CHAPTER 13

MANAGING DIVERSITY

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Do You Know Your Biases?

I. The Changing Workplace
A. Diversity in the United States
B. Diversity on a Global Scale
II. Managing Diversity
A. What Is Diversity?
B. Dividends of Workplace Diversity
III. Factors Shaping Personal Bias
A. Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotypes
B. Ethnocentrism
IV. Factors Affecting Women’s Careers
A. Glass Ceiling
B. Opt-Out Trend
C. The Female Advantage
New Manager Self-Test: Are You Tuned In to Gender Difference?
V. Cultural Competence
VI. Diversity Initiatives and Programs
A. Changing Structures and Policies
B. Expanding Recruitment Efforts
C. Establishing Mentor Relationships
D. Accommodating Special Needs
E. Providing Diversity Skills Training
F. Increasing Awareness of Sexual Harassment
VII. New Diversity Initiatives
A. Multicultural Teams
B. Employee Network Groups

ANNOTATED LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Understand the pervasive demographic changes occurring in the domestic and global
marketplace and how corporations are responding.

The importance of cultural diversity and employee attitudes that welcome cultural differences
will result from the inevitable changes taking place in the workplace, in our society, and in the
economic environment. These changes include globalization and the changing workforce. In the
past, the United States was a place where people of different national origins, ethnicities, races,

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part . 224
225  Chapter 13

and religions came together and blended to resemble one another. Opportunities for
advancement were limited to those workers who fit easily into the mainstream of the larger
culture. Now organizations recognize that everyone is not the same and that the differences
people bring to the workplace are valuable. Companies are learning that these differences enable
them to compete globally and to acquire rich sources of new talent. Most organizations must
undertake conscious efforts to shift from a monoculture perspective to one of pluralism.
Management activities required for a culturally diverse workforce starts with top managers who
can help shape organizational values and employee mindsets about cultural differences. In
addition training programs can promote knowledge and acceptance of diverse cultures and
educate managers on valuing the differences.

2. Understand how the definition of diversity has grown to recognize a broad spectrum of
differences among employees, and appreciate the dividends of a diverse workforce.

Diversity is defined as all the ways in which employees differ. Many companies once defined
diversity in terms of race, age, gender, lifestyle, and disability. Today, companies are embracing
a more inclusive definition of diversity that recognizes a spectrum of differences that influence
how employees approach work, interact with each other, derive satisfaction from their work, and
define who they are as people in the workplace.

Managing diversity, a key management skill in today’s global economy, means creating a
climate in which the potential advantages of diversity for organizational or group performance
are maximized while the potential disadvantages are minimized.

3. Recognize the complex attitudes, opinions, and issues that employees bring to the workplace,
including prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, and ethnocentrism.

Prejudice is the tendency to view people who are different as being deficient. Discrimination
occurs when people act out their prejudicial attitudes toward other people who are targets of their
prejudice. Although blatant discrimination is not as widespread as in the past, bias in the
workplace often shows up in subtle ways. A stereotype is a rigid, exaggerated, irrational belief
associated with a particular group of people. To be successful managing diversity, managers
need to eliminate harmful stereotypes from their thinking, shedding any biases that negatively
affect the workplace.

Stereotype threat describes the psychological experience of a person who, usually engaged in a
task, is aware of a stereotype about his or her identity group suggesting that he or she will not
perform well on that task. People most affected by stereotype threat are those we consider as
disadvantaged in the workplace due to negative stereotypes–racial and ethnic minorities,
members of lower socioeconomic classes, women, older people, gay and bisexual men, and
people with disabilities.

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own group and subculture are inherently superior to other
groups and cultures, thus making it difficult to value diversity. The business world tends to
reflect values, behaviors, and assumptions based on the experiences of a homogeneous, white,
middle-class, male workforce. Most management theories presume workers share similar values,
beliefs, motivations, and attitudes about work and life in general.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  226

4. Recognize the factors that affect women’s opportunities, including the glass ceiling, the opt-
out trend, and the female advantage.

The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top
management positions. They can look up through the ceiling and see top management, but
prevailing attitudes and stereotypes are invisible obstacles to their own advancement. Women
and minorities are often excluded from informal manager networks and don’t get access to the
type of general and line management experience required for moving to the top. Glass walls
serve as invisible barriers to important lateral movement within the organization.

Many women choose to get off the fast track long before they hit the glass ceiling. In this opt-
out trend, highly-educated, professional women are deciding that corporate success isn’t worth
the price in terms of reduced family and personal time. Some are opting out to be stay-at-home
moms, while others want to continue working, but just not in the kind of fast-paced, competitive,
aggressive environment that exists in most corporations. Critics argue that this is just another
way to blame women themselves for the dearth of female managers at higher levels.

