Transcript What is workplace diversity, and why is it important?

What is workplace diversity,
and why is it important?
 Workforce diversity.
 Challenge of workforce diversity.
 Workforce diversity is increasing.
 Workforce diversity can help in building
customer relationships.
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What is workplace diversity,
and why is it important?
 Equal employment opportunity.
– Nondiscriminatory employment decisions.
– Affirmative action.
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What is workplace diversity,
and why is it important?
 Equal employment opportunity — cont.
– Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibits employer discrimination with respect
to:
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Race.
Color.
Religion.
Sex.
National origin.
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What is workplace diversity,
and why is it important?
 Managing diversity.
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What are demographic differences among
individuals, and why are they important?
 Demographic characteristics.
– Gender.
– Age.
– Race.
– Ethnicity.
– Able-bodiedness.
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What are demographic differences among
individuals, and why are they important?
 Gender.
– No consistent differences between men and
women in:
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Problem-solving abilities.
Analytical skills.
Competitive drive.
Motivation.
Learning ability.
Sociability.
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What are demographic differences among
individuals, and why are they important?
 Age.
– Older workers …
• Are often stereotyped as inflexible.
• Sometimes complain that their experience and
skills are not valued.
• Have lower turnover.
• Have lower avoidable absences.
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What are demographic differences among
individuals, and why are they important?
 Able-bodiedness. ADA
– Despite evidence of effective job performance,
most disabled persons are unemployed.
– Most disabled persons want to work.
– More firms are likely to hire disabled workers
in the future.
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What are demographic differences among
individuals, and why are they important?
 Racial and ethnic groups.
– African Americans, Asian Americans, and
Hispanic Americans make up an everincreasing percentage of the American
workforce.
– Potential for stereotypes and discrimination
can adversely affect career opportunities.
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What are aptitude and ability differences
among individuals, and why
are they important?
 Aptitude.
– A person’s capability of learning something.
 Ability.
– A person’s existing capacity to perform the
various tasks needed for a given job.
– Includes relevant knowledge and skills.
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What are aptitude and ability differences
among individuals, and why
are they important?
 Aptitude and ability tests may be used as
employment screens in the hiring process.
 To be legal, employment tests must
accurately predict job success.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Personality.
– The overall profile or combination of
characteristics that capture the unique nature
of a person as that person reacts and interacts
with others.
– Combines a set of physical and mental
characteristics that reflect how a person looks,
thinks, acts, and feels.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Personality determinants and development.
– Is personality genetically determined, or is it
formed by experience?
– Heredity sets the limits on the development of
personality characteristics.
– Environment determines development within
these limits.
– Across all characteristics there is about a 5050 heredity-environment split.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Personality determinants and development
— cont.
– Key environmental factors in personality
development.
• Cultural values and norms.
• Situational factors.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 “Big Five” personality dimensions.
– Extraversion.
– Agreeableness.
– Conscientiousness.
– Emotional stability.
– Openness to experience.
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Emotional Intelligence
 Daniel Goleman
 Developing emotional intelligence
 Five dimensions:
– Self-awareness: Realistic self assessment-how does this fir
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with my values; analyze gut feeling
Managing emotions: anger, anxiety, sadness – controlling
one’s impulses; manage stress; effect on ability to pay
attention
Motivating other: what moves us to action is emotion;
optimism
Showing empathy: read emotions in others; prevents acting
in self interest
Staying connected: emotions are not only contagious, they
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Social traits.
– Surface-level traits that reflect the way a
person appears to others when interacting in
various social settings.
– An important social trait is problem-solving
style.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Problem-solving style components.
– Information gathering.
• Getting and organizing data for use.
• Sensation-type individuals.
• Intuitive-type individuals.
– Evaluation.
• Using collected information.
• Feeling-type individuals.
• Thinking-type individuals.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Problem-solving styles. Myers-Briggs
– Sensation-feeling (SF).
– Intuitive-thinking (IF).
– Sensation-thinking (ST).
– Intuitive-thinking (IT).
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Personal conception traits.
– The way individuals tend to think about their
social and physical settings as well as their
major beliefs and personal orientation.
– Key Traits:
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Locus of control.
Authoritarianism/dogmatism.
Machiavellianism.
Self-monitoring.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Locus of control.
– The extent to which a person feels able to
control his/her own life.
– Internal locus of control.
• People believe they control their own destiny.
– External locus of control.
• People believe that much of what happens to them
is determined by environmental forces.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Authoritarianism/dogmatism.
– Authoritarianism.
• Tendency to adhere rigidly to conventional values
and to obey recognized authority.
– Dogmatism.
• Tendency to view the world as a threatening place.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Machiavellianism.
– Rooted in Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince.
– Evokes images of guile, deceit, and
opportunism.
