Women in Business - Research Paper Example

? Women in Business Women in Business Women in Workforce Question There appear to be more women in the workforce than ever before. Describe how significant this trend is. To what do you attribute this trend? The trend that exhibits increasing numbers of women who join the workforce could be attributed to the changing and expanding role that women assumed since their husbands (or children) were called to serve the nation during war (Williamson, 2012). The trend is significant since it continues to exhibit an increasing trend that indicates that the role of women in the workforce would continue to pervade various responsibilities in diverse and more professionalized endeavors. As disclosed, “women are projected to make up 46.8 percent of the labor force by the year 2014” (Williamson: Women, 2012, par. 1). The trend could therefore be attributed to an interplay of factors that include: social factors (lower birthrates; delay in marrying age; greater and equal access to equal levels of education for both men and women); economic factors (the need for more income to support the family); and political factors (legislations approving equal rights and opportunities), among others. Question 2. Propose three ways that a business can capitalize on this trend to earn competitive advantage. Three ways where business can capitalize on the increasing trend of more women in the workforce to earn competitive advantage are as follows: (1) focus on promoting women to their full potentials since, according to the study published by Barsh & Yee (2011), organizations who have reportedly included women as members of the organizations’ board of directors have exhibited “a 26% difference in return on invested capital (ROIC) between the top-quartile companies (with 19-44% women board representation) and bottom quartile companies (with zero woman directors)” (p. 5); (2) “companies with three or more women in top positions (executive committee or boards) scored higher than their peers” (Barsh & Yee, 2011, p. 5); and (3) hiring more women in the workforce would be consistent to the ideals of diversity in the worksetting, which, according to the American Society of Women Accountants (2012), “contribute to a diversity of thought that enables your business to grow beyond the limitations imposed by a homogeneous staff… A wider variety of viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds enables a business to become more innovative, and ultimately more profitable” (American Society of Women Accountants, 2012, p. 1). Question 3. Speculate about why businesses should pay attention to the development of women’s leadership. Businesses should pay attention to the development of women’s leadership because there have already been studies and researches which disclose that women leaders are indeed more effective as leaders, when compared to their male counterparts (Zenger & Folkman, 2012). As revealed, “at every level, more women were rated by their peers, their bosses, their direct reports, and their other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts — and the higher the level, the wider that gap grows” (Zenger & Folkman, 2012, par. 6). Further, one strong believes that if more opportunities for advancement are accorded for women in leadership positions which would be openly encouraged in all contemporary organizations, these would provide greater motivations, higher productivity and higher chances to improve the organization’s bottom line. Question 4. What would you say to an organization that has little or no interest in women’s leadership? An organization that has little or no interest in women’s leadership, would first and foremost be violating the Equal Employment Opportunities Law in terms of according equal opportunities for training and development, regardless of gender, race, and other demographic factors. Likewise, the organization would be foregoing the opportunity to maximize the potentials of women and realize that their instrumental contributions to the organization and to the economy, in general, are potentially optimistic and validated. As emphasized, the leadership traits found to persistently exist in women: “intellectual stimulation, inspiration, participatory decision-making, and setting expectations/rewards” (Barsh & Yee, 2011, p. 5) were confirmed by global business executives as most needed to ensure organizational success. Gender Diversity Question 5. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Gender diversity is always good for the organization.” Explain your position with relevant examples. One is a firm believer that everything that is deemed good or beneficial is only so when used for the benefit of the greatest number of people. Diversity, for instance, is good for the organization within bounds and confines of managerial governance. This means that the policy of encouraging diversity should be balanced and controlled, depending on the level and extent that serves the interests of the stakeholders. Gender diversity is good for organizations if this supports the organizations’ mission, vision, values and goals. For instance, in the military, it is evident that though the organization espouses some level of gender diversity, it is still predominantly a male-dominated endeavor since the competencies, skills, and qualities that achieve the organization’s goals are most effectively fulfilled by the identified gender. Question 6. How do men and women lead others? Evaluate both the similarities and differences. Men and women share similarities in leading others through thrusts on focusing on attaining the identified organizational goals and in exhibiting high achievement drives supportive of quests for professional growth. On the other hand, according to Matsa and Miller (2012), “men and women do indeed have disparate management styles, with women tending to interact and communicate with their subordinates differently than men” (Matsa & Miller, 2012, par. 3). Likewise, the authors also indicated that there are also disparities in manifesting diversity in values in the work place, to wit: “an earlier study of Swedish corporate board members found that women placed a higher premium on what are known as self-transcendent values, things like benevolence and universalism, and less on self-enhancement values, like achievement and power, than their male colleagues. These differences might make leaders more sensitive to the needs of their workers, and less likely to lay them off even when demand is low?” (Matsa & Miller, 2012, par. 9). References American Society of Women Accountants. (2012). Diversity in the Accounting and Finance Fields. ASWA Special Report, 1-19. Barsh, J., & Yee, L. (2011). Unlocking the full potential of women in the U.S. economy. The Wall Street Journal, 1-7. Matsa, D., & Miller, A. (2012). A Female Style in Corporate Leadership? Evidence from Quotas. Working Paper. Kellogg School of Management. Williamson, B. (2012). New Trends in Employment: Women, Minorities and Immigrants, Older Employees, and the Physically Challenged. In WOMEN, MINORITIES AND IMMIGRANTS, OLDER EMPLOYEES, THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED (p. 856). State University. Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2012). Are Women Better Leaders than Men? Harvard Business Review, 1. Read More