Some people think women might actually be better managers, partly because of a more
collaborative, less hierarchical, relationship-oriented approach that is in tune with today’s global
and multicultural environment. As attitudes and values change with changing generations, the
qualities women seem to possess may lead to a gradual role reversal in organizations. Women of
all races and ethnic groups are outpacing men in earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Over
all, women’s participation in both the labor force and civic affairs has steadily increased since
the mid-1950s, while men’s participation has slowly but steadily declined.

5. Explain the five steps in developing cultural competence in the workplace.

A successful diversity plan leads to a workforce that demonstrates cultural competence in the
long run. Cultural competence is the ability to interact effectively with people of different
cultures. There are five steps to implementing a diversity plan.

 Uncover diversity problems in the organization. Organizations can’t assess their progress
toward cultural competence without first investigating where the culture is right now. A
cultural audit is a tool that identifies problems or areas needing improvement in a
corporation’s culture.

 Strengthen top management commitment. The most important component of a successful

diversity strategy is management commitment, leadership, and support.

 Choose solutions to fit a balanced strategy. To be most effective, solutions should be

presented in a balanced strategy and address three factors: education, enforcement, and
exposure.

 Demand results and revisit the goals. Diversity performance should be measured by
numerical goals to ensure solutions are being implemented successfully.

 Maintain momentum to change the culture. Use success in the previous four steps as fuel
to move forward and leverage for more progress.
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
227  Chapter 13

6. Describe how diversity initiatives and training programs help create a climate that values
diversity.

A new approach to recruitment means making better use of recruiting strategies, offering
internship programs to give people opportunities, and developing creative ways to draw on
previously unused labor markets.

One of the most successful structures for eliminating the glass ceiling is the mentoring
relationship. Mentoring provides minorities and women with direct training and inside
information on the norms and expectations of the organization.

Many top managers are often unaware of the special needs of employees who are single parents,
are non-English-speaking, or have elderly parents. Alternative work scheduling may be
important for these groups of workers. Another issue is that racial/ethnic minorities and
immigrants have had fewer educational opportunities than other groups. Some companies work
with high schools to provide fundamental skills in literacy and math, or the provide programs
within the company to upgrade employees to appropriate educational levels.

Most of today’s organizations provide special training, called diversity training, to help people
identify their own cultural boundaries, prejudices, and stereotypes and develop the skills for
managing and working in a diverse workplace. The first step is typically diversity awareness
training to make employees aware of the assumptions they make and to increase people’s
sensitivity and openness to those who are different from them. The next step is diversity skills
training to help people learn how to communicate and work effectively in a diverse environment.

7. Understand how multicultural teams and employee network groups help organizations
respond to the rapidly changing and complex workplace.

The importance of multicultural teams and employee network groups is rapidly increasing in
today’s global marketplace. Multicultural teams—teams that are made up of members from
diverse national, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds—provide even greater potential for
enhanced creativity, innovation, and value. A team made up of people with different
perspectives, backgrounds, and cultural values creates a healthy mix of ideas, which sometimes
encourages more reluctant people to speak out. Diversity can stimulate a healthy level of
conflict that leads to greater creativity and better decisions. Multicultural teams are more
difficult to manage because of the increased potential for miscommunication and
misunderstanding.

Employee network groups are based on social identity, such as gender or race, and are organized
by employees to focus on concerns of employees from that group. The idea behind network
groups is that minority employees can join together across traditional organizational boundaries
for mutual support and to extend member influence in the organization. An important
characteristic of network groups is that employees, not the organization, form them and
membership is voluntary. There has been a rapid growth of employee network groups for
minorities who have faced barriers to advancement in organizations.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  228

LECTURE OUTLINE

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BIASES?

Your day-to-day behavior sends signals about your biases and values. Some personal biases are
active and well known to yourself and others. Other biases are more subtle. Passive biases can
cause people different from you to feel ignored or disrespected by you. Passive bias may be
more insidious than active discrimination because it excludes people from opportunities for
expression and interaction. This exercise helps students become more aware of their passive
biases.

