Conflict SME

7/30/2019 Conflict SME

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BBeeyyoonndd DDiivveerrssiittyy..

CCuullttuurraall ccoonnfflliiccttss ccoonnddiittiioonnss wwiitthhiinn

tthhee SSMMEE sseeccttoorr.. CCoommppaarraattiivvee

aannaallyyssiiss ffrroomm ddeesskk rreesseeaarrcchh::

GGrreeaatt BBrriittaaiinn--PPoollaanndd--SSppaaiinn..

Rzeszow, July 2010


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"This project has been funded with support from the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. 2

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................3

1. THE ESSENCE, CAUSES, TYPOLOGIES AND SOLUTIONS FOR CONFLICTS ............................ 5

2. SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES' SITUATION WITHIN PARTNERING COUNTRIES ...... 11

3. DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITIONING OF CONFLICTS IN PARTNERING COUNTRIES ................. 18

3.1. WOMEN'S SITUATION IN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES .................................................. 23

4. LABOUR MARKET SITUATION AS A DETERMINANT OF SME SECTOR'S CONFLICTS ......... 26

5.WORKING CONDITIONS AS A DETERMINANT OF CONFLICTS...........................................32

6. FINANCIAL SECURITY AS A DETERMINANT OF EMPLOYEES' SITUATION...........................33

SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 37

APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 38

TABLE INDEX ................................................................................................................... 38

CHART INDEX .................................................................................................................. 39

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be heldresponsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."


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INTRODUCTION

The consequence of dynamic and advanced globalisation and integration processes is a

number of changes touching different spheres of live, both in terms of economic, social and

cultural ones. For every business affected it stands for a change of operation conditions and

the necessity to seek solutions addressing newly found problems, being the consequence of the

undergoing changes. Sometimes however, new conditions do not only create additional

obstacles, but also force to alter the perspective, enabling spotting issues which up to now have

been unnoticeable or have been simply not considered important enough.

Such complex links can be observed regarding approach to conflicts in organization. On

one hand, firm belief of negative role of conflicts within company becomes obsolete, on the

other one however, the ever-growing variety of organizations brings new potential reasons for

future crisis situations. Taking into consideration the main aims of Beyond Diversity project, for

which the hereby analysis was created, it was assumed that conflict is a social situation beingthe meeting pint f tw cntradictry interests, attitudes and individuals r grups systems

of values , that occur within the area of one organization, the effect of which are certain

behaviours1. An attempt was made to perceive conflicts from the most complex point of view,

i.e the one that covers all kinds of disputes, contradictions and dilemmas. Such contradiction

may be derived from a variety of reasons which not always possess rational character and are

caused by objective conflict of pursuits and aims or limited resources. It is often the case, that

conflicts stand for effect of beliefs, stereotypical thinking, biases and lack of understanding

regarding otherness.

Hence, it is the culture that plays here a crucial role, both in terms of organizationalaspect, as well as that cncerning nrms and values cherished within nes cmpany, as well as

social culture, within which the given organization operates. Workers originating from various

environments not only hold different beliefs and obey different standards, but they can also

may have problems with understanding of certain attitudes and acts of non-verbal

communication. Thus, such a situation might create a background for mutual aversions and

misunderstandings. This is especially true when it comes to companies where workers derive

from different cultures and as a consequence they might possess completely opposite attitudes

towards such basic issues as obeying law, usage and organization of working time, as well as

savoir-vivre.This range of problems is particularly crucial for entities representing sector of small and

medium enterprises. On the one hand they represent a much-needed propelling force for any

economic (generating national gross product and creating vacancies), on the other one activity

on the local level enables avoiding problems connected with cultural differences. However,

rapid globalisation processes will soon confront the managers of this companies with situations

where even though they operate on a local level but due to migration processes enabling flux of

human capital, will have to cope with problems that they are not fully capable of dealing with

1A. Pocztowski, Management of Human Resources. Outline of issues and methods, Antykwa, Cracow 1998, p. 281

Outline of Problematic and Methods, Antykwa, Cracow 1998, p. 281


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yet Participating in training that addresses such issues is a good occasion to gain or develop

new skills which will further facilitate dealing with any potential challenges caused by

organizational conditions

The aim of this research is conducting a comparative analysis of the factors belonging to

the partnership countries implementing this project (i.e. Spain, Poland and Great Britain) whichdirectly or indirectly tie in with conflicts, creating an atmosphere which might become (or not)

a fertile ground for new conflicts. At the same time this analysis stands for a follow-up of those

already written that characterize in details the specific situation of each of the partners. That is

why, based on statistical data, the source of which was predominantly EUROSTAT, as well as

taking advantage of other synthetic reports of various subject matters and in some aspects

connected with the researched topic, a cross-section analysis was conducted within possibility

of creation of potential conflicts. The analysis was started by reviewing the theory behind

conflicts. In this part of the study a review of conflict types was made, their consequences, as

well as their causes and at the same time presenting classification of conflict sources which ishelpful during the latter part of the project's development, i.e. research by means of survey's

questionnaire. In this part of the study types of approaches to conflict and possible methods of

their solving were presented.

After that, an analysis of SME sector was conducted in compared countries, presenting

in the first place currently binding classification of EU companies, as well as basic economic

indicators that synthetically describe economic situation in individual countries.

The next part of the study characterizes selected issues connected with demographics

that constitute "background" of company's conflicts. Here, a comparison of population's size

was made, together with indicators illustrating the problem of migration and education in

individual countries. Due to the fact that discrimination is a sign of conflict, the next part of the

study compared the situation of women in individual countries, employing synthetic indicators

of gender gap index, used for disproportion assessment of treatment of men and women. The

next part of the study is focused on comparison of conditions concerning EU's labour market.

The next part of the study deals with comparison of the selected aspects in terms of work

organization and the final one concerns financial situation of workers in reference to salary

guarantees (minimal salary) and salary level (average salary level).


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1. THE ESSENCE, CAUSES, TYPOLOGIES AND SOLUTIONS FOR CONFLICTS

A conflict is a natural phenomenon that is inseparably connected with every venue

where people live and function. Every human activity inevitably leads to creation of conflict,

which does not necessarily mean that conflict itself ought to be perceived as something

negative or unwelcome. On the contrary - if all activity went unhindered, without any trace of

obstacles on its path and clash of different factions, would it be even possible to talk about

development?

