Case Analysis (Gender and Diversity in the workplace)

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California State University, Bakersfield Department of Economics

Dr. Margaret Malixi ECON 3008

Fall 2016 Gender and Diversity in the Workplace

Case Analysis Instructions

NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO GET APPROVAL FOR THE CASE YOU WISH TO

ANALYZE. YOU ARE TO UPLOAD INFORMATION ON YOUR

PROPOSED CASE TO THE “SUBMISSIONS” FOLDER ON THE COURSE

HOMEPAGE BY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2016. STATE THE GENDER

OR DIVERSITY ISSUE, DATE AND SOURCE OF THE ARTICLE.

INCLUDE A LINK TO THE ARTICLE OR ATTACH THE ARTICLE TO

YOUR SUBMISSION. THIS IS NECESSARY TO MAKING A DECISION TO

APPROVE YOUR SELECTION.

Due Date: Thursday, December 8, 2016, online.

Upload to “Submissions” folder on course homepage by 9:00 p.m.

Instructions:

You have been hired as an economic consultant by “ABC” (please use the name of the

corporation/organization that is pertinent to your case) Corporation. Your task is to provide an

economic analysis of a case involving a diversity issue currently being dealt with by the company

or organization. This case may involve any form of alleged discriminatory action/policy on the

part of the company/organization and/or its management, such as sexual harassment, gender, age,

or racial discrimination, etc. You are to write your report in the form of a memorandum to the

company Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A number of cases have been included in your reading

list for your reference. You cannot select any of the cases included in the course material. Refer

to the following instructions to select your case study and to complete your project: This is an

independent research project.

I. Select an actual case involving alleged discriminatory behavior by a company or

organization. The case must have been previously described in a news article

or series of news articles written between July 1, 2016 and September 10, 2016.

A copy of the article(s) and its exact citation must be appended to your final report.

You are to select cases only from periodicals and not books. To receive credit for

this project, your case analysis must be original. You are not to use or copy an

analysis from another author, otherwise you will be guilty of plagiarism.

II. Briefly summarize the case you will be discussing and analyzing.

III. Identify the part(s) of the firm/organization that the case may involve or impact.

IV. Utilize the tools of economics learned in class and your knowledge of diversity

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concepts to explain the impact of the issue. Be sure to explain clearly how the

issue impacts the behavior of consumers and/or producers.

V. Write a formal memorandum to the CEO of the corporation, including your

analysis of the issue and explaining any recommendation you may have to correct

the problem and to prevent its re-occurrence in the future. Make sure that you

clearly explain the rationale for your recommendation and clearly articulate how

it addresses the specific issue facing the firm.

Project Format and Submission Guidelines:

1. The memo should be between 5 – 6 pages in length. The length of the report refers to

the length of the body of the text (mostly your statement, analysis, and recommendation

and conclusion). The 5 – 6 pages in length does not include illustrations, list of references,

the attached article, or any appendices.

2. Your report must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman, with one-

inch margins on all sides, and include a bibliography or list of references.

3. The report must have your name and page numbers.

4. All quotations, paraphrases, and ideas that are not your own must be properly cited.

Within the text of your report, a proper citation takes the following form:

[Author’s last name (year published): page numbers]

For example: [Malixi (2012): 25-27]

5. Plagiarism is defined as the claiming of ideas of others as your own by not properly

acknowledging the true source of the idea. Plagiarism is cheating and will be subject to

disciplinary action associated with academic dishonesty. It will also result in an “F” in

course. If you paraphrase the ideas of others, you must still cite the source of the idea.

Paraphrasing means stating someone else’s idea in your own words and is not simply the

substitution of one or two words into another person’s statement. Cutting and pasting

statements from various authors and passing them on as your own is also plagiarism.

6. You must use references in putting together this project. You are to use books, articles,

and other resources. Use 3-4 outside sources (i.e., not including the textbook, any course

materials, or the article on which the case is based). The following citation formats are to

be followed for books and articles.

For books:

Author’s name. Year published. Title of Book. Book publisher. Publisher’s

location.

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For example:

Blau, Francine, Marianne Ferber, and Anne Winkler. 2014. The Economics of

Women, Men and Work. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

For articles:

Author’s name. (Year published). “Title of articles.” Title of Journal or

Periodical. Date of Journal or Periodical article or volume number, number in

series, page numbers.

For example:

Barling, J. (2006). “Interrole Conflict and Marital Functioning Amongst

Employed Fathers.” Journal of Occupational Behaviour, vol. 8, no. 3, 112-118.

7. You will be graded on the content of your report, the quality and appropriateness of your

analysis, and the clarity of your composition. Your report should be grammatically

correct and free of any spelling errors. It should also be neat and in the correct format.

8. Your first page heading should be in the form of a memorandum:

MEMORANDUM

Date: September 1, 2016

TO: Name and Title of Company/Organization CEO

FROM: Your Name and Title

SUBJECT: Title of the Case Study

___________________________________________________________________

Begin text....

9. Consider the following outline for the text (5 – 6 pages):

I. Introduction:

The introduction should briefly explain the case/issue to be analyzed.

II. Analysis:

Your main arguments and economic analysis should be presented in

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this section. You should reference other studies, legal measures and cases

to strengthen and support your arguments.

III. Conclusion:

The final section should summarize your arguments, clearly state your

recommendation and include any concluding remarks.

10. Save your case analysis as a PDF once you have finalized it. The file that you submit

should be a PDF file to prevent any changes in format and to make certain that the file

that you submit can be opened without complications. It is the student’s responsibility

to submit the correct file. Your submission is final.

11. The report is to be uploaded to the “Submissions” folder on the course homepage in

Blackboard before 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 8, 2016. Submissions will not be

accepted by email or after the specified deadline. The Case Analysis is 20% of your final

Grade.