I. THE CHANGING WORKPLACE Exhibit 13.1

A. Diversity in the United States Exhibit 13.2, Exhibit 13.3

1. Managers are learning that the differences people bring to the workplace enable their
companies to compete globally and tap into rich sources of new talent. Moreover,
vast changes are occurring in today’s workplace and consumer base. The average
worker is older now, and many more women, people of color, and immigrants are
seeking job and advancement opportunities.

a. Three-generation workforce. Today’s workforce is in a state of flux as a blend of

three generations (Baby Boom, Gen-X, and Gen-Y) present new management
challenges.

b. Aging workers. In 1986, the median age of the U.S. labor force was 35.4 years. It
increased to 40.8 years in 2006 and will increase to 42.1 years in 2016.

c. Growth in Hispanic and Asian workers. The number of Hispanics in the

workforce will increase by 7.3 million between 2008 and 2018, with Hispanics
making up 17.6 percent of the workforce by 2018.

d. Women outnumbering men. As of 2010, women outnumbered men in the

workplace. Yet, fewer than 16 percent of top corporate officers are females.

e. Growth in foreign-born population. Almost one in eight people currently living

in the United States was born in another country, the highest percentage since the
1920s.

2. The ability of organizations to manage diversity has not kept pace with these
demographic trends, thus creating a number of significant challenges for minority
workers and women. Corporations that truly value diversity will recognize pay
inequality and discrimination in the workplace and make progress toward eliminating
them.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
229  Chapter 13

B. Diversity on a Global Scale

1. For organizations operating globally, social and cultural differences may create more
difficulties and conflicts than any other sources. Foreign firms doing business in the
United States also face challenges understanding and dealing with diversity issues.
National cultures are intangible, pervasive, and difficult to comprehend. Many
companies have taken this challenge seriously and have experienced growth in the
global marketplace.

II. MANAGING DIVERSITY

A. What Is Diversity? Exhibit 13.4

1. Diversity is defined as all the ways in which employees differ. Many companies
once defined diversity in terms of race, age, gender, lifestyle, and disability. Today,
companies are embracing a more inclusive definition of diversity that recognizes a
spectrum of differences that influence how employees approach work, interact with
each other, derive satisfaction from their work, and define who they are as people in
the workplace.

2. Managing diversity, a key management skill in today’s global economy, means

creating a climate in which the potential advantages of diversity for organizational or
group performance are maximized while the potential disadvantages are minimized.

B. Dividends of Workplace Diversity Exhibit 13.5

1. Corporations that build strong, diverse organizations reap numerous dividends,

including:

a. Better use of employee talent. Companies with the best talent are the ones with
the best competitive advantage.

b. Increased understanding of the marketplace. A diverse workforce is better able

to anticipate and respond to changing consumer needs.

c. Enhanced breadth of understanding in leadership positions. Diverse top

management teams tend to be less myopic in their perspectives.

d. Increased quality of team problem solving. Teams with diverse backgrounds

bring different perspectives to a discussion that result in more creative ideas and
solutions.

e. Reduced costs associated with high turnover, absenteeism, and lawsuits.

Companies that foster a diverse workforce reduce turnover, absenteeism, and the
risk of lawsuits.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  230

III. FACTORS SHAPING PERSONAL BIAS

A. Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotypes Exhibit 13.6

1. Prejudice is the tendency to view people who are different as being deficient.
Discrimination occurs when people act out their prejudicial attitudes toward other
people who are targets of their prejudice. Although blatant discrimination is not as
widespread as in the past, bias in the workplace often shows up in subtle ways. A
stereotype is a rigid, exaggerated, irrational belief associated with a particular group
of people. To be successful managing diversity, managers need to eliminate harmful
stereotypes from their thinking, shedding any biases that negatively affect the
workplace.

2. Stereotype threat describes the psychological experience of a person who, usually

engaged in a task, is aware of a stereotype about his or her identity group suggesting
that he or she will not perform well on that task. People most affected by stereotype
threat are those we consider as disadvantaged in the workplace due to negative
stereotypes–racial and ethnic minorities, members of lower socioeconomic classes,
women, older people, gay and lesbian individuals, and people with disabilities.

B. Ethnocentrism

1. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own group and subculture are inherently
superior to other groups and cultures, thus making it difficult to value diversity. The
business world tends to reflect values, behaviors, and assumptions based on the
experiences of a homogeneous, white, middle-class, male workforce. Most
management theories presume workers share similar values, beliefs, motivations,
and attitudes about work and life in general.

2. Ethnocentric viewpoints produce a monoculture that accepts only one way of doing
things and one set of values and beliefs. These assumptions create a dilemma for
people of color, women, gay people, disabled, the elderly, and others who feel
pressure to conform and are presumed deficient because of differences. Valuing
diversity means ensuring that all people are given equal opportunities in the
workplace.

