Management & Staff of The President Post express their deepest condolencers on the passing of K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid The 4th President of the Republic of Indonesia

May he rest in peace.

The President Post

Irvan Tisnabudi | Jakarta Globe

The new Tune Hotel in Kuta, Bali, which some hoteliers claim is using ‘predatory pricing.’ (JG Photo/J.P. Christo)

Hotel owners in Bali are crying foul over the latest arrival in Indonesia’s premier tourist destination.

They claim that Tune Hotels, the Malaysian budget accommodation chain owned by Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes, will “damage” the island’s image by offering spartan rooms for as little as Rp 98,000 ($10.5) a night.

Perry Markus, secretary general of the Bali Hotels and Restaurant Association, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that other low-cost hotels were unhappy with the arrival of Tune in Kuta and Legian. “With such a low tariff, it is damaging to Bali’s image, which is to uphold quality tourism,” Perry said.

Perry declined to name the unhappy hotels but warned that if Tune does not increase its tariffs, they may report the company to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) for unhealthy business practices.

“We don’t want them to screw up the current situation, which we have been trying very hard to maintain. It’s been very difficult to increase hotel rates since the Bali bombings,” Perry said, referring to the bombs that killed 202 people and injured 204 in Kuta 2002 and another attack that killed 20 in Jimbaran and Kuta in 2005.

Using a similar model to Air Asia and other budget airlines, Tune Hotels eschew the usual frills such as swimming pools, spas and room service, but offer cut-price rates for basic, clean rooms with just a bed, hot shower and ceiling fan. Guests must pay extra for every additional service from towels to air-conditioning.

“Sometimes, all you really need from a hotel is a hot shower and a good night’s rest. Without risking robbery either stepping out of the room, or paying the bill,” Tune says on its web site.

Perry said the association will gather the protesting hotels together to share their views and plans to invite the management of Tune to talks at a later date.

Sendjaja Widjaja, director of Tune in Bali, dismissed the suggestion that the group is pursuing predatory pricing. “Not all the rooms will cost Rp 98,000. No hotel can survive on such a low tariff if it’s fixed for all of the rooms.” He added that Tune would be happy to talk to the other hoteliers.

Several business leaders argued that the Tune concept will go down well in Bali.

“As long as the hotel can serve its guests well and satisfy them, then I think it has good prospects because tourists are now very service-oriented,” said Levita Supit, Chairwoman of the Indonesian Franchising and Licensing Society.

Anton Sitorus, head of research at property consultant PT Jones Lang LaSalle Indonesia, noted that Bali attracts many backpackers, for whom the Tune approach may well be appealing.

“These types of visitors look for low-budget hotels and Tune hotels has made some breakthroughs because unlike many cheap hotels in Bali, it is managed professionally,” Anton said.

However, Jacky Yatno, owner of the Barong Hotel, a low-cost establishment in Kuta, insisted that most incumbents were not bothered by Tune’s arrival.

“Tune is way behind a lot of hotels in terms of facilities, as they lack services such as swimming pools and gyms. All they’re trying to do is maximize every inch of the small space they have and this does not result in good quality service,” he said.

Ulma Haryanto | Jakarta Globe

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo couldn’t hide his excitement on Tuesday as a seemingly impossible infrastructure task was finally set to be completed — 36 years in the making but two days ahead of its latest schedule. 

The governor announced that the East Flood Canal, built to alleviate flooding in North and East Jakarta, had finally reached the waters of the Jakarta Bay. 

“As promised, by December 31, the East Flood Canal will have reached the open sea”, he told reporters. “Right now we have only 0.5 percent left to excavate. And although there are some parts with a 15-meter width when they should have been 70 [meters], the whole tract is complete.” 

The East Flood Canal project is part of an ambitious flood control master plan for Jakarta that was formed in 1973. The project, delayed multiple times due to a lack of funding, land procurement problems and other issues, was meant to compliment the West Flood Canal, which was built by the Dutch colonial government in the 1920s. 

