Organizational Behavior 15th Edition

Diversity in Organizations. (Chapter: 2)

1: Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity?
Surface-level diversity Differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender,
race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or
feel but that may activate certain stereotypes.
Deep-level diversity Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that
become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know
one another better.
Discrimination Noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair
discrimination, which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes
regarding their demographic group.

Forms of Discrimination
Type of Definition Examples from Organizations
Discrimination
Discriminatory Actions taken by representatives Older workers may be targeted
policies or practices of organization that deny equal for layoffs because they are
opportunity to perform or unequal highly paid and have lucrative
rewards for performance benefits.
Sexual harassment Unwanted sexual advances and Salespeople at one company
other verbal or physical conduct of went on company-paid visits to
a sexual nature that create a hostile strip clubs, brought strippers into
or offensive nature that create a the office to celebrate
hostile or offensive promotions, and fostered
pervasive sexual rumors.
Intimidation Overt threats or bullying directed African-American employees at
at members of specific c groups of some companies have found
employees. nooses hanging over their work
stations.
Mockery and insults Jokes or negative stereotypes; Arab-Americans have been
sometimes the result of jokes taken asked at work whether they were
too far carrying bombs or were
members of terrorist
organizations
Exclusion Exclusion of certain people from Many women in finance claim
job opportunities, social events, they are assigned to marginal job
discussions, or informal roles or are given light
mentoring; can occur workloads that don’t lead to
unintentionally promotion.
Incivility Disrespectful treatment, including Female lawyers note that male
behaving in an aggressive manner, attorneys frequently cut them off
interrupting the person, or ignoring or do not adequately address
his or her opinions their comments.
 2: Recognize stereotypes and understand how they function in organizational
settings.
Stereotypes are assumptions made about particular demographics. Usually.
Stereotypes lead to managers assuming people of a particular gender or race will perform
certain actions deemed unfavorable or behave in a manner that they feel everyone in that
demographic behaves. These assumptions can cause mangers to assign workers they
stereotyped to do certain tasks that may not fully utilize the workers’ abilities but may be
appropriate for how the manager thinks they can work and interact with others. In the
long run, stereotyping could really hurt the efficiency of the organization.

2: Identify the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant
to OB.
Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, race, disability, and length of service are
some of the most obvious ways employees differ.
Age.
The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing
importance during the next decade for at least three reasons.
 First reason is that job performance declines with increasing age. Second reason is that
the workforce is aging.
 But many employers recognize that older workers represent a huge potential pool of high
quality applicants.
 Companies have sought to increase their attractiveness to older workers by providing
targeted trainings that meet their needs, offering flexible work schedules and part-time
work.
 The third reason is legislation that outlaws mandatory retirement.
 One perception is that older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and
commitment to quality.
 Another perception is that older workers are lacking flexibility and resisting new
technology.
 Older workers have lower turnover rate. It is not surprising because as workers get older,
they have fewer alternative job opportunities as their skills have become more specialized
Older workers have lower absence rate.
 Many believe productivity declines with increasing age but other review research find
that age and job task performance are unrelated.
 Older works are more satisfied with their jobs, report better relationships with co-
workers, and are more committed to their employing organizations.
Sex (Gender)
 It has been found that there are very few differences between men and women that
impact job performance.
 There are no consistent male–female differences in problem-solving ability, analytical
skills, competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning ability.
 Psychological studies have found women are more agreeable and willing to conform to
authority, whereas men are more aggressive and have expectations of success, but those
differences are minor.
 However, women, especially those with pre-school age children, do prefer flexible work
schedules and will seek an employer who offers options in their schedules.
 Women have higher rates of absenteeism also.
Race and Ethnicity
 Race and ethnicity have been studied as they relate to employment outcomes such as
hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination
 Employees tend to favor colleagues for their own race in performance evaluations,
promotion decisions, pay raises and hiring decisions.
 Substantial racial differences exist in attitudes toward affirmative positive or favorable
action.
 In general, research has found no significant differences in race or ethnic backgrounds
related to absence rates, applied social skills or accident rates.
Disability
 A person is disabled who has any physical or mental impairment (deficiency or damage
or injury) that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
 The “reasonable accommodation” is problematic for employers.
Strong biases exist against those with mental impairment.
Other Biographical Characteristics: Tenure, Religion, Sexual Orientation, and
Gender Identity.
Tenure
 People with high job tenure (seniority at a job) are
 More productive,
 Absent less frequently,
 Have lower turnover,
 And Are more satisfied.
Religion
 Religion may also impact work outcomes due to religious restrictions, such as dress and
grooming.
 Schedules may also conflict with the way work is typically done, such as a muslim
worker adhering to the prayer schedule outlined in Islam.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
 Federal law does not protect employees against discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
 Gender Identity referred to as transgender employees, this topic encompasses those
individuals who change genders.

4: Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB.

 Ability An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.
 Intellectual abilities the capacity to do mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and
problem solving.
 General mental ability (GMA) An overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the
positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
Intellectual Abilities:
Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities thinking, reasoning,
and problem solving.
 Dimensions of Intellectual Ability:

5: Contrast intellectual and physical ability.

 Physical abilities the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.
Nine Basic Physical Abilities:

 The Role of Disabilities:

The importance of ability at work obviously creates problems when we attempt to
formulate workplace policies that recognize diversity in terms of disability status.
Recognizing that individuals have different abilities that can be taken into account when
making hiring decisions is not problematic. However, it is discriminatory to make blanket
 assumptions about people on the basis of a disability. It is also possible to make
accommodations for disabilities.
6: Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.
Effective Diversity Programs:
Organizations use a variety of efforts to capitalize on diversity, including the recruiting
and selection policies we have already discussed, as well as training and development
practices. Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have three
distinct components.
 First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity
and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics.
 Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse
market of customers and clients.
 Third, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of
all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable way to
improve performance for everyone.
 Organizational leaders should examine their workforce to determine whether target
groups have been underutilized. If groups of employee’s are not proportionally
represented in top management, managers should look for any hidden barriers to
advancement. They can often improve recruiting practices, make selection systems more
transparent, and provide training for those employees who have not had adequate
exposure to certain material in the past. The organization should also clearly
communicate its policies to employees so they can understand how and why certain
practices are followed. Communications should focus as much as possible on
qualifications and job performance; emphasizing certain groups as needing more
assistance could well backfire.