– Tendency to view and manipulate others
purely for personal gain.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Machiavellianism — cont.
– People with a high-Mach personality:
• Approach situations logically and thoughtfully.
• Are capable of lying to achieve personal goals.
• Are rarely swayed by loyalty, friendships, past
promises, or others’ opinions.
• Are skilled at influencing others.
• Try to exploit loosely structured situations.
• Perform in a perfunctory or detached manner in
highly structured situations.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Machiavellianism — cont.
– People with a low-Mach personality:
• Accept direction imposed by others in loosely
structured situations.
• Work hard to do well in highly structured
situations.
• Are strongly guided by ethical considerations.
• Are unlikely to lie or cheat.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Self-monitoring.
– A person’s ability to adjust his/her behavior to
external, situational factors.
– High self-monitors:
• Sensitive to external cues.
• Behave differently in different situations.
– Low self-monitors:
• Not sensitive to external cues.
• Are not able to disguise their behaviors.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Emotional adjustment traits.
– How much an individual experiences distress
or displays unacceptable acts.
– Type A orientation.
• Characterized by impatience, desire for
achievement, and perfectionism.
– Type B orientation.
• Characterized as more easygoing and less
competitive in relation to daily events.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Personality and self-concept.
– Personality dynamics.
• The ways in which an individual integrates and
organizes personality dimensions and traits.
– Self-concept.
• The view individuals have of themselves as
physical, social, and spiritual beings.
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What are personality determinants and
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Two aspects of self-concept.
– Self-esteem.
• A belief about one’s worth based on an overall self-
evaluation.
– Self-efficacy.
• An individual’s belief about the likelihood of
successfully completing a specific task.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Values.
– Values are broad preferences concerning
appropriate courses of action or outcomes.
– Values influence behavior and attitudes.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Sources of values.
 Culture/ Society
– Parents.
– Friends.
– Teachers.
– Role models.
– External reference groups.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Types of values.
– Milton Rokeach’s value categories: terminal
values and instrumental values.
– Terminal values.
• Preferences concerning the ends to be achieved.
– Instrumental values.
• Preferences for the means to be used in achieving
desired ends.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Types of values — cont.
– Gordon Allport’s values categories.
• Theoretical values.
• Economic values.
• Aesthetic values.
• Social values.
• Political values.
• Religious values.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Types of values — cont.
– Maglino’s categories of workplace values.
• Achievement.
• Helping and concern for others.
• Honesty.
• Fairness.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Value congruence.
– Occurs when individuals express positive
feelings upon encountering others who exhibit
values similar to their own.
– Incongruent values may result in conflicts over
goals and the means to achieve them.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Patterns and trends in values.
– Movement away from the following values:
• Duty.
• Honesty.
• Responsibility.
• Economic incentives.
• Organizational loyalty.
• Work-related identity.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Patterns and trends in values — cont.
– Movement toward the following values:
• Meaningful work.
• Pursuit of leisure.
• Personal identity.
• Self-fulfillment.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Patterns and trends in values — cont.
– Important work-related values for the present and the
future:
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Recognition for competence and accomplishments.
Respect and dignity.
Personal choice and freedom.
Involvement at work.
Pride in one’s work.
Lifestyle quality.
Financial security.
Self-development.
Health and wellness.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Attitudes.
– Attitudes are influenced by values and are
acquired from the same sources as values.
– An attitude is a predisposition to respond in a
positive or negative way to someone or
something in one’s environment.
– An attitude is a hypothetical construct.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Components of attitudes.
– Cognitive component.
• The beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information a person
possesses.
– Affective component.
• A specific feeling regarding the personal impact of the
antecedents.
– Behavioral component.
• An intention to behave in a certain way based on specific
feelings.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Attitudes and behavior.
– An attitude results in intended behavior, which
may or may not result in actual behavior.
– The attitude-behavior relationship is stronger
when:
• Attitudes and behaviors are more specific.
• There is freedom to carry out the behavioral intent.
• The person has experience with the attitude.
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Attitudes and cognitive consistency.
– Cognitive dissonance.
• Describes a state of inconsistency between an
individual’s attitudes and his or her behavior.
– Cognitive dissonance can be reduced by:
• Changing the underlying attitude.
• Changing future behavior.
• Developing new ways of explaining or
rationalizing the inconsistency
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What are value and attitude
differences among individuals,
and why are they important?
 Attitudes and cognitive consistency —
cont.
– Dissonance reduction choices are influenced
by:
• The degree of control a person has over the
situation.
• The magnitude of the rewards involved.
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What does managing diversity and
individual differences involve,
and why is it important?
 Dealing with diversity and individual
differences is one of the most important
issues challenging managers.
– Applies in the:
• United States.
• Canada.
• European Union countries.
• Several Asian countries.
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