Work life balance for working women

Work life balance for working women ACKNOWLEDGEMENT No body in this world is perfect in the field of study on researches every body needs to be guides and supervised by some experienced and intelligent people. It is my proud privilege to express my profound gratitude to my respectable guides and teachers. I am also very thankful Ms.Manbeer Kaur Gill Lecturer in L.I.M. her able supervision in Valuable guidance and sympathetic attitude enabled me to undertake the work of this term paper. Introduction: An integral part of our lives is our profession. Just as there is responsibility and opportunity in life, our careers are also guided by opportunities and responsibilities. We must ensure that these two factors dont work at cross purposes. Quality of life is something we all covet. Having said this, every profession affects life in general and every profession has a duty towards life. The point I am trying to make is that balance should guide all our activities, including our professions. A satisfied and motivated work force will act more responsibly, not only towards its professional requirements, but also towards nature in general. One of the many ways to instill this sense of motivation is to put in place the concept ofWork Life Balancein the workplace. Work Life Balance (WLB) is not a new concept. The change in the pattern of work and the concept of the workplace after the industrial revolution in the second half of the 18th century, gave a new dimension to the concept of WLB. As time progressed, nuclear families increased. A later change was the fading away of the â€Å"ideal home† in which the earning members spouse took care of the home. With improved education and employment opportunities today, most homes are ones in which both parents work, because of necessity and the desire to augment incomes. The need to create congenial conditions in which employees can balance work with their personal needs and desires became a factor that companies had to take note of both to retain them as well as to improve productivity. It was a compulsion that they couldnt afford to ignore. Having realized that, companies started introducing schemes to attract and retain employees and improve their productivity. However it is not easy to find many references to Work-Life Balance policies and issues in India. This is not to discount their existence in the country, but it does indicate its relative unimportance as a strategic business issue in the country. It is indeed hurting to see a majority of Indian companies still wedded to the old style presenters philosophy instead of offering managers opportunities to strike a healthy Work-Life Balance. Why Work life Balance is important to women Todays career women are continually challenged by the demands of full-time work and when the day is done at the office, they carry more of the responsibilities and commitments at home. When I conducted a recent, I discovered that the majority of women are working 40-45 hours per week and 53% of the respondents report that they are struggling to achieve work/life balance. Women report that their lives are a juggling act that includes multiple responsibilities at work, heavy meeting schedules, business trips, on top of managing the daily routine responsibilities of life and home. â€Å"Successfully achieving work/life balance will ultimately create a more satisfied workforce that contributes to productivity and success in the workplace.† History The expression was first used in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individuals work and personal life. In theUnited States, this phrase was first used in 1986. Over the past twenty-five years, there has been a substantial increase in work which is felt to be due, in part, by information technology and by an intense, competitive work environment. Long-term loyalty and a â€Å"sense of corporate community† have been eroded by a performance culture that expects more and more from their employees yet offers little security in return. Many experts predicted that technology would eliminate most household chores and provide people with much more time to enjoy leisure activities; but many ignore this option, encouraged by prevailing consumeristculture and a political agenda that has â€Å"elevated the work ethic to unprecedented heights and thereby reinforced the low value and worth attached to parenting†. Work-life balance Can women be both sharers and careers often, working women drop out of the work force when they are doing well, simply because they wanted to stay at home with their children, or care for an ageing parent. Or for both reasons. And then there are women who have children later in life because they want to work for reasons of personal satisfaction or for the money. So, can a woman have it all? The working woman should refuse to take on too much. She should adopt a sense of priorities. If she has children, she should teach them to share responsibilities. But what about the husband? Has he changed at all anywhere in the world? Surprisingly, a survey in the UK revealed that a majority of men want a 50/50 partnership with their wives both at work and home. They no longer see themselves as macho men. They want to spend more time with their children. Has the Indian man kept pace with the times? Can women achieve a work-life balance? The changing Equations of New Era The Changing Equations The Machine Age The Industrial Age The Networked Age Stress High Higher Highest Work- Life balance You went to work-life started only when you go home Not only are people working at work, but also at home 24-hour workdays split into compartments dedicated for ‘life Women and Work The men worked and women tended the house Both men and women worked, and women still tended the house Both men and women work and tend to the house. Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT,HKEX:4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of softwareproducts for computing devices.Headquartered inRedmond,Washington, USA, its most profitable products are theMicrosoft Windowsoperating systemand theMicrosoft Officesuite of productivity software. The company was founded in 1975, to develop and sellBASICinterpretersfor theAltair 8800. Microsoft rose to dominate thehome computeroperating system market withMS-DOSin the mid-1980s, followed by theWindowsline of operating systems. Many of its products have achieved near-ubiquity in thedesktop computermarket. One commentator notes that Microsofts original mission was â€Å"a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software.†[Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as theMSNBCcable television network, theMSNInternet portal, and theMicrosoft Encartamultimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets bothcomputer hardwareproducts such as theMicrosoft mouseas well ashome entertainmentproducts such as theXbox,Xbox 360,ZuneandMSN TV.The companys initial public stock offering(IPO) was in 1986; the ensuing rise of the companys stock price has made four billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.. Throughout it s history the company has been thetarget of criticism, includingmonopolisticbusiness practices and anti-competitive strategies includingrefusal to dealandtying. TheU.S. Justice Departmentand theEuropean Commission, among others, have ruled against Microsoft for variousantitrustviolations accordingly in todays political-cultural climate ofmixed economiesand â€Å"public interest of society†. Literature Review The most recent data suggest that employment growth in the first half of this decade has been rapid among urban women. In this edition of Macroscan, C. P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh investigate the changing patterns of womens paid work in urban India. In the era of globalisation, it has become commonplace to argue that trade openness in particular generates processes that encourage the increased employment of women, particularly in export-oriented activities. In addition, development in general and higher per capita incomes are supposed to lead to more employment in services and shifts from unpaid household work to paid work, which also involve more paid jobs for women workers. Data from the recent large sample employment survey of the NSSO would appear to provide confirmation of this perception. Work participation rates of women workers have increased in 2004-05, not only in comparison with 1999-2000 when they had fallen sharply, but also in comparison to a decade earlier. However, this process needs to be considered in more detail to see whether it is indeed the positive process outlined above. Since this is meant to be much more marked in the urban areas, this article is concerned with changes in employment patterns of urban women workers in India. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Primary data Sampling I visited the Microsoft office and interviewed women employees. I put few questions and I got mixed reactions from different employees. Some women employees were looking quite satisfied. Where as other were feeling quite hectic with their schedule. Working mothers have to manage their time more efficiently then other Women employees. But in this corporate world pressure life have become very common thing and I observed that most of the women employees managed their time more efficiently than men. Secondary data Secondary data is the data on which the research already has been done. It is as follow.. Women Executives on Work/Life Balance: Flexibility, Networks, Outside Interests â€Å"Its very hard coming right out of business school to achieve work/life balance,† said Carol A. Schafer, a managing director in Wachovia Securities Equity Capital Markets group who also spent 17 years at JP Morgan. â€Å"You want to be able to work for an organization that sets you up for work/life balance in the future, one that respects personal life, personal time, has a good mentoring organization a good womens organization.† A first-year associate cant tell an employer, â€Å"Here I am. Im great. Im smart, and I demand work/life balance,† Schafer noted, but â€Å"its pretty achievable over time.