The term conflict derives from Latin notion of "confliktus", which means "collision". It is

also interpreted as: an incompatibility, a clash of interests and opinions, an argument,

a quarrel. A conflict stands for all sorts of misunderstandings, disagreements and discrepancy of

interests. Commonly, this notion possesses mostly pejorative connotation as people are afraidof conflicts. it is frequently associated with struggle, aggression, unpleasant situations,

dissatisfaction and in general - negative emotions. Despite their undeniably destructive

character, they may also have positive and constructive functions, supporting decision-making

and possessing positive effect on organization's functioning. A Conflict Situations stands for2:

a state of human relationships, which may in any given moment transform into a clashwith all characteristic consequences,

an overall of factual and legal circumstances accompanying an escalation of conflict'sparticipants' behaviour, which in practice means the lack of possibility of preventing

the conflict, as the "critical mass" has already been reached, causing furtherconsequences.

A conflict is a multi contextual notion, defined in a variety of ways within subject's

literature. It is caused by a variety of reasons, where those worth mentioning are, for example,

the way of perceiving the conflict by all participating parties, its type and course and many

more. A review of definitions of conflicts has been included in chart 1.

2Z. Uniszewski, Conflict and Negotiations, Wyd. Prszyoski i S-ka, Warsaw 2000, p. 122.


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Table 1 Conflicts' definitions.

Definition's

authorDefinition's content

S. P. Robbins A conflict is a process, where party A undertakes conscious efforts in

order to stop the effects of actions conducted by party B, by means ofblocking their pursued goals or blocking any actions that would facilitate

achieving it.

R. Dahrendorf A conflict stands for all manifestations of competition, litigations or

tensions between two or more social forces.

L. Coser A conflict is a struggle of people that represent different values or

struggle for acquiring an access to status, power or limited goods, where

the aim of interested parties is not only achieving their own goals, but

also neutralising, destroying or eliminating their opponent.

L. Kriesberg A conflict is a situation, where two or more parties firmly believe, that

their individual goals are impossible to combine.

J. Galtung A conflict is a resultant of attitudes, behaviours and contradictions. It is a

three-element construct (triad). It can be above all identified by human

behaviours, but main sources of conflict are attitudes and believes.

A. Pocztowski A Conflict is a social situation, in which a clash of opposing interests,

attitudes and individuals' values and (or) groups functioning within a

given organization takes place, the consequences of which are specific

behaviours.

A. Potocki A conflict is a struggle, the aim of which is striving or counteracting

towards acquiring power or access to valuable resources. It is acontradictory status of aims between groups, where some of them

achieve their goals, while others are not able to do so. It takes a form of

competition, litigations, tensions or evident social clashes.

U. Gros A conflict is a misunderstanding concerning goals and means of their

achieving, or when emotional antagonisms are sources of conflict

between people or groups.

Source: Own research based on: S. P. Robbins, Behaviours in Organization, PWE, Warsaw 2004, p. 308;

Pocztowski A., Human Resources Management, Strategies, Structures, Processes, PWE, Warsaw 2003, p. 434;

Organizational Behaviours. Selected Issues edited by A. Potocki, Difin, Warsaw 2005, p. 103, 205; A. Adamus

Matuszynska, Contemporary Social Conflict Theories, Published by AE in Katowice, Katowice 1998, p. 13,

37.

According to J. Galtung, one has to differentiate between situations called3:

1. brushes - a brush is a situation between two people that pursue the same aim, which leads tohurting one of them,

2. dilemmas - a dilemma is one person's problem, where that person strives to pursue twocontradicting aims; such a situation may lead to personal conflictand even to self-destruction;

3A. Adamus Matuszynska, Contemporary Social Conflict Theories, op. cit.,p. 37


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3. contradictions - contradictions are situations, where selected aim is not possible to be achieved ina given social system.

Conflicts can be perceived in two ways. The first view claims that in general, conflicts are

negative and dysfunctional, as well as that they have a destructive character and that said, they

are to be suppressed and not allowed to be fully developed. A different approach towards thisproblem emphasizes that although in general conflicts are unavoidable, they may also possess a

positive (functional, constructive) character and may be used for the good of the entire

organization. Positive and negative aspects of conflicts were presented in chart 2.

Table 2 Positive and negative aspects of conflicts.

Positive aspects Negative aspects

increases the quality of decisionsmade,

stimulates creativity and innovation,frees group members' curiosity and

interests,

facilitates development of newconcepts,

binds group, increases work motivation,reveals "flashpoints" that need fixing,enables releasing of tensions and

frustrations,

begins significant changes, improves communication channels,creates positive competition, improves atmosphere at work,

deteriorates group relationships,

can lead to group's destruction,smaller group's integrity,can lead to interference in

communication processes,

causes chaos, disorganizes group'swork,

lowers group member's morale,causes hostility and suspicion in

contacts with other people,

Source: Own study.

Causes of conflicts are different contradictions that take place between people and have various

character. They are not unambiguous. Their causes, which possess both subjective and objective

character, are various and strongly connected with each other. Examples of definitions of conflicts has

been included in chart 3.


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Table 3 Subjective and objective sources of conflicts.

Subjective sources of conflicts. Objective sources of conflicts.

individual's features of characterspeople's attitudesways of behaviourexpressed opinionsexpectations and predictions resulting

from work in a given enterprise

people's features of personality

contradictions between needs andpossibilities of their satiating

contradictions between interests of agiven worker and interests of entire

company

incorrect communicationcultural differencesfulfilling social roles insatiable needs

Source: K. Zjawiona, Managing Conflict as a Determinant of Work Group's Efficiency "In Search for

Strategic Competitive Advantages", edited by J. L. Czarnoty, K. Moszkowicz, Published by Czestochowa

University of Technology Faculty of Management, Czestochowa 2003, p. 244

Creation of conflicts and types of individual's behaviour depend on cultural conditioning.

Starting from the beginning of XX century one of psychological concepts of conflict (e.g. G.

