self-assessments have far-reaching effects because they can shape men and women’s educational and career decisions. Gender stereotypes are sometimes applied at an early age. Various interventions were reviewed including the use of fiction in challenging gender stereotypes. For example, in a study by A. Wing, children were read  Bills New Frock  by  Anne Fine. The content of the book was discussed with them. Children were able to articulate, and reflect on, their stereotypical constructions of gender and those in the world at large. There was evidence of children considering the different treatment that boys and girls receive, and of classroom discussion enabling stereotypes to be challenged. Sexist and gender-neutral language Research has found that the use of  he  as a generic pronoun evokes a disproportionate number of male images and excludes thoughts of women in non gender-specific instances. Results also suggest that while the plural  they  functions as a generic pronoun for both males and females, males may comprehend  he/she  in a manner similar to  he, as  he  usually is placed before the dash and  she  after. This is usually done because the word  she  already contains the word  he  so it is positioned after the dash. It also has nothing to do with stereotypical gender roles. Nearing the end of the 20th century, there is a rise in gender-neutral language in western worlds, which is often attributed to the rise of  feminism. Gender-neutral language  is the avoidance of  gender-specific job titles, non parallel usage, and other usage that is considered by some to be sexist. Supporters claim that having gender–specific titles and gender–specific pronouns either implies a systemic bias to exclude individuals based on their gender or else as unnecessary in most cases as race-specific pronouns, religion-specific pronouns, or persons-height-specific pronouns. Some of those who support gender-specific pronouns assert that promoting gender-neutral language is a kind of semantics injection itself. Anthropological linguistics and gender-specific language Unlike the  Indo-European languages  in the west, for many other  languages  around the world,  gender-specific pronouns  are a recent phenomenon that occurred around the early 20th century. As a result of  colonialism, cultural revolution occurred in many parts of the world with attempts to modernize and westernize by adding gender-specific pronouns and animate-inanimate pronouns to local languages. This resulted in the situation of what was  gender-neutral pronouns  a century ago suddenly becoming gender–specific. (See for example  Gender-neutrality in languages without grammatical gender: Turkish. ) Gender-specific pejorative terms Gender–specific pejorative terms intimidate or harm another person because of their gender. Sexism can be expressed in a pseudo–subtle manner through the attachment of terms which have negative gender oriented implications  such as through  condescension. Many examples include swear words. A mildly vulgar example is the uninformative attribution of the term hag for a woman or fairy for a man. Although hag and fairy both have non-sexist interpretations, when they are used in the context of a gender–specific pejorative term these words become representations of sexist attitudes. The relationship between rape and misogyny Research into the factors which motivate perpetrators of  rape  against a specific gender, for example, women, frequently reveals patterns of hatred of said gender and pleasure in inflicting psychological and/or physical trauma, rather than sexual interest. Researchers have argued that rape is not the result of pathological individuals, but rather systems of male dominance, cultural practices and beliefs that objectify and degrade women. Mary Odem, Jody Clay-Warner and Susan Brownwiller consider sexist attitudes to be propagated by a series of myths about rape and rapists. They state that contrary to those myths, rapists often plan a rape before they choose a victim and that acquaintance rape  is the most common form of rape rather than assault by a stranger. Odem also states that these rape myths propagate sexist attitudes about men by perpetuating the thought that men cannot control their sexuality. In response to  acquaintance rape, the Men Can Stop Rape movement has been implemented. The US military has started a similar movement with the tagline My strength is for defending. Occupational sexism Occupational sexism refers to any  discriminatory  practices, statements, actions, etc. based on a persons  sex  that are present or occur in a place of  employment. One form of occupational sexism is  wage discrimination. In 2008, the  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development  (OECD) found that while female employment rates have expanded considerably and the gender employment and wage gaps have narrowed virtually everywhere, on average, women still have 20% less of a chance to have a job and are paid 17% less than men. Moreover, the report stated: [In] many countries, labor market  discrimination  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ i. e. the unequal treatment of equally productive