Diversity

Most, if not all, organizations experience some form of diversity at some point. Diversity is defined as all the ways organizational members differ, including age, gender, religion, ethnicity, place of birth, sexual orientation, and abilities. A diverse organization offers different ways of looking at a situation. It is what makes a well-rounded organization. In the At Bat case, the Indian software company did not embrace diversity, thus creating dissonance and conflict within their organization. Racist comments were made against Muslim workers and the company took part in ethnic profiling by only promoting Hindus to top management positions. They imposed glass ceilings on Muslims based exclusively on race and not skill set or qualifications. During To Act or Not To Act, John Davis had an ethical duty to at least inform the upper-level managers of what he knew about the conference center and its historical significance. This was especially important since three of the upper-level managers were people of color. Throughout The Restaurant Business case, you can’t help but wonder how you would feel if you were the manger and if you were the chef. The ethical issue would be that you have to choose to either protect your business and the public by firing Tom Barbour or to protect your employee’s privacy by keeping him on board. But before you make any decisions, you must confront Barbour as to whether or not this is true. Even though you received your information from your most trusted employee, he/she may be lying to you. Obviously, your trusted employee either knows Barbour outside the restaurant or this is second hand information. If he/she associates with the chef outside the restaurant, you do not know if the employee is being vindictive and trying to get the chef fired. Or if its second hand information, rumors spread like wild fire and you cannot fire someone based on a rumor. If this information is confirmed by Barbour then you could possibly amend the policy and procedures manual, to state that all employees must submit to blood tests for transferable diseases as a condition of employment. Then you could either make Barbour wears gloves in the kitchen, if not already doing so (the kind that you cannot cut through even with a knife), or you could switch his position in the kitchen to just cooking or plating, no cutting or prep work where you use your bare hands with the food. In the Hiring Choices case, Jack Taylor was ethically the right choice. He was the most qualified candidate for the job. Even though the company was worried it might be a small investment in employing Taylor, his experience, credentials, proven track record, and engaging personality would most likely lead to increased sales for the company. Widgetwise had a strong diversity policy and they employed people regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical ability, why would they not employ Taylor just because he is blind. The DWB case’s major ethical issue was racial profiling by the police. If I was Judy Wilson, I would tell my trusted friend and manager of operations to sue the city of Grosse Point for discrimination based on racial profiling. In the case of Bipolar Disorder in the Workplace, Dodson should tell his boss that he is bipolar so that he can seek medical treatment without being worried that he will be discovered. Even if Dodson tells his boss that doesn’t mean he has to inform his co-workers if he is embarrassed. Legally and ethically his boss can’t talk about any medical problems, conditions, diseases, or disorders he has and he cannot fire him for having a medical condition. During The Screen Saver case, the Christian has all the right to keep the screen saver up because it is in his or her own working space. It is not up at the water cooler or the lunch room or where it’s a public space. The Jewish employees would be upset if they were made to take down the Star of David or any other symbol of significance to them personally or as the Jewish people. As long as the screen saver is not crude, rude, or does not violate any policies, the employee should be able to keep up the saver. Although the top two candidates were both Malaysian in the Hiring Practices case, Eric Loo should go back to the drawing board and interview Chinese candidates. The company is looking to diversify and they need someone of Chinese decent. Not only do people of diversity bring different skills to the table, they can also give you a different perception. Plus, a Chinese person would be able to help Widget in their business dealings with China. They would be able to say what is customary in the Chinese business world and what would be considered an insult. People from two different cultures perceive things differently. However in the Friday Blowout case, Angela Lopez should tell her boss that she thinks she is being profiled as “fiery” because she is Latino. Lopez should then ask her boss to call in the other two engineers and ask them what their impression of Steven Howell is since all four of them work closely together. This way the boss will get an unbiased opinion of Howell. Then the boss can decide to either retract his statements to Lopez and call Howell in for a discussion or he can continue with telling Lopez to tone it down in their meetings. Finally, my perception of the Tasty Cola case is that there are no ethical issues when it comes to developing an ethnic marketing committee to target different ethnic groups. There is no better way to get into the heads of different ethnic groups than to get someone from each of those groups to give a company insight into what is stereotypically liked by most individuals in that group. Stereotyping is not always a bad thing. When it comes to products, if you happen to like something and be a certain ethnicity and most people of that same ethnicity like it too, then I don’t see the problem. By creating an ethnic marketing committee and being able to get into the heads of people of that same ethnicity, companies will sell more of their product. Let’s face it; all companies are in the business of doing business and making money. Increased sales volume means increased profit. If there is any ethically issue at all it is not trying to increase sales by creating an ethnic marketing committee, it would be selling soda to anyone since it does not meet any basic human need. Many people do not feel the same way when it comes to the topic of diversity. But as long as organizations are growing, they are diversifying in one way or another. Diversity is what makes the world go around and it is not going away any time soon.