Between 2001 and 2003, the city administration finally resumed the Rp 4.9 trillion ($519 million) East Flood Canal project. Jakarta suffers from annual flooding, with disastrous consequences in 2003 and 2007 when dozens of people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced, costing the city more than $1 billion. 

Fauzi said around 207 square kilometers of North and East Jakarta will now be spared from flooding caused by overflowing banks along the Ciliwung, Cililitan, Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jati Kramat and Cakung rivers. 

He said the canal was designed to contain 390 cubic meters of water per second, enough to avert flooding for at least another 100 years in those areas. 

The Jakarta administration has also earmarked Rp 491.8 billion for further construction in 2010, including widening in some areas and erecting bridges. The money will also be spent on beautifying the canal because it flows through 13 urban wards. 

To reduce the possibility of squatters encroaching along its banks, Pitoyo Subandrio, an official at the Ministry of Public Works, said the city might consider building roads or Busway lanes on each side. 

“When we put traffic on the sides of the canal, people would be reluctant to throw their garbage in the water, or bathe and fish in the canal,” he said. “We are also going to install barbed wire and warning signs.” 

Rudi P Tambunan, head of city development studies at the University of Indonesia, said, however, that the city administration’s work to mitigate flooding was far from complete. 

“In 1975, local flooding might occur after 3 hours of heavy rain. In 1990, it went to 2 hours before an area was flooded,” he said. “These past five years, many areas in Jakarta are already flooded after one hour of mild-to-heavy rain.”

Source: The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 12/28/2009 10:26 AM  |  Business

The luxury car market, which has enjoyed trend-defying sales growth this year, may grow by 15 to 20 percent next year on the back of stronger economic growth and higher purchasing power, industry insiders say.

Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) secretary-general Freddy Sutrisno said last week an expected 4,300 to 4,500 luxury cars would be sold in 2010, up from the expected 3,700 units in 2009.

The range is in line with the 15 to 20 percent growth predicted for overall domestic car sales in 2010 to around 600,000 units.

Gaikindo has also predicted a slump in 2009 domestic car sales, down from last year’s figure of 603,700 units to 475,000 units, due to the global financial crisis.

However, it adds, thanks to their highly segmented market, luxury car producers have enjoyed a relatively good year in Indonesia.

Mercedes-Benz Indonesia told The Jakarta Post it had sold 2,575 cars through the end of November — a 14 percent increase from the 2,256 cars it sold in the same period last year. Deputy marketing director Yuniadi H. Hartono said the increase was in part due to a major project to provide 400 cars to local taxi operator Blue Bird.

The company’s is expected to shift a total of 2,900 cars this year, or a 19.6 percent increase from the 2,424 cars it cold in 2008.

Mercedes controls 70 percent of the premium car market in the country, according to Gaikindo estimates.

Yuniadi said the manufacturer expected another good year in 2010 and was eyeing an increased sales target of 3,300 cars.

BMW Indonesia, which commands about 20 percent market share, is also expecting to cash in on the growing segment next year.

President director Ramesh Divyanathan told the Post that Indonesia’s promising market and expected GDP of more than 5 percent in 2010 had led his company to forecast “good double-digit growth” in car sales next year.

However, he pointed out “things must remain the same and no surprises here and there” for sales to remain high.

BMW enjoyed a 24 percent increase in sales through the end of November 2009, shifting a total 811 cars and exceeding the 2008 full year result of 720 cars. In November alone, it delivered 103 cars, up from the 90 units the previous month.

Last Monday, the company introduced its latest offering from its all-wheel-drive M-Series range.

Divyanathan said the X5M would hit the streets of Indonesia by May 2010. The car will retail for around Rp 2.4 billion (US$253,000) off the road.

