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Chapter 12: Managing Individuals and a Diverse Workforce
Pedagogy Map
This chapter begins with the learning outcome summaries and terms covered in the chapter, followed by a
set of lesson plans for you to use to deliver the content in Chapter 12.
• Lesson Plan for Lecture (for large sections)
• Lesson Plan for Group Work (for smaller classes)
• Assignments with Teaching Tips and Solutions
What Would You Do Case Assignment – Circuit Court, Macomb County, Michigan
Self-Assessment – Do You Know Your Mind
Management Decision – Expanding Your Market
Highlighted Assignments
Key Points
What Would You Do?
A judge must decide whether Hooter’s is guilty of
discrimination for firing waitresses because of their weight.
Self-Assessment
Students are directed to the Implicit Associations Tests on
the Internet to help them see what underlying associations
they have make with various groups of people.
Management Decision
Students are asked to consider how a hardware company can
Management Team Decision
The management team must decide how it will deal with
Practice Being a Manager
This exercise uses the context of high-school cliques
(subcultures) to offer practice in recognizing and
understanding diversity.
Develop Your Career Potential
Students are assigned to participate in an activity in which
they are the minority.
divorced mother tries to convince her daughter to go out with
Reel to Real Video Assignment –
Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams discuss how they want
everyone to feel welcome and valued within the company.
Supplemental Resources
Where to Find Them
Course Pre-Assessment
IRCD
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Course Post-Assessment
IRCD
Learning Outcomes
1 Describe diversity and explain why it matters.
Diversity exists in organizations when there are a variety of demographic, cultural, and personal
differences among the people who work there and the customers who do business there. A common
2 Understand the special challenges that the dimensions of surface-level diversity pose for
managers.
Age, sex, race/ethnicity, and physical and mental disabilities are dimensions of surface level diversity.
3 Explain how the dimensions of deep-level diversity affect individual behavior and
interactions in the workplace.
Deep-level diversity matters because it can reduce prejudice, discrimination, and conflict while increasing
social integration. It consists of dispositional and personality differences that can be learned only through
Who Wants to Be a Manager game
IRCD and online
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4 Explain the basic principles and practices that can be used to manage diversity.
The three paradigms for managing diversity are the discrimination and fairness paradigm (equal
opportunity, fair treatment, strict compliance with the law), the access and legitimacy paradigm (matching
Terms
affectivity
affirmative action
age discrimination
agreeableness
authoritarianism
internal locus of control
locus of control
Machiavellian
mood linkage
negative affectivity
Lesson Plan for Lecture
Pre-Class Prep for You:
Pre-Class Prep for Students:
• Review chapter and determine what points to
cover.
• Bring PPT slides.
• Bring book.
Warm Up
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Content
Delivery
Topics
PowerPoint Slides
Activities
Diversity & Why It
Matters
1 Diversity: Differences
That Matter
1: Managing Individuals
& a Diverse Workforce
2: What Would You Do?
3:Predicted U.S.
Affirmative Action
7: Purpose of Affirmative
Action
9: Purpose of Diversity
Programs
10: Diversity Makes
Growth
As you present the content
for this learning point,
periodically reference the
student-generated definition
Diversity& Individual
Differences
2 Surface-Level
Diversity
2.1 Age
14: Diversity and
Individual Differences
15: Surface and Deep-
Level Diversity
16: Surface-Level
Diversity
The number discrimination
complaints filed at the
EEOC involving African
Americans and Hispanics is
on the rise. (See M. Jordan,
“Blacks vs. Latinos at
presented in Exhibit 12.1.
3 Deep-Level Diversity
3.1 Big Five
Dimensions of
Personality
26: Deep-Level Diversity
27: Big Five Dimensions
of Personality
25: Work-Related
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29: Affectivity
How Can Diversity Be
Managed?
4 Managing Diversity
4.1 Diversity
Principles
4.2 Diversity
34: How Can Diversity
Be Managed?
35:Managing Diversity
36: Diversity Paradigms
37: Organizational
Plurality
Special
Items
Conclusion
Lesson Plan for Group Work
Pre-Class Prep for You:
Pre-Class Prep
for Students:
• Review material to cover and modify your lesson plan to meet your needs.
• Bring book.
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inhibition. Leave the scoring information off the copies to avoid creating bias
in students before they take the assessment.
Warm Up
Begin Chapter 12 by asking students “What is diversity?” Write answers
on the board or somehow so students can see the list grow.
Content Delivery
Introduce the chapter and present the Affirmative Action section of
Diversity and Why It Matters (Section 1.1)
“Practical Affirmative Action”
Spark a debate among your students on the topic of affirmative action.