† She added that work performance is critical, especially at a careers start, and will pay off with greater lifestyle flexibility. â€Å"If you really want to be there for the long haul, have good opportunities presented to you, be able to achieve work/life balance over time and move around to get a broad experience, youve got to be a consistently good performer. Thats what gives you leverage. Become indispensable and everybody [will] want you to be a part of their network. Its what opens all the doors.† Data analysis interpretation: According to the data collected I have analyzed that work-life balance is very important for a working women. Because she has to manage her home and work life. So it become more important to manage it more efficiently then her counterpart i.e. male employees. By the above data I found that Microsoft as an employer doing quite well to keep their women employees motivated and satisfied as far as home and work-life is concerned. Most percent of them were satisfied with their present timings and shifts and few of them were looking dissatisfied but again the percentages of them were low. Conclusion Conclusion for working women, getting caught in the work/life balance trap will continue to be an ongoing challenge. Careful planning and personal effort is the advice from those who have found balance in both career and home life. As one respondent summarized, â€Å"Plan, prioritize and schedule as efficiently as possible and dont be afraid of hard work!† Work-life balance is a persons control over the conditions in their workplace. It is accomplished when an individual feels dually satisfied about their personal life and their paid occupation. It mutually benefits the individual, business and society when a persons personal life is balanced with his or her own job. The work-life balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits for the employer. In our increasingly hectic world, the work-life strategy seeks to find a balance between work and play. A sentence that brings the idea of work life balance to the point is: â€Å"Work to live. Dont live to work.† Suggestions In my opinion there should be There should be feasible timings for the women employees, night shifts should be discouraged. Job location for them should be according to their preference so that, they can manage their home life as well. There should stringent norms for the women employees who face discrimination at work place. There should be more transparency for women employees as far as appraisals and promotions are concerned. References http://balancing-career-mothering.suite101.com/article.cfm/strategies_for_work_life_balanc http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/fast-company-staff/fast-company-blog/how-working-mothers-find-worklife-balance http://balancing-career-mothering.suite101.com/article.cfm/strategies_for_work_life_balanc

Gap Outsourcing in China

Companies want to utilize modern infrastructure and focus on their core strengths hill other professional firms handle their other business processes (Lathering, 2007: 2). The textile Industry has been a fundamental driving force In China's economy for many years. Outsourcing production to the Chinese manufacturers has become popular among other foreign firms in the recent past (Earns, 2006: 362). This is especially because the textile industry is a labor intensive industry and firms prefer to outsource In China since It has large pool of cheap labor.The World Bank report of 2006 Indicated some of the most suitable locations to Invest In china which re; the south east Coastal provinces, the Pearl river delta province of Gudgeon, all special economic zones and the province of Fijian (Yuan, 2008: 20). Pestle analysis is a technique used to assist corporations in understanding the external environment In which they operate In the present and future. It helps an organization to assess th e macroeconomic conditions surrounding it in order to make a business decision.It works more efficiently when used in conjunction with risk analysis, SOOT analysis, and urgency grid. Expert knowledge of the organization and its external surrounding Is also Important in pestle analysis. The word PESTLE was coined from political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, legal, and environment factors that affect an organization. The main aim of conducting PESTLE analysis is to help in the analysis of the external environment and its effect on the organization (Institute of leadership & management 2007:23).In pestle analysis, we consider each of the external factors and how it is likely to impact on the organization. Political factors: The government plays a major role in growth of businesses through policy formulations. These policies can affect an organization both positively and negatively. Although policies existing In China favor exports to China, sourcing remains the best tool to g ain entry into the market. It is further renown for its low cost sourcing. Gap Inc. Should consider the existing government policies and assess whether or not they favor the textile industry.Social factors: Most of the Chinese working class lack global business experience due to socialism mode of governance where the government provided almost everything especially in the past. Gap should aim to build good legislations with both the local and international governments. It should also use sourcing as a means