3. The goal for organizations seeking cultural diversity is pluralism rather than a
monoculture and ethnorelativism rather than ethnocentrism. Ethnorelativism is the
belief that groups and subcultures are inherently equal. Pluralism means an
organization accommodates several subcultures. It seeks to fully integrate into the
organization the employees who feel isolated and ignored. Most organizations are
making a conscious effort to shift from a monoculture to pluralism.

IV. FACTORS AFFECTING WOMEN’S CAREERS

A. Glass Ceiling Exhibit 13.7, Exhibit 13.8

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231  Chapter 13

1. The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top
management positions. They can look up through the ceiling and see top
management, but prevailing attitudes and stereotypes are invisible obstacles to their
own advancement. Women and minorities are often excluded from informal manager
networks and don’t get access to the type of general and line management experience
required for moving to the top. Glass walls serve as invisible barriers to important
lateral movement within the organization.

2. Homosexuality is another related issue. Many gay and lesbian workers believe they
will not be accepted as they are and risk losing their jobs or chances for advancement.
Gay employees of color may face a double dose of discrimination. Gays and lesbians
often fabricate heterosexual identities to keep their jobs or avoid running into the
glass ceiling they see other employees encounter.

Discussion Question #8: What is the glass ceiling, and why do you think it has proven to be such
a barrier to women and minorities?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

B. The Opt-Out Trend

1. Many women choose to get off the fast track long before they hit the glass ceiling. In
this opt-out trend, highly-educated, professional women are deciding that corporate
success isn’t worth the price in terms of reduced family and personal time. Some are
opting out to be stay-at-home moms, while others want to continue working, but just
not in the kind of fast-paced, competitive, aggressive environment that exists in most
corporations. Critics argue that this is just another way to blame women themselves
for the dearth of female managers at higher levels.

Discussion Question #9: Why do you think a large number of women are opting out of corporate
management? Discuss whether this trend is likely to continue over the next ten years.

NOTES________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

C. The Female Advantage

1. Some people think women might actually be better managers, partly because of a
more collaborative, less hierarchical, relationship-oriented approach that is in tune
with today’s global and multicultural environment. As attitudes and values change
with changing generations, the qualities women seem to possess may lead to a
gradual role reversal in organizations. Women of all races and ethnic groups are
outpacing men in earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Over all, women’s
participation in both the labor force and civic affairs has steadily increased since the
mid-1950s, while men’s participation has slowly but steadily declined.
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  232

NEW MANAGER SELF-TEST: ARE YOU TUNED IN TO GENDER DIFFERENCE?

This exercise helps students understand the extent to which they understand differences in
management behavior between men and women.

V. CULTURAL COMPETENCE Exhibit 13.9

A. A successful diversity plan leads to a workforce that demonstrates cultural competence in

the long run. Cultural competence is the ability to interact effectively with people of
different cultures. There are five steps to implementing a diversity plan.

1. Uncover diversity problems in the organization. Organizations can’t assess their

progress toward cultural competence without first investigating where the culture is
right now. A cultural audit is a tool that identifies problems or areas needing
improvement in a corporation’s culture.

2. Strengthen top management commitment. The most important component of a

successful diversity strategy is management commitment, leadership, and support.

3. Choose solutions to fit a balanced strategy. To be most effective, solutions should be

presented in a balanced strategy and address three factors: education, enforcement,
and exposure.

4. Demand results and revisit the goals. Diversity performance should be measured by
numerical goals to ensure solutions are being implemented successfully.

5. Maintain momentum to change the culture. Use success in the previous four steps as
fuel to move forward and leverage for more progress.

VI. DIVERSITY INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS Exhibit 13.10

A. Changing Structures and Policies

1. Many leading companies are changing structures and policies to facilitate and support
a diverse workforce. A survey found that 85 percent of companies surveyed have
formal policies against racism and sexism, and 76 percent have structured grievance
and complaint processes.

B. Expanding Recruiting Efforts

1. A new approach to recruitment means making better use of recruiting strategies,

offering internship programs to give people opportunities, and developing creative
ways to draw on previously unused labor markets.

C. Establishing Mentor Relationships

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
233  Chapter 13

1. One of the most successful structures for eliminating the glass ceiling is the
mentoring relationship. A mentor is a higher-ranking organizational member who is
committed to providing upward mobility and support to a protégé’s professional
career. Mentoring provides minorities and women with direct training and inside
information on the norms and expectations of the organization.

