SCHOOL OF Business

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

STUDENT DETAILS

Student name: Khanh Nguyen Student ID number: 20047564

UNIT AND TUTORIAL DETAILS

Unit name: Business, Society, and Policy Unit number: 200158

Tutorial group: Tutorial day and time: 3pm – 5pm
Lecturer or Tutor name: Dr Sheela Sree Kumar

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Title: The research report on racial discrimination at workplace

Length: 2000 words Due date: June 5th, 2020 Date submitted: June 3rd, 2020
Home campus (where you are enrolled): Parramatta City

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I hold a copy of this assignment if the original is lost or damaged.

I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other student’s work or from
any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the assignment.
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been submitted by me in another (previous or
current) assessment, except where appropriately referenced, and with prior permission from the Lecturer /
Tutor / Unit Coordinator for this unit.
No part of the assignment/product has been written/produced for me by any other person except where
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Student’s signature: Khanh Nguyen

Note: An examiner or lecturer / tutor has the right to not mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been
signed.
1.Introduction:
Discrimination has been associated with the long human history, which generates not solely the colorful
picture of our development but famous anecdotes regarding the world order by struggles of social classes.
Discrimination is defined as treating an individual or a group differently from others. 'The Civil Rights Act of
1964 bars prejudice based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, rendering previously common
forms of unequal treatment illegal' (Devah Pager, 2006). It generally involves low payment, labor
exploitation, and improper treatment among individuals depending on their status and skills. The research
report today emphasizes the explicit understanding of the case study of Nike's response to the racial
discrimination lawsuit on the fairness between white laborers and employees of color. This is a pretty
painful problem between whites and people of color in American society. The paper examines the ways
that racial bias is inevitable in communities by centering on two academic questions: (1) Why is
discrimination considered a problem for society? (2) What role should business play to avoid its impact?
2.Perspectives on the issue taken from a literature review:
In the research on attitudes of race and inequality at the workplace conducted in 2016 by Pew Research
Center, the study focuses on discriminatory employment practices to assess discrimination in the
recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, and retention of employees. It is found that unfair practices
preserve these spheres and express them in different ways. For example, applicants would not be at an
advantage if their names were supposed they are Black. Concurrently, the researchers also made an
investigation to observe employers' responses by sending resumes with similar qualifications that were
changed names – using a name regarded as White, such as Greg Baker, or using a name perceived as
Black; for example, Jamal Fosch. As a result, candidates with White sounding names were a half likely to
receive a callback compared to those with Black sounding names.
Moreover, when recruiters filtered the quality of curriculum vitae, White applicants with higher education
were one-third likely to be contacted more than Whites with lower degrees. While this handful of people of
color was 8 percent, to sum up, we can realize that racial discrimination at the workplace in the United
States may happen in the whole phase of recruitment before candidates have opportunities to perform
their talents (Pew Research Center, 2016).
Also, racial discrimination is used in promotion practices, such as performance management. 'White
managers highly appreciated White employees' work efficiency rather than Black workers; in contrast,
Black supervisors made similar biases in favor of White workers' (Stauffer and Buckley, 2005). In general,
the organization would be negatively impacted on the aspect of substantial long-run success unless
evaluations of worker performance and retention decisions were carried out accurately as the actual
performance. Consequently, unqualified employees might appear to be given an artificial lift, whereas the
better performance would be overlooked. Over time, this may influence the growth of a business, which
holds a company back (Isis, NiCole,& Stevie, 2010). On the one hand, 'Black people are treated as
unequally as Whites in all aspects of social life – 75 percent of Blacks treated less likely in the court, 66
percent portion in applying for a loan or mortgage, and 64 percentage in the workplace respectively' (Kim
Parker, Richard Fry, et al., 2016).
In the journal of Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd published in 2008, the authors focus on racial
discrimination in employment, housing, credit markets, and consumer interactions. However, most
arguments tend to center on other types of discrimination– such as gender, age, and sexual orientation in
the United States. They provide a shred of evidence that it is harder to measure the degree and extent of
discrimination than the act of the bias over fifty years ago. Indeed, the majority of white Americans
suppose that African or Asian Americans are most likely to either pick up job opportunities or enjoy social
benefits and incentives as equally as they do. Only a third proportion presumes that the gap between white
Americans and the rest is difficult to fill regarding promotion opportunities, salary and compensation, and
housing (Pager 2007a).
Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd generally provide an explicit understanding of contemporary forms of
discrimination in each of four domains (e.g., education, employment, healthcare, and the justice system).
Simultaneously, their journal flourishes a comprehensive discussion of individual, organizational, and
structural discrimination mechanism. More importantly, the authors also make estimates, which devalue
the level of discriminative contribution to the poor social and economic outcomes of minority groups.