individuals only because they belong to a specific group – is still a crucial factor inflating disparities in employment and the quality of job opportunities [ ] Evidence presented in this edition of the  Employment Outlook  suggests that about 8% of the variation in gender employment gaps and 30% of the variation in gender wage gaps across OECD countries can be explained by discriminatory practices in the labour market. The report also found that despite the fact that almost all OECD countries, including the U. S. have established anti-discrimination laws, these laws are difficult to enforce. Gender stereotypes Gender roles  (or sex roles) are attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex. A culture that defines males as ambitious and competitive encourages them to seek out positions of leadership and play team sports. To the extent that females are defined as deferential and emotional, they are expected to be supportive helpers and quick to show their feelings. According to the  OECD, womens labor market behavior is influenced by learned cultural and social values that may be thought to discriminate against women (and sometimes against men) by stereotyping certain work and life styles as male or female. Further, the OECD argues that womens educational choices may be dictated, at least in part, by their expectations that [certain] types of employment opportunities are not available to them, as well as by gender stereotypes that are prevalent in society. There is a long record of women being excluded from participation in many professions. Often, women have gained entry into a previously male profession only to be faced with additional obstacles. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive an M. D. in the  United States  and  Myra Bradwell, the first female lawyer in the state of  Illinois, illustrate the prevalence of women being excluded from certain professions and the changing culture. Professional discrimination continues today according to studies done by  Cornell University  and others. Some have hypothesized that gender bias has been influencing which scientific research gets published. This hypothesis coincides with a test conducted at the  University of Toronto  led by Amber Budden. The study showed that, in the journal  Behavioral Ecology, after implementation of double-blind review in which both the author and reviewer identity is concealed, there was an increase of 7. 9% in the number of papers authored by women. This was more than three times the increase of female ecology graduate students in the United States. In addition, women frequently earn significantly lower wages than their male counterparts who perform the same job. In the U. S. , for example, women earn an average of 23. 5% less than men. In 1833, women working in factories earned only one-quarter of mens wages, and in 2007, womens median annual paychecks reflected only $0. 78 for every $1. 00 earned by men. A study showed women comprised 87% of workers in the child care industry and 86% of the health aide industry. Some experts believe that parents play an important role in the creation of values and perceptions of their children. The fact that many girls are asked to help their mothers do housework, while many boys do technical tasks with their fathers, seems to influence their behavior and can sometimes discourage girls from performing such tasks. Girls will then think that each gender should have a specific role and behavior. A 2009 study found that being overweight harms womens career advancement but presents no barrier for men. Overweight  or  obese  women were significantly under-represented among company bosses, whereas a significant proportion of male executives were overweight or obese. The author of the study stated that the results suggest that the glass ceiling effect on womens advancement may reflect not only general negative stereotypes about the competencies of women, but also weight bias that results in the application of stricter appearance standards to women. Overweight women are evaluated more negatively than overweight men. There is a tendency to hold women to harsher weight standards. At other times, there are accusations that some traditionally female professions have been or are being eliminated by its roles being subsumed by a male dominated profession. The assumption of baby delivery roles by doctors with the subsequent decline of  midwifery  is sometimes claimed to be an example. Wage gap [pic] Euro stat  found a persisting gender pay gap of 17. 5% on average in the 27  EU Member States  in 2008. Similarly, the OECD  found that female full-time employees earned 17% less than their male counterparts across OECD countries in 2009. In the U. S. , the female-to-male earnings ratio was 0. 77 in 2009, meaning that, in 2009, female full-time, year round (FTYR) workers earned 77% as much as male FYTR workers. Womens earnings relative to mens fell from 1960 to 1980 (from 60. 7 percent to 60. 2%) and then rose rapidly from 1980 to 1990 (from 60. 2% to 71. 6%), and less rapidly from 1990 to 2000 (from 71. 6% to 73. 7%) and from 2000 to 2009 (from 73. 7% to 77. 