D. Accommodating Special Needs

1. Many top managers are often unaware of the special needs of employees who are
single parents, are non-English-speaking, or have elderly parents. Alternative work
scheduling may be important for these groups of workers. Another issue is that
racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants have had fewer educational opportunities than
other groups. Some companies work with high schools to provide fundamental skills
in literacy and math, or the provide programs within the company to upgrade
employees to appropriate educational levels.

E. Providing Diversity Skills Training

1. Most of today’s organizations provide special training, called diversity training, to

help people identify their own cultural boundaries, prejudices, and stereotypes and
develop the skills for managing and working in a diverse workplace. Working or
living within a multicultural context requires a person to use interaction skills that
transcend the skills typically effective when dealing with others from one’s own in-
group. The first step is typically diversity awareness training to make employees
aware of the assumptions they make and to increase people’s sensitivity and openness
to those who are different from them. The next step is diversity skills training to help
people learn how to communicate and work effectively in a diverse environment.

F. Increasing Awareness of Sexual Harassment

1. Sexual harassment creates an unhealthy and unproductive work environment and is

illegal. As a form of sexual discrimination, sexual harassment in the workplace is a
violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Sexual harassment in the classroom is a
violation of the Education Amendment of 1972. The following categories describe
various forms of sexual harassment.

a. Generalized. This form involves sexual remarks and actions not intended to lead
to sexual activity.

b. Inappropriate/offensive. Though not sexually threatening, it causes discomfort in

a coworker and limits the offended person’s freedom and ability to function at
work.

c. Solicitation with promise of reward. This action treads a fine line as an attempt to
“purchase” sex, with the potential for criminal prosecution.

d. Coercion with threat of punishment. The harasser coerces a coworker into sexual
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  234

activity by using the threat of power to jeopardize the victim’s career.

e. Sexual crimes and misdemeanors. These acts, if reported, would be considered

felony crimes and misdemeanors.

2. The Supreme Court has held that same-sex harassment as well as harassment of men
by female co-workers is just as illegal as harassment of women by men. Companies
have been swift to fire employees for circulating pornographic images, surfing
pornographic Web sites, or sending offensive e-mails.

VII. NEW DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

A. Multicultural Teams

1. Multicultural teams are made up of members from diverse national, racial, ethnic,
and cultural backgrounds. These teams provide even greater potential for enhanced
creativity, innovation, and value in today’s global marketplace. Diverse teams tend to
generate more and better alternatives to problems and produce more creative
solutions than do homogeneous teams.

2. Multicultural teams are more difficult to manage because of the increased potential
for miscommunication and misunderstanding. Multicultural teams typically have
more difficulty learning to communicate and work well together, but with effective
cross-cultural training and good management, the problems seem to dissipate over
time.

B. Employee Network Groups

1. Employee network groups are based on social identity, such as gender or race, and
are organized by employees to focus on concerns of employees from that group. The
idea behind network groups is that minority employees can join together for mutual
support and to extend member influence in the organization. Network groups pursue
a variety of activities, such as meetings to educate top managers, mentoring
programs, networking events, training sessions and skills seminars, minority intern
programs, and community volunteer activities.

2. Employees, not the organization, form network groups, and membership is voluntary;
however, successful organizations support and encourage network groups. Although
network groups seem to be in direct opposition to the trend toward multicultural
teams, the two mechanisms actually work quite well together.

Discussion Question #6: How might employee network groups contribute to the advancement of
women and minorities to higher-level positions in an organization?

NOTES________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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235  Chapter 13

Answers to End-of-Chapter Discussion Questions

1. Explain how a manager’s personal biases and stereotypes may affect an organization’s
success in creating a workplace that is culturally competent.

Prejudice is the tendency to view people who are different as being deficient. Discrimination
occurs when people act out their prejudicial attitudes toward other people who are targets of their
prejudice. A stereotype is a rigid, exaggerated, irrational belief associated with a particular
group of people.

Cultural competence is the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures.
Managers whose personal biases affect their behavior and decision making will be less adept at
interacting effectively with people of different cultures. To be successful managing diversity,
managers need to eliminate harmful stereotypes from their thinking, shedding any biases that
negatively affect the workplace.

2. Shelley Willingham-Hinton, president of the National Organization for Diversity in Sales and
Marketing, was quoted in the chapters as saying, “Our country’s consumer base is so varied.
I can’t think of how a company can succeed without having that kind of diversity with their
employees.” Why should corporations have workforces that mirror the country’s diverse
consumer base?