Remarkably, the problem of racial discrimination remains an essential factor in manipulating the current
background of social and economic inequality.
3. An original case illustrates the actions taken by B-S-G:
The case study involves the racial discrimination lawsuit at Nike in 2016 that its employees accused of any
inappropriate step towards people of color. The situation began with former executive Ahmer Inam, who
came from India and was a senior director in data analytics. Allegations Inam made against his former
manager, and Nike comprised claims that the company racially discriminated against himself through a
prototype of terrifying adverse treatment by criticizing employees of color, not valuing their work, and
treating them like second-class citizens. Inam also argued he was denied a promotion in favor of a white
executive with less experience and was paid a salary of $75,000 less than a white colleague despite
having a similar education degree and experience (Appendix, section 1).
Fundamentally, the U.S government has built the legal barriers against contractors who have refused to
hire people of color. The fact is that the legal context aims at the adoption of broad anti-discrimination
statues that promoted to the weighty transformation in the ways of business conduct by employers,
landlords, and other key gatekeepers. As a result, the extent of opportunities for blacks in the entire
American territory was expressive in the aftermath of these legal modifications. It is presumed that federal
anti-discrimination programs directly dedicated to the improvement of black economic achievement
(Donahue & Heckman, 2016). Along with anti-discrimination laws, the affirmative action policy brought
optimistic effects on the Black communities. With this proactive approach, its major requirements for
federal contractors have been connected to a 25 percent increase in the share of minority workers and
other positive impacts on Latinos and African Americans (Edelman & Petterson, 2016).
The next battleground against racial biases at the workplace is not in the courts, but in the business world
with a transformation in norms and hiring practices. In Nike's legal response to the racial bias on May 23rd,
2016, the corporation contradicted against Inam's statement that he was worth to the promotion due to his
capabilities and contributions, and supposed his salary was proper within market range. Simultaneously, it
is said that Nike implemented a thorough investigation about Inam's allegations as well as the
circumstance related to a racial discrimination lawsuit provided by an African-American worker who was
supposed to identify a toy monkey on his desk by conversing with 35 witnesses and employees of color
(Appendix, section 2). The inquiry result did not reveal that Inam's arguments on the unequal treatment
amongst members of the organization based on race, religion, or gender could be substantiated.
As the case was reported in an April cover story in the Business Journal, a Nike human resource manager
concluded that the monkey was not 'left on the table to ridicule and fight against employees of color'
(Matthew Kish, 2019). Nike also proclaimed that the business repeatedly recommended Inam to the
Employee Assistance Program, which aims to help resolve "his mental health concerns" that appeared in
the course of his employment and contended issues with racial bias (Appendix, section 2).
From a legal standpoint, it helps to shorten the racial wage gaps as well as to produce convinced signals
to social equality based on the appropriate management and enforcement. One of the most critical
components of the expression of racial bias relies on the economic growth rate (Bhugra, 2016). The
abundance of labor supply leads to the extremely selective in hiring practices, in which employers often
tend to have their selection relevant to preferences. This is only held on the small scale of the economy
when the number of job seekers is more significant than some job openings. On the other hand, when
economic sizes expand importantly, job openings will be shared equally amongst job seekers. For
example, world war II is the ground for American economic development to reach the number one position
compared to the rest. The faster the American economy is booming, the lower the exposure of
discrimination is. According to microeconomic theories, everyone highly appreciates the availability when
the supply is acute. So, 'the increasing economic status of African Americans in the community has been
visible during this period of economic enlargement' (Smith & Welch, 2000).
4.Discussion:
The truth is that human-beings psychologically have intense responses to inequality and social hierarchy.
It entreats feelings of superiority and inferiority, dominance, and subordination – which expose to the way
we behave and treat each other. Ahmer Inam, a former Indian executive at Nike, further declared that the
racial prejudice damaged the structure of personal, social, and cultural contexts and constrained the
potential growth in all phases of an entity. Additionally, the treatment he experienced caused to his
physical and mental health issues – ‘symptoms of anxiety encompassing but not limited to tension,
despair, hopelessness, psychosomatic anxiety-related muscle and joint pains, pain attacks, sleeplessness,
nightmares, headaches, nausea, persistent cold, loss of connection with acquaintances, and loss of
appetite' (Matthew Kish, 2019).
Ichiro Kawachi, Harvard professor and researcher in this field, classified the discrimination as a social
pollutant. It can be learned that our life seems to be covered in darkness or seems like "nightmare," when
social relationships, insecurities about social status, and how others act towards us produce dominant
impacts on stress, cognitive performance, and emotions. For instance, discrimination is attributed to the
higher rate of child abuse, crime, and bullying confirmed in public places in American society a few years
ago - the cases of a mass shooting at schools. Lastly, inequality is being regarded as an essential
environmental issue, as it steers status competition; it deepens consumerism and raises personal debt.
A spokesperson for the brand stated that 'Nike is promised to build a culture of empowerment and
interpersonal respect where all organizational employees can be given an opportunistic promotion and are
likely to contribute to our success" (Appendix, section 2). If the company towards diversity, it needs to
