BBMM First Year Trimester 1

ICA component 2: Individual assignment

25.09.2021
SUBMITTED BY
B001 Heemal Jain
B002 Aayu Jayaswal
B047 Kush Shah
B055 Rachit Agrawal

Q1) Define workplace diversity and why managing is so very important?

A1) Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals
in an organization. Diversity not only includes how individuals identify
themselves but also how others perceive them. Diversity within a workplace
encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups, age, religion, sexual orientation,
citizenship status, military service and mental and physical conditions, as well
as other distinct differences between people.

Workforce diversity management is significant for the following reasons:

• Ability to Deal with Diverse Market:
Culturally diverse workforce can better appreciate the needs, feelings, and
attitudes of culturally diverse consumers. Thus workforce diversity increases
the competence of a corporation to deal with a market; that consists of diverse
consumer groups in respect of age, sex, culture etc.
• Better Decision-Making:
People from heterogeneous backgrounds may aid management in better
decision-making, by offering suggestions from a wide range of perspectives
and orientations. In fact, heterogeneous groups of people may be more
creative and innovative; when they pool their knowledge and experiences and
agree on a common solution to a tricky problem; which might aid management
in making excellent decisions for the organisation.
• Better Human Relations:
Workforce diversity management aims at developing and nurturing a common
organisational culture and climate; which enable people from diverse culture
and backgrounds to co-exist peacefully. Such a common organisational culture
and climate leads to better human relations in the enterprise and produces all-
round organisational and managerial efficiency.
• Preventing Unnecessary Labour Turnover:
When in an organisation there is good workforce diversity management;
women and other dis-satisfied people are prevented from leaving the
organisation. In case otherwise, employees leave the organisation when they
do not feel comfortable and duly cared for by management.
• Building of Goodwill of the Enterprise:
Companies with excellent workforce diversity management build goodwill in
the society. As such, talented people of society with diverse backgrounds and
culture get attracted towards it for seeking suitable employment. Such
companies never have a problem of the scarcity of skilled, educated and
talented human capital.

Q2) Explain the different types of diversity found at workplaces.How does it

impact managerial decision?
A2) Different types of diversity found at workplace are as follows:

Cultural diversity

This type of diversity is related to each person’s ethnicity and it’s usually the
set of norms we get from the society we were raised in or our family’s values.
Having different cultures in the workplace is more common in multinational
companies.

Race diversity
Race has to do with a person’s grouping based on physical traits (despite the
dominant scientific view that race is a social construct and not biologically
defined). Examples of races are African Latino and Asian.

Religious diversity

This type of diversity refers to the presence of multiple religions and spiritual
beliefs (including lack thereof) in the workplace.

Age diversity

Age diversity means working with people of different ages and, most
importantly, generations. For example, millennials, GenZers and GenXers can
coexist in the same workplace.

Sex / Gender / Sexual orientation

Sex and gender can be used in the traditional sense of male and female
employees. For example, you may sometimes hear the term “gender balance”
used by companies trying to achieve a 50-50 balance between employees who
identify as male and employees who identify as female. But, as gender is
increasingly redefined, the term “gender diversity” may be more appropriate,
since there are multiple variations in gender and sexual orientation.

Disability

There are various types of disabilities or chronic conditions included here,

ranging from mental to physical. Companies often make reasonable
accommodations to help people with disabilities integrate into the workplace,
such as installing ramps for wheelchairs or providing mental health support.
Some companies also adjust their hiring process to make sure it's inclusive.

Protected by law

The characteristics corresponding to these forms of diversity are protected by

law in many countries: these “protected characteristics” are attributes that
companies shouldn’t take into account when making employment decisions
For example, you mustn’t decide to reject an applicant for a job simply because
they’re Asian, female or a person with disabilities.

