Race & the workplace Essay

The information derived from the empirical manipulations of race of worker also revealed that depicted race has an influence to the children’s own aspirations in performing different jobs. Primarily, children ranked their own levels of interest in engaging themselves in the depicted novel jobs as notably lower when the jobs had been solely performed by African Americans than when the jobs are exclusively executed by their European counterparts or by both races. Additionally, this information are exceptionally illustrative in the sense that they clearly signify that race of occupational models – independent from the content and operations of these jobs themselves (held constant) – influences the children’s job preferences (Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). To supplement the manifestation of racial hints in the children’s assessment about jobs at the group levels, the current information also contribute to our comprehension of influential and group differences in the African American children’s job stereotyping, assessments and aspirations. In conformity with the reality theory developed by Hale (1980) which states that the socio – economic factors do appear to affect the children’s job assessments, especially during their adolescent stage. The older children (11 – 12 years of age) coming from families with lower socio – economic backgrounds exhibited less interest in engaging themselves in common jobs that were dominated by their European counterparts, therefore conceived to be higher in rank. Probably, economic factors are significant in this finding, with children from lower socio – economic backgrounds recognizing that they are financially challenged to seek occupations that demands higher educational attainment (Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). Conforming with the patterns for familiar jobs, children 11 – 12 years of age from higher – but not lower socio – economic backgrounds, were notably more attracted to engage themselves in novel jobs that they deemed to be exclusively carried out by their European counterparts or represented both races than they were in jobs that appear to be exclusively carried out by African Americans. Apparently, it is not feasible to identify the determinant of race of occupational worker in children from various age brackets and economic class solely on the grounds this set of information (cited in Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p.578).. In reference to the findings of Spencer (1985), primarily and in occupational context, the older African American children’s occupational aspirations are affected by their awareness of race prejudice in the society. Financially challenged children may be significantly unprepared to confront the recognized racial prejudice made by the majority (cited in Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). There is a possibility that the African American children’s economic constraints concepts lessen their interest in the so – called high – status and difficult – to – reach jobs. Nonetheless, it is certain that as young as 6 years of age, African American children have already formed racial foundations that integrate ideals about occupations. Such foundations substantially influence their job concepts and goals. Then again, these foundations significantly vary in relation to the children’s socio – economic status (Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). Acknowledging the presence of the two types of vicious cycles to race and jobs, the comparison shown between the ratings of status as well as the race of workers is disturbing. For one, African American children, specifically the impoverished ones, may be more inclined to aspire low – status jobs. Such jobs were minorities are overrepresented in. As a result, the dominance of the minorities is kept. However, this can result to another generation of twisted models of impoverished African American. In addition, while there may be jobs made available for more privileged African Americans, in time, just because of their race, they may be dismissed as lower in status in society. Furthermore levels of pay and prestige may also be brought down low (cited in Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). Ultimately, it is essential to note that this study is but one of the many steps to take in the development of an understanding of how occupational assessments are influenced by race. Socio – economic status is but an estimated indicator of the family incidents that may influence occupational stereotyping and ambitions. Additional studies should be administered to thoroughly observe how financial restrictions formed vocational hopes and ambitions. Moreover, additional studies should encompass considerations of how families talk about occupations, the kinds of role models presented by parent’s own job and how school and neighborhood context influence occupational stereotyping (Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). Investigating these issues among other samples of African American children and children from other ethnic and racial groups is also vital. Evidently, additional research is required to provide a deeper understanding of the long – term consequences of children with the aid of racial indication as a factor in shaping their opinions on and interests in employment (Bigler, Averhart & Liben, 2003, p. 578). Race, gender and ethnicity in the workplace must not be an issue. Rather is must be a goal (Ishimaru, 2005). A wide array of skills is very much needed in the American workplace today. Nonetheless, it cannot be delivered by selected group of people alone. This is where workplace diversity serves its purpose. Different people from different culture must share and respect each other’s views and opinions to be able to work out a solution to a problem and eventually affect success (cited in Ishimaru, 2005). Every business must aim to diversify. Simply put, it is the right thing to do after all. Workplace diversity makes a sound business sense. This commands attentiveness, conceptualization and dedication to be meaningful. Moreover, it demands willingness to examine the traditional way of transacting business and what is valued in its workers (Ishimaru, 2005). To be able to create an improvement in the workplace diversity, it is important to reassess one’s values and be able to articulate what merit means. As society continues diversify further, promoting employees who exhibited â€Å"diversity ability† to relate well with co –workers setting aside social demarcation must be stressed (Ishimaru, 2005). Hope must not be lost. Hope in the possibility that life in the midst of cultural diversity is possible. More than a possibility, this kind of life is a must. A life lived in harmony between people of different races is a life lived well. This translates and transcends race lines previously demarcated, all for the purpose of the common good (Racebridges. net, 2007). Researches validate that working in a diversified environment is linked with more substantial interracial relations. In addition more interracial friendships are also built here. A culturally mixed neighborhood is also an example of a diversified environment (Estlund, 2003, p. 10). There are grounds to believe that the noticeably increased prevalence of recounted friendship among different races stems mainly from increased relations and integration in the workplace. However, for the most part, it is not plainly a story of friendship. It is also about the mutual but scattered sense of connectedness that surfaces out of our everyday collaboration, casual amiability, common interests, complaints and triumphs and disappointment among co – employees. Even so, their potential asset is suggested by the incidence with which they build authentic friendship beyond social demarcation. Racial friction and discrimination did not disappear. Nevertheless, they were certainly lessened and combined with feelings of unity, deference, friendship and likeness (Estlund, 2003, p.11). In reality, it is only in the workplace where a more sustained and collaborative interaction can be feasible. It is only there when we can witness this kind of scenario. Everyone must seek ways to be able to collaborate with one another at any given time. This kind of collaboration must be made between people of different races, cultural background and sexual hierarchies. Workplace diversity, relations and collaboration that transcend social demarcation can be counted on to produce increased acceptance and affinity. Moreover, it can possibly create less aggression and stereotyping between different races, culture and tradition (Estlund, 2003, p. 12). In contrast to other generations, we now live in a society characteristically more diverse, mobile and incorporated than ever before. Today we share the world with not just complete strangers but significantly unique individuals (Estlund, 2003, p. 20). On one hand, the chance to establish thick and multi – strand bonds founded on likeness does not come as often. On the other, chances to establish bonds that transcend social demarcation abound. Yet forming the kind of bond that transcends social demarcation is not at all easy. Without the aid of some degree of compulsion, this kind of bond is impossible. Even so, when it does, it is more probably to be slender and more fractious than the kind of bond founded on likeness (Estlund, 2003, p. 20). In effect, these bonds can build trust. It can create a feeling of togetherness, unity for a cause. In time, compounded with the progress towards impartiality and incorporation within the workplace and beyond, trust may be fostered too (Estlund, 2003, p. 20). After all, no man can live alone. It is a dictate of human nature that we need other people in order to survive. The world is a melting pot of different cultures and that thing will remain certain. Other than separating oneself from those he deems to be different, may all people just learn to love and embrace each other’s uniqueness. There is much more to the diversity of this world. It is there to remind man of his individuality. It exists to teach the lesson that differences can indeed be a venue to learn other things and see the beauty of the world from another perspective. References (1989). Racism. In The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 19, p. 62). USA: The World Book, Inc. Bigler, R. S. , Averhart, C. J. & Liben, L. S. (2003). Race and the Workforce: Occupational Status, Aspirations, and Stereotyping Among African American Children. American Psychological Association, 39, 572 – 580. Estlund, C. (2003). Working Together: How Workplace Bonds Strengthen a Diverse Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ishimaru, S. J. Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee.(2005, August). Value of Racial Segregation of the workforce today. Retrieved February 27, 2008, from www. bna. com/bnabooks/ababna/annual/2005/001. pdf. Racebridges. net. (2007). We All Have a Race: Addressing Race and Racism. Retrieved February 27, 2008, from www. racebridges. net/schools/2006_2007_lessons/WeAllHaveARace. pdf. Williams, F. T. Gibbsmagazine. com. (2001, April 9). Racism is Still Alive. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www. gibbsmagazine. com/Racism%20Still.

Child Development Developmental Theorists Essay

Developmental Theorist, like Pigged, Goldberg, and Freud, n tot only grant parents the opportunity to be the finest parent they could be, their theories al low caretakers to analyze the benefits and consequences of using diverse methods. Living from 1856 to 1 939, Sigmund Freud became the building block in which other developmental theorists came to follow. Producing an idea that the unconscious us mind is the source of motivations, just like an iceberg, he theorized how the three structure oral components of he id, ego, and superego occur within the mind at different stages.The id, pr sent at birth, directs the need for gratification and tries to fulfill what is placekicking. The e ego is formed with day to day reality, predicting the probable outcomes of behavioral choice s. Lastly, the superego creates the internal interpretation of the rules and values of the envy reorient. In my cousin, who is currently five years old, the id and ego are evident. When she w as younger, she ate h andful after handful of candy. As her fourth year dawned, she realized the at if she ate too Unguent 2 much candy, she would get in trouble by her parents.Nonetheless, popular AR segments are shown contradict Fraud's beliefs, like when, Simply Psychology stated that the reason s of â€Å"Fraud's theory is unfeasible it can neither be proved true or refuted. For example, t he unconscious mind is difficult to test and measure objectively. Overall, Fraud's theory is high holy unscientific† (McLeod). Many also see that Sigmund ignored crucial details that did not fit h is ideas. Although several rebuked his view, Sigmund Freud has a line of supporters. He attracted d so many lowers that the Vienna psychoanalytic Society was established in 1908.I dir exactly believe that Freud shaped the the thinking of child development as we know it. Day to day examples prove that Fraud's theory holds true. Daily lives are transformed in new pathways as a child grows older. Not only did Freud de velop a basic structural model of child developed NT, he allowed Pigged to build off of his theory. Born in 1896 and living until 1980, psychologist Jean Piglet's interest was base d on the reasons a child gave wrong answers on questions that involved logical thinking , comparing and contrasting the mind of the adult and the child.From there, he developed the cognitive development theory. According to Cosmologically. Com, Pigged concluded t hat â€Å"children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge is based† (McLeod). He also came to the conclusion that two processes are essential for development, assimilation and accommodation. A assimilation is learning to understand events or objects based on existing structure. Com imitation means the expansion Of understanding as new information gets absorbed. With different stages, the child develops into an adult.The stages are comprised of seniority (birth to two o years), operational (two to seven years), concrete operational (seven to eleven ye ears), and formal Unguent 3 operations (eleven years and beyond) (McLeod). The game peek-a-boo is a type cal example of Piglets concept. The child has no clue that a person's face is hiding behind the e hands and acts genuinely surprised every time that person's face is revealed. This is the sense rainstorm stage. As the child grows, the child realized that he or she has â€Å"the ability to coordinate his motor activities to solve this problem.Eventually he will use his hands to move yours in an beef rot to expose your face, but until that time a lack of object permanence makes peek-a-boo fun† (â€Å"P gadget†). Even though Pigged came up with a very influential theory, some researchers dispel eve of Piglet's theory. They believe that he failed to â€Å"consider the effect that the social setting g and culture may have on cognitive development† (McLeod). In addit ion, according to Simply As ecology, â€Å"others have queried the age ranges of the stages. Some studies have shown that pro egress to the formal operational stage is not guaranteed† (McLeod).Many others have strong pop session to Pigged for other various reasons. However, Pigged did not have all criticism to his theory. In education, teachers are able to communicate and understand chi lilied. Researchers count nine to expand upon Piglet's ideas to increase knowledge on cognitive development. Personally, I a Greer with Piglet's approach to parenting because it allows adults to grasp how a child grows up ND have prime communication with their children. Hence, Pigged developed the Cognitive De velveteen Theory in how a child's mind evolves, but Viscosity took a different approach to parent ting.As a Russian psychologist, Level Viscosity lived from 1896 to 1934, building the concept of the Coloratura Theory. The Socio Trial Theory is based off the way a chi lid's learning patte rns morph, as a result of the interaction between children and their socio al environment. By scaffolding or assistance in a child's learning, â€Å"the child does not simply acacia re new knowledge but actually makes progress in his or her development† (â€Å"Viscosity In addition, he Unguent 4 believed that mental tools extend a child's ability to solve problems and create e solutions in the modern world.For instance, pretending to be a chef in the real world is a Quinn distances of a child trying to imitate their parents, extending their knowledge and progressing the IR creativity. Opposition to Level Bigotry's view consists of his belief that it applies to all CUL turns. To illustrate this, Oregon, who lived in 1 990, â€Å"dismisses the idea that Bigotry's id as are culturally universal and instead states the concept of scaffolding which is heavily depend dent on verbal instruction may not be equally useful in all cultures for all types of learning† ( McLeod). Or contradict this, many classroom teachers have used scaffolding as both teach err and student collaborate in practicing summarizing, questioning, paraphrasing, and predict inning. As the student becomes more advanced, the teacher's role lessens over time (McLeod). I affair m this theorists because he offered a new outlook on how parenting should be done. Children n need guidance to earn, not helicopter parents that are trying to constantly make their kids beet err directly.Level Viscosity is an exemplar of an approach to parenting that has become extreme Ely influential to society. Through their diverse methods, developmental theorists have created an aid to how a parent should raise child. Basically, I have learned that theorists have category zed the levels of development and other theorists expand beyond their ideas. Throughout my research, grasped that though different theorists have approaches, they all lead back to one thin g: a parent gives the hill all they learn and the way they develop.

