Ethical_Issues_in_Management

Ethical Issues in Management In management there are many ethical issues involved. A major issue in management is diversity. “Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (K.A. Green, M. López, A. Wysocki, & K. Kepner, 2008)”. Workplace diversity refers to the extent of cultural diversity within a company. In business diversity can assist businesses as to gain a better understanding of the demographics of its marketplace. “Equal Opportunity Employer” is apart of many businesses statement. This means that they prefer to have a diverse workplace and will not discriminate. “The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information (EEOC, n.d.)”. Discrimination can include age, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, sexual preference, and/or any quality that varies from the “accepted norm”. Discrimination occurs when hiring, decisions for promotions or layoffs. An excellent example that displays discrimination in promotions is the proverbial “glass ceiling”. Basically the glass ceiling refers to while we can see the position and its availability but we cannot reach that position because it is blocked. This is normally seen within genders making the glass ceiling a form of discrimination. Fortunately there are federal laws that prohibits discrimination regarding race, ethnic background, religious preference, age, and gender, while protecting those who are pregnant or disabled; sexual preference has also been debated as discriminatory. Many people if not everyone has a personal biases and prejudices. In management to be effective mangers have to know how to manage a diverse workplace. Managers must be knowledgeable on the various types of discrimination, and the consequences of discriminate. An effective manager must recognize that diversity is about the difference among individuals rather than groups. Manager should understand the need and willing to change as the organization changes to accommodate and maintain and effective diversified workplace. A well maintained diverse workplace can lead to greater productivity, customer service, and a competitive advantage which shows good favor on the management and the company. Managing a diverse workplace requires recognition and accepting of the differences among employees, promoting inclusiveness fighting against discrimination, and prejudices. Addressing and handling personnel and productivity decreases due to discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping among employees, along with complaints and legal actions against the organization immediately will also aide in the effectiveness of management. Providing a place for employees to voice problems or concerns should be set in place. Employees should be allowed to do this in private, in a group or anonymous it they choose to. They should feel safe to speak out without retribution or retaliation. Everyone that speaks out needs to know they are heard and rather or not something can and will be done to ease their concerns. Continuous training program is another effective resource that should be implemented to maintain workplace diversity without discrimination or prejudice. The purpose of the training would be to educate all employees about laws, regulations, and teach acceptance of those that are different. This training should teach that in many cases fairness does not necessarily mean equality for everyone. Information on rights should easily access and readily available upon request. An excellent example of diversity in the workplace and the discrimination that can halt it is the multiple lawsuits from female employees and job applicants against the rental company Rent-a-Center (RaC). Rent-A-Center owns and operates more than 3,000 stores in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico with the corporate headquarters located in Plano, Texas. According to Engel (2001), RaC “settled a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit, agreeing to pay $12.3 million” but did not admit to any liability. “Under the settlement agreement of Margaret Bunch v. Rent-A-Center, the money would go to some 4,600 women who are or were employed by the company, as well as others who applied for a job there between April 19, 1998, and Oct. 1, 2001. The settlement, subject to federal court approval, does not include attorneys' fees or administration costs (Engel, 2001)”. In addition, RaC is facing the Wilfong v. RaC lawsuit in Federal court (East St. Louis) involving 19 plaintiffs, which occurred after RaC acquired Thorn Americas. According to Engel (2001), this lawsuit is seeking $410 million in actual damages along with other unspecified damages. In an attempt to prevent this from happening again, while trying to raise diversity, RaC has stated “it will commit to policies and practices designed to assure gender equity (Engel, 2001)”. Included in these new policies are policies against gender discrimination, employee training on gender discrimination issues, the internal posting of promotional opportunities for all employees, and eliminating the specific weight lifting qualifications. As a member of the Margaret Bunch v. Rent-A-Center lawsuit, I can honestly say that managers were using the weight lifting qualifications as an excuse to not hire female employees, stating they could not lift as much. However, employees are not required to actually lift anything because of the use of dollies used in deliveries. Workplace diversity is the variety of cultural differences within a workplace. Diversity allows an organization to better understand it market and increases productivity. The main reasons that diversity is hard to attain, and thus maintain, are discrimination, prejudice, biases, and stereotyping. Managers must work to overcome these issues, both within themselves and within their workforce. Ongoing training and safe communication sites are a necessity in diversity management. The EEOC assists in producing diversity by producing laws and regulations against discrimination. Violating these laws and regulations can result in heavy fines and lawsuits, along with lowering the company’s public appeal. Rent-a-Center is a perfect example of this. By including items in their work requirements, they were able to weed women out of the hiring process, thus lowering their diversity levels. In order for an organization to maintain its diversity level, it must ensure that all people have the option for employment regardless of age, gender, race, and other discriminatory aspects. References EEOC. (n.d.). Overview. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/ Engel, C. (2001, November 4). Rent-A-Center to settle gender suit for $12.3 million. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Furniture Today: http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/17938-Rent_A_Center_to_settle_gender_suit_for_12_3_million.php K.A. Green, M. López, A. Wysocki, & K. Kepner. (2008). Diversity in the workplace: Benefits, challenges, and the required managerial tools. EDIS: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr022 L. Trevino & K. Nelson, K. (2007). Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How To Do It Right (4 ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.