MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Week 2: Business environment and Diversity in Organisations

Shawkat Tanveer Rahman

Senior Lecturer, School of Business
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
What impacts business/organistional performace
Business Environment- Defined
Diversity

Individual Characteristics

Demographic Characteristics
❑ In 1950 only 29.6 percent of the U.S. workforce was female, but by
2014, women comprised 47 percent and more full-time employed
along with advanced education (resulted in improved earning).

❑ Workers over the age of 55 are an increasingly large portion of the

workforce as well, both in the United States and globally.
levels of Diversity

Personality, Value,
Work Interest, Passion
Discrimination

❑ Discrimination is to note a difference between things

❑ Unfair discrimination assumes stereotypes about groups.

▪ Refusal to recognize individual differences is harmful to
organizations and employees.
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

❑ Biographical characteristics such as

age, gender, race, and disability are
some of the most obvious ways
employees differ.

❑ Variations in surface-level
characteristics may be the basis for
discrimination against classes of
employees.
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

Age Few facts (Research driven)

❑ The U.S. workforce is aging
❑ Regarding turnover, the older
(22% and counting). you are, the less likely you are to
quit your job.
❑ No longer retire at age 70
❑ Older employees have lower
rates of avoidable absence
❑ Few misconception are ❑ Virtually no relationship between
keeping them out of the league age and job performance
- behind times, grumpy, ❑ The older workers seemed to
and inflexible. know better how to avoid severe
errors
❑ Does job performance decline
❑ Positive mood increases with
with increasing age? age
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

Sex
❑ There are no consistent male-female
differences in problem solving
ability,analytical skills, drive,
motivation sociability, or competitive
learning drive.

❑ But women earn less than men for

the same positions and have fewer
professional opportunities.
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

Race and Ethnicity Disability

❑ Employees tend to favour ❑ The U.S. Equal Employment
colleagues of their own race in Opportunity Commission
performance evaluations, classifies a person as disabled
promotion decisions, and pay who has any physical or mental
raises. impairment that substantially
❑ African Americans and Hispanics limits one or more major life
perceive higher levels of activities.
discrimination in the workplace. ❑ Workers with disabilities receive
higher performance evaluations,
but may have lower performance
expectations
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

Tenure Religion

❑ Tenure is a good predictor of ❑ U.S. law prohibits discrimination

employee productivity.
❑ Tenure and job satisfaction are
positively related.
❑ This finding is mostly for new and
in-experienced employees.
based on religion, but it is still an
issue, especially for Muslims.
❑ A finding claims that had shorter,
more interpersonally negative
interviews than applicants who
did not wear Muslim-identified
attire.
❑ Specific workdays for various
religious groups.
Biographical Characteristics and How They Are Relevant to OB

Cultural Identity

❑ Need to accommodate and

respect individual cultural
identities.

❑ A U.S. company looking to do

business in, say, Latin America,
needs to understand that
employees in those cultures
expect long summer holidays. A
Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

❑ Diversity management is the process and programs by which

managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs
and differences of others.

❑ Diversity is more successful when it is everyone’s business, not just

for certain groups of employees.
Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Attracting, selecting, developing,

and retaining diverse employees

❑ Target recruiting messages to

specific demographic
❑ groups.
❑ Ensure that hiring is bias free.
❑ Create a positive diversity climate
Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Diversity in groups

Most people in groups need a common way of looking at and

accomplishing major tasks, and they need to communicate well
with each other.

❑ Emphasize higher-level similarities among people.

❑ Groups of individuals with different types of expertise and
education are more effective than homogeneous groups.
Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Effective diversity programs

❑ Teach managers about the legal framework for equal

employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all
people.
❑ Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be more effective
at serving a diverse customer base.
❑ Foster personal development practices that bring out the skills
and abilities of everyone.
Implications for Managers
❑ Understand your organization's anti-discrimination
policies thoroughly and share them with your
employees.
❑ Look beyond readily observable biographical
characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities
before making management decisions.
❑ Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with
disabilities will need and then fine-tune a job to that
person’s abilities.
❑ Seek to understand and respect the unique
biographical characteristics of your employees; a fair
but individualistic approach yields the best performance