Gordon CH 03

70 70
The Diverse Workforce: Individual

Differences, Personality, and Career
Development
Learning Objectives
After completing Chapter 3, you will be able to
1. Discuss the advantages of diversity in the workplace.
2. Diagnose the impact of gender, race, age, and physical abilities in the
workplace.
3. Identify some dimensions of personality, and show how they influence
behavior in organizations.
4. Diagnose the impact of values and attitudes on organizations.
5. Identify new forms of careers and their impact on individual and
organizational performance.
6. Identify the costs and benefits of family friendliness in the workplace.
7. Show how cross-cultural differences can influence behavior and
attitudes in the workplace.
8. Offer two strategies for managing a diverse workforce.
3
3
C h a p t e r
71
A Managers Preview
Describe . . . Diagnose . . . Prescribe . . . Act
I Acknowledge the value of diversity in the workplace.
I Remove obstacles encountered by women, minorities, older workers, and
physically challenged employees.
I Know how personality differences affect a persons work.
I Recognize the role values and attitudes play in job performance.
I Help workers build effective careers.
I Develop programs to help workers create worklife balance.
Companies That Seek Diversity
Outperform the S&P 500
1
N
umerous companies have discovered that increasing the diversity of
their workforce pays off in improved performance, happier customers,
and more satisfied employees. Consider Wal-Mart. Much of Wal-
Marts substantial growth has come in urban areas, prompting the retailer to
diversify its humongous 800,000 workforce to capitalize on local talent pools
and do what it does best: sell. Catering to minority customers is far more effec-
tive when a company addresses the distinctions that drive purchasing decisions
among various ethnic groups. So putting more people of color on the sales
floorand in executive positionsis really a no-brainer in this company.
2
Now consider the role Glen Toney plays at Applied Materials, a $4 billion
manufacturer of semiconductor equipment. A 20-year employee of the company
and group vice president of corporate affairs, Toney mentors several of the com-
panys minority employees and keeps top executives informed about promising
minority workers. He notes that people who come aboard here have to move
faster than they ever have before, and the organization is complex and can be
frustrating. The fatherly role Toney and others play helps explain the companys
reputation in the Silicon Valley as a good place for people of color to work.
3
Toyota tries to locate highly competent minority candidates. A member of
the minority advisory board commented, Theyll go outside the automobile
industry to get somebody who is energetic and shows promise and wants to
become an automobile dealer. Then that person will take an awful lot of school-
ing and training. This enthusiasm about minority employees attracts many
minority customers who recognize a companys reputation as being minority-
friendly.
4
Other global companies also benefit from having a diverse workforce
that can relate to its customers from many cultures.
71
Maria Elena Lagomasino, the senior managing director of Chase Manhattans
Global Private Banking Group, oversees the investments of some of the worlds
wealthiest people. Her effectiveness stems in part from her ability to understand
people from diverse cultures. Her Cuban roots have helped. If you are bicultural,
you understand that there are different ways of doing things . . . When I got into
private banking with Latin American customers, I found my ability to understand
their reality a great advantage.
5
I
These companies recognize the value of a diverse workforce. Each of them has
acknowledged the importance of minority customers and employees. Other com-
panies recognize the value of having women, older workers, and physically chal-
lenged employees as part of their workforce, and meet the challenge of ensuring
that they have a diverse group of employees.
In this chapter, we look at individual differences that affect performance. We
first look at the nature of workplace diversity. Then we examine a series of demo-
graphic characteristics of the workforce that affect the workplace. We next explore
the impact of personality, followed by attitudes and values, on individual behavior.
We then examine the ways people build careers and how they handle the worklife
challenges they face. We conclude with a return to issues of diversity in the dot-com,
global workplace.
THE DIVERSE WORKPLACE
Demographics, competition for talent, marketplace demands, and the changing
environment call for a diverse workforce. This workforce includes (and treats
equally) men and women, employees with differing ethnic backgrounds, younger
and older workers, physically challenged employees, and other workers who differ
from the dominant group of white, male employees in the United States. By bring-
ing a greater pool of talent to the workplace, diversity often results in better deci-
sion making, an increased understanding of customers needs, and a greater
staffing ability.