Divyanathan said BMW Indonesia would launch 10 new cars next year as a part of a strategy to tackle the tough competition in the premium car market in the country. (adh)

The Crown has evolved into a line of full-size luxury sedans by Toyota. The range was primarily available in Japan and some other Asian countries, originally designed to serve as a taxi. It was in later years sold in the United States during the late 1950s and up until 1971. The Crown is Toyota’s oldest sedan still in production. It is outranked only by the Centuryand the Majesta in social status. The Crown is used by many Japanese companies as the company Limousine. Exports to Europe began in 1964 with the first cars going to Finland. Other European countries which saw imports of the Crown included the Netherlands andBelgium. The United Kingdom was another market until the early 1980s. It was also exported to Canada for a few years—1965–68. In many markets the Crown had become very expensive and was replaced by the Cressida when that model became available for export in the early 1980s.

And each Cabinet Minister has it now…

Source: Jakarta Globe

New York. Barely avoiding a 1930s-style depression, the world economy is expected to rebound in 2010 with Asian economies continuing to lead growth.

Among the industrialized nations, the United States, where the financial system and labor market are showing signs of stabilization, will outpace Europe where stubbornly high unemployment is likely to sap the strength of recovery.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook, global output is expected to grow by 3.1 percent in 2010, with much of the recovery driven by emerging economies, such as India and China, where the manufacturing industry expanded at the fastest pace in 18 months in October.

For 2009, the IMF expects a 1.1 percent decline of global gross domestic product.

But though things may not be as bad as they could have been, the IMF sought to temper any euphoria, largely because unemployment will likely continue to rise for some time.

“Today the storm has passed. The worst has been averted. And yet the economy remains very much in holding pattern — stable, and getting better, but still highly vulnerable,” IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

The United Nations expects the world economy to resume growth in 2010, but it warned that the recovery would be fragile.

In a preview of its annual economic forecast, which will be released in January, the UN credited the massive fiscal stimulus measures by governments worldwide since late 2008 for the expected rebound.

It recommended that these stimulus measures be continued — at least until there were clearer signals of a more robust recovery in growing consumption, more private investment and rising employment rates around the world.

On the plus side, the UN report, “World Economic Situation and Prospects for 2010,” cheered increased industrial production, a rebound in global equity markets and a healthy rise in international trade.

“This is an important turnaround after the free fall in world trade, industrial production, asset prices, and global credit availability which threatened to push the global economy into the abyss of a new Great Depression in early 2009,” the report said.

In its twice-yearly outlook published last month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development more than doubled its estimate for 2010 growth in its 30 member countries — which include the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain — to 1.9 percent, compared with a more gloomy 0.7 percent forecast back in June.

Still, the recovery is too timid to halt the continuing rise in unemployment. According to the OECD Economic Outlook, it may not be until 2011 that unemployment begins to fall in the euro zone from a projected 10.8 percent.

“Overall, unprecedented policy efforts appear to have succeeded in limiting the severity of the downturn and fostering a recovery to a degree that was largely unexpected even six months ago,” said Jorgen Elmeskov, OECD acting chief economist.

He cautioned, however, that government budgets had suffered badly from the crisis and the gross debt of most OECD countries could be larger than their GDP by 2011. Spending cuts or tax increases should not be carried out at a pace that would weaken the recovery, he stressed.

According to the IMF, much of global growth in 2010 will be dependent on Asia — not least China and India — which are projected to grow by 9 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, boosted by large economic stimulus packages that are increasing demand from domestic sources.

In Japan, which faces intensifying deflation, economic activity is expected to contract by 5.4 percent in 2009, although a sizable fiscal stimulus and a modest increase in exports will lead to a recovery of 1.7 percent in 2010.

In the United States, the National Association for Business Economics, presenting the consensus of forecasts made by a panel of 48 economists, marked up its predictions for growth in 2010.

“While the recovery has been jobless so far, that should soon change. Within the next few months, companies should be adding instead of cutting jobs,” said Lynn Reaser, the association’s president.

In their annual outlook, the panelists predicted a relatively sluggish consumer upturn but looked for a sizable housing rebound, low inflation and a further rise in stock prices.

A surprising drop in the US unemployment rate in November raised hopes for a sustained economic recovery in 2010. The rate unexpectedly fell to 10 percent from a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October, as employers cut the fewest number of jobs since what is dubbed the Great Recession began two years ago.