to penetrate the Chinese market. The composition of a country population has major effects on the performance of a business (Center & Edmonds, 2002: 40). Outsourcing also requires high level of trust since It involves sharing financial information and actual transfer of cash (Chining, 2009:127).Economic factors: China's economy is more advantaged in comparison with most other developing I OFF countries. I Nils Is primarily Owe to Its tidally to allover Nell quality products Tanat meet he standards that are required by legislation and consumers in the European countries. It also provides ideal environment to source consumer products. The textile industry is also on the road to recovery due to the policy for revitalization plans for the textile industry which was passed in 2009 Just after China regained economic growth.This has seen the textile industry overcome numerous difficulties and make new development (China textile network company, 2009: 4). However, China's market is characterized by risks and GAP Company should maintain flexibility and diversity when dealing with sourcing. Teaming up with local companies in China would help Gap in cost cutting. It would also aid with the knowledge on the domestic market as they would rather assists as partners rather than competitors (The outsourcing institute 2005).Legal factors: The Chinese legal system does not adequately protect the IP rights. The outsourcing company should therefore understand the extent to whi ch patents and trade secrets can be protected (Kennedy & Clark, 2006: 1). Gap Company should therefore ensure that their legal rights are protected. Technology: IT professionals graduating each year from China are approximately 200000, providing a strong technically skilled population. China is rapidly emerging as one of the world's leading supplier in offshore software outsourcing due to its remarkable development rate.Its aim is to outshine India and become the dominant competitor (Shine technologies 2008). Gap Inc. Should take advantage of this emerging strength and go ahead to outsource its textile manufacturing services in China as well as looking into ways to benefit from China's current software strengths since for any company to succeed in the modern market, it has to utilize highly advanced technology. Environmental factors: China has a developed IT structure, networks, and infrastructure. It has massive telecommunication expansions making it more suitable for an industry g rowth.China also has the advantage of having a large pool of inexpensive skilled labor. Companies can benefit from the China market by taking advantage of and cut costs that are up to approximately 50-60% (Shine technologies, 2008). However, the textile industry in China has constantly been on the spotlight due to its massive negative effects on the environment. Prices of clothing and fabric imported to the U. S have been falling ever since 1995. The Chinese textile companies have been known to cut costs of production by dumping wastes into rivers causing massive pollution. U.S retail textile industry on the other hand is struggling to prevent environmental issues that have caused them consumer backlash in the past. The textile industry in China is one of the dirtiest industries in the country. Heavy metals and carcinogens contain high levels of organic materials causing much damage to the environment. Gap therefore should consider this as a drawback when opting to outsource in Chin a nice this pollution may eventually lead to emergence of social movements that will rise against environmental degradation by textile industries leading to considerable reduction in sales.

Egg Supply Chain

In a few weeks you will start seeing quite a few sales on eggs. Why? Eggs are one of the main staples in the Easter holiday tradition. Everyone gets together the night before Easter and colors their eggs a wide range of colors to put in their Easter baskets for the Easter Bunny to hide. An egg seems like such a simple food item, very few people ever wonder what all had to happen in order for them to be able to buy their eggs from the grocery store. If there were suddenly no eggs to color for Easter I am sure everyone would then want to know. If it even possible to think that the grocery stores would have no eggs? The answer is yes! In order for that carton of eggs to be on the shelf of the store it must travel the supply chain. A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Egg would seem like such a simple product that there really couldn’t be that much to the supply chain given that the chicken lays the eggs, the farmers puts them in cartons and a truck delivers them to the store. Eggs don’t go through processing like most other food products but still there can be a lot to them depending on what type of eggs you buy and where from. Many people still get theirs from the grocery stores but a rising trend is to purchase them farmers markets or directly from the farmer. Going directly to the farmer for your eggs is becoming more popular because people want to know where their food is coming from and want to know that the animals are not being mistreated or given hormones. In order to discuss the supply chain