0%). At the time when the first  Equal Pay Act  was passed in 1963, female full-time workers earned 58. 9% as much as male full-time workers. The gender pay gap has been attributed to differences in personal and workplace characteristics between women and men (education, hours worked, occupation etc. as well as direct and indirect discrimination in the labor market (gender stereotypes, customer and employer bias, etc. ). Studies always find that some portion of the gender pay gap remains unexplained even after controlling factors that are assumed to influence earnings. The unexplained portion of the wage gap is attributed to gender discrimination. The estimates for the discriminatory component of the gender pay gap vary widely. The OECD estimated that approximately 30% of the gender pay gaps across OECD countries is due to discrimination. Australian research shows that discrimination accounts for approximately 60% of the wage differentials between women and men. Studies examining the gender pay gap in the United States  show that large parts of the wage differential remain unexplained even after controlling for factors that affect pay. One study examined college graduates and found that the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5% one year after graduating college and 12% 10 years after graduation. Research done at  Cornell University  and elsewhere indicates that mothers are less likely to get hired than equally qualified fathers and, if hired, would be paid a lower salary than male applicants with children. The  OECD  found that a significant impact of children on women’s pay is generally found in the United Kingdom and the United States. ]  Fathers, on the other hand, earn  $7,500 more on average that than men without children. Glass ceiling The term glass ceiling is used to describe a perceived barrier to advancement based on discrimination, particularly gender discrimination. In academic achievement, great improvements have been made. However, as of 1995 in the United States, women received about half of all Masters degrees, but 95 to 97% of the senior managers of Fortune 1000 Industrial and Fortune 500 companies were male and in the Fortune 2000 Industrial and service companies, only 5% of senior managers were women. The  United Nations  asserts progress in bringing women into leadership and decision making positions around the world remains far too slow. Objectification Some argue that  sexual objectification  is a form of sexism. Some countries, such as  Norway  and  Denmark, have laws against sexual objectification in advertising. Nudity itself is not banned, and nude people can be used to advertise a product, but only if they are relevant to what is being advertised. Sol Olving, head of Norways Kreativt Forum, an association of the countrys top advertising agencies, explained, You could have a naked person advertising shower gel or a cream, but not a woman in a bikini draped across a car. Sexism in the Workplace Sexism in education is clearly associated with sexism in the workplace. When women are expected to â€Å"stay in the home,† they are unable to access the necessary educational resources to compete with men in the job market. If by chance they are able to secure a position, women may be less prepared educationally for the task, and thus draw lower wages. In recent decades more women have entered the United States workforce. After WWII (from about 1947), about 30 percent of women were employed outside the home; today, at the start of the 21st century, the figure is well over 50 percent. (Some estimates approach 75 percent if â€Å"part-time† jobs are included. Yet women are far from treated equally on the job. Typically, they hold lower-paying, lower-status jobs than men. In fact, women may account for only 25 percent of the upper-level managers in large corporations. And although half of the employees in the largest, most prestigious firms around the United States may be women, perhaps as few as 5 percent or less actually hold senior positio ns. In general, women are under-represented in the higher-status, higher-paying occupations, such as university teaching, law, engineering, and medicine. In contrast, women are over-represented in the lower-paying occupations, such as public-school teaching, nursing, and secretarial work. In stereotypical female jobs, referred to as  womens ghettos, women are subordinate to the positions of men. For example, executives supervise secretaries who are likely to be women, and lawyers supervise paralegals, who are also likely to be women. Women in the same jobs as men usually earn less, even though these women may have the same or better training, education, and skills. As a general statistic, women make only 60 percent or less than men in comparable positions. Why this disparity? Sociologists speculate that, in some cases, the fact that women often must take time off to have and raise children interrupts their career path. As much as Americans may hate to admit it, women in the United States still bear the primary responsibilities of child-rearing. Conflicting demands may partly explain why married women with children are more likely to leave their jobs than are childless and single women.

