54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
2. The Expert Opinions
The three expert opinions that follow indicate differences in perspectives about how the
situation was handled and what should have been done. These opinions were purposely
placed on separate pages so they can be copied and shared with students who can agree or
disagree with each expert and compare how their own opinions are similar or different.
Instructional Options:
a) The class can be broken into groups and each group assigned one of the expert
opinions to review and discuss with the entire class.
b) The class can be broken into groups to do a point/counterpoint debate on whether
they agree with each of the expert opinions.
c) Students can be assigned to write their own expert opinion as a homework
assignment.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
VI – 37
EXPERT REACTION #1 ……………………………… VP of Human Resource Development of a
Major International Pharmaceutical Company
To discuss whether the termination was justified or not, objective performance measures have to be
considered. I’m not sure if Joy was successful in bringing in the $5 million, which is the only objective
performance measure mentioned. If she did meet that objective, then she would have a case against her
employer. Given the employer’s apparent lack of attention to detail, it is doubtful that a documented
job description existed. This would help to clarify her mission, reporting relationships, and the scope
with her former employer long enough that her survival instincts were rusty.
The ‘hiring manager’ IS responsible for the success of the people he or she hires and it reflects poorly
on his/her judgment to pick someone who fails. In many organizations, all interviewers caucus to
discuss a candidate before an offer is extended. HR often facilitates these meetings so they will not
have to fire someone later. This saves the efforts and expenses associated with firing and refilling the
position. There was scant evidence to support that these practices were not followed by the university,
nor did Joy appropriately do her own due diligence.
Sadistic bullies won’t waste their time on someone who refuses to play victim for them – they will
move on to new candidates. Joy did little to break the harassing game, when she actually could have
taken actions earlier, such as going to HR to file a complaint, consulting a lawyer , getting some
information from co-workers, looking for champions in high places, documenting the episodes of
bullying, and playing ‘defense’ over issues like which pieces of work were really hers.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
EXPERT REACTION #2 ………………………………………………….. Christopher York, J.D.
Assistant Professor Management, Sacred Heart University
Joy found herself in three very stressful situations and any single stressor might have destabilized a
weaker person’s physical or mental health. First, her personal life was undergoing significant changes
behavior epitomized work-site bullying.
What could have been done to normalize this situation?
minimal team cohesion. My solution would be to clean house. The trustees should launch a
search for a President/Change Agent. A complete management overhaul should follow the
and there should be a revised Policy Manual’s with a strong prohibition against bullying.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
VI – 39
EXPERT REACTION #3 …………………………………………..…..…. Nancy A. Haas, President,
Haas Consulting Services, LLC
Joy had several warning signs that she discounted: the university’s reputation for not fulfilling verbal
agreements; warnings from friends and colleagues, and her own intuition. In addition, she knew she
would be adding additional stress to her personal situation by commuting between cities, and caring
aware of their duties and responsibilities to each other, as well as to the Dean. The addition of an
assistant vice president further complicated the situation.
A position description is a key element of any job because it should clearly state job responsibilities
and duties. In this situation, it would have defined the responsibilities and reporting structure for Joy’s
position, would have facilitated the separation of duties between Joy and the special assistant and laid
out the department objectives and goals, with the employee’s responsibility for meeting them. Not
having this clarity put Joy at a disadvantage.
The actions of the Assistant Vice President were clearly inappropriate. Her inexperience in managing
people is not an excuse for ‘yelling’ at an employee in public, not obtaining facts relating to employee
situation. The termination was based on issues that should have been addressed by management with
Joy.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
Theoretical Linkages
association with determinants of power, i.e., positions in the network and the amount of
dependence on the network (Burt, 1992).
A dependent power relationship exists when those with less power are dependent upon
suite in strong numbers and we can attribute some of this to lack of mentoring, aggressive
strategies like bullying, lack of support from other women and not hiring females into
powerful jobs. Joy was both older and more experienced than her female supervisor and
this may have been threatening to Susan.
Additionally, the assistant clearly had referent power based on his relationship with the
president. As a staff member, he misused that power and made Joy dependent on him for
information about donors. The goals of the organization had to be met and the assistant
inappropriately abused his power over Joy knowing that the goals of fundraising were not
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
but was withholding important information that was valued by his manager as a way of
preventing Joy from meeting her goals. It appears that he was intentionally working
toward his own goals of personal advancement and sabotaging the work of another in
order to get ahead.
