MANAGING PEOPLE

Managing People and Leadership

[Name of the institute]Managing People and Leadership

Identification of the Article

The article that is selected for the purpose of this assignment is titled as “Will Google's Marissa Mayer Help Solve Wal-Mart's Woman Problem”. The article was published in Forbes in April 2012.

Description of the Problem

The organization that is discussed in this article is one of the world's famous and best retailers Wal-Mart. The aspect related to the people management that is shown in this article is something with which Wal-Mart has long been associated. The problem that is mentioned in the article regarding people management is of gender discrimination. The article mentions that Wal-Mart has long been facing arguments which even charged the organization with a sex-discrimination lawsuit (Jenna 2012, A-1). The article mentions how employees used to be discriminated at Wal-Mart on the basis of their gender before this lawsuit at Wal-Mart. Following are the different ways in which female employees used to be discriminated at Wal-Mart:

Female employees at Wal-Mart used to face direct discrimination. Direct discrimination is less favourable treatment a person can receive on grounds of sex in relation to another person of the opposite sex and, especially, the treatment disadvantageous to women because of pregnancy or maternity (Jenna 2012, A-1).

According to the chosen article female employees at Wal-Mart did not have the right to earn as equal to their male counterparts. The salary level of female employees was low as compared to the salaries of male employees (Jenna 2012, A-1).

Moreover, it is also mentioned in the article that female employees did not have the equal opportunity for promotion and to get to the top management level. Women used to be keep at the low profile jobs and their work never got appreciated. Not only this, but, the organization also practiced gender discrimination when it comes to the hiring of employees. It used to be the top priority of the hiring staff to not to hire a female worker (Jenna 2012, A-1).

Proposed Possible Solution

The article that is considered not only describes the problem but it basically mentions the steps that the organization is taking to deal with the issue of gender discrimination. The main topic of the article is to discuss one of the major steps that Wal-Mart is taking to remove all the strains that its reputation has got after being charged of practicing gender discrimination. This major action that is discussed in the article is that Wal-Mart has nominated a female (Google executive Marissa Mayer) to be the board of director. By doing this Wal-Mart wants to show that they are not against the promotion of females and that they do not want a female worker to obtain a top management position. Besides that there are a number of actions that Wal-Mart has taken to clear its position and to remove the charges of the allegation of gender discrimination. These other actions include formation of Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative. This forum is formed in order to increase the female suppliers ...