Trade, G. Le Bon, K. Horney) established that sources of individual and social conflicts ought to

be traced in contradictions within social-cultural systems of modern societies) Also

functionalism (as well as neopsychoanalytical theories) establishes that the main reasons of

conflicts are discords between culturally determined norms and individual's aims and socially

structuralized capabilities of group members concerning obeying those values and norms. If

there is a compatibility between individual's pursuits already formed by the culture and

institutionalised in social structure means of realizing these pursuits, then one may talk aboutsocial balance. All shifting of that balance leads to phenomena of social deviation, manifested

by non-conforming and pathological behaviours. All of them are considered to be conflict-

facilitating factors4..

Representatives of different cultures are characterized by different attitudes towards

conflict, as well as means of coping with it. For instance, in countries that may be described by a

high level of quality expectancy towards life (such as Scandinavian countries) the most frequent

situation is either avoiding or giving in as a means of solving a given conflict situation, with

compromise or competition being less common. On the other hand, open and more direct

cultures (e.g. Americans) are more favourable towards competition and cooperation instead of

avoidance or concession. In Japan or Greece - i.e. countries characterized by a high ratio of

avoiding uncertainty, people are encouraged to cooperate (guarantee of employment and

obeying formal rules facilitate minimization of conflicts)5.

4Starting from the beginning of XX century one of psychological concepts of conflict (.e.g G. Trade, G. Le Bon, K.

Horney) established that sources of individual and social conflicts ought to be traced in contradictions within

social-cultural systems of modern societies) A. Adamus Matuszynska, Contemporary Social Conflict Theories,op. cit.,p. 13

5S. P. Robbins, Behaviours in Organization, op. cit., p.317


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Taking into consideration an undeniable influence of culture on both creation, as well as

a way of conflict solving, the project takes advantage of S.P. Robbins's and D. De Dencoz's

classification, grouping the reasons of all conflicts into three categories:

1. communication differences - these are misunderstandings that derive from semanticdifficulties, mutual misunderstandings and communication channels' interferences; whichin conditions of cultural varietynot only means problems connected with lack of language skills

but also cultural context of given phrases and spoken utterances'

2. structural differences - they cause integration issues which often lead to conflicts; individuals donot agree in terms of common aims, potential decisions, effectiveness criteria or resources

share. In such cases conflicts are not caused by insufficient communication or personal hostility -

rather than that, they are simply more rooted in the organizational structure and cultural

differences might further strengthen these problems due to lack of both knowledge, as well as

acceptance of employed management method;

3. personal differences - a conflict might be caused by a personal bias and systems of values;a mutual dislike between people hinders their cooperation; factors like: origin, education,

gender, race, religion and experience constitute a unique human personality with a very specific

collection of cherished values. In organizational conditions and during close personal contact

these might cause a problem.

The knowledge concerning conflicts and ways of their solving can be found useful to

every manager, no matter the level of his management because "... organizations are social

systems, which means that they are formed by people with a variety of personalities, opinions,

believes, aspirations and career pursuits. Apart from that, they hold different places in

organizational hierarchy and perform different functions, as well as engage themselves on

different levels into institution's functioning and take different amounts of responsibility in the

enterprise..."6. All of these might cause tensions and already mentioned conflicts. It is up to

manager to not let the situation get out of hand, paralysing functioning of the organization.

There is a number conflict solving methods - presented in chart 4.

6Organizational Behaviours Selected Issues, op. cit., p. 100


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Table 4 Means of conflict solving.

Strategy Most effective when:

Avoidance

The conflict is small with some strong emotions present which will

be remedied by time necessary to calm down, or when potentially

destructive effects of active behaviour prevail over benefits

coming from conflict solving.

Giving inThe issue being the subject of the dispute does not hold any

importance for all parties or they intend to acquire arguments for

the future.

Imposing The need for quick solution requires unpopular actions or when

engaging others in conflict and its solving is not crucial.

CompromiseParties have more or less comparable power and it is why it is

advisable to postpone the issue, or when the time is the leading

factor.

CooperationTime pressure is minimal and all parties are serious aboutachieving winner-winner solution, when the issue is to serious to

risk any compromise.

Source: S. P. Robbins, D. A. DeCenzo, Basics of Management, PWE, Warsaw 2002, p. 539.

If the conflict is positively solved it automatically increases the trust level between the

workers, it integrates the group and introduces the feeling of better understanding. Finding

constructive solution brings employees closer to each other which in turn should

facilitate future struggles of this type.


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2. SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES' SITUATION WITHIN PARTNERING

COUNTRIES

Small and medium enterprises are pillars of economic development of all member UE

countries and their functioning stands for a healthy competition, as well as reflection ofscietys entrepreneurship. Several last years have in a significant way changed the global

economy. Due to advancing integration and globalisation processes, as well as creation and

popularisation of new technology usage there was a radical change in functioning conditions of

all enterprises, no matter their size. Still, it is small and medium enterprises that suffered the

most due to environmental change, as once safe market niches are no more along with

diminishing of local markets and increase in competition, as well as uncertainty concerning

conditions reinforced by world economic crisis forces them to seek out new areas of operation

and new possibilities. Current changes observed in many aspects of SME functioning are, first of

all, internationalisation of their activity, growth of IT and communication technologies (ITC), aswell as growing innovativeness and creation of various network connections. New functioning

conditions of SME create, on the one hand, a chance for development and expansion, on the

other one however, they are a clear threat to existence of many small companies. Economic

integration and advancing globalisation advances SME's internationalisation. It is worth to

emphasize, that motives of internationalisation within SME are very varied. These motives are

above all a desire to improve the company's competitiveness, its development, access to

technology and know-how or high production cost on domestic market. Thus, the decision

concerning internationalisation is depends on company's different strategic aims. Moreover,

access to new market being the motive behind internationalisation is mostly corresponding to

one of two factors - the so called push factor, where domestic market is limited or so called pull

factor, where the company notices its chance on foreign markets. Enterprises based on

advanced technologies and innovative ones internationalise quicker, very often being

international starting from their "birth"7.

Creation of Single European Market (SEM) altered not only conditions of enterprises'

functioning, but above all imposed and it is still imposing changes concerning way of thinking

about enterprise management. Elimination of economic barriers between countries it the most

spectacular example of influence of changes of environment on enterprises' activity. Nowhere

else in the world the economic integration is so advanced. The companies operating on SEM

cease to do so on international one - instead, on may say that they are present on enlarged

domestic market. Boundaries between currently understood domestic market and SEM is

getting more and more blurry. It is safe to assume, that there will be a similar change in

understanding of SEM by the entrepreneurs. More and more significant number of SME is

starting to perceive SEM as a domestic market (internal).