Vast changes are occurring in today’s workplace and consumer base. The average worker is
older now, and many more women, people of color, and immigrants are seeking job and
advancement opportunities. The differences people bring to the workplace enable their
companies to compete globally and to tap into rich sources of new talent. Corporations that truly
value diversity will recognize pay inequality and discrimination in the workplace and make
progress toward eliminating them.

3. Evaluate your own experiences so far with people from other backgrounds. How well do you
think those experiences prepared you to understand the unique needs and dilemmas of a
diverse workforce?

In addressing the question, students should clearly demonstrate their understanding of the unique
needs and dilemmas of a diverse workforce. Answers should include both the needs and
dilemmas of a diverse workforce for which their experience did prepare them and the needs and
dilemmas for which it did not.

4. What is the difference between the traditional definition of diversity and the more inclusive
view of diversity?

Many companies once defined diversity in terms of race, age, gender, lifestyle, and disability.
Today, companies are embracing a more inclusive definition of diversity that recognizes a
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
 Managing Diversity  236

spectrum of differences that influence how employees approach work, interact with each other,
derive satisfaction from their work, and define who they are as people in the workplace.

5. Describe employees who are most vulnerable to stereotype threat. Why is it important for
managers to understand that some employees may experience stereotype threat?

Stereotype threat describes the psychological experience of a person who, usually engaged in a
task, is aware of a stereotype about his or her identity group suggesting that he or she will not
perform well on that task. People most affected by stereotype threat are those we consider as
disadvantaged in the workplace due to negative stereotypes–racial and ethnic minorities,
members of lower socioeconomic classes, women, older people, gay and bisexual men, and
people with disabilities. Employees who experience stereotype threat may feel more anxiety
about their performance at work due to the anticipation of extra scrutiny and worry that their
failure will reflect not only on themselves as individuals but on the larger group to which they
belong.

6. How might employee network groups contribute to the advancement of women and minorities
to higher-level positions in an organization?

Employee network groups will help women and minorities grow and develop into higher-level
positions through educational awareness programs. These network groups will permit women
and minorities to interact and learn about other organizations that have shared experiences and
promote growth within their organizations. These employee network programs are designed to
encourage commitment, motivation, and acceleration of women and minorities in today’s work
environment. The idea behind network groups is that minority employees can join together
across traditional organizational boundaries for mutual support and to extend member influence
in the organization. Network groups pursue a variety of activities, such as meetings to educate
top managers, mentoring programs, networking events, training sessions and skills seminars,
minority intern programs, and community volunteer activities. Network groups give people a
chance to meet, interact with, and develop social and professional ties to others throughout the
organization, which may include key decision makers. Network groups are a powerful way to
reduce social isolation for women and minorities, help these employees be more effective, and
enable members to achieve greater career advancement.

Employees, not the organization, form network groups, and membership is voluntary. However,
successful organizations support and encourage network groups by making clear that such
groups are welcome, helping members who want to form groups contact other organizations for
assistance, and perhaps providing financial assistance for other programs. Although at first
glance the proliferation of employee network groups seems to be in direct opposition to the trend
toward multicultural teams, the two mechanisms actually work quite well together. There has
been a rapid growth of employee network groups for minorities who have faced barriers to
advancement in organizations, including African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians,
Asian Americans, women, gays and lesbians, and disabled employees. Network groups offer
significant potential for supporting a workplace that values diversity. In general, female and
minority employees who participate in a network group feel more pride about their work and are
more optimistic about their careers than those who do not have the support of a network.

7. What is the first step in creating a culturally competent culture? What does this first step
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .
237  Chapter 13

reveal?

The first step in creating a culturally competent culture is uncovering diversity problems in the
organization. Organizations can’t assess their progress toward cultural competence without first
investigating where the culture is right now. The best way to accomplish this step is by
conducting a cultural audit, a tool that identifies problems or areas needing improvement in a
corporation’s culture.

8. What is the glass ceiling, and why do you think it has proven to be such a barrier to women
and minorities?

The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to
top management positions. As corporations grew, a monoculture developed within the top levels
of management whereby white male managers hired and promoted employees who mirrored
their own looks, actions, thoughts, beliefs, and backgrounds, and with whom they felt
comfortable. The experiences of women and minorities were considered different, incompatible,
and in the eyes of some, inferior. There developed a concern or a firm belief within these
monocultures that these groups would not “fit in” with the dominant culture. As a result, women
and minorities moved to a certain level within the company, but further progress was blocked.
The women’s movement, the Civil Rights movement, and actions by the courts are slowly
forcing cracks in the glass ceiling. Many companies are taking the lead in opening new
opportunities for women and minorities; however, some companies have alternative barriers in
place, simply replacing the glass ceiling with “glass walls,” which bar important lateral
movement necessary for top management preparation.