Changes in the workplace have made cultural ethnocentrism, the belief in the pre-
eminence of ones own culture, dysfunctional in a global economy. Managers in the
United States have rejected cultural ethnocentrism for the following reasons:
I respect for individual and cultural differences;
I a legal system that values equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the
workplace;
I a global economy that markets goods and services to diverse cultures;
I belief in the benefits of hiring workers that resemble their customers; and
I an already-changing workforce.
Managers at companies such as Wal-Mart, Applied Materials, Toyota, and Chase
Manhattan who understand the uniqueness of each employee can create collabora-
tive relationships among people with different skills, abilities, experiences, aspira-
72 PART II Individuals in Organizations
tions, and expectations. Some managers need encouragement to develop positive
attitudes about people different from themselves and to recognize the unique con-
tribution and potential of each employee. Understanding the ways people might
differ is a first step in dealing with diversity.
The number of women, racial and ethnic minorities, older workers, and physically
challenged workers has increased in the last decade. These groups will remain a sig-
nificant part of the workforce. They bring different and important perspectives to the
workplace that can help companies attain a competitive advantage. In this section, we
briefly comment about the issues related to managing these groups of workers.
Women in the Workplace
A dramatic increase in the numbers and percentage of women in the workplace has
occurred. This change has resulted from equal employment and affirmative action
legislation, the feminist movement, and economic realities. Even today, women still
earn less than their male counterparts. For example, full-time working womens
earnings were 76 percent of mens earnings in 1998. White workers, middle-aged
workers, older workers, and those with only a high school education experienced
the greatest gender earnings wage gap. Earnings of women with college degrees
increased by close to 22 percent in the past two decades. This improvement con-
tributed in part to an increase in the earnings differences between white women
and black and Hispanic women in the same time period.
6
As their representation has increased, women continue to experience unique
concerns and problems. Womens lives differ from mens because they have respon-
sibility for child bearing and generally assume primary responsibility for child rear-
ing. Women more often than men choose to reduce their work commitment to
part-time or conduct their careers in a serial fashion, spending time as a full-time
wife and mother before reentering the workplace. In one study, part-time work was
associated with less interference between work and family responsibilities, better
time management ability, and greater life satisfaction for women.
7
In a different,
three-year study of 1,000 female managers by Catalyst, a New York research firm
that focuses on womens issues, the women who worked part-time said they were
happier and more productive than when they worked full-time.
8
Part-time work
generally allows women to better balance work and family needs. Yet part-time work
can also slow a persons career advancement and result in lower salaries.
The glass ceiling may hinder womens advancement.
9
This invisible barrier to
movement into top management results from discrimination in the workplace, the
inability of women and minorities to penetrate the old boys network, and the ten-
dency of executives to promote others like themselves. While the number of top
women business leaders has increased, their movement onto boards of directors
and top executive positions remains stalled. For example, the chemical industry has
few women in top-level positions, and women represent less than 10 percent of
board seats in a survey of 48 companies.
10
Sex role stereotyping is more problem-
atic in firms with relatively low proportions of senior women.
11
Yet some firms have overcome the glass ceiling. Zale Corporation, a large jewelry
retailer, has nine women among the 25 in the companys management group and three
of five executive officers. Neiman Marcus has its first woman CEO; Avon and J.C. Pen-
ney have significant numbers of women in top positions. The increase in the number of
women in top positions has resulted from women professionals who entered companies
in the 1970s and 1980s and now have the bottom-line experience to assume top-level
CHAPTER 3 The Diverse Workforce: Individual Differences, Personality, and Career 73
positions.
12
Even very traditionally male countries have begun to see cracks in the glass
ceiling. Maria Asuncin Aramburuzabala, a vice president of Grupo Modelo, the family-
run maker of Corona beer, has broken new ground for women in Mexico. She recently
led her company in obtaining a 20-percent stake in Grupo Televisa, a Mexican media
giant. Compaq Computers Mexican subsidiary also has a woman leader.
