Question 4
AC 1.4 Appraise the significance of long-term economic trends for work, employment, and management practice in organizations. Over time, across the world, societies are becoming more affluent, but also more unequal.
To what extent do you agree with the view that employment practices are the cause of these trends? Justify your answer.
Pointers for students:
Introduce the answer by defining the term affluence. It would be valuable to also define social inequality, potentially considering whether inequality in respects of sex, race and disability has bearing. Discuss statistical evidence on rising affluence and subsequent rising inequality. Possibly briefly compare countries in terms of affluence and implications for social inequality. Choose one example such as comparisons of countries Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rise in discretionary expenditure, wealth distribution diagrams, real gross disposable income per head and how some countries and groups within societies are winners and losers. Then concentrate on the UK (or your own country) and your own organisation or one you are Reed Company Confidential
familiar with. You may want to discuss a few implications of rising inequality such as
the disparity between executive and employee pay,
disposable income rising faster for higher earners than lower earners creating a wealth gap,
premium paid for highly skilled workers,
difference between low quality and insecure and high-quality secure jobs.
.
What other factors could impact, e.g., rising inflation, rising property prices, individual resilience (by some people) in adapting and adjusting to tech change, together with government decisions on tax benefits, etc. A number of arguments could be developed here with consideration given to the specific impact on your own organisation, and potentially sector.
Use data to illustrate the differences and and engage the reader with evidence to help justify their argument. What internal data could be utilised versus external metrics, e.g., ONS, sector-specific, trade union, etc.?
Take a maximum of two implication of inequality to critically analyse in depth. What solutions would you suggest for people professional to implement to decrease the wealth gap?