History Nightingale vs Seacole Essay

Do you agree with the view that Mary Seacole, and not Florence Nightingale was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ during the Crimean War I agree totally with the view that Mary Seacole was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ although I can understand why there may be some evidence suggesting that Nightingale warranted the title. Sources 2C and 2O agree with the view that Nightingale was the ‘Angel of Mercy’ whereas Source V gives evidence that shows Seacole deserved to herald the title.The weight of evidence clearly supports the view seen in Source V saying Seacole was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ due to the provenance that surrounds the other two sources which support Nightingale. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that Mary Seacole really was the angel of Mercy. This is very clearly supported in Source V which describes her work in comparison to that of Florence Nightingale. Source V, which is an extract from a book called â€Å"The Victorians† written by A. N.Wilson and published in 2002, states how Seacole was very ‘attentive’ and was always ‘on hand for the troops’ so therefore of course showing Seacole in a very good light. The source was produced to show the readers what the modern day revisionist view is in regards to who the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ was and also how the work Nightingale did was minimal and had no positive effect on the soldiers. The author has clearly been well informed and has a strong agenda in wanting to play down the role of Nightingale in the Crimea.When comparing this to Source O, we can clearly see the difference between the Jingoistic and Traditionalist view of Nightingale being almost angelic and even like the Virgin Mary compared to the revisionist view where she is criticised hugely. Source O may have a very different perspective on Nightingale’s role during the Crimean War, however it is still valid as it shows the view point of British peopl e of Nightingale being a hero during Victorian times.Also, Source 2C is a traditionalist view and we now know that many of the things stated within it are false such as the statement that she ‘tended the dying’. Furthermore, Seacole has to be considered as the real Angel of Mercy due to the great efforts she made just to get out to the Crimea in which she had to pay money herself to get there. She was previously turned down a position as a nurse under Nightingale’s leadership, which it is thought, could be to do with the fact she was black.Her heroism was proven further through her setting up the ‘British Hotel’ in Scutari that tended to the troops. As well as giving them provisions when they were in need. In addition, we can clearly see the bravery she possessed from the fact she would minister to the wounded and the dying on the actual battlefield. She was willing to risk her life to save others. Seacole gave an honest recollection within her diari es of the things she did out in the Crimea and gave a description of her everyday life out there, which clearly involved so much hard work.The Times journalist at the time William Howard Russell, who himself was out in the Crimea, backs up the opinion that Mary Seacole was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’, stating how ‘she doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success’ just going to show the extent of the positive impact she had on the troops during the Crimean War. Moreover, Dr Reid, a surgeon in the Army at the time, who states how he met ‘a celebrated person ‘who’ did not spare herself if she could do any good to the suffering soldiers, furthers Russell’s opinion.This once again goes to show the nature of the person she was and the impact she had which is seen in Source O. Therefore, there is strong evidence to suggest that Mary Seacole, and not Florence Nightingale, was in fact the true ‘Angel of Mercy’ d uring the Crimean War. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that Florence Nightingale, and not Mary Seacole was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ during the Crimean War. To begin with, both Source 2C and Source 2O show a great deal of support towards the view that Nightingale was a hero and was the true ‘Angel of Mercy’.Source 2C states how ‘Florence Nightingale battled as valiantly as any soldier in the field to improve conditions’ giving us an impression as to the extreme effort she put in to helping out the British troops. It states how she worked with ‘incredible energy’ once more showing the amount of work she put in. This can be compared to Source 20 which also portrays Nightingale as being angelic and tending to the men for their every need. We now know that she didn’t actually treat the men herself and instead supervised whilst other nurses did this work. Source 2C was written by Denis Judd and is an extract from th e 1975 book â€Å"The Crimean War†.Judd clearly had an agenda to portray Nightingale well and perhaps hadn’t got the benefit of receiving all the evidence necessary to produce a completely truthful representation. It does however give us a perspective into the opinions people held until about ten years ago. Furthermore, there is a huge amount of evidence to suggest that Nightingale was in fact ineffective and perhaps even had a negative effect on the soldiers in The Crimea. This can clearly be seen due to the death rate rising to 42 per 1000 during her time at the Scutari between November 1854 and March 1855.This is clearly down no the filthy conditions that the hospital managed to get into whilst she was there with the floors being covered in muck and â€Å"crawling with vermin† which obviously led to many diseases such as gangrene and in particular cholera. Cholera was the disease that resulted in the most deaths. Before Nightingale arrived, we know that the c onditions were much better and were described as ‘sufficiently comfortable’ and ‘clean and airy’, but this changed and rapidly declined following Nightingale’s arrival thus meaning she cannot be considered as being the ‘Angel of Mercy’.This view is furthered from the fact that following the arrival of sanitary commission, the conditions changed for the better and the death rate went down to 2 per 1000. In addition Nightingale was very arrogant and jealous of anyone who competed with her and even accused Mary Stanley of ‘plotting to set up an opposition’, which never would have happened, had Nightingale not have turned down her help. This once again shows how she was not the hero that Victorian society thought she was as seen in Source 2C and Source 2O. Thus, there is some evidence to suggest that Florence Nightingale was the ‘Angel of Mercy’ and not Mary Seacole.However that evidence is very weak in comparison t o the evidence suggesting that Seacole warranted the title of ‘Angel of Mercy’. To conclude, Mary Seacole and not Florence Nightingale was the real ‘Angel of Mercy’ due to a number of reasons addressed. In Sources 2C and 2O, although they describe and show Nightingale being angelic and having a huge impact on the soldiers lives positively, they can’t be seen as true because they were written at a time where Nightingale was seen as a hero and people held a much more traditionalist view.This differs to Source V which is a revisionist view and was written by an author who was well informed in comparison to the ill-informed Dennis Judd and the artist who painted Source O. Overall, it is very clear that the evidence for Mary Seacole being the true ‘Angel of Mercy’ far outweighs that of Florence Nightingale deserving the name so therefore in my opinion Mary Seacole was the true ‘Angel of Mercy’. David Hughes-D’Aeth

Burger Kings famous advertising slogan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Burger Kings famous advertising slogan - Essay Example For instance, in case consumers switch to certain brands, producers follow suite and produce goods to meet this target group. Starbucks is one of the brands that follow the need for customization and immediacy. The company launched restaurants to serve food while it expanded its coffee offering. Several companies spend a lot of money on research and marketing to find out the kind of products that customers desire upfront. The need for customization and immediacy is well accepted factor among producers (Ferrell 114). Marketing evolved from the need to understand the consumer and as a result, marketers had to come up with strategies that could focus on the customer. This has been practised over a long period of time. In the past, goods were produced for the purposes of serving customers with quality goods. This was continued further when production was enhanced and customers were now sold goods due to increased production. In these early days, production was not done to suit consumer needs but rather it was driven by consumer wants (Ferrell 88). However, in the recent past marketing has been done to focus on customer needs and expectations. As a result, the customer has been bombarded by goods and products that are suited and catered for their needs. For instance, Apple produces handsets that are suited for consumers since it ends up meeting the expectations of the consumer. However, today consumerism is driven by social changes and values such as fashion, technology and other current trends. For instance, Google allows for its users to have choice on the services they require. Marketing concept involves understanding the needs and goals of different target markets with the need of achieving organizational goals to consumers better than the organization’s competitors. While, on the other hand societal marketing is that the company should market their goods based on the consumer’s wants/needs, the company’s requirement long-term

Credit Risk Assessment of Bank Customers using DEMATEL and Fuzzy Research Paper - 1

Credit Risk Assessment of Bank Customers using DEMATEL and Fuzzy Expert System - Research Paper Example The research is carried out using data from the Middle East Region of the Asia. Banking has become a necessity to individuals who require safe storage of their financial assets(Bilal,7). Among commercial banking various benefits, some risks are associated with them especially credit risk which requires management for any bank institution to make profits for its stakeholder and investors. Assessment of credit risk is necessary for sustainability of banking institutions especially in the Islamic realm where moral laws such as shari’ah and social justice are adopted in order to preserve customer associations, reasonable dealing, protection and precautions of staff amongst others(Bilal,7). Management of credit involves mitigating the exploitation of the risk, which is applied by including credit scoring models that serve as structures for providing credit to customers. Research has been conducted on how to evaluate credit risk with success factors being evident in the use of GA-based SVM and Rough set theory that provided effectiveness in data mining therefore contributing a positive impact on risk restructuring(Jianguo and Bai, 3). Other studies included credit risk assessment with support vector machines and hybrid neutral systems that resulted in robustness in the use of fuzzy logic in real time applications to solve problems specifically in credit risk management(Shin, Lee and Kim, 130). This paper concentrates on credit risk assessment using Dematel and fuzzy expert systems applying credit scoring models. The objective of this paper is to study consumers’ credit risks that are obtained from previous research that includes financial ratios obtained from banking balance sheets. Rules are used to determine the correlation between consumers’ financial credit risk levels and resultant financial circumstances that is improved by expert decision making that is from filtered financial ratios(Amorim, Vasconcelos and Brasil,