The better-than-expected figures provided a rare dose of good news for a labor market that has lost 7.3 million jobs since late 2007. Job creation, however, is expected to remain far too weak in coming months to absorb the 15.4 million unemployed Americans who are seeking work.

“Our biggest challenge now is growth and bringing down unemployment,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. “That’s our overwhelming challenge. Nothing is possible without that.”

After four straight losing quarters, the US economy returned to growth in the July-September quarter, expanding at a modest 2.8 percent pace. The OECD predicted the US economy would expand at a rate of 2.5 percent in 2010, up from a June forecast of 0.9 percent. The economy has been boosted by stimulus measures, improving financial conditions, demand from the fast growing economies of Asia, especially China, and the stabilization of the housing market.

Once the economic recovery is firmly planted, the US administration can shift its strategy to bringing down the nation’s record-high budget deficit. Red ink hit a staggering $1.42 trillion in the 2009 budget year that ended Sept. 30.

Trimming the deficit “is not a 2010 story,” Geithner acknowledged, suggesting that it will take a longer effort. To stabilize the situation, the United States should get the deficit down to 3 percent of GDP in the medium term, he said. The 2009 deficit was 10 percent of GDP, the highest since World War II.

To nurture the recovery and with inflation under control, the Federal Reserve has kept rates at a record low near zero for a year and indicated they will stay there for an “extended period.”

By doing so, the Fed hopes to entice Americans and US businesses to boost spending, which would help the recovery.

In Europe, the 16-country euro zone emerged from its worst recession since World War II in the third quarter as exports from Germany and France helped compensate for households’ reluctance to increase spending.

“The region is at least out of recession and still on track to grow by a reasonably solid 1.5 percent next year, but there is scant evidence yet of the pickup in domestic demand needed to sustain a stronger recovery,” said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.

Germany’s export-fueled economy, the largest in Europe, will grow by 1.6 percent in 2010, the country’s central bank predicted in early December, declaring that the outlook had “brightened perceptibly” over recent months.

The Bundesbank forecast the German economy would shrink by 4.9 percent this year before returning to growth in 2010.

Latin America, led by Brazil and Mexico, is poised to rebound in 2010 from recession thanks to improving export demand and higher prices for commodities such as oil and copper, according to regional economic officials.

Brazil is expecting a 5 percent expansion amid surging domestic consumer demand and signs of a pickup in exports. Mexico is eyeing 3 percent growth in 2010 after a 7.2 percent contraction this year. Chile expects a 5 percent expansion following a 1 percent drop in 2009. A growing consensus for sounder fiscal policies, more robust banking systems and bigger stockpiles of international reserves helped contain the damage from the global financial crisis, said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

“Latin America felt the full force of the world market crash. But unlike in previous crises, now these downturns no longer need to translate into lost decades,” Moreno said

In the Middle East, the collapse of oil prices and a sharp contraction in foreign investment have weighed on the economies in the region. The recent improvement in global financial conditions and rise in commodity prices, however, are helping restore the pace of economic activity, the IMF reported. Real GDP growth for the region is projected at 2 percent in 2009 and 4.2 percent in 2010.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies about 35 percent of the world’s oil, has cut crude production as the global recession curtailed demand. But signs of a global economic recovery are buoying oil prices. After zooming to $147.47 a barrel in July 2008 and crashing to $32 last December, oil prices have fluctuated around $70 recently after reaching their 2009 high of $82 a barrel in October.

Global oil demand is forecast to rise slightly faster in 2010, driven by increased economic activity in Asia and the Middle East, the International Energy Agency said.

The Paris-based IEA, an energy watchdog for some of the biggest crude consuming nations, said crude demand would reach 86.3 million barrels a day in 2010, up 1.7 percent from 2009.

In the United Arab Emirates, creditors fear Dubai’s debt problems could spread beyond Dubai World to the other state-linked companies known informally as “Dubai Inc.”

