Exam 12: Managing Individuals and a Diverse Work Force

According to the text, how do companies typically fare when they are accused of discrimination and must go to court to defend themselves?

U.S.-based McKinsey & Co., the global consultancy, draws its consultants from more than 40 countries. A benefit of its global hiring is that it raises cultural sensitivity. In other words, this benefits McKinsey & Co by .

_{49. When the world's biggest manufacturer of locks looked at its employee composition, it discovered that its workers} were either over 50 or under 30 because the company had done little hiring during the 1980s and 1990s. needed to get these two groups to respect each other's work abilities.

A disability is defined as a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Wal-Mart It all started when seven female employees in San Francisco sued for employment discrimination. Then a federal judge granted class-action status to the suit, allowing 1.5 million women who have worked or now work for Wal- Mart to join the lawsuit and ordered the company to turn over 250 computer tapes containing payroll, performance, and promotion data for the last six years. When those data were analyzed by a statistics professor, here is what he found: job women men women men Store Manager \ 89,300 \ 105,700 14.30\% 85.70\% Co-Manager \ 56,300 \ 59,500 22.80\% 77.20\% Asst. Manager \ 37,300 \ 39,800 35.70\% 64.30\% Mgt. Trainee \ 22,400 \ 23,200 41.30\% 58.70\% Cashier \ 13,800 \ 14,500 92.50\% 7.50\% Women were consistently paid less than men in the same jobs, especially store managers. And, while 65 percent of Wal­Mart's million­plus employees were female, a much smaller percentage of women held key management jobs, again especially store manager positions (just 14.3 percent). Even after controlling for seniority, part-time status, store location, and job title, women were still paid 34 cents less per hour than male workers. Consistent with these data, it took the average woman 4.4 years to be promoted to assistant manager and 10 years to become a store manager, compared to just 2.9 years and 8.6 years, respectively, for the average man. Of course, Wal-Mart appealed the judge's decision to expand the case from the seven original plaintiffs to the class­action suit with 1.5 million women. That appeal and then an eventual trial or settlement may take years. The question now is what does Wal-Mart do in the interim? Certainly, pressure is building for Wal-Mart to address these issues. Even Wal-Mart stockholders are not happy. A spokesperson for Libra Investments, which owns 30,000 shares of Wal­Mart stock, said, "We are increasingly concerned about the number of lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart and the number of negative articles in the press. We believe there is a long-term financial risk to shareholders, from community resistance to stores to [price-to- earnings] contraction." One of the things Wal-Mart decided in response is that it will promote women and minorities proportionate to how many apply for managerial jobs. Lee Scott, Wal­Mart's CEO, said, "If 50 percent of the people applying for the job of store manager are women, we will work to make sure that 50 percent of the people receiving those jobs are women." Not everyone, however, believes this is an equitable or legal solution. Roger Clegg, a lawyer for the Center for Equal Opportunity in Virginia, said, "Based on what [CEO Lee] Scott said, that's fine if 50 percent of the people who are most qualified happen to be female, but if all the most qualified applicants are women, they should be hiring all women, not just 50 percent. And conversely, if less than 50 percent women are the most qualified, they shouldn't be hiring 50 percent women. Wal-Mart, in its panic to reassure people that it wouldn't discriminate against women and minorities, is saying it will be discriminating against men and non-minorities, and that's illegal." Wal­Mart, however, maintains that its approach is fair, legal, and does not constitute a quota for the promotion of women and minorities. The other significant change that Wal-Mart is making to its organizational structure and leadership is the addition of a corporate compliance department, which will be responsible for overseeing workers' pay as well as work hours and breaks (Wal-Mart has also been sued for allegedly not paying workers the overtime pay they deserved and for not giving workers the work breaks to which they're entitled on a daily basis), and for making sure that Wal­Mart's practices are in compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws wherever it does business throughout the world. CEO Lee Scott described the 140­person compliance office as "the eyes and ears of the board and management team." -Refer to Wal-Mart. The promotion of women and minorities proportionate to how many apply for managerial jobs is most similar to .

Which of the following paradigms for managing diversity is similar to the business growth advantage of diversity?

The three different methods or paradigms for managing diversity are the discrimination and fairness paradigm, the access and legitimacy paradigm, and the learning and effectiveness paradigm.

Unilever Unilever has operations in 150 countries. Recently, Unilever took 100 of these top managers on a jungle retreat to Costa Rica. To the dismay of Unilever's chair, there were no women in the group. Upon investigation, he learned that only one woman had even been invited. As the retreat progressed, its participants commented on the richness of diversity in nature and how everything needs diversity to grow. These comments caused Unilever's chair to establish an executive committee to examine practical ways to overcome barriers to women's promotion. They decided to avoid setting numerical targets because they encourage positive discrimination and instead examined recruitment and promotion practices. -Refer to Unilever. A need to be concerned about diversity was revealed by the retreat in Costa Rica.

Affirmative action is required by law for all private employers, and diversity is voluntary.

For a typical company, employee turnover costs amounts to more than 90 percent of the employees' salaries.

Older workers .

List the Big Five Personality Dimensions. How does an understanding of these dimensions benefit managers?

Bentley College launched a comprehensive diversity initiative that includes frequent diversity retreats for faculty, staff, and student leaders; innovative recruitment efforts; employee benefits for domestic partners; and extensive support services focused on race, gender, and disability. Bentley uses the paradigm for managing diversity.

Organizational plurality is consistent with:

Affirmative action is required by law for all private employers, and diversity is voluntary.

To make sure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else, organizations can .

Diversity helps companies save money by reducing turnover, decreasing absenteeism, and avoiding expensive lawsuits.

_{71. The term refers to the degree to which someone is organized, hard-working, responsible, persevering,} Thorough, and achievement-oriented.

The world's biggest manufacturer of locks is part of a national program in which employers are encouraging workers to continue working as long as they are physically able. To help its aging workers, the lock maker has provided them with magnifying lenses that give them the vision acuity they need to work on the small parts within a lock. These lenses are an example of .

helps companies grow by improving the quality of problem solving and improving marketplace understanding.