In terminological sense, and to determine enterprises' criteria of classification, in order

to describe which enterprises qualify to SME sector, it is necessary to add that it has an

7N. Daszkiewicz, Small and Medium Enterprises - Chances and Dangers of their Growth, Published by CeDeWu,

Warsaw 2007, p. 9-10


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evolutionary character and thus constitutes a certain process. In 1996 the Commission agreed

upon recommendation concerning setting of the first definition of SME8. This definition has

been widely used in the entire European Union. On 6th may 2003, the Commission accepted

new recommendation9

in order to provide for tendency in economic growth after 1996. It

became legally binding after January 1st 2005 and found application in all policies, programsand actions which the Commission implements regarding SME. Currently, the most up-to-date

document regulating issues concerning definition and classification of enterprises is the

Commission's regulation no. 800/2008 from August 6th 2008. For member countries usage of

definition is not compulsory, however the Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB) and

European Investment Fund (EIF) prompt member countries to use it the widest way possible.

Enterprises classification according to their sizes takes into consideration the following

categories:

1) Medium enterprise medium enterprise is an enterprise, which employs less than 250

workers and which annual turnover does not exceed 50 millions euro or total annualbalance does not exceed 43 million euro;

2) Small enterprise is an enterprise which employs less than 50 workers and which

annual turnover does not exceed 10 millions euro or total annual balance does not

exceed 10 million euro;

3) Small enterprise is an enterprise which employs less than 10 workers and which

annual turnover does not exceed 2 millions euro or total annual balance does not

exceed 2 million euro;

4) Microenterprise - is an enterprise which employs less than 10 workers and which annual

turnover does not exceed 2 millions euro or total annual does not exceed 2 million euro.

Among factors shaping conditions of enterprises' businesses it is worth pointing

economic conditions. Comparison of selected economic parameters in partnership countries in

relation to average in EU countries presented in chart 5.

8 Commission's recommendation 96/280/WE from April 3th 1996 concerning small and medium enterprises,

Journal of Law 107 from 30.04.1996, p. 4-99 Commission's recommendation 2003/361/WE from April 36h 2003 concerning small and medium enterprises,

Journal of Law 124 from 20.05.2003, p. 36-41


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Table 5 Selected economic indicators of partnership countries in 2008 (in %).

Spain PolandGreat

Britain

EU

countries

(27)

inflation 4.1 4.2 3.6 3.7

unemployment 14.3 7.0 6.4 7.6

investments in relation

to GDP29.4 22 16.7 21.1

budget deficit in

relation to GDP-3.8 -3.9 -5.5 -2.3

budget debt in relation

to GDP39.5 47.1 52.0 61.5

GDP per capita 103 56 116 100

Source: basing on SME Sector in Poland in 2007-2008, Warsaw, PARP 2009, p. 22

Indicators presented in chart 5 illustrate in a synthetic way discrepancies in economic

condition of compared countries. The smallest inflation level is in Great Britain and it is slightly

lower than European average, while in both Spain and Poland it is very close (4,1 and 4,2%

respectively). It is possible to notice discrepancies in GDP per inhabitant. Poland has the worst

situation and its GDP per inhabitant makes for only 56% of value reached in EU countries.

In comparison of economic situation of individual countries, it is worth to take notice of

enterprises' expenditure structure (chart 1).

Chart 1 Business economy overview operating expenditure, non-financial business economy, 2006 [%].

83,9

84,4

89,8

81,2

16,1

15,6

10,2

18,8

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

EU

Spain

Poland

UK

Purchases of goods &services Personnel costs

Source: Eurostat (SBS).


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From partnership countries, the highest work cost level in 2006 can be found in Great

Britain (18,8%), while the lowest one in Poland (10,2%) It means, that in comparison with other

countries Poland spends the smallest amount of money connected with working costs.

Employment rate, as well as value added due to enterprises' size for 27 EU countries is

presented in chart 2.

Chart 2 Employment and value added by enterprise size class, non-financial business economy, EU-27,

2005 [%].

29,6

20,6

16,8

32,9

20,9

18,9

17,8

42,4

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Micro

Small

Medium-sized

Large

employment value added

Source: Eurostat (SBS).

As it can be observed, in scale of the entire EU the biggest companies employ the largest

numbers of workers and work out the most significant added value. The second economic force

that generates income and creating work places in UE are the smallest companies: micro

enterprises.

Number of enterprises from SME sector in compared countries is presented in chart 3.


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Chart 3 Number of enterprises economy by size-class, 2006 [% share of total].

99,8

91,8

6,9

1,1

99,9

92,2

6,8

0,8

99,8

95,9

2,9

1

99,6

87,5

10,5

1,7

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

SMSs

Micro

Small

Med.

EU Spain Poland UK Source: On the basis of Eurostat (SBS).

In all analysed countries SME sector is a significant economy force - more than 99% of all

enterprises are companies from that sector. The most numerous are micro enterprises, yet in

Poland these are the biggest part of active companies than in other countries. On the other

hand, the number of small companies is the lowest in Poland, where in Great Britain it is the

biggest.

Chart 4 presents structure of added value in.

Chart 4 Value added by size-class, 2006 [% share of total].

57,7

21

18,9

17,8

67,9

26,5

24,1

17,3

48,4

16,8

11,5

20,1

50,7

18,5

15,5

16,6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

SMSs

Micro

Small

Med.

EU Spain Poland UK

Source: On the basis of Eurostat (SBS).


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Microenterprises and small companies generate the biggest part of added value in Spain and

the smallest in Poland.

The scale of employment in enterprises from SME sector is presented in chart 5.

Chart 5Number of enterprises economy by size-class, 2006 [% share of total].

67,4

29,7

20,7

17

78,0

37,7

25,5

14,8

69,8

39,2

12

18,7

54,8

21,5

17,9

15,4

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

SMSs

Micro

Small

Med.