The conglomerate and the emirate had relied on cheap cash to build up Dubai — one of seven semi-autonomous city-states making up the UAE — over the past decade. But the bills are coming due and the money is not there. Allaying concerns of another wave of global credit problems, oil-rich Abu Dhabi has pumped $10 billion to its indebted neighbor to help it stay afloat.

Dubai World said it would seek a six-month “standstill,” effectively a delay, on repaying some of its $60 billion in debts.

Associated Press

Evi Mariani ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 12/24/2009 10:10 AM  |  City

What will Jakarta be like in 2030? Would you entrust the future to city officials or would you want a say yourself?

Several urban activists who live in and love Jakarta gathered Wednesday at Tarumanagara University (Untar) in West Jakarta to emphasize that they should have a say in shaping the city’s future.

They claimed the city administration had compiled a document called RTRW (spatial planning) Jakarta 2010-2030 with almost no input from the public. The 2007 Spatial Planning Law stipulates that public participation is required when designing a city masterplan, but the administration has clearly failed to adhere to this law.

“They said they would have a campaign publicizing the planning draft to the people, but I have not heard any announcement or news on this,” Elisa Sutanudjaja, an architecture lecturer at Pelita Harapan University said.

Suryono Herlambang, a spatial planning lecturer at Untar, which hosted the meeting, said the city’s Regional Planning Agency (Bappeda) invited him in November to discuss the masterplan draft, but he found it to be lacking.

“What they meant by public participation is presenting us with the highly technical draft and asking for our opinions,” Herlambang said.

He said, as a spatial planning expert, even he could not immediately grasp the draft details.

“Even non-technical people should be able to envisage Jakarta in 2030,” Sri Palupi, the director of the Institute for Ecosoc Rights, said.

Bappeda has created the rtrwjakarta2030.com website where people can download the plan. However, Irvan Pulungan from the Indonesian Center from Environmental Law said not all resident had access to the Internet.

The website was set up in the third week of December, and Elisa said she received information that Bappeda were accepting emails from the public at rtrwdkijakarta@gmail.com until Jan. 10.

Herlambang said the contents of the plan itself seemed to pose a lot of problems that residents should scrutinize. Compared to 2030 masterplans for Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, New York City and London, Herlambang said Jakarta’s plan lacked vision.

Sydney planners, for example, stated in a separate “Vision Book” that they wanted a “sustainable city,” a city “with walkable streets,” “which celebrates outdoor life,” “which is not clogged by cars.”

Palupi added that Jakarta’s masterplan clearly lacked a human aspect as it included no mention of people or the demographic makeup of Jakarta.

Elisa said the masterplan had conflicting ideas. She said it included plans to build toll roads, which would encourage private car use but on the other hand, it planned a “park and ride” system, which suggested a well-planned public transportation.

Following the two hour discussion, the participants, comprising around a dozen people concerned with issues such as the environment, the economy, society, habitat, and urban poor, agreed they should help the city increase public participation.

They said they would scrutinize the masterplan and meet again on Jan. 7 to highlight problems and offer solutions.

Marco Kusumawijaya from the rujak.org community said participants accepted the 2030 masterplan was important, therefore they wanted to participate in shaping it. “We are concerned and we want to say, please take a look at New York, Melbourne and Sydney,” he said. “We want to be involved and we will do this with energy and courage.”

Why Men Don’t Promote Women More
Shaun Rein, 12.11.09, 1:15 PM ET

Women often complain about the glass ceiling. Friends of mine tell me their bosses only promote from within the old-boy network. Studies show that women in the U.S. still get just 77 cents for every dollar men are paid, even with increasing gender parity in higher education.

And how many of the people running the biggest 500 companies are women? In 2009 only 15 were, among them Carol Bartz at Yahoo!, Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo and Ursula Burns at Xerox. They are exceptions in the male-dominated ranks of C-level executives.

I will be honest. In my career, I have tended to promote more men than women. I have even generally given men higher salaries. Why? Am I sexist? Do men do a better job? The answer is a resounding no to both.

Actually, it is mostly women’s fault. They simply don’t ask for raises or promotions as often as men do.