See document Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

See document - Essay Example Company senior managers heading public companies prepared deceptive statements to blow up the prices of the company stock, apparently undermining the trust of the public in the integrity of financial market and regulators. The corporate scandals are usually perpetrated by several people who understand the organization’s every single detail, with most collaborating parties being people with high standing in the society. Most executives in failed corporations admit receiving enormous bonuses and backdated stock options to warrant that they will make wealth from investing in their company; not considering whether their performance made the share price increase or go down. Other unethical behaviors have resulted in the downfall of corporations, poor performance and negative publicity. As a result, the aspect of ethics in organizations has increasingly gained prominence due to distrust on organizational leaders (Loe, Ferrell & Mansfield, 2000) This study seeks to examine some of th e corporate failures, reasons behind their fall, as well as a close examination as to where blame may be assigned. Of specific importance, Enron downfall and Satyam scandals will be useful in examining ethics behind corporations’ failure. The paper will also look at the theories that expound on the subject of ethical governance in organizations. Ethics is a significant pillar in the modern corporate arena and corporate governance. Organizations have learnt useful lessons from the above cases on the danger that unethical decisions can bring in any organizations. As David Thoreau once said, â€Å"it is truthfully sufficiently said that a firm has no conscience; but a company of conscientious men is a corporation with ethics†. This statement carries a lot of meaning with it as to the significance of upholding ethics in organizations. The subject of what constitutes ethical behavior in organizations remains a debatable subject due to the wide ranging opinions of what const itutes ethics, and what ethics is not. Nevertheless, many organizations have embraced ethical codes stating their leading philosophical guidelines and organizational values. Ethical codes that are successful highlight the obligations of organizations to shareholders, the behavior anticipated of employees, and ethical parameters of the organization. Ethical codes are intended to impact on employee behavior, and are also referred to as corporate ethics statements. Business ethics field deals with questions as to whether a particular business practices are acceptable. Controversial business ethics issues arise on a daily basis in every organization, and this calls for organizational members to exercise their conscience as Thoreau said. For illustration, an accountant may face an ethical dilemma in his/her course of duty that may compromise her decision. For instance, if an accountant discovers inaccuracies in a client’s auditing report, he/she may opt to report the inaccuracy. O n the other hand, reporting such an inadequacy may result in the auditing company fired by the client for disclosing the inadequacies. This confusion leaves the accountant at crossroads as to what practice is acceptable. Business ethics require that organizational members to conform to sound moral principles. Special consideration has to be put into perspective when applying the concept of ethics in business. One is that businesses are formed with the aim of making a profit, and therefore, businesses

The Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage Research Paper

The Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage - Research Paper Example Love and arranged marriages can take other forms including polygamy which is a form of marriage where a man marries more than one woman or a woman getting married to more than one man. However, in 1862, Abraham Lincoln made polygamy a criminal offence in the United States as well as persons who were in such relationships were innumerable (Batabyal and Beladi, 2002). Nonetheless, there was a belief that an individual must have had more than one partner so they could go to heaven. Polygyny is a marriage with more than one partner at the same time and polyandry is a woman who (Applbaum, 1995) marries more than one man at the same time (Gupta, 1976). Endogamy is marriage to several wives or husbands from the same family, community, tribe, or social group. Since the advent of marriage, marriage scenarios have immensely changed across different cultures and societies across the world. Women have since been given equal marriage right has men. During the medieval period, women were faced full responsibility of their marriages and religion. On numerous occasions, marriages have been significantly pegged on other several reasons other than love. In some cases, economic liaison was taken to be the main reason behind marriages. In most cases, there were dowry as well as proxy marriages. In the case of dowry marriages, bride and his family are expected to pay dowry to the family of the groom. The dowry may be in the form of money or present (Applbaum, 1995). However, there some cultures that requires the groom’s family to pay dowry to the bride. Significantly, few marriages in the world require any sort of courtship or dating. Despite differences in nature and types of marriages, the culture of engagement ring is a universal customary i n marriage. The use of engagement ring can be traced back from the ancient Roman. There was a belief that the roundness of the ring represented the concept of an eternal relationship (Gupta, 1976). Additionally, there is a belief that the ring and the adorn finger ring directly connects the nerves and the heart. Marriage is considered a secret bond, as opposed to physical connectivity (Allendorf and Ghimire, 2012). Notably, Saint Paul once compared the marriage relationship to the relationship between Christ and the Church. Arranged marriage This marriage can be traced from the aristocratic and royal families all over the world. Currently, arranged marriages are largely practiced in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and south Asia (Cherlin, 2004). In the south Asia, arranged marriages are common in nations including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Moreover, the practise is also found between the Hasidic Judaism and the Unification Church. Arranged marriage should never be confused with the forced marriage (Gupta, 1976). Arranged

Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Accounting - Essay Example According to Bierman 24 besides building power plants, buying and selling of natural gas and electricity; the company also developed new markets like internet bandwidths, weather futures, pulp and paper business, water plants and oddball products which provided broadcast time for marketers which rocketed its financial incomes. Between the periods of 1995 to 2000, its revenues rose from $9 billion to an impressive $100 billion. The company won America’s most innovative company by Fortunes Most Admired Companies Survey for six years straight which added to its successful reputation. The accounting system required that the company’s future profits were to be estimated at present value based on the signing of its long term contracts. The system was introduced by the joining CEO Jeffery Skilling, who ordered the company’s reporting system to be changed from its actual sales and supply of its natural gas to the new system. The mark to market accounting estimations were in reference to the future net value of the cash flows which were often difficult to predict. This included estimated Enron’s projects’ incomes that were irrespective of whether they were received or not and if changes were made like additional losses or incomes, they would be incorporated in subsequent periods. Enron Incorporation was the first non financial company to be given approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) use the system. Due to the numerous discrepancies in matching their cash and profits; the shareholders were given false reports. Therefore, a strategy to appease the investors was created (Bierman 45). Based on Bierman 55 the company executed pressure on its traders in order to forecast low discount rates and high future cash-flows on long-term contracts with the company. In essence, the difference margin between the original paid value and the present calculated net value was the company’s profit. Contrarily, the estimated net

Anaylysis of business enviornment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anaylysis of business enviornment - Assignment Example Some of the available techniques of promotion include using the print media and other media such as radio and TV. This is likely to catch the attention of many potential buyers. This will tend to increase demand of cars. The price of a car Affordability of cars will most certainly increase their demand. However, if the prices are not friendly, demand of cars will be less. This is the prime reason why a company that sells cars should fix the prices skilfully so as not to affect the sales (Frank, 2006, p. 57). Financing options A population found in a country where access to loans is easier will find it easier to buy a car than those who cannot access a loan. Banks and other financial institutions give loans to people who are employed or are doing businesses with returns that can pay off the loan. The income of the buyer Those buyers that earn a lot are able to buy more than one car. Those who earn little are not even able to afford a car. This is the reason why it is important to star t up a car selling business in places where people have good income. In such a place, demand will certainly be higher. New offerings With the introduction of a new model in the market, the demand of this car is usually higher. People tend to buy new models due to changes in the make. They may love the new colour, shape and speed of the new car and as such, they will be influenced to buy. Tastes and preferences If the customers change their taste and preference towards a particular type of car, its demand will most certainly go down. However, if the tastes and preferences of the consumer are in line with the available type of cars, then this will make demand higher. Economic conditions The most influential economic conditions include inflation and balance of payments. When there is inflation, the prices of goods and services tend to go high. In this case, consumers will pay higher for basic commodities than was the case initially. In this case, therefore, consumers’ ability to purchase is strained. They are not able to buy luxuries such as cars, hence their demand goes down. On the contrary, if the prevailing economic conditions are favourable, people will have money to spend, hence the demand for luxuries such as cars will be higher (Bade and Parkin, 2001, p. 43). 2. What product or service might have a highly positive cross elasticity of demand with the market for cars? Describe its impact on the market for cars. Cross elasticity of demand measures the effect of the demand of one good because of the change in the price of another good. The elasticity is measured because of the change in price of one good and how this will affect another commodity demand. The two goods are either compliments or substitutes. When the cross elasticity of demand is positive, it shows that the goods are substitutes. When it is negative, the two products are complements. In the market for cars, motorcycles are the products with a highly positive cross elasticity of demand. O ther substitutes are the public transport such as busses and trains. Many people are opting to buy motorcycles in place for cars due to the effective nature of motorcycles as compared to cars. Customers in a situation where substitutes have such a positive cross elasticity of demand, opt for the product with the highest advantage. In the market of cars, the main reason why people are moving to

New York Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

New York Project - Essay Example The 12 friends come from the city of Los Angeles and wish to go to the city of New York by flight. If they fly to New York using Delta Airlines they will have to pay a one way price of 33 US Dollars. For all of them, they will have to pay a total of 792 US Dollars for both journeys. The first show that they plan on seeing is a Broadway musical by the name, â€Å"After Midnight†. This musical celebrates the exuberance and glamour of Harlem’s Golden Age. It consists of Harlem’s most popular nightclub. The musical is performed by exceptional jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars. This is an orchestra consisting of 17 world-class musicians carefully selected by Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis is a 9-time Grammy Award winner. The musical includes songs by Cab Calloway, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington and their contemporaries. The stage performances and dances make it even more captivating. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times calls â€Å"After Midnight†, â€Å"a depiction of time-traveling back to the heyday of the Cotton Club as it moves through more than 25 songs from the jazz era.† Marilyn Stasio of broadways also describes it as, â€Å"stylized treatment of a midnight floorshow at a 1930s jazz club is gorgeously designed to showcase roof -raising performances from top-flight talent†. Watching the musical from the mid mezzanine section they will have to part ways with 70 US Dollars each. The second show that they plan on seeing is a play by the name, â€Å"The Accidental Pervert†. This play is a one man show, which tells a story about a boy whose journey into manhood begins when he starts watching his father’s X-rated videos. The videos eventually became an ever-present part of the boy’s life. The play depicts the videos to be having dirty contents with no redeeming value. The boy eventually finds redemption from the mess he put himself in when the gets a different perspective of life. This

Steps for Successful Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Steps for Successful Business - Essay Example An SQM can provide the business profits in term of customers’ satisfaction but combining it with employee retention through; provision of continuous communication and guidance for the employees, childcare provision, and flexibility of work can guarantee loyalty, motivation and high productivity by the employees. The higher the motivation and trust, the better results will the organization have to show. The bibliography in this paper presents and summarizes a number of articles and their findings regarding workplace management and employee satisfaction factors. The authors emphasize the implementation of a successful Quality Management System (QMS) for a business by written and controlled procedures. They believe that a QMS prevents failures involving the supply chain, the brand, and customers since it forms a basis for major company audits. As management professionals, they propose using these four main concepts in the development of an effective QMS, in the order in which they suggest. They consider statistical tools to be first, like a flow chart or a process map, as it is vital in providing information on the path a product follows from the manufacturing stage onwards. This becomes a control plan after its approval by quality assurance department. Secondly, they propose using a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), is an advanced stage of product quality planning, which helps in identifying possible failures, and an FMEA team may oversee the process. Systems validation protocols work to eliminate defects and lower the level of vari ation in the process of manufacturing. Finally, current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) is necessary for manufacturing companies to ensure their products meet the market requirements, as this will develop their product identity and quality. Therefore, companies must develop and sustain a cGMP.  