EU Spain Poland UK


In all analysed countries, the biggest number of people is employed in microenterprises,

yet in Great Britain it the significantly smaller percent (21,5%) than in Poland (39,2%) or Spain

(37,7%).

Number of created employment positions by SME sector in individual countries

is presented in chart 6.

Chart 6 Ratio of average employment in SME sector to total employment in 2005 [%].

67,1

78,7

69,8

54,0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

EU

Spain

Poland

UK

Source: Own study based on: SME Sector in Poland in 2007-2008, Warsaw, PARP 2009


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The biggest part of all workers is employed in SME sector in Spain (78,7%) and then

in Poland (69,8%). It turns out that the smallest share of working places created by this sector is

in Great Britain.

Scope of employment in SME sector's enterprises is huge: starting from self-employment up to 249 people. Chart 7 presents average level of employment in SME sector's

enterprises in individual countries.

Chart 7Average level of employment in SME sector's in 2005.

6,8

6,1

5,7

7,9

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

EU27 Spain Poland UK

Source: Observatory of European SMEs Analytical Report, The Gallup Organization, 2007, p. 13.

On average, in 27 EU countries SME sector enterprise employs 6,8 people full time. The

smallest enterprises are in Poland (employing 5,7 people full time) which seems to be

understandable due to the biggest number of microenterprises.


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3. DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITIONING OF CONFLICTS IN PARTNERING

COUNTRIES

Chart 8Share of EU-27 population of partnership countries [%].

8,6 8,7 8,8 8,99,0

7,9 7,8 7,8 7,7 7,7

12,2 12,2 12,2 12,3 12,3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Spain

Poland

United Kindom


Chart 9 Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment per 1 000 persons.

14,914,3

14,8

13,7

15,6

9,2

1,3

-0,4 -0,2 -0,3-0,9

-0,5 -0,4

0,0

3,0

3,8 3,8

3,0 2,93,3

2,9

4,2 4,03,6

3,23,8

2,9

1,7

-3

-1

1

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

17

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

EU (27 countries)



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Chart 10Asylum applications [persons].

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Spain

Poland

United Kindom


These figures refer to all persons who apply on an individual basis for asylum or similar

protection, irrespective of whether they lodge their application on arrival at the border, or from

inside the country, and irrespective of whether they entered the country legally or illegally. Due

to different methods of collecting the information, data from different countries may not be

entirely comparable.

Table 6 Acquisition of citizenship in the EU27, 2008 [number].

2007 2008per 1000

inhabitants

Spain 71,940 84,170 1.8

Poland 1,540 1800 0.0

United Kingdom 164,540 129260 2.1

EU (27

countries) 707,110 695,880 1.4


One of the most important features characterizing a development level of a given

society is a level of education. At the same time it is also a measuring tool utilized for human

capital category assessment which comprises of knowledge, experience, skills, motivation, as

well as morale of a given population. Even though it is known that no contemporary

educational system can ensure a life-lasting education, still it is still capable of better

preparation for requirements that are set by potential employers. School education, even on

the highest level possible should only serve as a beginning to a permanent one, the one that

last through the entire lifespan.


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Chart 11 Educational attainment: adult population in 2006.

14

64

4

18

23

27

21

0

29

14

56

30

31

45

24

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Pre-primary and primary education

Lower secondary education

Upper secondary education

Post-secondary non-tertiaryeducation

Tertiary education

Poland Spain UK EU_19

Source: On the basis: Education at a glance 2008, Report OECD

Chart 12 Population that has attained tertiary education [%, 2006].

28

17

13

13

39

31

22

15

37

31

29

24

30

25

21

18

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

Poland Spain UK UE19

Source: On the basis: Education at a glance 2008, 2008, OECD


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Chart 13 Structure of people with higher education level in reference to gender [%, 2006].

16

28

31

23

20

28

30

25

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Poland

Spain

UK

UE19

males females

Source: On the basis: Education at a glance 2008, OECD Distribution of the 25-to-64-year-old male/female

population, by highest level of education attained.

Table 7Percentage of population between 25- 34 years old that have reached high level education in

2008 [%].

Total Men Women

EU (27) 30.9 27.2 34.7

Spain 38.8 34.2 43.7

Poland 32.1 25.6 38.7

UK 38.6 37.0 40.3

Source: INE

As requested by the European Commission Resolution of 15 November 2007, the

Communication New skills for new jobs (COM(2008) 868 final) presents a first assessment

ofthe EUs future skills and jbs requirements up t 2020. On 16 December 2008, the European

Commission published its proposal for better matching and anticipating labour market needs,

accompanied by a staff working document, outlining more effective ways to analyse and

predict which skills will be needed in tmrrws labur market. In rder to put Europe on the

road to recovery after the severity of the economic crisis, it is essential to enhance human

capital and employability by upgrading skills and ensuring a better match between the supply of

skills and labour market demand.

Diversified level of solutions concerning human resources management is confirmed by

a number of facts. One of them is for instance approach towards age management in the

enterprise: activeness of entities engaged in age management development partnership

realized within EQUAL boundaries. The Development Partnerships was realized cross follows

topics:

Employability - (Re-)integration to the labour market

Employability Combating racism


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Entrepreneurship Business creation

Entrepreneurship Social economy

Adaptability - Life long learning

Adaptability - Adaptation to change and NIT

Equal opportunities Reconciling family and professional life Equal opportunities Reducing gender gaps and desegregation

Asylum seekers

It is possible to take notice of a substantial difference in number of realized partnerships

within age management in partnership countries. Poland completed 6 of them, Spain 3 while

Great Britain 4010.

Chart 14 Participation in lifelong learning, by country and gender, 2008 [%].

9,5

4,2

16,6

8,7

11,3

5,2

23,2

10,410,4

4,7

19,9

9,6

0

5

10

15

20

25

Spain Poland United Kindom EU (27 countries)

Men

Women

Total

Source:A European Age Management Network: the way forward?EQUAL European Social Fund, June 2007, p.

35

In scale of the entire EU it is women who are more eager to take part in life long

learning programs and in general show more active attitude towards forming of their

professional career.