My organization conducted interviews with hundreds of American, European and Chinese women, and most said they felt that if they worked hard and showed they were valuable to the company, they would get promoted. They also said they feared they could be fired if they appeared too pushy, especially in a downturn.

But the reality is that promotions rarely happen just because you’re there and you’re good. You need to tell people how good you are. This is especially true at more junior levels, where it can be harder to get noticed and there is more competition for plum positions.

Male or female, you have to not only earn that promotion but also make your bosses know they need to give it to you. Bosses tend to promote not just valuable people but people who push to move up the ladder. After all, good leaders know that they do best if they’re flanked by good lieutenants. They want to give opportunities to people who want to grow with the organization and not flee to the competition.

Undeniably there are toxic corporate cultures where women are treated terribly. Stay away from those places. Corporate culture is hard to change. The rot starts at the top.

Our research also suggests, perhaps surprisingly to some, that most men have nothing against working for a female boss. Only a minority of men told us they would object. In fact, many said they’d prefer a female boss, because of the greater likelihood she’d understand the need for work-life balance (which I wrote about in “Enforce The No-BlackBerry Rule”).

If a major obstacle to getting promoted is yourself, what should you do about it? Here are two tips for women–or anyone starting a career, for that matter.

First, you can’t get what you don’t ask for, so ask for a promotion and a raise, even in a downturn. Most bosses won’t fire you for saying you’d like to move ahead. Have you ever heard of anyone being let go for asking for a promotion, except during a political battle for the top spot? Very often bosses don’t even think about who should be advanced and who shouldn’t. They’re busy juggling too many things. You have to sell them on the idea of promoting you.

How? Don’t go into the room threatening, saying give me a promotion or I’ll leave. That’s an old sleazy salesman’s trick. Instead, take a long-term approach. Arrange a meeting to discuss what you can do over the next three to six months to earn a promotion and a raise. Prepare three to five talking points that highlight what you’ve already done. Try to pick talking points that show how you’ve generated revenue and demonstrated leadership.

After explaining to your boss what you’ve accomplished (he or she may be surprised), ask what you need to do now. After the boss tells you, make sure you live up to those new expectations. If after a few months you don’t get that raise, it may be time to look elsewhere.

Second, women should not use overt sexuality to get ahead. Occasional mild flirting may have its place, but to be taken seriously, focus on business. Look professional and attractive but not sexy. The same goes for men. Guys who dress too flashily likewise aren’t taken seriously–except in the entertainment world.

Looks do matter in the business world, as Laura Sinberg recently wrote for Forbes. But you want to be remembered for your business ability, not for how you look in a short skirt. The latter hardly gets you taken seriously as a business executive.

Promotions are tough to ask for, especially when you’re concerned about fitting in. But any woman who wants to rise high in the business world should consider being more aggressive in seeking out promotions and increased responsibility. Approach your boss with a plan, make your case and make sure that no one forgets you are a strong business mind. Before long there will be far more than just 15 women at the top.

Shaun Rein is the founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, a strategic market intelligence firm. He writes for Forbes on leadership, marketing and China. For more from Shaun Rein, click here.

Laura Sinberg, 12.05.09, 10:00 AM ET

If you want to get a raise or a promotion, you might want to throw on a pair of heels and suck in that belly. Your looks can help–or hinder–your chances of getting a well-deserved promotion, regardless of qualifications, especially in a sour economy when advancements are few and hard to come by.

Women who advance most at work, studies agree, are more attractive, thinner, taller and have a more youthful appearance than their female colleagues who are promoted less often.

In Pictures: Seven Easy Ways To Look Your Best At Work

A landmark study from Cornell University found that when white females put on an additional 64 pounds, her wages drop 9%. And according to a 2007 paper from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a statistically significant “wage penalty” for overweight and obese white women. (“Previous studies have shown that white women are the only race-gender group for which weight has a statistically significant effect on wages,” according to the paper.) The obese take a bigger hit, with a wage loss of 12%.

Being large leads to negative stereotypes–thinking that person is sloppy, lazy or slow, for example–for women that just aren’t true, says Bill Fabrey, a director of the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination.

