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M G M T 3 1 4 | W E E K 5 Diversity and Ethics Reporting Systems
The world is comprised of males and females from a variety of backgrounds, including different races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and so forth. People have a variety of beliefs and values, such as political views, that further distinguish them from each other. In the workplace, these differences, or diversity, are sometimes a motivation for discrimination. An individual may dislike people who differ from him or her in a certain way, such as race, and if that individual is in a position of authority, he or she may practice discrimination.
Discrimination is unethical behavior, and it is also illegal. This lesson will review the dimensions of diversity that lead to differences among people, and the various types of discrimination that may be practiced in response to diversity. This lesson will discuss some of the laws and regulations that are intended to prevent discrimination. Finally, this lesson will look at ethics reporting systems, explaining the options that employees have for disclosing unethical behavior as well as reasons why employees may decide to keep silent about unethical behavior.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Explain reasons managers need to be aware of diversity management and legal regulations related to hiring, promotion, and firing. Analyze the evolution of ethics as a central principle in modern business.
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Diversity Dimensions
Diversity is a complex topic. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, diversity can be defined as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization” (Merriam-Webster). In the workplace, diversity can strengthen organizations as people from different backgrounds bring diverse ideas into the office or other workplace setting. This wider variety of information and concepts helps organizations develop the best policies and procedures for dealing with their work. Diversity can also be a source of concern as it becomes the basis for discrimination in the workplace.
To reap the benefits of diversity while minimizing the problems that it can cause, managers must understand the dynamics of diversity. Diversity has four layers, or dimensions, that shape each individual’s character, including his or her beliefs and values. These impact how a person perceives the world, and they also affect how others view and treat that individual. The following information lists and discusses each of these dimensions in detail.
PERMANENT DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
EVOLVING DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
PERSONALITY DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
PERSONALITY DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
Workplace Discrimination
To manage diversity in the workplace, managers must understand each dimension of diversity and where each employee in the organization fits within each dimension. Managers also must understand how this affects the way
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employees view the world as well as how they view and treat each other.
Unfortunately, diversity can sometimes lead to discrimination in the workplace. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, discrimination can be defined as “the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.” The most common types of discrimination include gender, race, ethnicity, religious, age, and disability. The following sections discuss each of these in more detail.
Gender Discrimination
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Historically, the workplace has favored men over women. Women have always worked but they did not become commonplace in the workforce until the 1900s. By the time of World War II in the 1940s, many women were entering the workplace, particularly to assume jobs vacated by men who were fighting overseas in the war. After the war ended, large numbers of women remained in the workforce, but they often found themselves discriminated against.
As late as the 1960s, women in the United States were regarded as inferior to men and in the workplace, they were expected to work in jobs that supported men. These included teachers, stewardesses, office managers, secretaries, and cocktail waitresses (Kimmel 2004). Cultural stereotypes supported the belief that women cannot do jobs that were traditionally held by men. For this reason, until recent years, few women worked in professions dominated by men, such as law, medicine, higher education, and engineering. If women tried to enter these and similar professions dominated by men, they often faced discrimination and harassment (Epstein 1970). Even if they did the same work as men, women were usually paid less. Some companies actually used dual salary scales—one for men and one for women doing the same job—protected by formal company policies (Collins 2009).
Researchers have studied the gender pay gap and offered some possible explanations for it other than discrimination. These include:
Career pattern choices – Women tend to choose jobs that have a lower pay grade. For example, a woman who is an attorney may choose to work as a public defender while a man who is an attorney may choose to work for a corporation. Although in both cases, the woman and man are practicing law, public defenders earn salaries that are considerably less than those paid to corporate attorneys.
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Race and Ethnicity Discrimination
Sometimes, discrimination in the workplace is based on an individual’s race or ethnicity. Race can be defined as “a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock or a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics” (Merriam-Webster). Ethnicity, or ethnic, can be defined as “of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc.” It can also be defined as “associated with or belonging to a particular race or group of people who have a culture that is different from the main culture of a country” (Merriam-Webster).
Sometimes, people of one race or ethnicity will harbor resentment or even hatred towards people of another race or ethnicity. In the workplace, when people from different races and ethnicities interact, there is potential for discrimination.
Religious Discrimination
Religion can be defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance” (Merriam-Webster). Sometimes, people of one religion dislike people of another religion.
For example, sometimes non-Catholics have an unfavorable view of Catholics and automatically dislike anyone who identifies with the Catholic religion. When people from different religions work together, there is potential for conflict, and this can lead to discrimination. At times, it may be such an issue that people from certain religions, such as Catholicism, may not be hired if employers learn about their religion during the hiring process.
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Age can be an issue that prevents employers from hiring people. Several reasons exist for this. For example, younger people have less experience and tend to be willing to work for less wages, so it may be cheaper to hire younger employees. When someone has recently graduated from school, they may be more competent on current technology and theoretical concepts, making them preferred employees. Older people tend to have well-developed work habits and if those habits are not desirable to an employer, they may prefer to hire younger people who are still learning and can be trained to do their work in a manner that’s more acceptable to employers. Once hired, older employees may become set in their ways, disliking changes that may be needed to keep an organization viable in an ever-changing economy.