10A European Age Management Network: the way forward? EQUAL European Social Fund, June 2007, p. 35


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3.1. WOMEN'S SITUATION IN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES

A natural feature of specific social groups, including work teams is a variety. This might

apply to gender, age, education, believes or followed values. Advancing globalisation and

integration processes that lead towards eradication of human capital flows' barriers are alsoconsidered to be an accelerator of a variety growth within work teams. It is not always

however, that this same variety is used in a positive way for both enterprise, as well as workers,

as one of its consequences might be negative phenomena and social pathologies, including

discrimination. This problem was noticed in the 50s when International Labour Organization

passed the convention against this phenomenon. Convention no. 100 concerns unified salary

level for both working men and women for the jobs with the same value from 1951 and

Convention no. 111 concerning discrimination in terms of employment and carrying out of

profession from 1958.

Discrimination became the subject of legal regulations within countries that constitutethe European community, introducing proper regulations in terms of forbidding it legally. Art. 2

of directive from February 9th 1976 concerning introduction of equal treatment of men and

women in terms of access to employment, education and professional promotion and working

conditions (76/207/EWG) defined the rule of equality as a "lack of discrimination due to

gender, both direct and indirect, especially in terms of marital and family statuses". Ban on

discrimination includes rules concerning employment selection, access to all job positions and

all hierarchy levels, as well as counselling and professional education. In order to eradicate

symptoms of discrimination, EU partnership countries are to invalidate or alter all provisions

within normative acts that are in direct violation with women and men equality at work.

Countries were also obliged to monitor that all regulations not complying with rule of equal

treatment included in collective agreements, individual work contracts, inner enterprises

regulations or rules regulating execution of free professions became invalid or it would be

possible to be deemed invalid, or at least changed. The directive obliges all partnership Union

countries to equip both men and women with the same working conditions, without any form

of discrimination due to age, including terms of leave. Understanding "working conditions"

concerns employer's obligation to assure safe and hygienic working conditions, as well as

unified behaviour towards all workers when terminating a work contract.

The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap between men and women in four

fundamental categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment,

political empowerment and health and survival.

Economic participation and opportunity This area is captured through three concepts:

the participation gap, the remuneration gap and the advancement gap. The participation gap is

captured through the difference in labour force participation rates. The remuneration gap is

captured through a hard data indicator (ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income) and

a qualitative variable calculated thrugh the Wrld Ecnmic Frums Executive Opinion Survey

(wage equality for similar work). Finally, the gap between the advancement of women and men

is captured through two hard data statistics (the ratio of women to men among legislators,


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senior officials and managers, and the ratio of women to men among technical and professional

workers).

Educational attainment. In this categry, the gap between wmen and mens current

access to education is captured through ratios of

women to men in primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level education. A longer-term viewf the cuntrys ability t educate wmen and men in equal numbers is captured thrugh the

ratio of the female literacy rate to the male literacy rate.

Political empowerment. This category includes mainly measures of the gap between

men and women in political decision-making at the highest levels. This concept is captured

through the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and the ratio of women to men

in parliamentary positions. In addition, we include the ratio of women to men in terms of years

in executive office (prime minister or president) in the last 50 years. A clear drawback in this

category is the absence of any variables capturing differences between the participation of

women and men at local levels of government. Should such data become available at a globallevel in future years, they will be considered for inclusion in the Global Gender Gap Index.

Health and survival. This category attempts to provide an overview of the differences

between wmen and mens health. To do this, we use two variables. First, we use the gap

between wmen and mens healthy life expectancy, calculated by the Wrld Health

Organization. This measure provides an estimate of the number of years that women and men

can expect to live in good health, by taking into account the years lost to violence, disease,

malnutrition or other relevant factors. The second variable included in this subindex is the sex

rati at birth. This variable aims specifically t capture the phenmenn f missing wmen

prevalent in many countries with strong son preference.

The Global Gender Gap Index shows that the 134 countries covered in the Report,

representing ver 90% f the wrlds ppulatin

Table 8Comparisons The Global Gender Gap Index 2009 rankings.

2006 2007 2008 2009

rank score rank score rank score rank score

Spain 11 0.7319 10 0.7444 17 0.7281 17 0.7345

Poland 44 0.6802 60 0.6756 49 0.6951 50 0.6998

UK 9 0.7365 11 0.7441 13 0.7366 15 0.7402

Source: On the basis The Global Gender Gap Report, World Economic Forum, Geneva 2009.


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Table 9 The Global Gender Gap Index 2009 [ rank].

Economic

Participation

and Opportunity

Educational

Attainment

Health

and

Survival

Political

Empowerment

Spain 90 56 80 9

Poland 71 33 41 40

UK 35 1 72 22


Chart 15 The Global Gender Gap In 2009 score.

0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1,2

Economic Participation

and Opportunity

Educational Attainment

Health and Survival

Political Empowerment

Spain Poland United Kindom


Chart 16Unadjusted gender pay gap, as percentages f mens grss hurly earnings [%].

17,9

7,5

24,3

17,717,6

7,5

21,1

17,4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30


2006

2007


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4. LABOUR MARKET SITUATION AS A DETERMINANT OF SME SECTOR'S

CONFLICTS

Chart 17Unemployment rates Member States [%].

0

5

10

15

20

25

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

EU (27 countries)


Chart 18Unemployment rates [%].

19,3

8,4 7,8

9,3

19,9

9,8

7,9

9,6

0

5

10

15

20

25


December 2009

May 2010



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Chart 19 Unemployment rates by gender in 2004.

8,0

18,2

5,1

8,5

14,3

20,0

4,2

9,8

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0

25,0


Male, 2004

Female, 2004


Chart 20Table unemployment rates by gender in 2009.

18,4

8,7

6,4

8,8

17,7

7,88,6

9,4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20


Female, 2009

Male, 2009



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Chart 21 Long-term unemployment rates, by gender, 2008 [%].

1,1

4,6

1,6

2,82,5

5,4

0,9

3,3

1,7

4,9

1,3

3,0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6


Men Women Total


Chart 22 Gender gap in employment, by country, 2007 [%].

21,5

13,0 12,0

14,2

0

5

10

15

20

25


Source: Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2008-2009, European Foundation for the Improvement of

Living and Working Conditions, 2009, p. 5

A difference in women's situation on partnership countries' labour market is highly

noticeable11:

Women employment indicator in 2007 was 55% for Spain and 50% for Poland, while in

Great Britain it reached 65%, with EU27 average of 58%.