for eggs one must first ask the questions,Which came first the egg or the chicken? When you attempt to do a supply chain for eggs this is without a doubt the first question you would need to ask. Did the farmer get the egg first and then hatch the chickens to lay more eggs to sell or did he get the chicken first who then laid the eggs? For this paper we are going to assume that the chicken came first. So the first step in the egg supply chain is the hatchery no matter where you get your eggs the process started in the hatchery. Due to the rising trend of going straight to farmer for goods, we are going to look at the supply chain for eggs purchased directly from the farmer. Also this is how I get my eggs so I thought it would be more interesting, of course the eggs I get come from my aunt so there is not much to them aside from the gas used to drive to her farm and pick them up. Her chicks came from a friend who raised chickens but for those farmers who do not have friends or neighbors who raise chickens they would go to a hatchery. Hatcheries are found all over. There are quite a few in Ohio alone, a major one is found in the Cincinnati area. Once the farmer gets his peeps from the hatchery they are placed in a chicken coup which has access to a pasture for the chickens to graze. Chickens eat a wide variety of things but mostly are fed corn or other vegetables already found on the farm. Chickens that are allowed to graze produce better quality eggs due to the fact that they get more nutrients from the ground than those chickens raised in cages. The next step in the supply chain once you have the chickens and they lay the eggs is to gather and package them for sale. Eggs are usually gathered on a plastic tray and then washed and sanitized then stored in a refrigerator. Many co-op farms that you buy from have you bring your own container for your eggs, this saves them money and also the environment if you reuse the same carton. Most people just bring a carton from store bought eggs. The egg carton was invented in 1911 to help keep a farmer’s eggs from breaking while delivering. Egg cartons come in a variety of forms from Styrofoam to molded pulp and paper. You can even buy plastic storage containers for eggs that can reused again and again. One of major suppliers of egg cartons to small farms is a company called Eggcartons. com. They do not produce the egg cartons themselves but rather buy them in large quantity then sell in smaller quantity to farmers. Once the eggs are packaged they are ready for sale whether to a local farmer market or directly to the customer who visits the farm. Farm raised eggs there seems to not be too much competition out there. Very few farms do this and the ones that do are spaced a good ways apart, also the fact that the small farms cannot produce as much as the bigger companies limits them on what they can sell anyhow. The only major issue that could impact the supply chain for a local farmer is to lose his chickens or for them to fall ill and not be able to produce enough eggs to meet demand. Some interesting facts on eggs are according to National Egg Producer Organization ( I am not making this up, the group exists) Ohio is the number 2 egg producer in the United States, second to only Iowa. In 2008, over 209. 1 million cases of eggs were produced in the United States and of that 209. 1 million 68 million cases (32. 2%) were further processed (for foodservice, manufacturing, retail and export); 121. 7 million cases (58. 2%) went on to retail; 18 million cases (9%) went for foodservices use; and 1. 4 million (0. 7%) were exported. (http://www. unitedegg. org/useggindustry_generalstats. aspx) The Supply Chain Diagram {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame}

Literary Analysis Of Andrew Marvells To His Coy Mistress

â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† Andrew Marvell’s poem â€Å"To His Coy Mistress,† originally published in 1681, encompasses the Carpe Diem ideology through a dramatic monologue in which the narrator speaks to his â€Å"coy mistress.† While the poem uses literary devices to illustrate the recurring theme outlining time’s limitations and that the narrator and his mistress need to have sex immediately, it also contrasts with the Petrarchan standard of the idealized woman. Within the first 24 lines of the poem, Marvell uses diction, literary devices such as the erotic blazon and enjambment, and iambic tetrameter rhythm to prove that people cannot control time, time goes on and will eventually end, and women should refrain from reluctance and have sex with men†¦show more content†¦Following these declarations, the narrator goes on to share how he would divide his time to worship his mistress and show her the extent of his love. Using the erotic blazo n, the narrator explains the amount of time he would spend admiring his mistress’s different body parts. He lists â€Å"An hundred years should go to praise / Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; / Two hundred to adore each breast, / But thirty thousand to the rest. / An age at least to every part, / And the last age should show your heart† (13-18). Through the blazon, the narrator accentuates