Encourage students to be levelheaded in expressing their opinions so
that the debate can stay rigorous and detached. Push students to think
Finish the section on Diversity and Why It Matters (Section 1.2)
Introduce the next section by asking students “If diversity is about having
a variety of differences, what kind of differences are we talking about?”
Review the elements of surface- and deep-level diversity. Then, break for
the following activity:
“Surface or Deep”
Divide your class into groups of 3-5 students each and direct their
attention to the ad on slide 24. (There’s a reason why the ad was placed
Present Diversity and Individual Differences (Sections 2 & 3). Then, break
for the following activity:
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“Split Personalities”
Divide class into groups of 3-4 students and give each group a set of job
positions (you can reuse the ones from Chapter 11, reprinted below).
Sales manager for a fitness center
Plant manager for a DaimlerChrysler factory
Segue into introduction for Managing Diversity (Section 4).
Lecture on Managing Diversity (Section 4). Then, break for the following
group activity:
companies can increase diversity training. Randomly divide your class
“Mixing Mentors”
The text mentions diversity pairing and mentoring as two ways
Special Items
The IATs; the Type D personality dimension at the Harvard University
Web site; and the affectivity and positive psychology assessments at the
Conclusion and Preview
Assignments:
discussion on diversity practice and affirmative action.
2. If you have finished covering Chapter 12, assign students to review
Chapter 12 and read the next chapter on your syllabus.
Remind students about any upcoming events.
1.
2.
Assignment Teaching Tips and Solutions
Case Assignment – What Would You Do?
What Really Happened? Solution
CIRCUIT COURT, MACOMB COUNTY, MICHIGAN
In the opening case, you learned that Hooters restaurants was being sued by two waitresses who alleged
that they were fired for being overweight and oversized for their Hooters Girls uniforms (small, orange
nylon shorts and tight fitting tank-tops). The waitresses, Cassandra Smith and Leeanne Convery, say that
Assistant manager for a Gap store
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In the other What Really Happened? Cases, we know what happened next and link what happened to the
concepts in the chapter. In this case, however, we don’t yet know what happened. And, if the case is
As the judge in the case, you’ve got a number of key determinations to make. First, the women are
basically arguing that firing them for being too heavy is akin to firing them because of their age, religion,
sex, color or national origin. In short, they say they’re being discriminated against because of their
weight. So, if Hooters fired them because they were too heavy, is that illegal under state and federal law?
Discrimination is treating people differently in hiring and firing, promotion, training and
Federal law, based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, says that it is not unlawful to hire and
employ someone on the basis of sex, religion, or national origin. Notice, however, that Title VII doesn’t
say anything about weight. For instance, a professional woman wrote to the legal advice column of the
Wall Street Journal with this complaint, “I am a professional woman whose job at an Atlanta-area
company was terminated after only one day. The recruiter told me the owner said he didn’t like me
because I was overweight and had large breasts. A smaller woman with less experience was hired to
replace me. Can I fight this?” Attorney Thomas Mitchell, who was consulted by the columnist, said,
Since the Hooters case was filed in Michigan, does Michigan law cover weight when it comes to
So, under Michigan law Smith and Convery may have a case for weight discrimination. That is,
under Michigan law, weight is a non-job related criterion. Smith and Convery’s attorney put it this way,
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Second, Hooters will claim that the image of the Hooter Girl is central to their business, and
consequently, allows them to discipline and fire waitresses for not maintaining that image. This is known
as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). When a BFOQ is “reasonably necessary to the
normal operation of that particular business,” personnel decisions can be made on the basis of race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin. Is the Hooter Girl image, and more specifically, the weight of a
Hooter Girl, a BFOQ and thus a legally justifiable reason for Hooters’ hiring, firing, and promotion
decisions?
As we learned in Chapter 11 on Human Resource Management, the general effect of Federal
employment law, which is still evolving through court decisions, is that employers may not discriminate
We know that weight isn’t protected under federal law, so why does BFOQ matter? Because there is
a key exemption in Michigan’s Elliott–Larsen Act for BFOQs. Here’s what the law says:
A person subject to this article may apply to the commission for an exemption on the basis that
qualification is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business.
What this means is that if Hooters can convince the court that the image of the Hooter Girl is central to
their business, and that maintaining particular weight levels is key to that image, then it can hire,
Will Hooters use BFOQ status as a defense? Hooters’ Mike McNeil seems to be making that argument.