DVD or Digital Versatile Disc Essay Example for Free

DVD or Digital Versatile Disc Essay There are a lot of new media technologies around today and more are being invented each day. DVD is one of the most recent developments and is getting more and more popular each day. DVD stands for the term Digital Versatile Disc and is generally like a CD but can store a lot more data on it. Due to the size of DVDs they can store a whole film on one disc, the quality of these films is really good and the sound can be amazing. They can also store large amounts of extras like deleted scenes from the film, extended scenes and documentaries. DVDs are the replacements for both VHS and CD due to the fact that you can now buy music DVDs and the main use of DVD which is for the storage of films. You can now also buy recordable DVDs and DVD writers so you can now record things from the television and put it onto DVD. Due to these facts DVD has become the fastest growing consumer electronics technology of all time. There are three main types of DVD; these are DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and DVD-Audio. DVD-Video was created to meet the requirements of the film industry by having great picture and great sound on one disc. DVD also offers features like surround sound, extras and different viewing angles. DVD-Video is now the fastest growing consumer electronics technology of all time. Several thousand titles and millions of players are now in use around the world, with annual sales of players and discs doubling each year. DVD-Video players were launched in Japan in November 1996, in the USA in March 1997 and in Europe in 1998. Since then DVD-Video has grown faster than any other consumer electronics format in all these regions. DVD-Video has started to replace VHS as the format of choice for pre-recorded movies, both retail and rental. With the introduction of recordable versions DVD-Video is now set to replace the VHS for home video recording and playback of pre-recorded video. DVD-Video have been set certain requirements to stick to by the Motion Picture Studio Advisory Committee which is based in Hollywood, just about all DVDs released follow these requirements but not all of them, it is not a legal requirement, and it is just a general recommended specification, these are: 135 minutes on one side of a single disc (covering 99% of all movies). Video resolution better than Laserdisc (LD). CD quality surround sound for true home cinema listening. 3 to 5 languages (audio) per title on one disc 4 to 6 subtitles per title on one disc Pan-scan, letterbox and widescreen formats Parental lockout features Copy protection Compatibility with existing CDs Chapter division and access (like Video CD) Manufacturing cost similar to current CD costs. A format called VCD (Video Compact Disc) was tried but did not fulfil the requirements as the sound was not very good and the playing time was not very good either as some films were too long for the disc. Most DVD-Videos also include extras that cannot be included on a VHS, such as biographies, directors commentary, making of the movie etc. An increasing number include DVD-ROM content, which can range from links to relevant websites to a full game based on the movie. The use of websites can allow the disc to be used in different ways with updated text and graphics information on the website complementing the video on the disc. There is also a change in DVD types between countries. You get certain DVDs types in certain countries and they call these regions. You use region 2 in UK and region 1 in America, there are also other regions for other countries. Yet you can buy Multi-Region DVD players which can play all regions of DVD. DVD-ROM Drives are just a sort of DVD player that is attached to a PC like a CD-ROM Drive. They can be used to store games, programs and any computer data. This can be an advantage because it enables you to be able to store massive applications or lots of smaller applications. Modern Game consoles also use DVD-ROM drives for example Microsofts X-Box and Sonys PS2 so they can have more realistic and sophisticated games. The Technical Working Group, representing the computer industry, listed the following requirements for a DVD-ROM specification for multimedia, games and other computer applications.

Marks and Spencer 2009-2010 Financial Analysis

Marks and Spencer 2009-2010 Financial Analysis This report aims to perform a financial analysis of Marks and Spencers, between 2009 and 2010. Generally, a companys financial statements reflect a certain period of changes in financial position and operating results. Thus, by analyzing the companys financial statements will be able to operate throughout of a basic understanding with its strength, financial adaptability and performance of company. As the annual report is provided information and content to all ranges of users, which includes the companys existing shareholders, potential investors, creditors, government and the nature of other users. Therefore different users of accounts may concentrate in only a few important parts of accounting data and business information. Ratios To compare the revenues across two years, MS has gained 9062.1m in 2009 and then growing to 9536.6m in 2010. It is also likely to continue to trend upward due to their long-term strategy and improved market share. MS managed their costs cautiously, paid attention and responded to their customers changing needs. Profitability Ratios Gross profit % 3618.5/9536.6 3371.9/9062.1 =37.94% =37.21% The figures show on the gross margin has increased from 37.21% to 37.94%, this increase may have arisen from the production costs or from a sales with a good sales value. Thus, MS is able to control its production costs and achieve and optimum sales price and sales quantity. It can be an indication of marketing effectiveness. Pre-tax profit % 702.7/9536.6 706.2/9062.1 =7.37% =7.79% The net profit margin is 7.793% in 2009 and decreased to 7.368 % in 2010. This shows the amount of the net profit from each  £1 turnover a business has earned. After-tax profit % 523/9536.6 506.8/9062.1 =5.48% =5.59% Performance Ratios After tax profit as a 523/2168.6 506.8/2081.7 shareholders funds =24.12% =24.35% Return on Investment 523/7153.2 506.8/7258.1 =7.31% 6.98% The ratio indicates that from 6.98% in 2009 which has increase to 7.31% in 2010. This is a very important ratio for all users of financial statements. Along with the rate of the degree is more efficiency on production, higher profitability MS will get. Earning per share 33.5p 32.3p This ratio used as indicator of financial performance. Compare to 2010 since 2009, there has been 1.2p increased from 32.3p to 33.5p. Dividends per share 15p 22.5p Return on capital 523/ (7153.2-1890.5) 506.8/ (7258.1-2306.9) Employed =9.94% =10.24% This ratio indicates the amount of capital invest in the company in the long term and with the return achieved on that capital. Based on the figures above, the percentage in 2010 has been decreased compare to year 2009. Overall business activities and corporate profitability, the stronger the higher the profitability; return on assets reflects shareholders and creditors  profitability of investment funds; return on equity reflects the profitability of the shareholders to invest.   Liquidity Ratios Current ratio 1520.2:1890.5 1389.8:2306.9 =0.804:1 =0.602:1 According to the rule says that the current ratio must be at least 2 which mean the current asset needs to be double to meet the current liabilities. the quick ratio is a relatively safe, low efficiency of the suspected high, too low, there may be poor management.In 2009 Marks and Spencers only had 0.602 worth of current assets for every pound of liabilities. Even though it has been increased to 0.804 in 2010, they were still unable to support its short term debt from its current assets. The company has considerably less cash in 2010 than in 2008. Quick ratio (1520.2-613.2):1890.5 (1389.8-536):2306.9 =0.48:1 =0.37:1 This ratio provides severe test of liquidity by omitting stocks. The ratio has increased from 0.37 to 0.48. Gearing 2278/2185.9 x 100% 2117.9/2100.6 x 100% =104.2 =100.8 The ratio concerns on long term capital structure. It indicates the relationship between debt and shareholder funds. If borrowings is bigger than equity, there will be a highly gear and this can raise more money as the higher the level of gearing, the greater the risk. Debt ratio 4967.3/7153.2 5157.5/7258.1 =0.694 =0.711 The ratio indicates debt is covered by shareholders funds. The debt to equity ratio shows for every  £1 of shareholders funds in 2009 there was  £0.711 of debt. This compares to  £0.694 in 2010, it has decreased. Short-term liquidity refers to the ability of companies to repay short-term debt.  Short-term solvency deficiency, not only will affect the credit, increasing the future cost and difficulty of raising funds, but also enables companies in financial crisis, or even bankruptcy.   The impact of internal factors Profitability  is  the core  concern  in all aspects, as well as  the key to success. Hence, only profitable companies can survive and achieve long-term sustainable business.  This is the reason whether investors or  creditors are both reflected very seriously in  the rate of  profitability of the business.  Views at 3 April, 2010, group revenues were increased 5.2% to 9.5bn, this is benefited from the growth of market share in the clothing and food market conditions improve. Based on UK sales of 2.9% and international sales of 5.7% increase, from the Singer Capital Markets analyst, Matthew McEachran, said MS non-food business has a good performance to some extent offset by a large-scale impact of profit sharing, making the companys annual earnings expectations basically reached the outside world.   Firstly, as a result of improving consumer confidence has seen the clothing market return to growth. Womenswear value market share grown to 10.7%, due to MS seems expanded their focus group of all ages and lifestyles. Chairman of MS, Stuart Rose said: In the past year, we achieved all the core areas of performance improvement, reflecting MS has a good brand influence. In bringing the company out of  economic crisis, we focus on the factors that consumers care about, namely, quality and value. At the same time, the economic outlook as consumers is still worried about a certain degree, so we are also cautious about the operation of current fiscal year. Therefore by way of retain their position as market leaders, it needs to deliver clothing for Every Women, Every Time. Which means every customer can have the product they want, in the right size, color and style every time when they shop in MS. Furthermore, lingerie has grown volume market share to 18.9% and value market share to 25.9%. This significant indicate that one out of four women buying MS underwear. This gain benefits continued emphasis on innovation and provides lingerie solutions women want. Similarly for menswear and kidswear, in order to become fashionability, MS has more focused on improving the style and designs, putting effort on deliver the best quality. Secondly, food sales of MS is another main revenue income, there was increased 1.8% to 4.3bn in 2010. One of the reasons is deflation with falling food prices and customers were buying more. According to MS annual report shows share of the apparel market in the UK rose 0.3% to reach 11.2%.  At the same time, with the level of consumer spending recovery, all branches of MSs sales are to achieve growth.   Since the summer of 2007 MS achieved comparable sales growth for the first time. However, despite the implementation of price-cutting strategy, MSs market share from 3.9% to 3.8%.   Shop Your Way is another reason of changes in profitability. It is a new ordering service, allowing customers either shop in stores, place orders online or over the phone. This makes an advantage that increasing the efficiency, delivered a strong performance, hence, sales grown by 27% to 413.3m. During 2009/10 international sales were up 5.7%, accounting for 10.2% of total revenues. Although it is hard trading in the Republic of Ireland and Greece, MS  insists international growth plans. India and China  considered as two key regions  overseas expansion.  As India  are convinced that  with  the tremendous  economic  development,  in the next  5-10  years,  there will be a large number of  middle class appear  in the community,  and they  will become  MSs  potential customers. The reason  placed such  high expectations  on overseas markets,  due to the  financial crisis  of this  hundred years old  business  in the local  enormous challenges encountered.  Because of  customers  are choosing  cheaper cost goods supermarket such as TESCO  and o ther  procurement,  caused MS  this past  Christmas  sales  worst  since 1998,  the year,  MS was forced to close  up more than 25  franchised  food  supermarkets and  lay off  thousands. Viewing the clothing market trends in China, MS seem to underestimate the Shanghai consumers fashion needs. According to the survey of Financial Times, consumers were disappointed with MS selling the old fashion of T shirt. Similarly as Daily Mail survey, most of the female consumers thought the only items MS worth buying is lingerie. And other clothes are too old and boring, prices also expensive with little choice. From the above reflects the consumers point of view, MS clothing market in China is still in a position of British middle-aged level, they did not know the elderly in China has been spending very little on clothes, even though they chose are the cheaper ones. Therefore in order to b uild a platform of long term growth, MS is continuing international expansion. Ensure creating sustainable business in these countries; represent a great opportunity for MS. However, on the premise of that, plan for regional variations and accurately stock with right colors and sizes are important. At present  there are more than  30 countries  around the world  with approximately  760  branches  of MS,  became  the most representative of  the UK  chain stores  and clothing  retailers.  In the global  environment from being damaged  under the impact, MS in  November 2007  implement a 5 years eco-plan called PLAN A to  cope with climate change  and other environmental  conservation issues  and the implementation of  waste reduction,  conservation of natural resources,  fair trade, etc.  to create  the correct  concept of environmental protection  of the  health  state.  In 2010  the scheme  had already reached  five main  objectives which are become carbon neutral, send no waste to landfill, extend sustainable sourcing, help improv e the lives of people in supply chain and help customers and employees  live a healthier life-style. This five main goals represent five key areas (climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, fair partner and health and safety), and they divided for environmental protection and ecological 100 commitments.   From the promotion of PLAN A of the past twelve months, MS has been achieved: reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 55,000 tons within the shops and offices , supporting small-scale farmers feel investing in renewable energy production, the creation of three eco-store testing, purchase 140 air-powered environmental goods, the carbon footprint of the implementation of food programs to reduce waste activities, MS has begun to allow customers to reduce the use of shopping bags and to promote recycling and reuse of old clothes. In addition, MS is also working to reduce product packaging, not only to increase the use of recycled materials, and improve the recycling rate of building materials. In the development of sustainable resources, introduction of more fair trade higher goods, such as organic cotton, organic linen and recycled polyester material. Furthermore, increase 48% in sales of organic food. In a fair partner part of the promotion of fair trade certified products. PLAN A was succe ssfully established with suppliers trading patterns, and increased by 20% fair trade food sales. In terms of health, MS remove those 99% with artificial colors and spice rack food from sale and reduce the sodium content of food. PLAN A advocated by the environmental program has become internationally recognized as the practice of business ethics, but also by the Financial Times reported in March 2007 recognize as the best understanding of consumer needs, and focus on the popular social and environmental enterprises. According to the choice of partners, to promote social responsibility, health view on behalf of the establishment, removal of unhealthy products, able to recognition MS to improve the environment, green determination and enthusiasm. As a result, PLAN A gained 50m additional profit for MS. Ensure MS become succeeds, governance also affect the profitability. Focus on how to get things right across the business during 2009/10, a trusted brand, strong leadership, clear plan, motivated employees and delighted customers as well as right checks and balances. The impact of external factors One of the impacts of external factors on the profitability of MS will be their competitors. 40% compared to a decline in profits last year has been a great improvement though, but as the UKs largest clothing retailer, MS is far behind Next, John Lewis and Debenhams.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  MS in the economic crisis hit, especially deep, as it has been the face of competition from discount chain Primark clothing market share and strive to maintain.  It also recognizes too late to adjust their own high-end food business.     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  The company as it started in full force, in terms of the introduction of cheap Wise Buys food products, such as the introduction of a new clothing line Indigo.   in order to reduce size of the deficit, the British newly formed coalition government plans to value-added tax rate from the current 17.5% to 20%, which will have a significant impact on MS.  Ross said the analyst meeting, MS almost certainly raise prices by the way the VAT increase onto consumers.  Ross also pointed out that since the budget announcement from Ireland, the countrys trade situation to achieve a steady improvement.  