his mistress’s most beautiful features, while also showing time’s limits. While he tells her the time he would spend appreciating her body, he is also showing her how ridiculous these thoughts are since time is unceasing and their time will soon end. However, the narrator takes on a sarcastic tone towards his mistress and her reluctance to have sex with him. Within the blazon, Marvell uses enjambment, the continuation of thought from one line to the next without punctuation, such as in lines 13 and 14, to further prove that people cannot stop or control time. Moreo ver, by choosing immense numbers of years that he would admire his mistress’s body, the narrator is challenging and mocking the Petrarchan view of the idealized, perfect woman; he is showing that it is impossible to hold a woman to such standards since menShow MoreRelatedLove in HJohn Donne ´s A Valediction Forbidding Mourning and Andrew Marvell ´s To His Coy Mistress838 Words   |  4 Pagesthe life, by literary greats throughout the past several centuries, have been the issue of death and the physical, spiritual, and emotional attachments that can be defined as love. Even though writers of prose and poetry have long belabored these two specific areas of discussion, the depth and diversity in approach is something that can only be described with regards to the differential between personalities and the world you of the author in question. Accordingly, the following analysis will be concentricRead MoreA Literary Analysis On The Shall I Compare Thee? Essay784 Words   |à ‚  4 PagesA Literary Analysis on the â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee?† (Sonnet XVIII) by William Shakespeare and the â€Å"To his Coy Mistress† Poem by Andrew Marvell This article compares the poems â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee?† (Sonnet XVIII) with â€Å"To his Coy Mistress† and examines the purposes of the poems and their implemented poetry techniques to convey their poets ideas. On first look it seems both poems are sharing the common ideas of â€Å"Love† but by analyzing the poems, it becomes clear that the purposes of the two poemsRead MorePoem Analysis On His Coy Mistress By Andrew Marvell1319 Words   |  6 Pages Andrew Marvell wrote a unique love poem in â€Å"To His Coy Mistress,† as this poem expresses far more than one might expect or even perceive upon the first reading. Enveloped in this ode to a cherished muse are expressions of the â€Å"carpe diem† philosophy, laments about the impending doom of death, and hopes to transcend contemporary abilities to live forever in the love of another. While Marvell’s primary purpose in writing this piece may have been to woo a young maiden, he made a far more significantRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Not Coy Mistress By Andrew Marvell1596 Words   |  7 PagesEnglish 203 9 February 2015 Sex Over Time in Andrew Marvell’s, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† Sex and lust have changed greatly over time, especially since the late 1600s. In the poem, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† by Andrew Marvell the relationship between sex and time is rather passionate, but shifts as Marvell metaphorically describes time. The horrifying tone put on the metaphors, allusions, and the hyperboles play an important role in the understanding of Marvell’s meaning on sex and lust of the speaker’s ladyRead MoreGender Stereotypes And Expectations In Literature1724 Words   |  7 Pagesabout gender shape how readers perceive sex in literature; men are typically considered lustful, whereas women are considered loving. However, the subjects of sex, love, and lust in literature, as demonstrated in poems written by Robert Burns and Andrew Marvell, become increasingly nuanced when gender stereotypes and expectations are questioned and removed. Gender roles, expectations, and stereotypes have shifted and become less clearly defined through time, but they still exist and influenceRead MoreT.S. Eliot Paints a Grim Picture in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock1348 Words   |  6 Pagesmiddle-aged man at odds with his station in the world. Eliot also makes an extensive use of allusions to both contextualize the poem’s persona and depict a narrator who, despite possessing considerable intellect, views himself as ineffectual and â€Å"almost, at times, the Fool† (119). Decidedly pessimistic in tone, â€Å"The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufock† ironically provides its reader not with a lovesong as its title might suggest but, rather, an intense and unfavorable inner analysis in which the poem’s personaRead MoreEssay on The Four Periods of Literature1518 Words   |  7 PagesCelebrating Deterioration Literature is a tool. It is used to convey a large range of feeling and emotion. Literature and writing are perhaps some of the oldest communication methods used. There are four major literary time periods, the values of each of these, and their authors will be discussed. The first time period is authors who rejoiced in the basic joys of life. The next period saw authors realizing that life is short and must be enjoyed to the fullest. The third period influenced authors