Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Research Paper

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Research Paper Example The author of the paper states that sexual harassment consists of any unwanted sexual behavior including suggestive look, words, gestures, sexual jokes, physical touching or pressure for sexual favors. There are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment. The quid pro quo harassment occurs when sexual favors are requested or demanded in exchange for tangible benefits like advancement and pay increase or to avoid tangible harm viz., loss of job, demotion and so on A more subtle and possibly more pervasive form of sexual harassment is "hostile working environment". It occurs when someone's behavior in the workplace creates an unexpected environment that makes difficult for someone of a particular sex to work." (Bhuyian and Rabbani, p 1). It has been a serious concern in the contemporary work-environment that the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace has not been efficiently dealt with and there are several cases of unwanted sexual behavior in the modern business context.  Although there have been several steps to deal with this social evil, various studies, as well as media reports, confirm that the issue is still a serious concern in the United States. According to Barry S. Roberts and Richard A. Mann, On-the-job sexual harassment has been an important problem affecting the industrial and business sectors of the country. "Despite widespread publicity about the perils of sexual harassment," they maintain, "surveys demonstrate that many businesses operating in the United States have yet to address the problem. Moreover, recent news reports indicate that sexual harassment has reached the highest levels of management. Although businesses know it exists, they appear unsure of what to do about it. As a result, the specter of employer liability for sexual harassment continues to loom over the workplace." (Roberts and Mann) It is essential to realize that the failure to adopt a pro-active and aggressive stance on this issue c an damage employee morale, apart from various kinds of financial and legal liabilities. Importantly, the number of sexual harassment cases filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as in federal and state courts, has increased dramatically in the recent years and on-the-job sexual harassment remains a serious threat to social justice today. Therefore, sexual harassment in the workplace presents a continuing and mounting risk to businesses operating in the United States and it is fundamental to check the rising problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.  

Bulla Ice Cream Situation Analysis Research Paper

Bulla Ice Cream Situation Analysis - Research Paper Example The first commercial ice-cream was produced in Australia in 1907 (Unilever, 2010). Streets ice-cream marked the beginning of the ice-cream industry in Australia in 1920 (Unilever, 2011). This was subsequently taken over by Unilever and is now one of the biggest and best known manufacturers with brands such as Magnum, Paddle Pop and Blue Ribbon. This was the first ice-cream available on sticks and today Magnum sells about 1 billion units per year. 2. Market Statistics Positive change in both value and volume in the Ice-cream sales (Appendix A) in Australia suggests that economic downturn ash not impacted the sales of this luxury food item. Sale has increased by about 9% in value 2 years from 2007 and about 5% in volume. However, there have been significant increases in the sales of tubs (23.2% by volume) while the sales of multipacks and desserts have declined. Again, while Nestle and Unilever have seen declining sales, Bulla’s sales in two years has increased almost one hundre d percent. All other brands such as Weis and Sara Lee have seen sales decline over this period. Amongst the popular brands those of Nestle – Peters Original and Peters Light & Creamy have steadily declined. Brands such as Bulla Real Dairy, Bulla Ribbon and Bulla Creamy Classic have almost doubled in two years. Bulla Ribbon has registered the highest growth (more than 100%). 3. Business Environment Political Australia has very low risk of political stability and the country ranks third in the world for political stability (NSW, 2011). This makes it a safe investment location. Australia is a constitutional democracy based on federal division of powers. Economical Australia offers an environment that encourages freedom of speech and freedom from internal control (MIEPA, n.d.). Business investment and foreign entrepreneurship is encouraged in all sectors. Despite economic downturn ice-cream continues to be an affordable indulgence for the Australians leading to a sustained growth of 3% in 2010 (Euromonitor International, 2010). The ice-cream industry shows an increase at an annualized rate of 2.3% to $485 million in the five years through 2010-11 (Ibisworld, 2011). Socio-cultural – health and wellness products are in high demand and shape the performance of indulgence and impulsive purchase such as increase-creams (Euromonitor International, 2010). This is the reason that despite constrained consumer spending sales remained robust. Impulse ice-cream is identified as a quintessential activity in Australia and a key aspect of Australian life. However, as the consumers have become health-conscious innovative product lines and adapting to changing consumer trends has become important. Technological Australia has the latest technology in ice-cream production and research is an on-going process in Australia. Competition Unilever continues to dominate the entire Asia-Pacific market in ice-creams having 8.6% of the total market share (Appendix B). Nestle and Bulla Dairy are the other two main contenders in this sector 4. Bulla Ice Cream analysis Bulla Dairy is an Australian-owned family business that constantly introduces new products based on technological innovation. Started in 1910, the organization sells its products all over Australia and also exports throughout Asia and the Pacific region. It has diverse range of products categorized into Retail, Foodservice, Route and Export. Yoghurt, ice-creams, cheese and cream are its specialties.