Fabrey recounts incidences of several plus-size female colleagues who have gotten interviews with prospective employers only to be told the job had been filled once they showed up for an in-person interview.

“There are interviewers who don’t care [about weight], but those are not as plentiful as the other kind,” he says.

Being average looking comes with a hefty price, too. The best-looking echelon of attractive females–the top one-third–make about 10% more annually than those in the bottom sixth of the genetic pool, according to research by Daniel Hamermesh, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Just what makes for attractive? According to Hamermesh in a interview with CNN, “It’s symmetry of features. … But not too [attractive]. It’s not perfect. If it’s perfect, it’s bland. There’s got to be a little off, otherwise you lose interest.” Apart from a balanced face–and good physical health–a woman’s appeal is also reportedly in having a low waist-to-hip ratio.

And youth. A study done this year by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that some 73% of women felt a youthful appearance played a role in getting a job, getting promoted or keeping clients. Many cited difficult economic times as part of the reason–with fewer raises and promotions to be given, the better-looking are the ones advancing.

“In this bad economy, as people age, employers and colleagues perceive them as having less energy and being less effective” notes Gordon Patzer, Ph.D., a psychologist from Chicago who has studied looks for 30 years. “Being older in the workplace is looked at negatively,” he adds.

Patzer says bleaching your teeth, wearing appropriate makeup or updating your hairstyle or wardrobe can take years off a person’s look.

What’s Behind Our Thinking?
Various psychological reasons can answer why we choose to promote better-looking people and keep the rest behind. For ancestral humans, better-looking people were thought to be more productive and fecund, according to Patzer.

And, interestingly, able to bring home more food. From a psychological standpoint, Patzer says, “people of higher physical attractiveness are more persuasive, which is critical in the workplace.”

That may be the reason women of short stature get the short end of the stick. Although there is no correlation between height and effectiveness or intelligence, a woman who is 5 feet 7 inches tall–well above the national female average of 5 feet, 3.5 inches–will make $5,250 more over the course of a year than a female co-worker standing 5 feet 2 inches.

“We like to look up to our leaders,” says Patzer, noting that a subordinate is more likely to respond positively to a taller manager.

Malcolm Gladwell calls the behavior an unconscious prejudice, a prejudice you reach without even thinking. In his best-selling book Blink, he polled about half the country’s top 500 CEOs and found that 58% were nearly 6 feet tall; in contrast, the average American male is 5 foot 9 inches tall.

Also, because most states don’t have laws against weight or height discrimination–currently Michigan is the only state that includes either group as a protected category under anti-discrimination law–women stand underprotected.

“Either the judicial and legislative arm of the market have decided that’s OK [to favor certain groups], or they’ve decided that trying to do something about it would be way too difficult,” says Bill O’Brien, founding partner at Miller O’Brien Cummins, a Minneapolis firm that specializes in labor and employment law.

“On the subject of physical appearance, there is not much protection under employment statutes,” he adds.

What Can You Do?
In a competitive work environment, it is only natural to want to do everything possible to get an extra edge, but if you’re thinking pricey cosmetic surgeries are the answer, you’re mistaken. Women who go under the knife make an extra five cents per dollar they spend on the dangerous procedures, according to Hamermesh’s research. “It’s a terrible investment,” he says.

Instead, Judy Jernudd, a leadership coach in Los Angeles, recommends honing certain psychological behaviors, like walking upright and with confidence, which will make you seem taller than someone who is slouched over or walking with her head down. It will also trick others into perceiving you as more physically attractive. Heels will also help, but not over an inch and a half, say most podiatrists.

Although there isn’t a lot you can do to make yourself look thinner–wearing dark colors and streamlined clothes help–Jernudd does note that women with confidence always come across as thinner and better-looking. “A lot of it has to do with personality,” she says.

So what about women who say looks shouldn’t matter in the workplace?

“It shouldn’t matter, but it does,” says Jernudd. “It is competitive enough today. Why sabotage yourself by not giving it the best you can?”

Source: Forbes.com