13
The same problems apply to women in Europe. While the European workforce
includes 41 percent women, they hold only 29 percent of management jobs, less
than two percent of senior management jobs, and only one percent of board seats.
Women earn up to 40 percent less in manufacturing jobs and 35 percent less in
service jobs. The slow progress results from lack of child care, as well as womens
unwillingness to ask for flexibility.
14
Women hold only 14 percent of international management assignments, prima-
rily because companies have been unwilling to send them overseas. Myths that
women do not want to be international managers and that foreigners may be preju-
diced against women expatriate managers have been shown to be untrue. The senior
manager of human resources in Asia for Cisco Systems argues that Western women
are generally well received in other countries because theyre not expected to con-
form to the same standards as local women and so can function more as they would in
the same job in the United States. Womens desire and ability to do high-quality work,
as well as support from senior management, further bolster their position abroad.
15
Companies can increase the likelihood that high-potential women will accept
overseas assignments in a number of ways. First, they can help them break through
the glass ceiling and assume top-level management positions. Second, they can cre-
ate career development programs that include international assignments. Third,
they can develop a systematic way to identify potential expatriates and convince
them to seek international assignments. Fourth, top executives can make sure
women receive predeparture cross-cultural training. Fifth, they can provide support
that helps women address family needs, such as child care and relocation for their
spouses. Finally, they can publicize successful women expatriates.
16
Race in the Workplace
The percentage of African Americans in the workplace has increased significantly
in the past 25 years, due in large part to affirmative action requirements.
17
Now
African Americans have assumed more jobs in the executive suite. Lloyd Ward, for
example, who began his life in a 400-square-foot house with no running water, rose
to become CEO of Maytag Appliances after successful stints at Procter & Gamble
and Pepsico. Ward notes, There are many who are systematically excluded. [But]
the oppressed have to overcome the prejudices of society. Knock on the door, pull
on the handle, and, if you have to, dismantle the hinge.
18
Race combined with gender can create a particularly potent barrier that pre-
vents women of color from advancing into executive positions.
19
Some African
American women have made it to the upper echelons of power and influence.
20
They work for companies such as American Express, Kraft Foods, IBM, and Xerox,
and hold executive positions such as president, chief executive, executive vice pres-
ident, and vice president. Reducing stereotypes and promoting workers on the basis
of ability and demonstrated competence presents a major challenge for managers.
The Corporate Few, an informal network of African American employees initiated
in 1971, mentors young African Americans.
21
In spite of these advances, discrimination continues to exist. Major League Soc-
cer (MLS) fined a New England Revolution player $20,000 for using a racial slur
against a teammate during a practice. The MLS then used the fine to pay for diver-
sity training seminars for all league teams players, coaches, and administrative per-
sonnel.
22
NASCAR, the automobile racing organization, suspended two white crew
members who mimicked the Ku Klux Klan in a prank on an African American crew
member; the drivers who employed the suspended crew members later terminated
their employment.
23
Racial incidents also occur outside the United States. Ford Motor Companys
Dagenham, England, plant experienced a series of racial incidents that contributed
to a one-day wildcat strike that shut down the assembly line for Ford Fiestas. The
most recent racial incident occurred when Ford failed to punish a supervisor
accused of pushing an Asian employee; Ford had previously acknowledged that
managers had abused this employee for four years, including making him work in
an oil-spraying room without protective clothing. Ford CEO Jacques Nasser agreed
to establish committees at each of the companys 13 British plants to ensure that
managers pay attention to discrimination complaints.
24
Reducing stereotypes and promoting workers on the basis of ability and
demonstrated competence present a major challenge for managers. Texaco, which
agreed to pay $175 million to settle a racial discrimination suit, is becoming a
model employer in diversity initiatives. Three years after the settlement, four in ten
new hires and 20 percent of promotions were minorities. The CEO has helped
establish goals and timetables designed to transform the culture to one that sup-
ports and encourages minority retention and advancement.
25
Older Workers
Organizations face a dramatic increase in the number of older workers as the baby
boomers age. Predictions call for almost a doubling of the number of senior citi-
zens by 2025.
