Forecasting laws

To the E d i t o r . . . Comparable Worth Several political and legal events have occurred since Barbara Mackey Carlson and I wrote "Elinfinating The GenderBased Earning Gap: Two Alternatives" (July/August, pp. 76-81). Your readers may be interested in the following: On November 26, 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rex4ew the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Spalding v. Univel~i~ of Washington. This case involved charges by the nursing faculty that they were underpaid relative to faculty members in other departments. The Circuit Court decided that a prima facie violation of discrimination is not established when employees of different sexes receive disparate compensation for work of differing skills that, subjectively, may be of equal value to the employer but does not command an equal price in the labor market. Other evidence is necessary. On September 4, 1985. the Ninth Circuit Court reversed the nation's [irst comparal)le worth court ruling. In a decision that will be appealed hy the Aiherican Federation of State, County, and Municipal Eml:lloyees, the Circuit Court ruled that a wage gap does not in itself show intentional discrinlination against women. In 1983, after a study, showed a 20 percent e~n'nings gap between female and male workers in comparal)lejobs, the State of Washington had been held liable for damages to 15,500 of its era-

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ployees. The Sel3tember decision reversed that ruling. On a similar note, on June 17, 1985, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in its first but probably not its last---decision on the issue, ruled that comparing the intrinsic value of dissimilar jobs which command different wages in the market is an insufficient method for proving the existence of job discrimination. In the interim, in May 1985 the City of Los Angeles volunteered to raise the salaries of 3,900 female employees, based on an evaluation of the "comparable worth" of their jobs. In so doing, Los Angeles joined the roster of more than 20 states and municipalities that either have instituted pay equity policies or are in the process of conducting job evaluation studies to determine the extent of wage discrimination in their work forces. These and other recent events suggest that the debate about comparable worth versus alternative means of eliminating the gender-based earning gap is far from over. M. P. McEnrue Associate Professor of Management California State University Los Angeles

Forecasting Laws The flyer [abstract] for the amusing piece on forecasting (Benito E. Flores and D. Clay Whybark, "Forecasting

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'Laws' for M a n a g e m e n t , " July-August, pp. 48-53) begins, "With tongues planted firmly in cheeks . . . " Actually, there is nothing tonguein-cheek about that piece at all. These are truths about forecasting and the role of forecasters in business hierarchies conveyed gracefully and with avowed intent to amuse. The proximate meaning of "tongue in cheek" is to deceive~that is, to pretend to seriousness while indulging in mockery. It is also a bit difficult to conceive how tongues can be "firmly planted" in cheeks. Actually, you would be well advised to do away with the [abstracts] completely, leaving only the bold-face quotes from the articles themselves. Andrew Gray Washington, D.C.

Correction Due to a production error, a line was omitted from "Puzzles or Problems? Cutting Through the Manager's Dilemma," by Chimezie A. B. Osigweh, Yg. (MayJune, pp. 69-73). The third paragraph of the article should begin, "This article has three objectives:" and then continue with the listing.

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Septeml)er-Octol)cr 1985