11Source: Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2008-2009, European Foundation for the Improvement of

Living and Working Conditions, 2009, s. 6-7.


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There was a visible change in women's situation on labour markets between 2002 and

2008; during that time there was a 10,4% increase in Spain's women's employment rate while

the same indicator in Poland increased by 3,9% and in Great Britain only by 0,3%. An average

growth in women's employment in 27 EU was 2,8%.

Chart 23 Table unemployment rates by age in 2009.

37,8

20,619,1 19,6

15,9

6,85,5

7,6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40



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Chart 24 Youth unemployment rates, by gender, 2008 (%).

23,7

15,2

17,015,5

25,8

19,9

12,7

15,2

24,6

17,3

15,0 15,4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30


Men

Women

Total

Source: Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2008-2009, European Foundation for the

Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2009, p. 5

Chart 25 Share of employed in the age of 55-56 during 2007.

44,6

29,7

57,4

44,7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

EU (27 countries)

Source:Age management Mayday Model of Active Support of Employees from 50+ Companies, published by

Politechnika Gdanska, Gdansk 2008


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Chart 26 Share of women employed in the age of 55-64 during 2007.

19,4

36,0

30,0

47,9

0,0 10,0 20,0 30,0 40,0 50,0 60,0

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

EU (27 countries)

Source:Age management Mayday Model of Active Support of Employees from 50+ Companies, published by

Politechnika Gdanska, Gdansk 2008


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5. WORKING CONDITIONS AS A DETERMINANT OF CONFLICTS

The proportion of non-permanent employees, that is, with temporary employment

contracts, in the EU in 2007 was 14.4% of total employment, the same as in 2006 (p. 29, reportconcerning working conditions).

The situation on the label market is creating by wide range factors. Among them there it

is necessary to note about temporary work as a way of increasing of flexibility of employment

and enlarge the opportunity for work. The measure we can use to show the role of Private

Employment Agency is TAW penetration rates. It is a number of temporary agency workers in

FTE/total employment (Eurostat statistics). This rate was established in 2006 for Poland 0,2%;

for Spain 0,7% and for UK 4,5%. It means that there is big difference between UK and other

two partner country: temporary work is much popular in UK and as the different research and

publications have shown such kind of work is acceptable by people in much more wide range

than in Poland or Spanish. Such kind of work gives many positives, e.g. . But it has one big

disadvantage: it desnt give safety filing and stabilizatin that people expect form work. It

cnfirms answers f temprary wrkers that in UK 33% amng them dnt want a permanent

job, in Spain it is 13% respondents12

.

Average working time in EU for full-time employed decreased from 41,9 to 41,8 hours

(in years 2006-2007). The longest working week is that of British (both in 2006 and 2007) with

a similar amount of time in 2006 in Poland, with a slight decrease in the next year. In 2006

Spaniards devoted slightly more than 42 hours weekly for work, but during the next year it was

exactly 42 hours.13

12

More work opportunities for more people, Report Commissioned by Eurociett, 2007.13Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2008-2009, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living

and Working Conditions, 2009, p.49.


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6. FINANCIAL SECURITY AS A DETERMINANT OF EMPLOYEES' SITUATION

Table 10Comparison of minimum wages conditions.

Specification Spain Poland UK

Year

implementations1980 1990 1999

Subject-matter

scope

All

workersAll workers

All

workers above

16 years

Method

of determining

Regulated

by government

Regulated by government

on

the basis of

recommendation

from social partners

Regulated by government on

based on recommendation

from social partners

Methodof valorisation

Mostly

once per year

by government

One or twice per year

based on government's

inflation forecasts

By government based on

social partners'

recommendation

Type of ratemonthly and

dailymonthly Hourly

Statutory

level in

national

currency on

01.01.2010

633,30 EUR1317 PLN

5.80 - the main rate forworkers aged 22 and over

4.83 - the 18-21 rate3.57 - the 16-17 rate for

workers above school

leaving age but under 18

Source: Minimum Wages in 2008. Statistics in focus 105/2008, EUROSTAT

Chart 27Comparison of minimum wages in February 2006 [EUR].

631

234

1269

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

Source: Statistics in focus, Theme 3 9/2006, Eurostat.


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Chart 28Total yearly salary averages of researches in EU25, 2006, [EUR].

34908

11659

56048

38873

21591

52776

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000

Spain

Poland

United Kindom

remuneration average in EUR remuneration average in EUR in terms of PPS Source: Remuneration of researches in the Public and Private Sectors. Final Report. European Commission, April

2007


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SUMMARY

Being inseparably tied with society's structures, a conflict is an inevitable phenomena. It

is said that the more means of communication there is among people, the bigger the chance for

having a conflict. A conflict is very negative, as the majority of people is not able to cope with iteffectively. On the other hand, it is very tempting to take part in it, even though we are fully

aware of negative consequences of such an action. The evil lies within the conflicts, which

despite being a natural phenomena of social life are also related to a lot of undesirable effects.

The destructive consequences of conflicts are, for the most of the time, a result of incorrect

proceeding during conflict situation.14Conflicts take place in every institution and their scale

and intensity is largely varied for those involved in them. Some take advantage of a conflict for

their purposes, treating it as merely a tool being a part of their overall strategies. They use it to

realize their own agenda. These individuals are not interested in solving the conflict. Some use

it as an element of demonstrating strength. No matter whether people want to solve theconflict or not, it still has a significant influence on their ability to communicate and work

performance. The costs of an on-going argument is suffered by the entire organization, its

workers and co-workers. In its most serious form, a conflict is capable of leading the entire

work teams and in some rare cases even the entire enterprise to a stalemate situation. Now

that diversity is a major factor to address, analyse and manage; companies and institutions are

starting to address the issue of differences. The two major factors of differences the business

world has awaken to are: immigration and women in the workplace. Age, which is a critical

factor that impacts the social security system and therefore the sustainability of the present

welfare state, is in danger. The social environment lacks infrastructure to face an agingpopulation without health and social care in place. The double income families have a lack of

support for children schooling. Yet these issues are still to become part of the agenda.