make sure 'post jobs publicly and on widely-accessible job boards' (D.C POLICY CENTER, 2019). The first
action is connecting to applicant pools such as universities with more students of color, community
centers, or even churches where appropriate. Concurrently, internship programs can be the easeful and
low-stakes solution to give young people of color entry to valuable professional networks. This way leads
Nike to employ the source of talented workforces at the maximum level that those can make the
breakthrough innovation to make the business fly highly. By such potential employment approaches, the
vast proportion of the population is no longer feeling anxious about how they are perceived and appraised
(British Psychological Society, 2013).
The fairness commission should be established and operated under the management of the federal
government in America to ensure the unequal mitigation in all relevant sectors. By contrast, it is
challenging because 'the coalition government has not kept the promise to quash the ongoing tendency for
the richest 1% to get richer faster than the rest of the community' (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2015). I presume
that the emphasis on structural and institutional foundations of discrimination encourages us to judge how
changes will be allocated based on race with no direct prejudice or willful bias. Nevertheless, I support that
business, society, and government must identify the degree of historical practices and current policies that
may subsidize ongoing and cumulative stereotypes of racial discrimination.
5.Conclusion:
The paper focuses on the throbbing problem in American society – discrimination, which has substantial
effects on business, community, and government. What we can hear, see, and learn is just the tip of the
iceberg. Following Pew Research Center (2016) and the journal of Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd
(2008), we can find that racial bias is an important reason to not solely constrain the possibility of social
development but have the collision on human-side emotion. The studies reveal that relevant problems are
likely to generate the complicated patterns of discrimination that encompass well beyond the divisions of
black and white Americans. Simultaneously, Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd make an estimate of bias
over time as the best model to capture the comprehensive mechanism of racial stereotypes in the present
and the future.
Discrimination is one of the principal reasons for racial disparities in American society as well as many
continents. It is attributed to limited opportunities in numerous domains such as employment, healthcare,
promotion, and the level of social welfare. The consequence of existing evidence proves that its influence
has been governed by the allocation of contemporary opportunities and so many aspects resulting in the
poor social and economic outcomes of minority groups despite the significant changes of racial bias.
Though the 1960s, there were many actions with the primary purpose of discriminative mitigation and
eradication in the United States, the racial prejudice remains a core dynamic in molding the modern picture
of social and economic inequality. 'I have a tiny dream in one day that I no longer see the fire on hills in
Georgia. The children of slaves could take seats together with children of slave owners as brothers' (Martin
Luther King Jr, 1963).
6.Reference:
Bhugra D. (2016). Social discrimination and social justice, viewed on May 19th, 2020, available from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540261.2016.1210359?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (2002). “Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing
Markets: National Results from Phase 1 of HDS 2000.” Prepared by Margery Turner, Stephen Ross,
George Gaister, and John Yinger. Available from http://www.huduser.org/intercept.asp?
loc=/Publications/pdf/Phase1_Report.pdf
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 2003b. “Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing
Markets: National Results from Phase 3 – Native Americans.” Prepared by Margery Turner and Stephen
Ross. Available from http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/hds_phase3_final.pdf
Lynsey H. (2009). A hard-hitting study of the social effects of inequality has profound implications.
Published in the book on the way we live on March, 14th, 2009. Viewed on May 21th, 2020. Available from
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/13/the-spirit-level
Matthew K. 2019. Nike responds to racial discrimination lawsuit. Viewed on May 20th, 2020. Retrieved
from https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2019/05/29/nike-responds-to-racial-discrimination-
lawsuit.html
Pager D. (2007). The Dynamics of Discrimination, viewed on May 20th, 2020. Available from
http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/workingpaper06/paper11/working_paper06-11.pdf?
fbclid=IwAR1cGaTsKSYo7f7CcVat7hXsrtyJzrWfrn7OUJn1lLd-uLAOhR-Ny_i4Y1s
Pager D. & Shepherd H. (2008). The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment,
Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. Viewed on May 20th, 2020. Available from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2915460/
PEW RESEARCH CENTER: VIEWS OF RACE AND EQUALITY, BLACKS AND WHITES ARE WORLD
APART. Viewed on May 19th, 2020. Available from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/3-
discrimination-and-racial-inequality/
Social Anxiety Disorder: Recognition, Assessment and Treatment. In the publication of British
Psychological Society (2013). National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (UK). NICE Clinical
Guidelines, No. 159. Viewed on May 25th, 2020. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK327674/
Isis H. S., NiCole T. B., & Stevie C.Y.Y. 2010. Race discrimination in the workplace. Viewed on 19th, 2020.
Available from https://msu.edu/~yapstevi/Stevie_C._Y._Yap_-
_Michigan_State_University/Preprints_and_Reprints_files/Settles%20Buchanan%20Yap_Racial
%20Discrimination%20in%20theWorkplace.pdf
7.Appendix:
Section 1: The case study of Nike’s response to racial discrimination
Section 2: The legal document showing how Nike responded to racial discrimination in the organizational
working environment was published in 2019 by Nike Sports Business:
Link: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2019/05/29/nike-responds-to-racial-discrimination-
lawsuit.html