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o The legislation is spearheaded by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, whose
first major victory was getting the American Psychiatric Association to declassify
homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973.
• In July 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order prohibit the federal
government from discriminating based on gender identity.
HARASSMENT
• Harassment is defined as an “unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion,
sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic
information” from a supervisor, coworker, or nonemployee, such as a customer or
supplier.
DATING, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, AND HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
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• Office romances and dating coworkers are increasingly common with more women in the
workforce and the considerable amount of time employees spend at work.
* Textual harassment refers to sending sexually offensive or inappropriate text messages,
including pictures.
• Sexual harassment includes unwelcomed sexual comments, jokes, leering, pictures, or
physical touching.
• Most of these cases reflect two types of scenarios.
1. One situation involves males harassed by females in female-dominated occupations,
such as nursing.
RETALIATION FOR DISCRIMINATION CLAIM
• All EEO laws carry a stipulation that it is illegal to take retaliatory adverse action against
someone who complains to an employer, manager, or law official about a discrimination
issue.
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• Typical forms of retaliation include termination, demotion, promotional denial, increased
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
The EEOC differentiates between two types of sexual harassment—quid-pro-quo and hostile
environment. In small groups, have students discuss whether each of the following four scenarios
constitutes sexual harassment. Do they create a “hostile environment” at work? Are there
differences of opinions among, or between, the responses of male and female participants? Other
scenarios can be developed by employees who have been sexually harassed, or have been
accused of sexual harassment.
Scenario One: Mary is Tom’s administrative assistant. Every morning Tom makes flattering
CHAPTER QUESTION 4: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEST OPERATIONAL
PRACTICES FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY?
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DIVERSITY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
The U.S. population continues to diversify, as does the employee and customer base of
organizations. For more than two centuries, Caucasian males dominated the American
workforce. This is no longer the case.
• Five positive bottom-line reasons why respecting diversity creates a competitive
advantage for organizations are:
1. To attract and retain diverse customers. Customers tend to feel more comfortable
doing business with people who respect them. Customers from diverse social groups
who feel unwelcomed by insensitive salespeople from a different social group will
take their business elsewhere.
4. To enhance decision making, problem solving, and creativity. Due to different life
experiences, different cultural groups perceive the world in different ways, enhancing
organizational decision making, problem solving, and creativity. A multicultural
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DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students visit the Working Mother website at www.workingmother.com/best-companies-
for-women, read about, and discuss the CEO Diversity Award Leadership winners. What are the
common themes?
DIVERSITY BEST PRACTICES
Lockheed Martin Corporation’s designed a five-level “Diversity Maturity Model.”
Level 1: Foundational—Responds to diversity regulations and ad-hoc practices
Level 2: Enlightened—Has diversity councils and employee training
In 1998, the EEOC Task Force published examples of the “best” diversity policies, programs,
and practices in the private sector. Integrating these best practices in diversity management
throughout organizational operations can ensure long-term continuous success.
• Diversity officer/committee/office. Assign organizational responsibility for diversity
to a diversity officer, committee, or office. This establishes a particular person as
being accountable for diversity issues.
• Personnel policies. Provide flexible personnel policies reflecting the needs of diverse
populations. Areas for flexibility include the use of personal days, cafeteria-style
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efficient dispute resolution system is a direct dialogue between both parties. If
unsuccessful, have a supervisor or diversity officer serve as mediator. If unsuccessful,
have a peer review panel arbitrate a binding resolution.
• Retention and promotions. Incorporate diversity retention techniques that lead to
• Performance appraisals. Link bonuses to achieving diversity goals. Include a
performance appraisal scale measuring behaviors that demonstrate respect for diverse
coworkers and customers.
• Termination and downsizing. The two best criteria for determining layoffs are job
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students visit the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index website at
IMPLEMENTING A DIVERSITY INITIATIVE
Creating an organizational culture that respects diversity requires planning and effort. The
following 10-step process describes how to successfully implement diversity initiatives based on
a traditional organizational change model.
1. Present a business case for the diversity initiative. Determine which of the five
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2. Create a shared vision statement. Employees implementing the diversity initiative
3. Respectfully build from the past. A diversity initiative is one step along the
4. Create a sense of urgency. Emphasize the importance of undertaking the change right
now, ahead of the competition, not later, after the competition has already staked its
claim in the diverse markets and talent pools.
5. Empower a change agent. All organizational changes require a point person
6. Gather political support. Success depends on all work units supporting the diversity
7. Craft an implementation plan. Gather input from those directly affected by the
8. Develop enabling processes. Train key participants to manage the change process.
9. Evaluate the progress. Gather relevant historical data to benchmark and measure
progress toward achieving the stated goals and objectives. Recognize all positive
changes. In the spirit of continuous improvement, explore unmet goals with key
constituents.
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10. Reinforce the change. Link the accomplishment of diversity objectives to
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students independently use the 10-steps for implementing a diversity initiative to create a
diversity initiative plan for the School of Business or college. Share the plans in small groups
and reach consensus on a plan that could be given to the dean or college diversity committee for
their feedback.
DIVERSITY TRAINING ISSUES
Helping employees overcome their biases against diverse people requires training. Table 8.2,
Diversity Training Problems and Solutions, highlights common diversity training problems that
can arise from within, or between, dominant and subordinate workplace groups, along with
recommended solutions.
• The dominant group refers to the diverse characteristic that is held in common by a
• Common problems and ways to address them include:
o Trainer credibility: use coleaders, one from dominant and subordinate groups.
o Problems portrayed too negatively: Praise previous diversity efforts.
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• Provide some national and industry examples of diversity problems and their associated
costs.
• Educate employees about the best operational practices, presented earlier in this chapter,
CHAPTER QUESTION 5: WHICH OF THE DIVERSITY WORKSHOPS DO YOU
THINK IS MOST MEANINGFUL AND HOW WOULD YOU CONDUCT IT?
WORKSHOP OPTIONS
• This book section contains several diversity training exercises.
o The first four diversity exercises foster self-awareness: Who Are You, Dominant
Group and Subordinate Group Awareness, The Dominant Group, and Implicit
DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES
Conduct some of the suggested workshops with students in class so they can gain a better feel for
managing or conducting the workshop at their current or future places of employment.
* Who Are You?—appears earlier in Chapter 8 teaching manual (at end of Chapter Question 1)
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* Implicit Attitude Test—appears earlier in Chapter 8 teaching manual (at beginning of Chapter
Question 3)
* Experiences Being Prejudged—appears earlier in Chapter 7 teaching manual (in the middle of
WHO ARE YOU
• Self-assessment of your own diversity characteristics
• Appears earlier in Chapter 8 teaching manual (at end of Chapter Question 1)
US VERSUS THEM
DOMINANT GROUP AND SUBORDINATE GROUP AWARENESS
• Membership in a dominant group can foster a sense of superiority over subordinate group
members, leading to organizational effectiveness and efficiency problems.
THE DOMINANT GROUP’S STATUS
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• People want to be treated as individuals, rather than as representatives of a social group.
End this chapter by not only showing how every person is different, but also how
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students complete the Table 8.5, Individual Uniqueness and Commonalities, exercise.
Step 1: Write down five experiences, activities, accomplishments, or attributes that make you
unique from others.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
• Appears earlier in Chapter 8 teaching manual (at end of Chapter Question 3)
COMMUNICATION STYLES
• Communication style is an often overlooked aspect of employee diversity.
• People tend to express themselves in a way that feels normal to them and assume that