UV1167

DIFFERENCES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES:

SELECTED VIGNETTES

In an ever-changing world, certain topics—such as sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and

gender—still are hot-button items for many people. The following stories, although presented in
abbreviated form, cover a number of diversity issues, and should spark intense conversation. In
reading them, students should try to see each vignette from the different perspectives presented.

These vignettes were prepared by Jordan Dresnick (UVa ’05), Jenny Mead, Senior Ethics Research Associate,
Bidhan Parmar (MBA ’07), and R. Edward Freeman, Elis & Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration.
They were written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an
administrative situation. Copyright  2008 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville,
VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by
any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden
School Foundation.

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The Junior Consultant

Chris Johnson was a junior consultant for Craig & Company, an elite strategic consulting
firm. He was also openly homosexual. After working with Johnson on numerous strategy-related
projects, several company executives had mentioned his skills to Maggie Wilson, the managing
partner to whom Johnson reported.

One day, Michael Bollinger, CEO of Capital Resources, called Wilson. Capital
Resources was a boutique investment bank that facilitated corporate buyouts of financially
distressed companies; however, a climate of rising interest rates had led Capital’s business to
decline in recent months. Bollinger, who was a classmate of Wilson’s in business school,
believed Craig & Company could design a more innovative strategy with which Capital could
bring in new business.

Wilson told Bollinger about Johnson and the positive things she had heard about his
work. Bollinger thanked her and requested to work with him as soon as his schedule allowed.
The following week, Wilson sent Johnson to Capital Resources headquarters in Atlanta. Kelly
Mills, a recent MBA hire at Capital, greeted him at the airport. Mills and Johnson went to lunch
together and immediately began hatching new ideas for the firm. Mills was enthralled by his
ideas and began jotting them down.

Later that day, Mills took Johnson to the office and introduced him to Bollinger. She told
her boss about Johnson’s unique ideas and even offered him the notes that she took at lunch.
Bollinger was not interested. He excused himself and called Wilson.

When he got her on the phone, Bollinger angrily said, “Maggie, you said you were
sending me your best employee. I’m not comfortable with this, this….” Bollinger sputtered and
did not finish his sentence, but Wilson realized that he was referring to Johnson’s homosexuality.

“Send me someone else or I will find a real consulting firm,” Bollinger threatened.

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Kentucky Fried Faux Pas

John Williams, an associate at Righteous Advertising and Marketing, received a call from
Samantha Boloski, VP of Sales and Marketing at Great Trails Bus Lines, the largest passenger
bus company in the United States. Great Trails had suffered three quarters of losses and
decreased ridership, and needed to launch an advertising campaign to bring in new riders.

When they met, Boloski explained her vision of three separate television advertising
campaigns, geared toward three specific demographic groups: Latin Americans, Caucasians, and
African Americans. Boloski described her vision of the Caucasian-targeted advertisement. “I
would like to see a mother and father with their two children eating dinner together. Perhaps the
ad can begin with the mother cooking spaghetti for the family. At the dinner table, the family
plans a trip aboard Great Trails to go visit grandma.”

Williams nodded in agreement as he took notes.

Boloski then began to describe her vision for the African-American-targeted

advertisement. “I see a single mother microwaving Kentucky Fried Chicken for her four
children. She is planning a trip aboard Great Trails to visit her ex-boyfriend in Detroit.”

Shocked, Williams interrupted her. “Samantha, I’m black and I have never had KFC.” He
wanted to add, “Maybe your ad should also show a cotton plantation and black workers planning
to make their way to freedom along the underground bus lines.”

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A Free Cruise

Carl was the director of North American marketing for XY Clothing Company. He had
been with the company for almost five years and was well regarded by his colleagues and by
management. He was also a closet homosexual. Carl hadn’t taken a single sick day in two years,
and Lauren Smith, the vice president of marketing, wanted to show her appreciation for his
loyalty. She rewarded Carl with a week-long cruise, which he happily accepted.

Carl and his domestic partner arrived at the port to discover that 85% of the ship’s
passengers were members of the national gay rights group Equality for Homosexuals, which was
holding its annual meeting. Carl was pleased that Smith had acknowledged and supported his
sexuality.

When Carl returned to work, he thanked Smith for the cruise. She told him that he was a
great employee and an asset to the company, but did not mention anything about the annual
meeting of the gay rights group. Carl went to his desk and put up gay rights posters that he
purchased during the cruise.

At lunch, Carl told the entire marketing department about his vacation on a “gay rights”
cruise. He thanked them for their support. His colleagues were surprised by his admission about
his sexual orientation. Carl did not know that it was a coincidence that his cruise and the meeting
of “Equality for Homosexuals” happened at the same time; his peers did not know about his
orientation until he began referring to it.

After several days, Carl began to feel more relaxed at work. He began talking more freely
about gay culture and even made homosexual jokes at lunch. Before long, he put up gay rights
posters in the staff kitchen and on bulletin boards throughout the office.