9. Why do you think a large number of women are opting out of the corporate world? Discuss
whether this trend is likely to continue over the next ten years.

Women are opting out of the corporate world because they see that they must sacrifice their
personal lives with their families, their health, and face a high stress level. They want time with
their children. Women are generally less interested in attaining power and status than men and
find climbing the corporate ladder less appealing. Some women still want to work but prefer
jobs that are less fast-paced and competitive. Another view is that because women are not
getting promoted into top management positions, they simply quit. It is likely that this trend will
continue over the next 10 years, although it may slow down as more single women from a
generation that is waiting longer to marry begin to rise to higher-level positions.

10. As a manager, how would you accommodate the special needs of different groups (e.g.,
single parents, older workers, or employees with poor English language skills or religious
restrictions) without appearing to show favoritism or offending other groups?

As a manager, it is an important challenge to recognize workforce diversity. However, at the

same time a manager must be open, willing to listen and adopt contingencies on a situational
basis. Special needs of various groups of employees should reflect flexibility and adaptability to
meet their needs while at the same time enforcing standing plans. Single parents have special
needs, working moms in particular. Older workers will have different needs and must be
accommodated when feasible. Employees with poor or substandard English speaking skills
should be encouraged to be retrained or encouraged to go back to school. Accommodations
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 Managing Diversity  238

should be made for employees with religious restrictions when possible, but no one religious
group should be given more consideration than another, and safety concerns should always take
precedence. Managers must recognize a heterogeneous workforce and should demonstrate the
ability to work with and support employee groups such as these to gain their commitment, trust
and openness.

11. How can organizations strike a balance between respecting and meeting the needs of a
diverse workforce and shaping a high-performance corporate culture where shared values
contribute to the accomplishment of strategic goals?

One good way to strike such a balance is by creating multicultural teams in the organization.
Multicultural teams are made up of members from diverse national, racial, ethnic, and cultural
backgrounds. These teams provide even greater potential for enhanced creativity, innovation,
and value in today’s global marketplace than traditional cross-functional teams. Multicultural
teams also help to create fairness and equity in the work environment. Multicultural teams
generate more and better alternatives to problems and produce more innovative solutions than
homogeneous teams. A team made up of people with different perspectives, backgrounds, and
cultural values creates a healthy mix of ideas, which sometimes encourages people who have
previously been reluctant to contribute to speak out. This type of diversity can stimulate a
healthy level of conflict that leads to greater creativity and better decisions.

A disadvantage of a multicultural team is that they are more difficult to manage because of the
increased potential for miscommunication and misunderstanding. Multicultural teams typically
have more difficulty learning to communicate and work well together, but with effective cross-
cultural training and good management, the problem seems to dissipate over time.

12. You are a manager at an organization that has decided it needs a more diverse workforce.
What steps or techniques will you use to accomplish this goal? What steps will you take to
retain diverse employees once you have successfully recruited them?

To accomplish this goal, a company should start by examining employee demographics, and the
composition of the labor pool and the customer base. Managers can then work towards a
workforce composition that reflects the labor pool and the customer base. A new approach to
recruitment means better use of formal recruiting strategies, offering internship programs, and
accessing untapped labor pools.

Managers should then work to eliminate barriers to advancement. One way to do this is through
mentoring relationship. A mentor is a higher ranking, senior organizational member who is
committed to providing upward mobility and support to a protégé’s professional career.
Mentoring provides minorities and women training and inside information on the norms and
expectations of the organization. A mentor also acts as a friend or counselor, enabling the
employee to feel more confident and capable. An effective mentoring program can help an
organization retain diverse employees after hiring them.

Apply Your Skills: Experiential Exercise

How Tolerant Are You?

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239  Chapter 13

This exercise helps students understand how tolerant they are of people who are different from
themselves.

Apply Your Skills: Small Group Breakout

Personal Diversity

Students begin by listing six ways in which they feel different from others, then answer four
questions about their perceived diversities. Finally, students discuss their perceived differences
in small groups.

Apply Your Skills: Ethical Dilemma

Sunset Prayers

1. Continue the current policy that leaves it up to the Muslim workers as to when they leave the
assembly line to perform their sunset rituals.

This is not a good course of action. With an increasingly higher percentage of assembly-line
workers leaving the line to perform sunset rituals, production will likely be negatively impacted.