Only major corporations which have been active multi-nationally have had to face

multiculturalism some time ago. And have developed diversity and inclusion policies to control

conflicts, which they rightly had identified as a major source of corporate losses. SMEs have not

had this multinational experience and now face multiculturalism for the first time with lack of

references, knowledge and resources. SMEs are part of the global economy with highly diverse

clients and suppliers every day with the possibility of purchasing and selling operating

virtually and interacting with the rest of the world to survive in very competitive and innovative

scenarios.

The need for SMEs to access tools such as the Beyond Diversity CD training and

exchange platform is critical for the social and economic development, considering that SMEs

are the real base of the EU economy and the creators of over 70% of jobs.

Managing conflicts originated by the new typology of the European scenario is critical to

make companies of all sizes more efficient, create more and new types of jobs; and stop

outsourcing production and services to other parts of the world in search of lower costs.

14J. Marciniak, op.cit., p. 69.


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Managing conflicts bring down the operations costs of companies and improve the quality

in work and life of the European citizens.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Adamus - Matuszynska A., Contemporary Theories of Social Conflict, Published by AE in Katowice,Katowice 1998

2. A European Age Management Network: the way forward? EQUAL European Social Fund, June2007.

3. Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2008-2009, European Foundation for theImprovement of Living and Working Conditions, 2009.

4. N. Daszkiewicz, Small and Medium Enterprises - Chances and Dangers of their Growth, Published byCeDeWu, Warsaw 2007

5. Education at a glance 2008, Report OECD6. Eurostat (SBS).7. More work opportunities for more people, Report Commissioned by Eurociett, 2007.8. Observatory of European SMEs Analytical Report, The Gallup Organization, 20079. A. Pocztowski, Management of Human Resources. Strategies, Structures, Processes, PWE, Warsaw

2003.

10.A. Pocztowski, Management of Human Resources. Outline of Problematic and Methods, Antykwa,Cracow 1998

11.SME Sector in Poland in 2007-2008, Warsaw, PARP 200912.S. P. Robbins, D. A. DeCenzo, Basics of Management, PWE, Warsaw 200213.S. P. Robbins, Behaviours in Organization, PWE, Warsaw 2004.14.Statistics in focus, Theme 3 9/2006, Eurostat.15.The Global Gender Gap Report, World Economic Forum, Geneva 200916.Uniszewski Z., Conflict and Negotiations, Published by Proszynski i S-ka, Warszawa 200017. In Search for Strategic Competitive Advantages, edited by J. L. Czarnoty, K. Moszkowicz, Published

by Czestochowa University of Technology Faculty of Management, Czestochowa 2003

18.Organizational Behaviours Selected Issues, edited by A. Potocki, Difin, Warsaw 2005,19.Commission's recommendation 2003/361/WE from April 6th 2003 concerning small and medium

enterprises

20.Commission's recommendation 96/280/WE from April 3th 1996 concerning small and mediumenterprises

21.Age management Mayday Model of Active Support of Employees from 50+ Companies, published byPolitechnika Gdanska, Gdansk 2008


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APPENDIX

TABLE INDEXTable 1 Conflicts' definitions.................................................................................................................... 6

Table 2 Positive and negative aspects of conflicts. ................................................................................. 7

Table 3 Subjective and objective sources of conflicts. ............................................................................. 8

Table 4 Means of conflict solving. ......................................................................................................... 10

Table 5 Selected economic indicators of partnership countries in 2008 (in %). .................................... 13

Table 6 Acquisition of citizenship in the EU27, 2008 [number]. ............................................................ 19

Table 7 Percentage of population between 25- 34 years old that have reached high level education in

2008 [%]. ............................................................................................................................................... 21

Table 8 Comparisons The Global Gender Gap Index 2009 rankings. .................................................... 24Table 9 The Global Gender Gap Index 2009 [ rank]. ............................................................................. 25

Table 10 Comparison of minimum wages conditions. .......................................................................... 33


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CHART INDEX

Chart 1 Business economy overview operating expenditure, non-financial business economy, 2006 [%].

............................................................................................................................................................... 13

Chart 2 Employment and value added by enterprise size class, non-financial business economy, EU-27,

2005 [%]. ............................................................................................................................................... 14

Chart 3 Number of enterprises economy by size-class, 2006 [% share of total]. ................................. 15

Chart 4 Value added by size-class, 2006 [% share of total]. ................................................................. 15

Chart 5 Number of enterprises economy by size-class, 2006 [% share of total]. ................................. 16

Chart 6 Ratio of average employment in SME sector to total employment in 2005 [%]. .................... 16

Chart 7 Average level of employment in SME sector's in 2005. ........................................................... 17

Chart 8 Share of EU-27 population of partnership countries [%]. ....................................................... 18

Chart 9 Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment per 1 000 persons. ............................................ 18

Chart 10 Asylum applications [persons]. .............................................................................................. 19

Chart 11 Educational attainment: adult population in 2006. .............................................................. 20Chart 12 Population that has attained tertiary education [%, 2006]. .................................................. 20

Chart 13 Structure of people with higher education level in reference to gender [%, 2006]. .............. 21

Chart 14 Participation in lifelong learning, by country and gender, 2008 [%]. .................................... 22

Chart 15 The Global Gender Gap In 2009 score. ............................................................................... 25

Chart 16 Unadjusted gender pay gap, as percentages of mens gross hourly earnings [%]................ 25

Chart 17 Unemployment rates Member States [%]. ............................................................................ 26

Chart 18 Unemployment rates [%]. ...................................................................................................... 26

Chart 19 Unemployment rates by gender in 2004. .............................................................................. 27

Chart 20 Table unemployment rates by gender in 2009. ..................................................................... 27

Chart 21 Long-term unemployment rates, by gender, 2008 [%]. ......................................................... 28Chart 22 Gender gap in employment, by country, 2007 [%]. ............................................................... 28

Chart 23 Table unemployment rates by age in 2009. .......................................................................... 29

Chart 24 Youth unemployment rates, by gender, 2008 (%). ................................................................ 30

Chart 25 Share of employed in the age of 55-56 during 2007. ............................................................ 30

Chart 26 Share of women employed in the age of 55-64 during 2007. ............................................... 31

Chart 27 Comparison of minimum wages in February 2006 [EUR]. ..................................................... 33

Chart 28 Total yearly salary averages of researches in EU25, 2006, [EUR]. ........................................ 34

Documents

Conflict SME