The Status Of Women In Pakistan

The Status Of Women In Pakistan 1.1 Demographic Transition and Status of Women in Pakistan Womens empowerment has more than one component: their right to make a decision; their access to opportunities and resources; authority to be in charge of their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Female empowerment has many dimensions. It includes access to knowledge, possession of social and economic resources and more autonomy in political and economic decision-making processes. All these components and dimensions of female empowerment are interrelated and an alteration in one component will not bring a huge transformation unless all change. If females have access to the productivity of men, then both genders can work simultaneously towards the betterment of the country, and this will lead to a sustainable way out of poverty. Therefore, women should get equal work opportunities. But women have greater challenges, as they do not get the same economic opportunities as men do. They do not get access to the decent working condition and lag behind men in decision making. In Pakistan, women do not has proper identities, as she is owned by her male peers. Their integrity and health are often beyond their own control. They are taken as invisible, underserved and undernourished. The culture of Pakistan is greatly patriarchal, there are many old and conservative traditions of women having a subservient and subordinate role. Decisions for female individuals are made by men in her family, especially in under-developed and distant regions. In Pakistan, specific religious beliefs are deeply rooted in citizens beliefs, on which many traditions and social perspective surfaces. Gender empowerment means that females ought to gain equality under the law and it must be implemented and enforced. Womens empowerment essentially contains legal fairness, equal access to education and practical exercise, females management at the national level, positive action for jobs with one and the same pay, and a gender-sensitive justice system. 1.2 Factors Effecting Women Empowerment In Pakistan Women consist of more than 50 percent of population in Pakistan and to deprive this half population of empowerment is to deprive our economy of growth. Women empowerment will not only result in the empowerment of women but also the economic well-being of the country. The development of the country also should result in equitable distribution of development benefits especially to the women sector. Economically empower women have more autonomy and resultantly this can transform their children and family lives. As she is a pivot about which entire family unit revolve, therefore an economically enriched woman has a constructive impact on the future generation. Countries who dont take benefit of its full population and ignores half of it, it is actually misallocating its resources, which will only lead to the reducing their development potential. All countries should focus on its weakness and learn from more successful countries. It should also set up such policies which take advantage of the whole population, as in both female and male. As successful countries are the one who recognize the potential in the women force as well for development. Throughout the world, there is not a single country which can boast of gender equality and full women empowerment. Women still out there face discrimination and are lagging behind in one way or the other. Gender equality in two critical sections is very important like economic and political empowerment of women. There is improvement in health and education with the advent of technology and as globally economies are developing but yet there is a long way to go as women are still very behind men especially in decision making and income earning. With the past trend it is quiet visible women are actively participating in to take charge of their own lives and this is in fact effecting the communities and society as a whole. But there is a big problem as women are not consistent class, they vary by race culture, society, brought up and opportunity, thus these factors also plays an important part in the disparity of women as these factors affect the behavior of society members. The objective of this research is to find out what political and economic determinants effect the women empowerment especially in Pakistan. The main goal is to find out what past variables have been selected and to learn from them and find new determinants. 1.3 Incidence and The Extent Women Empowerment In Pakistan As Pakistan is a growing and developing country and for the past few years its condition is not much improving, this in act is further affecting the condition of women. As more and more people are effected and thus poverty is increasing. Thus women have to strive hard to contribute to the family income, so that their family is at least above poverty line In Pakistan, apparently through the perspective of Islam this country says it gives equal right to both men and women but there is another side to the picture. Women constitute a small portion in decision making and they contribute very less o the development of the country as there labor force participation with respect to men is very less. The status of women in this country represents the traditions and the social customs, which led women to this condition. Women are always underprivileged then man in Pakistan, they get less education, food, decision making and health. As it is consider men are the lords of women, and women are deprived from their basic rights. Women destiny is controlled by men. This is not the case in Pakistan only but also in many countries men are considered superior than women. To achieve development, we have to convert our weakness to strengths. It is also known that increase women participation in the labor force will benefit the growth and resources can be distributed more easily to disadvantaged people. Thus women should get decent work, social protection and voice at work. As most of the time women are subjugated to lower wages than men and their wages have barely increased over time and they are offered low skilled, low paid atypical jobs, mainly performed from home. One of the greatest achievements in Pakistan, during the last decade has been the increasing proportion of women in the labor force, enabling women all over the country to use their potential in the labor market and to achieve economic independence. But yet we still have a long way to go. From Global perspective higher percentage of female are working in the developed countries than ever before, yet at the identical time these women continuing raise children to bear new burdens. But these women face tradeoffs as it will be difficult to find good demanding jobs with children to look after too as well. That is why there is not equal opportunity for men and women. Not only the family but also the society, government and the whole nation will benefit from the empowerment of women. Versatile aspects contribute to the passive functions played by women in the Pakistan Society. Great emphasis has been laid on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, resultantly many efforts have been initiated by the Government and NGOs in Pakistan on this issue According to (Pakistan employment trends for women) , international Labor Organization (ILO), has the objective of the promotion of opportunities for women and men to obtain productive employment is also the overall objective of the four fundamental ILO Conventions stressing gender equality cover: (1) equal remuneration (2) non-discrimination in employment and occupation, (3) workers with family responsibilities and (4) maternity protection. The Millennium Development Goals that emerged from the UN Millennium Declaration of September 2000 are specific measurable targets, including the one for reducing the extreme poverty that still grips more than 1 billion of the worlds people by 2015. Essential to this promise are the MDGs interrelated to educational results: (1) Guarantee that all youngsters complete primary education by 2015. (2) Remove gender inequalities in primary and secondary education. By 2006, most countries have already fallen well behind the necessary targets to meet these goals (Millennium Development Goal, 2006). As stated in millennium development goal 3 the promotion of gender equality and empowerment is fundamental to achieving the remaining MDGs .Likewise, there is evidence that addressing gender issues benefits individuals and families, workers and employers, society and national economies. Improving womens wages and earnings has been identified as a key element in tackling poverty and achieving the MDGs. Yet there are Country specific activities to promote gender equality and decent work as in Pakistans constitution ensures all fundamental human rights and guarantees equal employment opportunities for men and women. Existing labor legislations do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, but women are not allowed to work in a few areas for health and safety reasons, but the society as a whole plays a big part. the traditions of Pakistan forces women to sit at home and look after the children only , whether there husband give them money or not ,. Society or community does not approve females going out and raising voices for their rights. They also disapprove females working outside their homes. It is consider the work of women juts to look after their families. So to change this whole perceptive media is playing a big part but the government also needs to be active. As recently the Government initiated a number of activities to promote gender equality at the heart of decent work and to achieve MDG target calling for full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people. Those activities range from gender Sensitive revisions of constitutional and legal provisions to the establishment of new policy frameworks that help to accomplish the target. Therefore, the elevation of privileges of women and men in the domain of work and to achieve gender equality are reflected in a number of national development frameworks and policy documents including the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) for 2005-10, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and documents exclusively relating to labor markets such as the 2002 Labor Policy and the 2006 Labor Protection Policy. Pakistans Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) spells out the main strategy and plan of action to promote the creation of decent work with gender equality as a cross cutting theme. Overview of existing national policies and development frameworks that stress gender equality and decent work in the country. (Haq) 1.4 Managerial and Academic concerns My research will highlight the key determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan. As this issue is not only prevalent in Pakistan but is a global issue. as It is very important to conduct a research on determinants of women empowerment because it will stress on women troubles and bring them in to attention and it can facilitates and direct the policy makers to make such an intervention in their area, that could enrich these females not only economically but also politically and financially so that they can make a difference in their children lives and their individual living environment .Consequently providing her the individual safety and self-respect that is her essential right. this research is will also help independent institutions like NGOs to reach out to economically and politically deprived women as The negligence of women in development process will be big loss for Pakistan as it will result in loss in human potential and ultimately effect national development. Academically, this research is very significant for the undergraduates as it will help them pinpoint the economic and political determinants which effect the women empowerment in Pakistan. Student will find this research more realistic and precise. As now more individuals are getting conscious of this issue, so more instructors and undergraduates are doing research on women empowerment. They will find this investigation more helpful. 1.6 Keywords and Definitions Empowerment Refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities (Ouellette) Womens empowerment refers to the ability of women to transform economic and social development when empowered to fully participate in the decisions that affect their lives through leadership training, coaching, consulting, and the provision of enabling tools for women to lead within their communities, regions, and countries (Wise earth) Economic and political Determinants An identifiable element in economic and political that affects that limits or defines a decision or condition. 1.7 Study Objectives This study is an attempt to find the determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan as women being the core element of development and in Pakistan it consists of more than half of the population. To study the impact of the Economic participation on women empowerment. To study the impact of the health on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Power over economic resources on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Microfinance on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Political empowerment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Education attainment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the traditions on women empowerment. End notes With the advent of technology and progress in development, yet in this era women still lack behind men in power because even though a lot has been done for the empowerment of women but there is still a long way to go. Especially in Pakistan, the norms and tradition practiced are such that which suppresses the rights of female. Since independences of Pakistan, women have not gained freedom from these discriminating norms. Even though there has been a progress but this progress is very slow but to empower women not only our government but also society as a whole has to work very hard. LITERATURE REVIEW: Measuring women empowerment Empowerment is a multi-dimensional procedure that aids women to achieve power and control over their individual lives. Empowerment gives due right to women. Yet measurement of women empowerment is difficult and it is challenging to judge country level performance as there is difficulty in gathering diverse data. Based on the findings of, Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, five important dimensions have been selected for the examination of women empowerment. Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. Political empowerment means women have contribution in the decision making and can influence policy making. Educational attainment is very important as women can get the same opportunities as men do and it can be a big step for development purpose. Health and well-being is associated with how much females have access to suffici ent nutrition, healthcare and reproductive facilities. It is very difficult to measure each dimension in each country and to implement policy as each country has many other factors effecting its women empowerment. The GEM quantitatively measures the liberation of women on a country level. This indicator comprises of the share of inequality in control over earned economic resources, involvement in governmental decision-making and economic decision-making. This variable measure how much a power woman holds. Drawing upon Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, a report on Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, takes a step forward and elaborates further more on that there are three main domains. These three domains are interconnected, and alteration in every one of three is significant in accomplishing Goal 3. Women: Current Reality In a report by Augusto Lopez-Claros, it is mentioned that the past three decades have witnessed a progressively aggregate awareness of the necessity to invest in women through measures to increase political justice, social, financial and wider access to important social rights but it is argued that changes in women state is a very slow process, up till now a lot of work has been done but yet still the picture is depressing. It is not only the issue in male dominated society but also in developed country as well. A spotlight on deprived female is acceptable for numerous causes. Unfortunate female have the furthermost requirements. It is regularly stated that female outnumber male among the underprivileged. One more important report, Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, further elaborated that poor women have greatest need; investment in them will produce greatest benefit. Further, investment in the adolescent girls is very crucial as they experience more disadvantage than boys. Plus with progress in education and health, yet poverty among women has increased even in the richest countries where womens labor force participation has grown, but the terms and conditions of their employment have not improved. According to Linda Mayoux, Women also help in poverty reduction, if they are given liberty to save with no interference and or they are offered with loan, these women can cater to the need of their house hold eventually reducing poverty. Microfinance has been fruitful in reaching poor women through inventive methods to address gender-specific restraints. According to a report Womens Control over Economic resources and access to financial Resources, including microfinance, 2009, it is obvious that microfinance has a constructive effect on income, but this income expansion has definite limits. As females are subjugated to unfair customs and practices which limits their activities. Females face constraints in gain access to financial services. From all these studies it can be assumed that in spite of numerous accomplishments in giving power to women still women empowerment are effected by many factors .women should be given equal opportunities not only in education, health, and political, economic but also socially as well. Society as a whole should be targeted where new changes, changes in lifestyle and thinking should be accepted. To empower women in Pakistan all these determinants should be taken into consideration. Increasing socialism, religious fundamentalism, and traditionalism are main limiting reasons for womens safety and liberty. other than that self-regulating groups like NGOs and other self-governing research and academic organization, have been very energetic in formulating policy documents, raising public responsiveness and encouraging for gender-sensitive strategies and activities at all stages in order to progress womens empowerment in Pakistan. Womens Economic Activity Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. With the passage of time and despite considerable work done on women economic enrichment yet this is still time-consuming as due to many norms and practices women continue to be missing from many important decision-making opportunities which result in the determining the distribution of economic and financial resources and opportunity, that makes women more underprovided. Depriving women from economic resources makes a nation less productive resulting in negative economic consequences. Several social practices seem as ordinary from culture and religious perspective move women out of the main stream. Paid employment for women continues to expand slowly and remains meager in many countries including Pakistan. As the global financial crisis does not create problems for men but also for women. With men finding difficulty in recruitment as fewer jobs available due to recession thus, less jobs available for females as well. As females previously were offered less employment the men now with recent event they are less proffered and they are at huge disadvantage then men. They are getting more menial jobs and are given less wage jobs. To a great extent of work of females remains imperceptible, as most of the work done by them goes unaccounted and invisible The segment of women in salaried employment separate to the agricultural segment has amplified only slightly over the years, this shows that women are not getting work in productive jobs which can lead to development. According to (Oxaal, 1997) , with the shortage of jobs, a woman does not have any opportunity except for to accept these kinds of job. With that those women who are not allowed to leave their house for income are also at disadvantage , as their men after recession are losing jobs , even than they are not allowed by their females to also take the burden of earning income thus , females due to poverty get undernourished and malnutrition makes them unhealthy , which resultantly effect their families. Poverty, unemployment and lack of economic prosperity further strengthen this aggressiveness in rural areas the large amount of time women spend on housework and caring for family members means that they had little time to spend on employment and personal care. Since beginning women face a lot of constraint and these restraints replicate womens difficulty in education; lack of power and confidence and negotiating authority; as from their household they are misjudge which effects in low self-respect plus with comparatively high participation in part-time or transitory professions; leads to less employment for women and discrimination against them. Despite womens increased participation in the labor market, there has been no significant increase in the sharing of unpaid work, which affects womens employment choices. Access to Education The living conditions of women, their poverty and huge family household prevent them from gaining education. Since the beginning girls are required to work with their mothers to look after the whole family and do household chores this, therefore limits their time and energy to get involved in education. Issue of illiteracy is the main priority for women. As only educated women can access to economic and political sphere. According to (Medel-Anonuevo, 1993) , providing education to women will develop self-esteem and self-confidence; they will have knowledge of their health and well-being plus they will have the aptitude to make their own choices and negotiate; further this will increase the ladies attentiveness towards their civil rights. In addition will be able to provide skills for income generation and will participate in community/society more effectively and this will prepare them to be good women leaders. As according to the report Taking actions, educated females are more operative at refining their own well-being and family. They are better prepared to get the most advantage from prevailing facilities and chances and to generate alternative chances. In underprivileged countries, girls from their childhood are given domestic work; this handicaps them in terms of education. Gender inequality in rural location is even more noticeable at the phase of tertiary education. Girls from poor and rural Families face higher obstructions to education. Boys are always preferred over girls in education in each level from primary to tertiary. But directed public policy and governance actions can help overcome gender disparities. According to The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009 policies like removing school fees and providing incentives for girls to attend school can alleviate financial pressures on households. Building schools close to distant communities and recruiting local female teachers can also constricted the gender gap in rural areas. A lot of work must be done to finish inequality and discrimination based on gender especially in schools .hard work must be done to enroll all children in to school, especially girls. And to make sure that they complete their studies up till tertiary level as this can lead to good productive jobs and high economic growth for the whole country. Barriers in the Political Domain Institutions: Since the independence of Pakistan, Pakistani governments has passed many laws for the rights of women but the change in women condition is still very slow with the passage of time. There is a huge gap between the policy making and practical work. An analysis by (JAHAN, 1996) stated that after freedom, leading Muslim women in Pakistan continued to support womens political liberation through lawful reforms. According to (Haq, Khadija Haq on Womens Political and Economic Empowerment in South Asia), government is starting to take steps to surge womens political contribution through the founding of quota systems at countrywide and local levels. Introducing quota systems is nonetheless only single step on the road to female political empowerment. We are still facing inherent male-controlled traditions and approaches that limit chances for womens participation in public life. Environment for womens political empowerment Less number of women, who attain decision-making places in a political sector dominated by men, will be unproductive in manipulating decisions as large majority is needed. Women are less represented in civil service, government and other public establishments and still massive gaps continue in education and job opportunities. At the identical period, women face legal restrictions that halt them from gaining equal access to property and inheritance. We can achieve gender equality by promoting women in politics. According to (Moser, 2007), throughout the world women are still disproportionately represented .They remain a very small minority at the center of political power. One significant approach to assisting womens empowerment is the elevation of the participation of females in politics it comprises of encouraging women in administration and national as well as supporting womens involvement in NGOs and womens movements. In government, women concentration in decision-making positions should be in social, law and justice ministries Women in Pakistan face a lot of stereotypes like women are considered as unsuitable for leadership positions; and all men contemplate that if women have political influence she must be all knowing. Ever since beginning women are disqualified from leadership roles, they are deprived of chances for leadership skills preparation. Domestic errands make it difficult for females to go for training or further studies as they solely do not have the essential hours for study. Thus they lack the talent and ability of political contribution. Most women are linked to a male political leader: as wife of an assassinated leader or daughter of an older, if not late, politician. While most women ultimately emanate into their own as leaders, it does not alter the fact that women, compared with men, have partial access to the support of political parties and males. People have different expectations of male and female leaders. As females are responsible for their family needs with their political career simultaneously. But men have only their careers to concentrate on. When women are elected, they are expected to be all-rounder and all-knowing and in their initial stage of political career, they are expected to make a strong constructive influence in altering the situation of women or talking critical issues such as poverty, health care and education within a small time from their election. According to report ISSUES IN WOMENS POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION,Unjustified and inequitable beliefs results in insufficiency of females to consider entering into politics. This diminishes the group of prospect women leaders who can be confronted, motivated, prepared, and developed for politics. Womens plea for representation is not to substitute mens power but to create places for both women and men to grow their potentials and foster a collaboration that can take on the tasks of the new millennium. Culture barriers Taking the argument in a new direction by a report on Guidelines on Womens Empowerment, states that social issue also plays major role in empowerment. In Pakistan, the girl is still differentiated from the boys from the birth, through her childhood, and into her womanhood. In the tribal fragments of Pakistan, native men are grasping more power through religion and tradition. Girls are considered socially weaker in a Pakistani culture that discriminates against them. In rural areas they observes violence, male violence against their mothers and against them thus from start this becomes a part of their life. Brothers also then participate in this violence against the girls in the family to show their manhood to peers and family male members. Male children become more violent when they grow up. Extreme poverty is a major factor that will impede the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child .The state of extreme poverty is so severe that it leaves its victims inert to awareness, legal punishment or even religious obligations. The economic empowerment of girls and mothers is critical to the achieveme nt of equality. Females in Pakistan live in a domain, which is controlled by severe religious, family and tribal traditions. According to Zaheer Udin Babur, Pakistan, They are exposed to discrimination and viciousness on a daily basis .Islamic views are not properly interpreted , they are molded according to the views of men as Islamic views wrong interpretation results in females oppression physically, mentally and emotionally. Females in Pakistan are facing numerous methods of violence, discrimination and difference in nearly every part of life. Viciousness against womenfolk in many grounds is often not considered as a violation of civil rights but rather as a standard feature of lives of Pakistani people. They live in an atmosphere of fear, and their lives are guaranteed in exchange for obedience to social norms and traditions. Because of this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely especially in their homes. The most abusive forms of violence being faced by women take place in their homes. A thesis by (Faridi, 2009) states that women are under the control of men as the decision about education, health, occupation, marriage and physical mobility are all made by her men folk from the selection of their dress to the selection of life partner is made by either her father or brother. Women especially in Pakistan are the property of their males and to give them empowerment they should be given their due right. Moreover, Segregation and veil as perceived