c.
its external environments
d.
its shareholders/investors
e.
all of these
117. Refer to PepsiCo. PepsiCo has _____ because it is an organization where there is a variety of
demographic, cultural, and personal differences among the people who work there and the customers
who do business there.
a.
cultural advantage
b.
affirmative differentiation
c.
diversity
d.
cultural proaction
e.
acculturation
118. Refer to PepsiCo. Which of the following statements most likely explains why PepsiCo’s management
decided that diversity makes good business sense?
a.
Diversity increases an organization’s retained earnings.
b.
Diversity eliminates glass ceilings.
c.
Diversity makes individuals whole by returning them to the condition or place they would
have been had it not been for discrimination.
d.
Diversity allows a company to act with economic responsibility
e.
Diversity helps companies attract and retain talented employees.
119. Refer to PepsiCo. PepsiCo would need to use a high degree of _____ to make sure that ethnic group
members are psychologically attracted to working with one another to accomplish a common
objective.
a.
social integration
b.
norm cohesiveness
c.
social cohesiveness
d.
integrative focus
e.
social attraction
120. Refer to PepsiCo. What type of personality does Indra Nooyi most likely have?
a.
Type A
b.
Theory X
c.
high Mach
d.
low Mach
e.
Type B
121. Refer to PepsiCo. Which of the following paradigms for managing diversity does it appear that
PepsiCo uses?
a.
the discrimination and fairness paradigm
b.
the access and legitimacy paradigm
c.
the learning and effectiveness paradigm
d.
the cultural stereotype paradigm
e.
the personal integration paradigm
122. Refer to PepsiCo. A(n) _____ revealed that the number of women in top management positions at
PepsiCo had increased by five percent in five years.
a.
diversity comparison
b.
individual SWOT analysis
c.
employee-oriented attitudinal review
d.
diversity audit
e.
audit of organizational cultures
123. Refer to PepsiCo. A(n) _____ revealed that the number of women in top management positions at
PepsiCo had increased by five percent in five years.
a.
diversity comparison
b.
individual SWOT analysis
c.
employee-oriented attitudinal review
d.
diversity audit
e.
audit of organizational cultures
Walgreens
Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with annual sales of $47.4 billion. It operates 5,584
stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico and plans to have 7,000 stores by 2010. The plan was going very
smoothly until March 2007, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed an
employment discrimination class-action lawsuit against Walgreens, alleging widespread racial bias
against thousands of African American workers. Robert Johnson, EEOC regional attorney in St. Louis,
said, “Black managers are assigned to stores in black neighborhoods more often than one would
expect, and black employees are not being promoted to management and within management as often
as similar white employees.”
Walgreens issued a statement saying, “As a company with a history of commitment to
fairness, diversity, and opportunity, we are saddened and disappointed by the EEOC’s decision. Our
commitment is to providing opportunity to all employees—not only because it is the right thing to do
but because our business was built on this principle.” Data compiled for the filing of the class-action
lawsuit, however, suggest otherwise.
Certainly, pressure is building for Walgreens to address these issues. Both Walgreen’s
minority employees and the public perceive the promotion differences, as real and problematic, and
even stockholders are not happy. Regardless of the outcome of the class-action suit, something must be
done.
The company’s current method for placing managers and professionals to particular stores is
simple—the demographics of store employees should closely mirror demographics of customers
served by the store. Walgreens must redefine that policy because the company cannot claim bona fide
occupational qualification (BFOQ) defense. According to case law, customer preferences are not
grounds for a BFOQ defense. Thus Walgreens should stop considering race when making placement
decisions.
Walgreens also needs to consider how to handle promotions, which is not easy. Even the use
of objective criteria like store sales and profits, however, results in lower levels of promotion among
minority managers. When store sales and profits are considered as criteria for promotion, managers
and professionals in stores located in low-income neighborhoods will be disadvantaged. Because
low-income neighborhoods have higher minority populations, and the managers are matched with
stores according to neighborhood demographics, managers at stores in low-income neighborhood
locations will have fewer opportunities for advancement.