2. Try to hire the fewest possible Muslim workers so the work line will be efficient on second
shift.

This is also not a good course of action. First, it would probably qualify as discrimination based
on religion. Second, the Muslim Somali temporary workers are saving Frank a substantial
amount of money in wages and benefits, which may be largely what keeps him in a competitive
position.

3. Ask the Muslim workers to delay their sunset prayers until a regularly scheduled break
occurs, pointing out that North Woods is primarily a place of business, not a house of
worship.

This may be the best of the three alternatives. Having a large number of workers leaving the
assembly line at the same time could be considered an unreasonable accommodation. Frank
might be able to convince them to have a smaller number go at sunset each day while the others
wait for a scheduled break, and rotate who goes at sunset and who waits so that everyone gets to
go at sunset at least once or twice a week. Frank may also be able to adjust the scheduled break
so that it is closer to the actual sunset time, thus accommodating the request as closely as
possible.

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 Managing Diversity  240

Apply Your Skills: Case for Critical Analysis

Draper Manufacturing

1. How would a cultural audit help Draper Manufacturing assess its diversity issues? What
questions do you suggest be included in the audit?

A cultural audit is a tool that identifies problems or areas needing improvement in a

corporation’s culture. It is the first step in creating cultural competence and uncovers diversity
problems in an organization. Some questions that should be included in the audit might be:

 What is the decision process for putting people in their jobs? Why are people of different
races/ethnicities being lumped together in certain job types?

 What are the expectations for each particular job? On what are those expectations based?

 Are any expectations being made based on race or ethnicity?

 What are the real reasons for the delays in the shipping department?

 Is there any evidence of racism or sexism in the comments made by managers?

2. If you were the shipping and receiving or human resources manager, how do you think you
would feel about working at Draper? What are some of the challenges you might face at this
company?

As the shipping and receiving or human resources manager at Draper, there would definitely be
the perception of tension among the employees. It is important to express the various concerns
people are experiencing at Draper. The protected classes are diverse and need to be heard, and
the problems they are experiencing should be the concern of top management and everyone
throughout the organization. As the human resources manager, there is a need to create an
affirmative action policy. Another challenge is the various subcultures within the workforce.
The human resources manager must discuss racial tension, language barriers, and the problem of
the quality level of incoming supplies. Another challenge is the turnover of employees at
Draper. This is a concern and should be addressed by management. Every employee should be
reassured that his or her participation is needed in order to create a tight, strong culture that
promotes harmony and job satisfaction at Draper.

3. If you were Ted Hanrahan, what suggestions would you make to Draper’s managers to help
them move toward successfully managing diversity issues?

Ted should suggest the need for a program to develop a truly diverse workplace. Such a program
would involve three steps: (1) building a corporate culture that values diversity; (2) changing
structures, policies, and systems to support diversity; and (3) providing diversity training.

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241  Chapter 13

Continuing Case

PART FOUR: ORGANIZING

World’s Top Employer Ranks High on Diversity and Employee Satisfaction—But Not
Everyone Hearts Walmart

Questions

1. Why does Walmart prefer to recruit new store managers from its large pool of hourly
associates?

Promotion from within is an important way that companies develop and retain valuable people.
From the company’s perspective, lower-level associates have valuable insider knowledge about
the company that can be further developed to produce strong skills suited to Walmart’s unique
business operations. In addition, internal recruiting motivates hourly associates to work hard and
continue learning in hopes of being rewarded with long-range career opportunities. Internal
recruiting is also less costly than conducting an external search. Finally, despite the changing
social contract, Walmart embraces a long-term view on developing human capital. This desire to
attract and retain talent has made Walmart an employer of choice in the eyes of the general
public.

2. Explain how Walmart’s employee diversity benefits the organization. What are some
challenges of diversity?

Benefits of diversity include the following: creation of a workforce that reflects the natural
diversity found in the global marketplace; enhanced understanding in leadership positions;
increased quality of team problem solving; and reduced costs associated with discrimination
lawsuits.

Challenges of diversity include the ongoing issues of prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, and
ethnocentrism. Managers may respond to these challenges by exposing and eliminating hidden
biases in recruiting and promotion processes. Managers may also offer companywide training on
topics such as glass ceilings, cultural differences, and the impact of gender on work attitudes.

3. What federal laws govern the main legal issue raised in Dukes v. Walmart?

The circumstances presented in the Dukes v. Walmart lawsuit relate to equal employment
opportunity (EEO) as governed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEO legislation
attempts to balance compensation between men and women and provide opportunities without
regard to race, religion, national origin and gender.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part .