The employees began to regret that Smith ever offered Carl the cruise. They wanted her
to explain about the coincidence in timing between the “Equality for Homosexuals” meeting and
Carl’s cruise. They also asked her to tell Carl to stop talking about gay issues. Even other
homosexual employees believed his jokes were inappropriate and unprofessional. Smith told
them that XY Clothing Company was committed to diversity and that they should accept his
jokes and stories in the spirit of tolerance. She also explained that the gay population was one of
the company’s key markets in the United States. She worried that news of the other employees’
reactions to Carl could cause a boycott of XY’s products by gays across the country.

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Overheard on an Airplane

Claudia Dobson was a flight attendant for North American Airlines. On a routine flight
from Atlanta to Houston, more than half of the passengers were members of the Christian Soul
Music Collective, a gospel choir.

Shortly after takeoff, Dobson entered the cockpit to bring the two pilots, Tim Daniels and
Jerry Nelson, some coffee. The two pilots had nearly three decades of collective experience as
commercial aviators. She chatted with them briefly and then left to attend to the passengers.

A few minutes later, Captain Daniels came over the public announcement system to
inform the passengers about the flight conditions and expected arrival time. When he had
finished, there was some static on the loudspeaker, then Dobson heard Nelson’s voice.

“She’s got nice legs,” Nelson said. “I wouldn’t mind getting into trouble with her.”

“Back off, brother. I’ll get into her pants before you do,” said Daniels. There was some
more crackling. Both men began laughing.

Dobson, quite appalled to overhear these comments, suddenly realized that the pilots
were unaware that they were still speaking over the public announcement system. She quickly
knocked on the door, effectively ending the discussion.

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You Call Mañana

AB Telecommunications offered operator-assisted voicemail and call-forwarding plans

for professionals and large offices. Following a corporate restructuring, new management at AB
sought to diversify its work force. AB had a long-standing record with community outreach and
philanthropic programs, and new management hoped to maintain community relations through
this employment strategy.

Jenine Sastre, CEO and president of AB, authorized John Davis, senior vice president of
HR, to hire 50 new phone operators, and specifically instructed that they all be members of a
racial or ethnic minority. HR soon advertised the positions, and before long, all were filled.
Sastre was content in knowing that her firm had hired 50 minority employees, many of whom
lacked even a high school degree.

Within several weeks of the new hires, many of AB’s customers called Sastre to
complain. They were not getting their phone messages, and often the newly hired operators were
rude and difficult to understand.

Sastre was perplexed. She knew that HR would only hire individuals capable of speaking
coherent English and figured that the new hires would be grateful to be employed, and certainly
not be rude to clients. Sastre decided to investigate the complaints by personally calling, after
hours, several of AB’s customers.

At 10 o’clock that evening, Sastre called the Law Offices of Feldman & Stein. The call
rang through to AB’s call center.

“Hello, you have reached the office of Feldman & Stein. How I may help you?”

Sastre responded, “Yes, I need to contact Mr. Stein. I have an urgent matter to discuss
with him.”

“He no is here. I tell he you call.” And with that, the operator hung up.

Taken aback, Sastre called Tough Guy Security, another office that used AB
Telecommunications for voicemail operators. As with the previous call, the phone was answered
by an AB operator.

“Hola, Tough Guy Security. ¿Cómo puedo ayudarle?

Sastre answered, “I need to hire a security guard now. Can you help me?”

“No speak English. You call mañana.”

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The next morning, Sastre marched into Davis’s office to inform him of her phone calls.
Davis was as surprised as Sastre, but responded that he had followed her guidelines to hire 50
employees of ethnic or racial minority. She then reminded him that one of the operators did not
even speak English! Davis countered, “Look: For minimum wage in Miami, this is the best we
can get. The ones who have difficulty with English have agreed to go to English conversation
classes.”

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Hip-Hopping to Princess Eggroll

Martin Klein was senior vice president of commercial lending for a large national bank.
Klein believed that successful management hinged upon a supervisor’s ability to create an
entertaining working environment. Out of affection, Klein created nicknames for each of his
employees. He referred to a Jewish employee, Dora Schwartzberg, as “Princess.” He called
African-American Tomika Lashanda Williams “Hip-Hop Master,” Asian-American Ling Cho
“Eggroll,” and another Jewish employee, David Epstein, “Big Nose.”

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Jewish Lemonade

Jennie Gonzalez, Lionel Carter, Amy Wright, and Pierre Bauman were lawyers with an
elite law practice in South Hampton, Oregon. While dining together during a business lunch,
Bauman jokingly asks the waitress for a “Jewish Lemonade.”

Puzzled, the waitress explained that she was unfamiliar with the drink. Bauman
responded, “Oh, it is a glass of tap water with several lemon wedges on the side.”

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