by men folk ma The status of women in Pakistan The status of women in Pakistan Pakistani Society is highly patriarchal which is attributed to the age-old traditions of a subordinate role of women. Women constitute approximately half of the population in Pakistan. Gender relations in the country are based on two basic perceptions. First being the impression that woman are subordinate to men, and secondly that a mans honor depends upon the women of his family. Thus it is women duty to uphold the family honor. The disparities between men and women prevails in health, education, employment, income opportunities, control over assets and participation in the political process that make women less empowered as compared to men. There are many complicated aspects contributing to the submissive role played by the Pakistani women in the society, leading to a conservative society and to a vicious cycle of poverty under-nutrition and low level of education amongst Pakistani women. In order to ensure that women do not humiliate their families, society puts a limit on womens mobility and restricts her activities. For these reasons women live under purdah. Therefore women spend most of their lives within the boundaries of their homes. In many parts of the country other than in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and some other rich cities, it is considered shameless if womens mobility is not restricted. Moreover in Pakistan, working women poses a threat to male self-esteem and identity. Therefore women are mostly engaged in multiple home-based economic activities such as cooking, laundry, agricultural duties etc. and pays them very low wage. Not only are these tasks physically tough and demanding but they have robed girls of the opportunity to study. However, due to recent concern and emphasis on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, some efforts at social and official reform have been made to increase practical literacy of women, giving them more access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy and promoting awareness of womens roles and status. The empowerment of women is one of the main issues in the development process for all the developing countries in the world. According to UNDPs Human Development Report, Gender Equality Measure (GEM) for South Asia shows the lowest value (0.235) among all the regions of the world. Furthermore, as per Gender development Index (GDI), Pakistan has been noted the poorest (0.179) among South Asian Countries where the average index is 0.226 (MHHDC, 2005). According to UNDP report of 2007-08, the HDI for Pakistan is 0.551, which ranks Pakistan on 136 out of 177 countries. Elements of the social, economic and political participation of women The low health status of women in Pakistan is the result of womens lower social, economic, and cultural position. Women do not play any major role is making social and political policies, however they are equally affected by them as the male members of the society are. Womens elimination from decision-making bodies deprives them of the opportunity to raise their concerns or advance their perspective. The male-dominated governance structure creates gender inequalities which lead to the social and economic deprivation of women. Womens exclusion from politics stem from the social and political discourses, political structures and institutions and the socio-cultural and functional constraints that put limits on womens individual and collective agency. Patriarchy as a system of male domination shapes womens relationship in politics. When the gender role ideology intersects with economic, social and political systems of a particular society; women continue to be defined as private across countries which resulted in their exclusion from politics. Male domination of politics, political parties and culture of formal political structures is another factor that hinders womens social, economic and political participation. Often male dominated political parties have a male perspective on issues of national importance that disillusions women as their perspective is often ignored and not reflected in the politics of their parties. Also women are usually not elected at the position of power within party structures because of gender biases of male leadership. The gender status quo is maintained through low resource allocation to womens human development by the state, society and the family. This is reflected in the social indicators which reflect varying degrees of gender disparities in education, health, employment, ownership of productive resources and politics in all countries. Additionally gender is mediated through class, caste and ethnicity that structure access to resources and opportunities. The socio-cultural dependence of women is one of the key detrimental factors to their political participation. Sources and the extent of women deprivation and exploitation In Pakistan, there is a huge diversity in the status of women across different classes and regions. Gender is one of the main ideologies of Pakistani society. An artificial divide between production and reproduction, has given women the reproductive roles as mothers and wives at home and men are given the productive role as breadwinners which eventually leads to a lower investment in women. Thus, low investment in womens human capital, along with the beliefs of purdah, negative social biases, and cultural practices lays the foundation for gender discrimination and inconsistencies in all aspects of life. Moreover early marriages of girls, excessive childbearing, high level of illiteracy and nutritional deficiencies negatively affect womens health. Gender biasness in the health service delivery system ranging from lack of female service providers, ignorance of womens essential and reproductive health needs further aggravates womens health status. Women are officially authorized to own property from their families, however very few women have access and control over resources. Mostly women in Pakistan lack ownership of useful property or assets. Similarly, formal financial institutions do not cater to womens credit needs. Commercial banks pay no attention to women clients due to their defined views on womens creditworthiness because of their dependency on men for physical collateral, high transaction cost of small loans.  [1]  The Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan and First Womens Bank Limited and now Khushali Bank are the only banks who have credit programs that cater to women. Other sources of credit to women include informal sources such as nongovernment organizations, friends, relatives, and moneylenders and microfinance institutions. Women in Pakistan are facing various forms of violence. Domestic violence is fairly widespread across all classes. Due to this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely and this issue needs our utmost attention. An overview of the microfinance constitutions and microfinance lending Microfinance was started in the 60s and 70s, when organizations such as ACCION International Opportunity and Grameen Bank started to grant small loans (less than 100 dollars) to microentrepreneurs, mostly women, backed by a group guarantee, thus overcoming the collateral that was the main reason for the lack of attention paid by commercial banking to the low-income segments of the population. Microfinance has experienced considerable growth ever since. Mohammad Yunus was the first and the foremost person to introduce the concept of microcredit with the help of Grameen Bank into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, there has been a growth of microfinance institutions in developing countries; Pakistan is no exception. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Before the promulgation of the microfinance ordinance, the main providers of microfinance services in Pakistan were NGOs and government-sponsored rural support programs. Gaining access to finance in Pakistan has an important potential for considerable advances in the economy. Credit to the private sector is equal to 29% of gross domestic product (GDP), individuals and SMEs prefer to rely on retained earnings to finance their working capital, investment, housing financing, and other financial needs. Of the total population, 14% have access to formal finance, and about 40% have no financial access to formal or informal financial systems altogether. However, access to financial services remains quite limited in Pakistan. The predominant share of the financial system, the banking sector, is mostly focused on large enterprise lending, with an increasing interest in consumer financing and neglects SMEs, rural areas, microfinance, and the poor. SMEs comprise of almost 90% of all the enterprises in Pakistan, they employ 80% of the non-agricultural labor force and their share in the annual GDP is 40%, approximately. This innate feature of an SME makes it esse ntial that there should be a system through which it support in business including technical up gradation, marketing, and human resource training development. The beginning of microfinance sector in Pakistan has its roots in the rural development project. The Agha Khan Rural Support Programs development model is used all over Pakistan. Along with poverty alleviation, microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. Microfinance in particular has proven to be an effective tool for poverty easing and creation of employment prospects. The GOP has formulated comprehensive Microfinance Sector Development Programme with the assistance of Asian Development Bank to broaden the microfinance sector. This will be attained through the creation of conductive policy environment, developing appropriate financial infrastructure, promoting and strengthening microfinance institutes, developing linkages with NGOs and community organizations, investing in building social capital, mitigating risks of poor households and institutional development. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women, which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of women in the household and at the community level can be improved. Currently, the network of microfinance providers is 1,343 branches with about Rs 15 billion portfolio. Among microfinance providers, Khushali Bank alone provides coverage in 86 districts. The three microfinance entities, namely, National Rural Support Program (NRSP), Khushali Bank, and Kashf Foundation accounted for approximately 70% of the sectors active clients. However, there are two main challenges faced by the microfinance institutions of Pakistan. The first challenge for microfinance is for service providers to become profitable so that service provision to poor people can grow on a sustainable basis. A study of South Asian MFIs done in 2005 showed that only 42% of microcredit borrowers in Pakistan received services from profitable MFIs which is the lowest percentage in South Asia (Microfinance Information Exchange, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and the World Bank (2006). Most microfinance providers rely on a combination of donor/noncommercial funding, and cannot claim commercial viability, with the exception of the recently formed Microfinance Banks (MFBs). The second challenge is that microfinance is almost exclusively focused on loans, while other financial services, savings, transfers/remittances, and insurance are often more in demand by poorer households. Gender norms of microfinance institutions and microfinance lending Microfinance programs are known to empower the poor men and women. In these programs, the relationship between the provider and the client is inherently empowering. As a result, microfinance has become a vital element of many donor agencies, poverty alleviation, and community development strategies. Micro-finance programs are not only known for giving both men and women credit and access to savings, they also reach people all over the world and bring them together in organized gropus. They play a significant role to promote gender equality and to empower women. By enabling women to earn income, these programs have the potential to increase the welfare of women and their families and hence empower them. Microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of can be improved. As a result, microfinance has gained immense popularity for poverty alleviation, women empowerment and community development strategies. However, capturing and measuring empowerment and emancipation is a particularly difficult task. Within the group of NGOs identified Kashf Foundation and ASASAH were appropriate for this study. Moreover, it should also be noted that Khushali Bank does not have a gender-specific program in rural areas but works with a third party retail organization, Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), to give loans to poor women in urban slums of Lahore therefore khushali bank clients were strategically left out. Kashf Foundation, a non-profit NGO based MFI, started its operations in Lahore District in 1996. Kashf started with the mission to `provide quality and cost effective microfinance services to low income households, especially women, in order to enhance their economic role and decision making capacity.  [2]  Kashf provides four types of loan products: Firstly, the basic loan product is the general loan; secondly, it has an emergency loan which is confirmed only if the credit committee takes responsibility for repayment; thirdly, there is the home improvement loan for old and reliable clients; and fourthly, Kashf has introduced a business loan for the missing middle market. The most popular one is the general loan, which has to be repaid over a period of 12 months at an interest rate of 20%. Kashfs solidarity group lending model is a Grameen Bank replication with some adaptations. At the first, the branch officers find women in the local area who want to establish a center. The center is sub divided into five groups and each group has a leader. Together, these seven women form the credit committee and are responsible for maintaining credit discipline in the center. ASASAH is a non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 2003 with a mission to provide quality health and social services to underserved communities. One of the core objectives outlined by ASASAH is the empowerment of women. The organization has launched its microcredit program, as part of its commitment to work towards the training of women as agents of socioeconomic development. It sees a huge opportunity to fill the present gap in the microfinance industry by developing an innovative model that brings creates a sustainable and cost effective financial services institution serving the bottom of the pyramid. Keywords and definitions Microfinance: offers a broad range of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed. These services include housing loans, savings, health insurance and remittance transfers to help them grow very small businesses. The local MFI might also offer microfinance plus activities such as entrepreneurial and life skills training, advice on topics such as health and nutrition, sanitation, improving living conditions, and the importance of educating children. Microcredit: refers to the loans and credit needs of the poor people, especially farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs who cannot get access to normal bank loans and enables them to become self-employed. Empowerment: is a process of awareness and capacity-building leading to greater participation, greater decision-making power and control over ones life and other processes. Economic Empowerment: Womens access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic role in decision-making by giving them the power to decide the utilization of credit. When women can make decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the households welfare. Social and Political Empowerment: is a blend of womens increased control over income resulting from access to microfinance with improved womens expertise, mobility, and education status. Womens status: Womens position relative to that of men in a society. Grameen Bank: is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the poor without requiring collateral. Study objectives This study aims to look at and measure the status of women in selected semi urban areas in the outskirts of Lahore city. Furthermore we will determine the factors related to the empowerment of women. Lastly we will assess the role of microfinance lending upon women empowerment in Pakistan. In order to achieve this objective, the study seeks to understand how microfinance opens up economic opportunities for women and their families, increases earnings and reduces their vulnerability, and brings about potential changes in womens social and economic roles that ultimately can lead to greater empowerment of women. The study also seeks to determine different pathways through which such social and economic transformations are more effectively (or less effectively) managed and point out negative consequences that may be faced. Chapter 2 Literature Review To understand the impact of microfinance on women empowerment we look at two sets of literature; womens empowerment and microfinance institutions. In the first set of literature we review how microfinance institutions work and in the second set of literature we review what is understood as empowerment for women and how far microfinance institutions are successful in empowering women. 2.1 Informal credit markets in developing countries Informal credit markets are those which are not regulated or monitored by the banking authorities and these account for much of business credit in developing countries. Despite the development of formal financial markets, and the propagation of micro-credit institutions, informal lenders continue to play a key role in the provision of credit to rural households in most developing countries. This is so because the process of establishing and maintaining a network of rural financial institutions is expensive, and managing their operations is difficult especially in the absence of proper training, monitoring, and incentive structures. The informal sector has commonly been viewed as unregistered sources of credit, such as money lenders, pawnbrokers and traders, along with rationing services and credit associations (ROSCAs), accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCRAs) and deposit takers. Moreover, formal providers are those that are subject to banking laws of the country of oper ation, those which provide retail services to the customers and engage in financial intermediation. According to the World Bank, the conventional provider categories of informal and formal have been complicated by the arrival of microfinance institutions (MFIs) that may be regarded as semi-formal (World Bank, 1997). Capital is an important element in the development of any project. Kurwijila and Due (1991:91) state that the main hurdle to micro-enterprise development is lack of capital. When the poor lack access to the standard sources of credit, they are exploited by loan sharks and other illegal market operators. Following this reason, it is recommended that increasing state efforts are required to eliminate informal finance, while enhancing the availability of state-sanctioned financial intermediaries, especially microfinance programs devoted to poverty alleviation. Savings are an important determinant of wellbeing at both the individual and national levels. For individuals, savings may be motivated by investment opportunities, the desire to smooth consumption keeping unpredictable incomes in mind, or the need to accumulate resources for large purchases. Households in low-income countries have a variety of mechanisms available for saving. These mechanisms range from formal institutions such as banks and credit unions to less formal mechanisms such as holding cash, asset accumulation, and participation in rotating-savings-and-credit-associations (ROSCAs). It is important to highlight the distinction between formal and informal institutions for several reasons. Informal finance mechanisms are quite prevalent in low-income countries. The advantage of informal mechanisms such as ROSCAs is the ability to overcome some of the information and enforcement problems that often lead to the absence of formal markets. Since savings groups are usually localized, agents on both sides of transactions often know each other personally. This helps in overcoming the informational problems such as adverse selection, moral hazard, monitoring, and verification. Further, participants in informal savings committees share a common social bond (for example, they tend to form among friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers) which provides incentives against voluntary default. However, such institution is more vulnerable to local economic shocks affecting all group members. The formal sector is better on these grounds, and provides some additional advantages over the informal sector, both for the individual and the economy. For depositors, government insurance reduces the default risk of banking. A further distinction between the formal and informal sectors is that effective monetary policy typically relies on central bank or government control over the banking system. A large informal financial sector may compromise this ability. Limited access to various sources of credit is seen to harm women more as compared to men. This is due to the specific credit needs of women as their business requires smaller amounts of capital than are customarily lent, and repayment and collateral requirements must be fairly flexible. (Reichmann, 1989:135). Also, it is a legal requirement of many countries, asking women to get their husbands signed approval in order to obtain the loan. Lycette and White (1989:24) cite evidence from Peru that women borrowers usually receive smaller amounts of loans than men from the banks. However, there has been an ongoing debate that women are active in commerce and production activities which require less credit and therefore it is acceptable to provide them with smaller amounts of loan. For these reasons, it is not clear whether discrimination exists, preventing women from obtaining large loans or that women deliberately chooses to borrow less than their males. 2.2 Credit information, credit availability and access Poor women face much inconveniency and problems in acquiring financial services along with the standard barriers that lower income people have to face when dealing with financial institutions. Illiteracy is a key feature that hampers both women and mens capacity to complete application forms necessary to be filled in order to apply for loan. It is also a known fact that female is more illiterate as compared to male in most countries all over the world. Another drawback faced by women is that they lack the collateral which is required by the formal lending institutions to give out the loans. As already mentioned most of these institutions require the male head of household to sign the contract which makes it difficult for the female headed households to apply for the loan at the first place. On the whole, women especially in developing countries are unaware of their rights to apply for financial services. In most developing countries, both men and women lack the confidence to engage in private enterprise and take loans from the banks for business purposes. The structure of the formal credit system is usually very hierarchical and it may appear less user friendly to small women entrepreneurs. Low-income women are mostly less educated and therefore are not used to dealing with formal procedures. Since banks are perceived to be powerful institutions therefore many women may not have the courage to approach them. Despite the above listed difficulties, gaining access to finances can facilitate women to enhance their skills and eventually develop their own independent businesses. Women can boost their skills by accessing technology, raw materials and market information, thereby improving their economic roles. Improving womens economic position contributes to building their confidence, and ultimately improving their social and political role as well. 2.3 Microfinance products and services for deprived and vulnerable As most of the formal sectors banking institutions are unable to reach rural populations, microfinance programs are seen as a potential solution for overcome the gap between the supply and demand for rural finance. These Microfinance institutions are committed to serving customers that have been excluded from the formal banking sector and claim to work with the poorest of the poor. Many MFIs permit people to access useful lump sums through loans. The currently most popular product (that offered by Grameen Bank and copied by many other MFIs) allows borrowers to repay the loan in small and frequent installments. The participation of the poor is thus made possible by the key feature of lending tiny, often weekly, repayments (Matin and Sinha, 1998; Todd, 1996). Such an organization system allows borrower to repay out of existing income thereby allowing the borrower to invest the loan and utilize it the way that best fulfills their needs of the moment. For some borrowers these loans are directly invested in productive enterprises where the returns on additional investment is sometimes enough to make the regular repayments. Microcredit is seen as a way to improve the income an employment opportunities of poor who can be self employed in many ways (Hulme and Mosley, 1996; Yunus, 1983; World Bank, 1994). The main aim is to provide the household with capital and encourage them to involve in income generating activities, thereby increasing their income and consumption. In Bangladesh, there are more than 750 organizations that are working in rural areas to provide credit and non-credit services to the target population, mainly women from landless households (World Bank, 1996). Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) are the two main programmes. Grameen Bank is known for its innovative group-based lending programme. BRAC is famous for providing informal primary education and innovative health programmes to the poor. It lays emphasis more on human capital development such as literacy, skill-promoting training and awareness programmes. Inspired by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh there has been a rapidly increasing growth of microfinance institutions in Pakistan and as well as in other developing countries. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Table 1 below summarizes the nature of different microfinance institutions operating in the Punjab province of Pakistan, the year in which they were operationalized and the concentration of operations in rural or urban settings. It is clear from the table that most of the NGO based institutions have a gender specific solidarity group approach to microcredit, where they are catering mainly to female clients. Most of the microfinance institutions working in Punjab province, except for the rural support programs, are either specialized institutions or have a specialized window for microcredit. Except for ASASAH, most of the institutions have been in business for quite long to warrant an impact evaluation. For this study we are interested in specialized institutions using a group solidarity model with a women specific focus. Thus, the province of Punjab was an obvious choice with well recognized and established NGO-based microfinance institution (MFI). Given the time and resources available for the study, we have limited our attention to the Lahore district of Punjab, which is the hub of urban microfinance activity in Pakistan, accounting for more than half of the total borrowers in the province. 2.4 Community participation and group lending experience in microfinance Grameen Bank is famous for introducing and expanding its relationships with its customers in a unique relationship which is without utilizing legal contracts of requiring collateral, Grameen bank assigns borrowers to solidarity groups of five members. Each group is than responsible for the debts of the other four, and in case any group members defaults on her loan, the others must repay the defaulted loan or lose eligibility for further loans from Grameen Bank. This compulsory interdependence is seen to powerfully encourage trust and mutual aid within the solidarity group (Hung, 1997:15). The group-based lending is very attractive to women in low income societies. Very few women in Pakistan and Bangladesh work in the wage labor market. Therefore their productive inefficiency is associated with the lack of womens labor market participation which motivates them to become self employed by borrowing capital. Group lending schemes have an informal advantage over outside lenders. Often obtaining information about each member of a group by an outside lender is costly and subject to misinterpretation, therefore group members can monitor each other with relative ease as well as train and help the other low-productive members. In Pakistan, social custom restricts direct contact between potential female borrowers and male outside lenders. In the case of a credit program, it is easier for women, when in the company of larger group to interact with the male coordinator. Therefore, informational advantages of group lending are thus greater for the women as compared to men. Moreover, adverse shocks may have an effect on the ability to repay loans and decrease income and consumption. There is evidence that women are more prone to adverse shocks, related to pregnancy, illness associated with child bearing, and care giving to other household members who fall ill, making them riskier for poorly informe d outside lenders (Rashid and Townsend 1993). 2.5 Microfinance experience and gender empowerment Some aspects of poverty are owed to the inequality between women and men, therefore it is important to understand and interpret the meaning of the term gender. Women and men have different responsibilities in a given culture or location. Gender refers to the social roles of women and men, and is not to be confused with the biologically determined sexes of male and female. Gender is hence a relational concept that analyses womens social roles in relation to the roles of men and vice versa. Gender roles are subject to perceptions and expectations which arise from factors like class, ethnicity, age and religion. Research done by UNDP, U