Exam 3: Managing Diversity

Discrimination is part of normal ________.

An important diversity management benefit is that as companies rely more on ________ in the workplace where diversity helps with more creative solutions.

Few if any important differences between men and women affect job performance.

Jeremy, Amanda, Taylor, and Omar work in the design department at Casuarina which makes casual and fitness related clothing for the local market. The company has been up and running for over five years and is making profit. Now they are in the process of expanding to the Japanese market where Canadian brands and quality are highly valued. The company has from the beginning embraced diversity as the founders were from Ireland and Turkey. As the company expanded, more diverse and multicultural employees were brought in. There are one or two pockets of the company where talented Caucasian employees at times seem standoffish and keep themselves apart from the rest of the employees during breaks or social occasions. -Omar arrived in Vancouver 15 years ago to attend university.He graduated in design and has worked in various companies before joining Casuarina three years ago.He is serious about his work and performs to exceptionally high standards; but he also appears as a happy-go-lucky person who enjoys socializing and partying.Other employees generally take him for the "party boy." Based on this personality characteristic Omar is reflecting ________.

Failure to comply with equal employment opportunity laws can ________.

Jackson Larkin is the general manager of Royal City Club in the business district of Toronto. The club is now over 100 years old with a proud tradition of serving its members who mostly work in finance, legal systems, and commercial properties. When the club originally was opened its membership was limited to men only. Due to pressures of the twentieth century equal opportunity movements, the club began accepting women as members in the late 1990s. The club board of directors, as well as the membership is predominantly white males with about 15% of the members now female. Jackson is reviewing the operating reports of the club. His main concern is stagnation in revenues due to very few new members coming in, operating costs increasing, competition from several new clubs in the downtown area that seemed to offer both modernized facilities, innovative services, and open memberships. Jackson is preparing a presentation to the board of directors specifically pointing out the bottom line which may be headed to closing of the club if revenues and operating budgets don't increase. He has some specific suggestions which he feels will improve the club, but at the same time he is apprehensive as he knows the club is known as the "old boys club" that is not exactly excited about anything that would change the comfort they feel in keeping the status quo. Some of the things he plans to bring up are more openness in membership, diversity in accepting new members as well as in hiring of staff, and revamping the restaurant menus to reflect the multiculturalism of the business world. -The chairman of the board of directors is retiring and has asked Jackson to come up with a list of names from which the board would choose a new board member.Jackson sighed.His first choice was Mala Howell.Mala joined the club two years ago through the connections with her father-in-law who belonged to one of the original club families.Jackson knows that she would not have a chance because of her background and gender.Despite being a Harvard graduate and vice-president at her firm,she is a woman and grew up in Jordan.Most members seem to assume she is also a Muslim,but actually she is a Christian.Jackson knows that the board would oppose her because they would only consider ________ which would include her ethnicity and gender.

Jack and Jill are discussing the new hire in their department making comments on her hair colour,skin tone,type of dress,and accent.Jack and Jill are focusing on ________.

Strategic benefit of workforce diversity is the moral and ethical view; the "right" thing to do.

A diverse workforce can be a powerful source of ________ because innovation thrives in such an environment.

Trends observed in the shifting world population indicate that the average age of the world population in increasing.Also,population over 80 is expected to more than double by the year 2040.Which of the following is a likely implication of such population trend?

Diversity as a business topic is simple to understand and widely established in all social circles and businesses today.

Women tend to be more argumentative and less willing to conform to authority than men.

Employees who may feel invisible and not important may be able to find support in ________.

Older workers are often viewed as not being flexible or adaptable,and being resistant to new technology.

Diversity is about attracting and retaining the best talent that fits in with the existing characteristics of the workforce.

Which of the following statements is TRUE of gender diversity in workplaces?

________ refers to the ways in which people in an organization are different from and similar to one another.

Management at FinnTech think the company is doing well. They have grown from the original 8 employees to the current 26. In the last year the business has been booming and they quickly needed more employees. Now the company has a comfortable mix of the original 8 men, some women and visible minorities. The original 8 run the company from executive positions. Because employment laws in Canada have changed considerably, the executives at FinnTech have made a concerted effort to bring in more women and visible minorities. The women work in less important positions in the company and most of the factory floor workers are recent immigrants and visible minorities. They know that Asians are good with figures so they brought in Anna Li to head the two-person accounting department. They even hired one of the newly arrived Syrian refugees as he was highly recommended for his technical skills. The company lounge and lunch room is a popular place for employees to mix and get to know one another although it seems that there are closed groups that are drawn to one another all the time. Tom Harrington is the HR manager and often drops in, visibly for coffee and doughnuts, but in reality to observe and listen how the employees get along. -Ben Coulter is the managers of new product development department.Ben is selecting members for a problem-solving team.He is leaning toward selecting all men as he feels they would provide solutions he wants.Which of the following team compositions is most likely to result in better team performance?

Mary belongs to a community group that requires women to wear long sleeves,long skirts or dresses,hair covered with a hat or a scarf.Her coworkers often make negative comments about her appearance.In this situation May is subjected to ________.

Male executives who champion women feel a strong ________.