I Am an American NOT of Caucasian Descent :: Personal Narrative Writing

I Am an American NOT of Caucasian Descent What does it mean to be American? What does the word â€Å"American† mean? If I say I am American, does that mean I am obligated to fight for America in a war? Does that mean I would not do anything against this country? How permanent is my status of being an American? When asked, I always say I am American, based on the fact that I was born here and that is what my birth certificate is supposed to prove. But then why don’t I also say that I am also Mexican and Indian, as my upbringings and family have been more of these cultures than of American culture? Until college, I had lived in Michigan all my life. Visiting Canadian friends the twenty-minute drive away was a regular family outing. My mother usually had the task of driving through Customs, as she, though the child of Mexican immigrants, spoke without an accent. â€Å"Citizenship?† The customs official would ask. â€Å"U.S.† My mother would reply. â€Å"All four of you?† Was the typical response, as the official would look directly at my dad, whose physical features do not hide the fact that he was born in India. â€Å"Yes,† My mother would reply, as she handed over the proper paperwork. It was not until the age of eight that I wondered enough to ask my mom why she did not reply â€Å"American† to the customs official’s question. She responded that the term â€Å"American† is vague. A person from Canada has an equal right to identify himself or herself with the term that reflects the name of our shared continent. Using the term â€Å"U.S.† is both true and specific. My mother’s opinion is just one of the many views that exist on the term. As I grew up, I began with a very chauvinistic pride in my birth country.

Personal Finance Essay

Personal finance refers to the principal that is applied to the monetary decisions of an individual or a family unit. It addresses issues such as the ways in which the individuals or families obtain finance, budget, save and spend the monetary resources of a company over a given period of time while at the same time taking in account the financial risks and the future life events that are related to the businesses activities. The profits or loss of a company are derived by determining the incomes of a company and the expenses that are incurred by a company. If the incomes are more than the expenses the company generates profit for the company. If the expenses of the company are more than the incomes then the company incurs losses in the financial period of a company. Assumptions The income of Donna Terrell is estimated to be $3333 per month since it is assumed that he earns a salary that is equally distributed throughout the year. The expenses of Donna Terrell are also assumed to be evenly distributed throughout the year except in the months where Donna Terrell specified that the expenses were incurred in those months. After Sherman acquisition of his new job on June 2003 and his decision to assist Donna Terrell was a positive move since after the month of June the Donna’s business started to earn profits since in the previous months the business was incurring losses, but after June 2003 the company started to generate profits for the company, thus was in a position to run it affairs effectively (http://64. 233. 169. 104/search? q=cache:DmCJZy7zP6kJ) It is also assumed that Sherman would earn a salary that would be $1500 per the month that followed the month of June up to December 2003. In the first quarter of the year Donna business had been incurring losses from January to May 2008 since the amount of losses have been increasing rapidly since the expenses of the business were more than the incomes of the business. After Mr. Sherman decision to assist Mr. Donna in giving him financial assistance the business started to improve in its performance. The business incomes was greater than the expenses as from July to December of the Year 2003 and this contributed to the increased profits of the business as it continued with its operation until December 2003. As at December 2003 the Company had profits that were over $13000. The management of companies can run their activities if they ask for financial assistances from friends and also financial institutions since after the Mr. Sherman decision to assist Mr. Donna the performance of the company started to improve. The instances where the management of companies runs other business activities that generate revenue to a company this can contribute to the profitability of the company since the additional income increases the companies working capital that enables the company to generate as much revenue to the company hence its increased returns and finally this leads to the growth of the company. The management of companies should also plan their finances properly so as to avoid budget deficits as this can affect the performance of the company and also its reputation as this can result to reduce sales volume for a company hence in some cases due to the poor management of the companies finances the company go into liquidation that can lead to the closure of the company.