Here’s why diversity on your team will make a difference:

Diverse groups perform better and make more accurate decisions than non-
diverse groups. Companies with more gender and ethnic diversity in top
management teams have better performance and better financial returns.
Ethnically-diverse groups use more information and make better contributions
to discussions than non-diverse groups. Diversity on a team helps eliminate
groupthink. Red teaming (i.e., evaluating and challenging a plan or decision as
if you were a competing team) offers new insights and improves your decision-
making Having a designated devil’s advocate evaluate and challenge your ideas
can keep discussions rational, non-emotional, and lead to better decisions.

Q3)Explain the ethical and social responsibility issues facing managers today.

A3) Types of Ethical Issues in Business

1. Discrimination

Discrimination can occur at businesses of all sizes. It applies to any action that
causes an employee to receive unequal treatment. Discrimination is not just
unethical; in many cases, it is also illegal. There are laws to protect employees
from discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, disability, and more.
The gender and race pay gaps show that discrimination is still rampant. Other
common instances of discrimination include firing employees when they reach
a certain age or giving fewer promotions to people of ethnic minorities.

2. Harassment
Harassment is often related to racism or sexism. This can come in the form of
verbal abuse, sexual abuse, teasing, racial slurs, or bullying. Harassment can
come from anyone in the company, as well as from customers. It is an ethical
issue for the business if a supervisor is aware of harassment from a client and
takes no action to prevent it.

3. Unethical Accounting

Publicly-traded companies may engage in unethical accounting to appear more

profitable than they actually are. In other cases, an accountant or bookkeeper
may change records to skim off the top.

4. Health and Safety

An ethical issue that is often protected by law is health and safety. Companies
may decide to cut corners to reduce costs or perform tasks faster. As well as
injuries, failing to take workers’ safety into account can lead to psychosocial
risks, which can cause work-related stress.

5. Abuse of Leadership Authority

Abuse of power often manifests as harassment or discrimination. Those in a

leadership role can also use their authority to pressure employees to skip over
some aspects of proper procedure to save time, punish workers who are
unable to meet unreasonable goals, or ask for inappropriate favors. Managers
can use their position to change reports, give themselves credit for the work of
a subordinate, misuse expenses, and accept gifts from suppliers or clients.

6. Nepotism and Favoritism

Nepotism is when a company hires someone for being a family member.

Favoritism occurs when a manager treats an employee better than other
workers for personal reasons. They are unfair and also disheartening to
employees. Workers often find they have to work much harder to receive a
promotion or other rewards.
7. Privacy

Employers may punish for posts on social media, particularly if they complain
about work conditions or the company as a whole. Employers may even fire
workers who post controversial statements that go against company values.
Employers can now monitor all worker activity on laptops and cellphones.
Some employers take it further by tracking keystrokes and reading emails. This
is spying and invasion of privacy.

8. Corporate Espionage

Workers too can misuse company data. An employee may steal intellectual
property or provide a competitor with information about a client. Usually, this
is for monetary purposes, but it can also help an employee secure a position at
another firm

The social issues faced by management are -

1. Discrimination in the employment practices:

Women and minorities have generally been discriminated against as far as

careers and professions are concerned. People of the Scheduled classes in
India and black people in America have been traditionally outcast from good
job positions, future promotions and added responsibilities.

2. Labour unions:

Management and the labour unions have been considered to be at the

opposite ends of the spectrum. Unions have always been viewed as having
motives that are in conflict with those of management.

3. Support of charitable causes:

Should the management actively support and contribute towards such

charitable causes as the Red Cross or American Cancer Society, from where
there is apparently no economic gain, simply to be known as community
conscious management.

4.Policies regarding modernization

Modernization comes at a social cost of increased air pollution, urban

congestion and increased unemployment. Should the corporations become
more people sensitive and have labour intensive operations in order to give
employment to more people.

5. Marketing of products considered anti-social:

Should an organization be involved in producing or marketing such products

that affect the moral health of the community such as tobacco, cigarettes,
alcohol, drugs, and weapons and so on.

6. Export of products:

The export of products to countries which are unfriendly is an social issue,

when doing so may have adverse effect on the profits of the corporations.