Final Task: Corruption, sexism and thrift

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bizweekly

Before analyzing the record I want to say what are the corruption, sexism and thrift.  Sexism is the Stone Age attitudes that stop women getting top jobs. Corruption: Is paying the odd business. Nowadays it is a real evil. Thriftiness: the business culture of the flat pack furniture giant IKEA.

Corruption. The annual corruption barometer from Transparency International was published this week. The majority of respondents believed corruption in their country was getting worse. Gary Bosh (transport logistics expert), who worked in Russia and Africa earlier, says that the main problem of corruption is that people who take bribes works in the government. He says that if people want to avoid corruption they should elect the new government.

Sexism. Nowadays we can meet a lot of cases of sexism despite we live in XXI century. Researching of 250 companies has shown us that only 7% of the representation of their board is women. One of the bankers notices that women have a positive influence on the business. Jo Dickson, who worked at the top of the British bank, told the story about her early days in business. Once there was a morning meeting of the board where she was invited. When she came in the room the unknown man turned to her and said: «Hello, Jo. I don’t know what are you doing at this meeting because this bank has been run by men for 300 years and people like you are used to be home having babies.» Jo was shocked, but she answered: «John, thank you very much for saying this. It's very kind of you to say it right to me, because a lot of people have the same opinion but they cannot say it to my face. This bank has a future and a part of this future will be people like me who won't sit home having babies. » Jo understood that if the more women work in the company it is the better for the company because such women as Jo are worry about its future.

Thriftiness. Nowadays IKEA is the largest furniture retailer. The broadcaster had an interview with Johan Stenebo (a former senior IKEA executive). Johan told about IKEA unique corporate culture. There weren't any problems with the business culture because it was very strong from the business point. It brought the management of IKEA together and they had a good stuff. According to Johan Stanebo's point of view, there are some problems with its further rapid growth.