Discussion Questions and Answers
1. Analyze the case from the various perspectives of the stakeholders such as Joy,
her manager Susan, and the university as represented by Nancy in HR. What
are the perspectives of each stakeholder?
From Joy’s perspective:
• Her manager Susan’s inappropriate yelling, screaming, and reprimanding her in
public intimidated Joy. Susan further edited critical documents that Joy wrote;
then sent them on (with incorrect information) without Joy’s knowledge. The
AVP incorrectly accused Joy of not doing her job on several occasions.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
• Did not list gift donors appropriately for the President.
2. What could have happened to resolve this situation before Joy claimed a “hostile
work environment?”
Joy could have . . .
• Demanded a clear job description with responsibilities and goals prioritized and
• Spoken up before it was too late and raised concerns, issues, and barriers starting
with her direct manager. If that didn’t work, discuss the situation with HR in
terms of professional and emotional/physical issues. Together, create a plan that
could later include talking to the President.
privately with Joy when there were obstacles to accomplishing goals.
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
• Identified work process obstacles and barriers to getting the work done and offer
resources.
The university as her employer could, and should, have instituted and enforced the
following:
problems
3. If you were Joy, and realized after six months that you were in trouble at your
new job, what would you do?
Students’ answers will vary because of individual perspectives, but they can first
be a success at my job?
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
VI – 44
4. What characteristics and observable behaviors enable Joy to be a target? What
characteristics and observable behaviors empower her?
Victims of bullying are commonly non assertive, suffer from low self esteem and are
5. Describe Susan Cartwright’s behavior in terms of the characteristics and
observable behaviors of a bully that she exhibits?
The accompanying article on bullying provides information helpful in responding to
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
6. What options might the HR Manager, Nancy, have had if this situation had been
brought to her attention earlier, before it got out of hand?
The epilogue provides the actual solution adopted by the organization, but other
options would have been available to Nancy, if she had been brought in earlier.
In this case, Nancy could have provided a compassionate ear and offered advice on
alternative solutions for Joy. She could have suggested a transfer within the
7. In a court of law, do you think that a jury would find the University guilty? In
your opinion, did Joy have a claim?
The definition of hostile work environment includes behaviors that unreasonably
interfere with the individual’s job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or
54. A Case of Harassment, Discrimination, or Bullying?
References
Adler, Roy. The Consistent Correlation between Women Executives and High
Profitability. Miller-McClure. March-April, 2009, 33-35.
Branch, S. Ramsay, S. Barker, M. Managers in the Firing Line: Contributing Factors to
Workplace Bullying by Staff – an Interview Study. Journal of Management and
Organization. Lyndfield: Sept 2007. Vol. 13 , 3, 264 – 282.
Burt, R.S. (1992) Structural holes: the social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Gumbus, A and Lussier, R. (2003). Development: Enhancing your networking skills,
Clinical Leadership & Management Review, Jan/Feb 2003.
Easily, L. and Jagatic, K. (2003). By any other name: American perspectives on
workplace bullying. In S. Einarsen et al (Eds.) Bullying and Emotional Abuse in
the Workplace: International perspectives in research and practice. 31 – 61.
London: Taylor Francis.
Namie, G.: 2007, ‘The Challenge of Workplace Bullying’, Employment Relations Today
34 (2), 43-51.
Namie, Gary and Namie, Ruth. Workplace Bullying: How to Address America’s Silent
Epidemic. Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. Vol 8, No 2 (2004)
Neuman, J. (2009, Jan. 13). Injustice, stress and bullying can be expensive. Retrieved
January 13, 2009, from www.bullyinginstitute.org/research/res/neuman.
Salin, D. (2003) Bullying and Organizational Politics in Competitive and Rapidly
Changing Work Environments. International Journal of Management and
Decision Making, 4: 35 – 46.
Schlegel, M (2000). Women mentoring women, Monitor on Psychology, Vol 31, 10,
http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov00/mentoring.html. Retrieved 12/16/04.
Tracy, S. Lutgen-Sandvik, Alberts, and J.2006: Nightmares, demons and slaves:
Exploring the painful metaphors of workplace bullying. Management
Communication Quarterly, V. 20, No. 2, pp. 148-185.