One alternative would be establishing a minority promotion quota, but unless ordered by a
court, establishing a minority promotion quota would not be legally sound. So, Walgreens should
completely disregard race when making promotion decisions and instead pursue a good-faith strategy
of identifying and eliminating potential obstacles to promotion.
At the time of the filing of the lawsuit, Walgreens did not have a senior vice president of diversity,
which many companies of comparable size and revenue have. Surveys indicate that, at minimum,
diversity-related efforts help avoid lawsuits and litigation costs. Creating a senior executive position
solely responsible for diversity and related issues would help Walgreens manage diversity in a
consistent—and beneficial—way throughout the company.
124. Refer to Walgreens. Which of the following statements provides one explanation why Walgreens
should support the idea of diversity?
a.
Diversity increases revenues by reducing the need for service recovery.
b.
Diversity encourages workers who do not fit in to leave.
c.
Unlike affirmative action, diversity is not unconstitutional.
d.
Diversity guarantees that the right person will always be in the right job.
e.
Diversity reduces costs by reducing turnover.
125. Refer to Walgreens. What type of deep-level diversity should Walgreens harness?
a.
personality differences
b.
age
c.
gender
d.
race/ethnicity
e.
physical capabilities
126. Refer to Walgreens. Why would Walgreens want to focus on creating a learning and effectiveness
environment?
a.
The environment focuses on group differences.
b.
The environment focuses on demographic differences.
c.
The environment helps to cope with surface-level diversity issues.
d.
The environment focuses on individual differences.
e.
The environment does not assume that different groups have any common ground.
127. Refer to Walgreens. What kind of training would Walgreens need to implement in order to teach its
employees the practical skills they need for managing a diverse work force?
a.
diversity pairings
b.
awareness training
c.
skills-based diversity training
d.
diversity mentoring
e.
acculturation
128. Refer to Walgreens. What type of information could Walgreens gather in a diversity audit?
a.
employee demographics
b.
employee and management attitudes
c.
customer demographics
d.
organizational culture characteristics
e.
all of the above
SHORT ANSWER
1. What is diversity? Briefly explain why it is an important issue for contemporary business.
2. What is affirmative action? How does it affect U.S. business?
ANS:
3. Why does diversity make good business sense?
4. How is surface-level diversity different from deep-level diversity?
5. List and briefly describe the four types of discrimination commonly associated with surface-level
diversity. Which of one typically produces the so-called glass ceiling?
6. What constitutes a disability? How does a disability result in disability discrimination? Give three
examples of actions employers can take to avoid such discrimination.
7. List the Big Five Personality Dimensions. How does an understanding of these dimensions benefit
managers?
8. List the five work-related personality dimensions (not the Big Five). List five of the aspects of work
behavior that these dimensions influence.
9. What is Machiavellianism? How does this personality trait relate to work behavior?
ANS:
10. What is organizational plurality? Define the paradigm for managing diversity with which is it
associated.
11. Briefly identify and provide an example of the likely content for each of the two basic types of
diversity training programs.
ESSAY
1. Differentiate between diversity and affirmative action. Explain why affirmative action tends to be
more controversial than diversity. Explain which of these two approaches you personally feel is fairer,
and why.
ANS:
2. Explain how a manager’s typical patterns of thought and action can unintentionally turn manifestations
of surface-level diversity into serious legal problems of discrimination for an organization. Explain the
implications of this fact for the role of diversity management in contemporary business organizations.
3. Comment on the nature, sources, pervasiveness, and impact of age discrimination in the United States.
Give an example of one situation that you are acquainted with that could be construed as an example
of age discrimination. Explain how, if at all, the possible remedies for age discrimination provided in
the text could have avoided the situation described in your example.
4. Differentiate between surface-level diversity and deep-level diversity, and describe the extent to which
different required government and voluntary company programs might address diversity management
in each of these areas.
5. What are the Big Five personality dimensions? Explain the significance of the Big Five personality
dimensions. Specify how one of more of those dimensions might be used to select or place applicants
for employment in a particular job or company.
6. Identify the three different methods or paradigms for managing diversity. Specify which level of
diversity each paradigm focuses on. Explain which approach you personally believe will make the
greatest contribution to helping U.S. companies manage diversity more effectively in the future.
