COVER STORY
Empowering Women: Promoting Women to Leadership Positions in
Global Organizations
-- Paula A Tucker and Paul B Carr
A woman in a leadership position has been a topic of great interest over the last several
years. The avenues associated with women empowerment have also been in the forefront
of discussion for human resource managers and human resource development
practitioners. One caveat associated with this topic relates to who exactly empowers women (or anyone
else) within an organization? It may be suggested that very often people assume that power is
a construct that may be freely given by another individual or group of peoplethis construct
will be investigated and examined.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
COVER STORY
Women Governance - A Real Solution for Your Organization
-- Chaitanya Prasad Giri
The other day as I was reading the newspaper, I found that one lady police inspector had filed
a case against the then Chief Speaker of Orissa for sexual harassment
and, at the same time, in the Business Section, I found a fabulous article on Indra
Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo., as a world class leader and having a sharp strategic mind and tremendous market insight. What
does it mean? Should we tell that women are no more on
the back foot or is it happening occasionally? It will be quite exaggerating, if I say that the man-oriented world is no more. But still I can
say, there are some women achievers who are giving a unique picture of women in society as
a multitasker or a balancer, which may not always be
the case with the opposite gender.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
COVER STORY
Empowerment - A Perspective on the Women of Today and Tomorrow
-- Kathleen Patterson
Empowerment is a concept that is of equal importance to both men and women. This idea
of sharing power is not a concept which is unique to men or women alone. In fact, it is a
concept that is touted and desired by all. However, having said this, issues surrounding women
in leadership and in the workforce, are seemingly defined by gender at times. While this is
a legitimate concern at times, at other times, it is irrelevant. We will look at the concept
of empowerment and see how this idea looks from the perspective of women in the workforce.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BRANDING
The Brand "Me"
-- Padmashree Radhaswamy
The purpose of this article is to make normal individuals realize the importance of
self-aggrandizement in this highly competitive world and know the importance of creating a
brand called "Me". The article begins with the various definitions of branding and the different
types of branding in existence at present. It then goes on to suggest ways to individuals, to create
a message about self and a strategy to promote oneself. Individuals need to question as to
what makes them a better brand than the others. The article finally ends with a case study on
how normal and ordinary individuals have created a brand for themselves and have been
successful in life.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
RECESSION
Managing Business During Recession
-- Deepali Sharma
A recession if managed well can be a good time for an organization. It offers an opportunity
for companies to reassess their overall strategy, buy other businesses at a cheaper cost and
build critical competencies. To win, an organization needs to do two things right. One, to survive
the immediate crisis and second, prepare for economic recovery. The bottom-line is that
winners and losers will emerge during any economic change. It all depends on how the game is played.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
RECESSION
Layoff : Meltdown and Recession
-- C Janaki
In the current economic environment, downsizing, layoffs, mergers and bankruptcy
are common scenarios in many firms. All these affect the day-to-day life of the
employees. Hundreds and thousands of workers have lost their jobs in recent months. Many have
either been shifted to new positions with new duties or have had additional duties piled on top of
the existing ones. The IT industry is beginning to reek with the detritus of piling layoffs. Trapped
in an iron grip of recession, technology companiesranging from IT powerhouses to
smaller organizationsare aping global (read US) corporations and are ruthlessly wielding the
axe. This article sheds light on how to manage layoffs at the workplace, the rate of layoffs in the
past years, the impact of layoffs on the market value, and how it affects the present decade.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
RECESSION
Managing Human Resources in Turbulent Times : Issues and Perspectives
-- GC Nag
With the recessionary trend moving across US and Europe and other parts of the globe,
Indian companies are now facing a new problem of motivating their employees for
superior performance on account of job losses spreading all over the world. Retaining talent has
always been an issue for Human Resource Management (HRM). Now, motivating talent to develop
new innovative skills and competitiveness at work is construed to be an emerging challenge
for HRM in the industry. To counter the present economic downturn, companies in India are
now taking various alternative steps to enhance the confidence of their employees. This
article discusses some measures which could be initiated by HRM, and may remove the
current uncertainties among all sections of employees, while boosting their confidence to counter
this situation.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGMENT
Knowledge Management : Managing Knowledge Workers Across Different Stages
of Employment
-- Deepti Pathak
This article aims at providing a pragmatic and lithe framework for the efficient management
of knowledge workers in the volatile economy. The new environment, characterized by
a dissemination of relational knowledge among the knowledge worker community, warrants
a new approach to managing knowledge workers as an alternative to the traditional
functional approach. The article deals with modern methodologies for optimum utilization of
knowledge workers in innovation affluent organizations. It sheds some light on the apparent
delineation between Human Resource Management (HRM) and knowledge management.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
TRAINING
Training at Satyam Responds to the Ultimate Call
-- Sudesh Gonela
The success of any organization depends on its most valuable asset, i.e., human
resources. Satyam computer services ltd., recognized this and offered its employees a
well-recognized training program through Satyam Learning World (SLW). SLW has helped the company to
gain fame for quality output when business was normal. It became all the more significant and
came to its aid, when the situation was otherwise.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
MANAGING DIVERSITY
Need for
Cross-Cultural Management
-- Asmita Jha
Today, managers have to deal with people coming from different countries, whose culture
is completely different from that of the home country. To manage a diverse workforce, a
manager has to have a proper understanding of the expectations and needs of each individual, which
will ultimately give a happy workforce. Previously, it was thought that workforce diversity leads
to garbled and distorted communications. Today, many organizations have realized that
diversity can be an asset, which can enhance organizational effectiveness. Diversity not only
solves different problems due to the emergence of diverse set of brilliant ideas, it also
stimulates creativity. It has been seen that companies that believe in diverse workforce have a
distinct competitive advantage over those who don't.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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