“We have an image to uphold. We’ve been upholding it for 27 years. Hopefully, we’ll be doing it for
Is the court likely to be persuaded by Hooters BFOQ arguments? It’s hard to know. From a business
perspective, Hooters has long made the case that the looks and attractiveness of its Hooter Girls are at the
core of its business. On its web site, it states, “The ‘nearly world famous’ Hooters Girls are the
cornerstone of the Hooters concept, and as part of their job, these all-American cheerleaders make
promotional and charitable appearances in their respective communities. Hooters hires women who best
fit the image of a Hooters Girl to work in this capacity.”
On the other hand, as we learned in Chapter 11, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Finally, Convery claims that since giving birth to her son she has had problems maintaining her weight.
In other words, having children changes a woman’s physique, making it more difficult to return to one’s
pre-baby weight. If that’s so, could she possibly have a legal case on the basis of the Americans with
Disability Act?
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (http://www.ada.gov), a disability is a mental or
“Temporary, non–chronic impairments of short duration, with little or no long term or permanent
impact, are usually not disabilities. Such impairments may include, but are not limited to, broken
limbs, sprained joints [and] concussions…. Similarly, except in rare circumstances, obesity is not
considered a disabling impairment.14
The other key consideration is whether being overweight stems from a physiological issue. In the
EEOC’s ADA compliance manual, it says:
Being overweight, in and of itself, generally is not an impairment. On the other hand, severe obesity,
which has been defined as body weight more than 100% over the norm, is clearly an impairment. In
addition, a person with obesity may have an underlying or resultant physiological disorder, such as
hypertension or a thyroid disorder. A physiological disorder is an impairment.
Clearly, with our two Hooters’ waitresses, morbid obesity isn’t the issue. However, if the ability to
lose weight is due to a physiological impairment, then the ADA could be a legal factor. More
specifically, Leeanne Convery gained weight after giving birth to her son, and then had trouble losing that
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Self-Assessment
DO YOU KNOW YOUR MIND?
The goal of awareness training is to raise employees’ awareness of diversity issues and to get employees
to challenge the underlying assumptions or stereotypes they may have about others. Many companies
In-Class Use
This inventory will be difficult to use in class unless you distribute a paper version of the tests. Still,
administering multiple inventories will probably take an entire class meeting and then some, not to
mention scoring, creating distributions, and debriefing. If you send students to do the IATs outside of
class, use this background information from the Web site to provide a context for your students and to
assure them of their privacy:
Project Implicit represents a collaborative research effort between researchers at Harvard
University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington. While the particular
Scoring
If working online, scores will be automatically generated at the end of each IAT a student takes. Ask
students to record their scores and submit them to you well before the next class meeting. Consider
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Management Decision
EXPANDING YOUR MARKET
Purpose
This exercise gives students an opportunity to consider how a company should sell its products to non-
Setting It Up
Ask your students: “What image do you think of when you hear Harley Davidson?” You may want to
write down their responses on the board. Then ask them: “How you sell a Harley to someone who is the
complete opposite of what we just described?”
Questions
1. What is an effective way for this company to increase the diversity of its customers?
As discussed in the text, one of the key benefits of diversity is that it drives business growth. By
encouraging diversity within its own ranks, a company can improve its understanding of the ever
2. What steps could you take to make sure that your marketing campaign targeted to women
actually addresses their needs and wants without offending them?
The specifics of students’ responses may vary, but in general, they should focus on the notion of
input from women stands to fail.
Management Team Decision
NEGATIVE REACTIONS TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Purpose
In this case, students are asked how they would deal with employees’ dissatisfaction at increasing the
diversity of an organization.
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Setting It Up
You can being the case by presenting to students the following: “There are two candidates or an entry–
level position at an investment bank. Both are Ivy League graduates, top of their class, and have equal
amounts of experience in internships. In fact, other than their racial backgrounds, there is very little to
distinguish between the two people. One is white, the other is black. Who would you hire and why?”
Questions
1. Do you believe that companies should adopt Affirmative Action to increase its diversity? Are
there alternatives to Affirmative Action that a company can use to increase diversity?
Students’ responses as to whether the company should adopt Affirmative Action will vary.
However, they should recognize that Alternative Action is not the only way to increase diversity
2. Do you think that Affirmative Action is discriminatory towards white males? If so, is it an
acceptable means of increasing diversity?
Students’ responses will vary. As noted above, Affirmative Action is a punitive approach that is
Practice Being a Manager
CULTURE, SUBCULTURES, AND YOU
Exercise Overview and Objective
Not all college students have experienced crossing a cultural boundary to live in another country. So this
Preparation
No student preparation is required for this exercise. One option for preparation is to ask students to write
down some description of their middle school and high school experiences, particularly their experiences
with sub-cultures (e.g., Athletes, Toughs, etc.). If you choose to make this assignment in advance of the