Age Discrimination
WHAT IS AGE DISCRIMINATION?
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO PREVENT AGE DISCRIMINATION?
Disability Discrimination
Society includes a number of individuals who have disabilities. A disability is a “limitation in the ability to pursue an occupation because of a physical or mental impairment” (Merriam-Webster). For example, some people cannot walk and must use a wheelchair to get around. Others are deaf or hard of hearing. Some have conditions such as autism or Down Syndrome. Others are suffering from diseases such as cancer. Some are mentally ill. These and other physical and mental impairments present limitations and can make it challenging for individuals to participate in the workforce. They may need accommodations and consideration to enable them to work.
HISTORY OF DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION back to top
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EFFECTS OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE JOB
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
Maintaining an Ethical Organizational Culture
To create an ethical organizational culture, employers must do things such as implement a code of ethics and a code of conduct. They must train employees on each of these codes and other aspects of ethics. They also must establish a good tone at the top by having leadership that practices ethical behavior, modeling it for employees. In addition, an ethical organizational culture must include a process that allows employees to report any ethics violations that they observe. As scholars such as Verschoor (2007) have pointed out, codes of ethics and codes of conduct are ineffective unless they are enforced. One way to enforce them is to ensure that employees are aware that they have a responsibility to report ethics violations and to provide them with a convenient and confidential process for doing this. back to top
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Employees have several options and strategies for allowing employees to report ethics violations.
For example, they may use an ombudsperson, which is “a person (such as a government official or an employee) who investigates complaints and tries to deal with problems fairly” (Merriam-Webster). The person named as an organization’s ombudsman must be a neutral party and someone that employees can confide in. The ombudsman must be independent and impartial, keeping information confidential. If an ethics violation complaint leads to adjudication, the ombudsman does not participate in this process.
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Employee Reluctance to Report Ethics Violations
Unfortunately, even when provided with a convenient and confidential reporting process, employees may not use it. Why do employees keep silent when they observe ethics violations? Several reasons exist for this, including the following:
ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS
OBSERVER FACTORS
ANTICIPATED NEGATIVE OUTCOMES
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Lesson Overview It is essential for organizations to be diverse and understand the different
types of discrimination that exist and can be violations of ethics and even the law. Organizations must take steps to avoid discrimination. In addition, to
maintain an ethical organizational culture, organizations must establish ways for employees to anonymously report unethical conduct. This includes
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requirements, employees have a responsibility to report any ethics violations that they observe.
Knowledge Check
Patricia is a new manager for an organization that has a very diverse workforce. Her employees include people from several races and different religions. She also has an employee who is gay. Another one of her employees uses a wheelchair. In addition, the age of her staff includes people as young as 24 to as old as 62.
Recently, Patricia has noticed that two of her employees, who perform the same type of work and are equals on staff, are frequently bickering. One of them is a young female who is Asian and openly practices Buddhism. The other is an older male who is white and follows a Protestant religion. To help her understand what may be happening between these two employees, Patricia has been studying the dimensions of diversity. Which of the following dimensions could be part of the reason these two employees are at odds with each other? back to top
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Patricia’s group of employees includes Thomas, an individual in a wheelchair. She has noticed that some of her staff like to tease him about rolling around the office. While some of this banter seems to be intended as harmless, Patricia has noticed that Thomas gets a pained expression on his face when his co-workers make comments of this nature. She is concerned that he may be experiencing enough teasing that it can be regarded as harassment, which is illegal. If Patricia decides that she needs to take action regarding this situation, which federal law will she rely on to justify her actions?
Patricia just learned that the top managers of her organization are trying to fire Eugenia, the gay person on her staff. They claim that they do not think Eugenia does satisfactory work, but Patricia disagrees. She thinks Eugenia’s work is more than satisfactory, and she believes that Eugenia is contributing excellent work to her team. Patricia has heard one of the top managers make derogatory comments about gay marriage, expressing disbelief that the federal government has made it legal for gay people to be married. She suspects the real reason the managers want to fire Eugenia is because of her sexual orientation, not her work. Patricia is trying to decide what she should do to ensure that Eugenia is not fired. Which of the following is an action that Patricia can take to support Eugenia?
Permanent Dimension of Diversity
Organizational Dimension of Diversity
Glass Ceiling
Neuroticism
Evolving Dimension of Diversity
Age Discrimination Act in Employment
Extroversion
Americans with Disabilities Act
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Patricia has been informed that a couple of employees on her staff have observed ethics violations but did not report them. They were afraid of retaliation and also did not want to be labeled as troublemakers. Which of the following is something that Patricia can do to make her employees feel more comfortable about reporting ethics violations?
Key Terms:
AGE DISCRIMINATION ACT IN EMPLOYMENT
Complaint Filing
Discrimination
Diversity
Extroversion
Race
Discrimination
Training
Agreeableness
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AGREEABLENESS
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
DISABILITY
DISCRIMINATION
DIVERSITY
ETHNICITY OR ETHNIC
EVOLVING DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
EXTROVERSION
GLASS CEILING
NEUROTICISM
OPENNESS
ORGANIZATIONAL DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
PERMANENT DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
PERSONALITY DIMENSION OF DIVERSITY
RACE
RELIGION
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