55. The Path to Inclusion: The Business Case for Diversity at Ocean Spray
THE PATH TO INCLUSION: THE BUSINESS CASE
FOR DIVERSITY AT OCEAN SPRAY
Carol P. Harvey
Suffolk University
Assumption College, Professor Emerita
Goals
• To illustrate how an organization can profit from the diversity of its
employees by striving for inclusion
• To demonstrate that diversity can become an asset to achieving organizational
success
• To provide an example of a well managed diversity program
Case synopsis
Ocean Spray, the world’s largest producer of cranberries, is an example of an
organization that has leveraged the power of diversity by implementing policies and
practices that promote employee inclusion. As a result, the organization has benefited by
being able to utilize diversity to achieve its business objectives of growth through new
product development and expansion into global markets.
Pedagogy
This case should be used toward the end of the course because it ties together many
themes from the text, such as moving beyond diversity by the numbers, capitalizing on
diversity in terms of problem solving and creativity, and illustrating that if managed well,
diversity can make significant contributions to the profitability of a business.
Discussion Questions and Answers
1. How does an inclusion strategy for diversity differ from a valuing differences
strategy?
Valuing diversity is more divisive because it emphasizes how people differ in terms
accommodations for those differences that cause conflict with workers from other
55. The Path to Inclusion: The Business Case for Diversity at Ocean Spray
VI – 48
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.
groups. It is easy for an organization to state that it “values differences,” but in
reality, this philosophy usually results in superficial changes such as international
food type events that do not lead to modifications in how people think about
differences or how the organization does business.
In contrast, inclusion emphasizes that although people may differ in terms of their
social identities, like age and religion, they also share some common identities. So the
goal here is to build on commonalities while benefiting from differences in terms of
creating an atmosphere where all can contribute freely to organizational development
and change. This only happens when employees feel that they are accepted for who
they are, rather than feeling that they have to suppress their differences to fit into an
organization.
2. Why is this case a good example of the business case for diversity?
Just having diverse employees does not necessarily help an organization achieve its
business goals or benefit financially from diversity. The business case for diversity
3. Having read this case, if you were applying for a job at Ocean Spray’s corporate
headquarters, what questions might you ask in the interview?
4. What does this case teach you about leadership and diversity?
55. The Path to Inclusion: The Business Case for Diversity at Ocean Spray
Best Practices at Ocean Spray: The Sparking Change Challenge
This event was created to encourage all employees to share their best ideas with a wider
audience than just their direct managers through the Sparking Change Challenge.
Employees form teams of 2-4 members. The teams present their innovative ideas for cost
savings, marketing, or product innovations, etc. to a panel of senior leaders via a 5-10
minute video or slideshow. The team with the best idea receives a $5,000 prize, the
second best wins $3,000 and the third wins $2,000. This past year there were 58
submissions.
Diversity on the Web
Go to oceanspray.com/Who-Are/Careers/Our-Philosophy.aspx.
Here you will find a list and definitions of Ocean Spray’s three core values that drive
its culture: respect, ownership and innovation. From reading this case, how are these
values operationalized at Ocean Spray?
Additional Resources
Albritton, A. and Schubert, S. (2006). Business case for diversity & inclusion. Retrieved
from www.diversity-matters.net.
Miller, F.A. and Katz, J.H. (2002). The Inclusion Breakthrough. San Francisco: Berrett-
Koehler.
56. Section VI. Integrative Questions
INTEGRATIVE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION VI
1. In this section, you read about programs that some organizations have developed, like
employee resource groups, supplier diversity programs, etc. All of these require
corporate support and financial resources. If you were a manager at a very small
organization that did not have these financial resources, or at one that did not actively
support diversity initiatives, what could you as an individual do to help your diverse
employees feel more included?
2. In terms of the change model (unfreezing, change, and refreezing), what internal and
external forces might resist each of the following: instituting mandatory diversity
training for all employees; appointing a Chief Diversity Officer; initiating
applications for diversity awards; or establishing a phased retirement program?
3. Develop a list of five criteria for a CEO assuming that he/she has effective diversity
management and inclusion as a strategic goal. Now that this course is coming to a
close, select any one of the managers in a case from this text. Evaluate this manager
on your established criteria for diversity. Based on your evaluation, give this person a
grade ranging from A to F for his/her diversity management. Justify your grade based
on your criteria.
4. Select one of the diversity awards from the Allard article. Write new criteria for
selecting the winner(s) of this award that improve the validity and value of receiving
this award.
5. Using readings from throughout the semester, explain why there may be more
workplace bullying today than there has been in the past. Does the increased diversity
in today’s workplace create more opportunities for bullying? Why or why not?