26
At the same time, current and projected labor shortages make older
workers an important source of employees. Wells Fargo & Company, for example,
buses retirees from Sun City, Arizona, to the banks operations center in Tempe,
Arizona.
27
Problems in the hiring and advancement of older workers can arise from
stereotypes about their skills, energy, and interests. Managers should recognize that
the myths about older workers inability to learn, slow speed of response, and
inflexibility are not true. Older workers can demonstrate the same creativity, adapt-
ability, and manageability as younger workers.
Some companies discriminate against older workers. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission has accused TJX of harassing and firing workers over age
40 because of their age. TJX has also been blamed for subjecting older employees
to a hostile work environment due to verbal harassment, unfair discipline, and
overt hostility.
28
Age combined with gender or race can have a particularly powerful
effect in encouraging wage disparities.
29
Some companies have begun to institute part-time and modified full-time work
arrangements for older workers. This schedule allows them to avoid the boredom
often associated with retirement and to earn additional income. REH Marketing
pays senior citizens an hourly rate to ask supermarket shoppers to sample different
products.
30
Managers will need to work with many of these older Americans who
remain in the workforce after the age of 70.
31
Physically Challenged Employees
The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1978 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 have made the workplace in the United States more accessible to people with
physical disabilities. While certain disabilities may prevent a person from performing
particular jobs, managers cannot discriminate in hiring, promoting, evaluating, or
compensating physically challenged workers. For example, managers cant prevent
blind, physically handicapped, or deaf workers from holding jobs for which they are
qualified. The increased success of disabled workers has helped overcome myths about
their inability to perform jobs, fit into a companys culture, or socialize with other
workers. Managers should look for qualified people to perform specific jobs and then
make reasonable accommodations for a disability that doesnt create undue hardship
for the employer.
32
Microsoft, with the National Business and Disability Council,
helped create a coalition of 23 firms that agree to hire disabled professionals.
33
By law, organizations must remove physical barriers that prevent access to job
locations for physically impaired employees; for example, they might install special
ramps or elevators for wheelchair-bound workers. Some companies even make spe-
cial provisions, such as specialized reading equipment for blind employees, to allow
physically challenged employees to perform their jobs. Advances in computer soft-
ware have helped some disabled workers perform more successfully. For example,
voice recognition and interpretation and speech recognition software support the
work of blind or partially sighted employees; IBMs Home Page Reader lets a blind
employee surf the Web and use it for research, shopping, and e-mail.
34
Recent leg-
islation also awards states $150 million over five years to develop programs to sup-
port disabled citizens who want to work.
35
Some argue that the Americans with Disabilities Act has had the unintended
consequence of increasing the cost of employing disabled workers so much that
firms find employing them unattractive.
36
Increased numbers of lawsuits may have
benefited attorneys more than the disabled employees they represent.
37
Yet, partic-
ularly in a tight labor market, employees have begun to view disabled employees as
an important source of workers. A Sears store manager in Massachusetts, for exam-
ple, built a stockroom next to an employees work area when he realized that a
physically challenged employee couldnt walk to the stockroom on another floor
because of her disability.
PERSONALITY
We can describe workers according to other individual characteristics besides gen-
der, race, and age. An individuals personality influences his job performance.
What Is Personality?
Personality refers to a set of distinctive personal characteristics, including motives,
emotions, values, interests, attitudes, and competencies. How would you describe
Glen Toneys personality? We might describe him as extroverted and competitive.
We might describe him as having a Type A personality or being high in self-efficacy.
His heredity and his social, cultural, and family environments likely influenced his
personality. His personality in turn influences the way he acts. For example, his per-
sonality might cause him to naturally set challenging goals and rely on his relation-
ships with others to achieve them. How would you describe the personality of other
employees of Applied Materials? Of Toyota, Wal-Mart, or Chase Manhattan?
The personalities of top executives can help explain dysfunctional organiza-
tions.
