Page 482 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

eobf_L 7/5/06 3:14 PM Page 459

Lifestyles

Hughes, Richard L., Ginnet, Robert C., and Curphy, Gordon J. parent gets home from work, making today’s children
(2006). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. more self-reliant than children in the recent past. The cul-
Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. tural shift in America directly correlates with U.S. Depart-
Kirkpatrick, S.A., and Locke, Edwin A. (1996). Direct and Indi- ment of Labor statistics that estimated that employment
rect Effects of Three Core Charismatic Leadership Compo- of child-care workers would increase 36 percent or more
nents on Performance and Attitudes. Journal of Applied for all occupations through 2012.
Psychology 81:, 36-51.
The amount of time that families spend together thus
Kotter, John P. (1988). The Leadership Factor. New York: Free
Press. has changed significantly from previous generations.
Working couples have lost an average of twenty-two hours
Meindl, James R. (1990). On Leadership: An Alternative to the
Conventional Wisdom. In B. M Staw and L.L. Cummings a week of family and personal time between 1969 and
(Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 12. Green- 1999. This trend has opened up a market known as e-
wich, CT: JAI Press. commerce as parents do not have the time to do the tasks
Meindl, James R., Ehrlich, S.B., and Dukerich, J.M. (1985). necessary that were once part of their everyday life and
The Romance of Leadership. Administrative Science Quarterly still have time to spend with their children. Because of
30, 78-102. technological advances, however, businesses are providing
Trice, Harry M., and Beyer, Janis M. (1991). Cultural Leader- time-saving services. For example, retail shopping from
ship in Organizations. Organization Science 2, 149-169. purchasing clothes to groceries may all be accomplished
Yukl, Gary (1998). Leadership in Organizations (6th ed.). Upper online, with those purchases being delivered right to one’s
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. door. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in
the first quarter of 2005 e-commerce estimates increased
23.8 percent over the numbers from the first quarter of
Lee W. Lee
2004, while total sales increased 7.8 percent during the
same period.

LIFESTYLES JOB INFLUENCES ON BUSINESS
OPERATIONS
As the twenty-first century advances, consumers are
In the past, businesses were managed very differently than
demanding better servicing in business operations to help
simplify their harried lifestyles. The progression of lifestyle they are today. Technology and its rate of advancement
have revolutionized the way job objectives are met in busi-
changes, in combination with technological and global
ness operations. For example, higher education has
evolution, will influence the way business and marketing
changed drastically because of technology. Online educa-
operations function. This article focuses on how family,
tion, by providing flexible class schedules, reducing the
job, cultural background, social class, social activities, and
employment have revolutionized business and marketing time-taking courses, and making educational opportuni-
operations. ties more affordable, is one response to the needs of adult
learners. Because students can attend classes from their
homes, the jobs of faculty and the business operations of
FAMILY INFLUENCES ON BUSINESS higher education have changed notably.
OPERATIONS
The advancement in technology has taken over a
Family life continues to evolve. In the 1950s in America, large share of the e-commerce business in the everyday
it was common to see larger families with several siblings. homes across America and global society. According to a
It was also common at that time for the mother to stay survey conducted in July 2005 by AC Nielsen, a leading
home to take care of the household and children while the research firm, an amazing 724,000 Americans responded
father worked to support the family. that they relied on eBay for their main support for
In American culture in the twenty-first century, one income. Furthermore, the study identified another 1.5
is more likely to see smaller families. It is also common for million eBay users who stated that additional income was
both parents to work outside the home to support the generated from selling consumer goods. Reported in
family and household. The role of the “traditional” 2004, 150 million eBay users bought and/or sold con-
mother has changed whereby she is out in the workforce sumer goods valued at over $34 billion.
pursuing a career and helping to support the family. In With this growing trend, the U.S. Postal Service and
addition, there are many more single-parent homes. eBay launched a national tour to support small business
Because of both of these trends, many preschool children and entrepreneurs since many eBay sellers use the U.S.
stay with day-care providers and many older children are mail for shipping. As the global job structure continues
at home alone for two or three hours after school until a with the paradigm shifts that influence the way business

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION 459