38
For example, an executive who believes that no one can be trusted often cre-
ates an organization in which secrecy and guardedness characterize the culture. Or
a manager whose personality reflects a need for control will often create an organi-
zation that relies too much on formal controls and direct supervision to accomplish
the organizational goals. An attempted merger between SmithKline Beecham and
Glaxo Wellcome collapsed the first time in part because of a clash between the
charismatic CEO of SmithKline and the strong-willed top executive of Glaxo Well-
come over who should run the new company. Now they have given the leadership of
the combined company to a third person, characterized as a patient, highly disci-
plined executive who can provide calming and authoritative leadership.
39
Measuring Personality
Trained and certified professionals generally assess personality in three ways:
I Personality inventories require the person to answer questions that describe
the respondents personality.
I Projective tests require the person to describe what she sees in a picture or
relatively ambiguous stimulus, such as an inkblot. A detailed scoring protocol
places the person along numerous personality dimensions.
I Simulations, role-playing exercises, and stress interviews require the person to
behave in specific situations. An observation and scoring protocol categorizes
the person along dimensions such as adaptability, assertiveness, or dominance.
Managers might use information collected from these instruments as part of
the pre-employment screening process or promotion decisions. A 1997 survey by
the Society for Human Resources Management indicated that 22 percent of U.S.
companies use personality tests to screen candidates. For example, companies use
the 50-adjective Predictive Index to help determine the most suitable type of work
for potential and current employees. Others use the Sales Success Predictor to
measure confidence, aggressiveness, initiative, and creativity for potential salespeo-
ple.
40
After administering a test to help understand an employees personality, the
manager can examine how personality affects the workers behavior. Will the
employee likely work well on a team? Does the employee have a drive to succeed,
demonstrate compatibility with others, and have positive feelings of self-worth?
41
The manager can then adjust the work situation to better match workers personal-
ities and hence obtain better outcomes. For example, BellSouth and TManage have
agreed to sell Team Telework Connections, which helps set up telecommuting pro-
grams. The package includes personality tests that can help determine whether
employees are suitable for telecommuting.
42
Personality Traits and Attributes
Psychological research has identified many traits and attributes, some measured by
the previously mentioned instruments, that compose a persons personality. In this
section, we examine five personality dimensions, composed of these traits and
attributes, that managers could consider in assessing on-the-job behavior. Managers
can benefit by knowing how these dimensions might influence employee behavior.
Describing and analyzing a persons personality can suggest some issues managers
should consider in managing that employee.
InternalizersExternalizers. People differ in the extent to which they believe
that their behaviors influence what happens to them:
43
I Internalizers feel that they control their own lives and actions.
I Externalizers believe others control their lives.
Assume that a manager has two subordinates: Jeff Smith is an internalizer, and
Stan Jenkins is an externalizer. How might these two men differ in their views of the
best way to advance in an organization? Smith might believe that he can control his
advancement, whereas Jenkins might not. Smith might take personal responsibility
for implementing advancement strategies, while Jenkins would probably rely on his
managers guidance. Managers need to recognize the nature of employees person-
alities as part of coaching and developing them. For example, they can answer the
questions shown in Activity 3-3 to help them assess whether their employees are
internalizers or externalizers.
Type AType B. Type A or Type B characteristics reflect an individuals desire
for achievement, perfectionism, competitiveness, and ability to relax.
I Type A individuals feel competitive, are prompt for appointments, do things
quickly, always feel rushed, and are often angry and hostile.
I Type B individuals are relaxed, take one thing at a time, and express their
feelings.
44
If you complete the scale in Figure 3-1, you will have a sense of whether you have
a Type A or a Type B personality. In general, Type A employees are more prone to
stress and may suffer more often from poor cardiovascular health.
45
A group of Type A
Canadian nurses, for example, showed greater job stress and role pressures, but also
higher job involvement, effort, and attendance, than a group of Type B nurses.
46
According to one Silicon Valley consultant, Type A executives can exhibit stress
in one of four ways:
I Hostility/impatience. They believe that everyone is incompetent and so
intimidate others, who then fear them.
I Compulsiveness/perfectionism. They want to do everything themselves
because they cant live with their own or others mistakes.
I Competitiveness. They want to win at all costs.
I Chronic tension. They are multitaskers who make others ill at ease by their
hyperactivity.
47
Finding ways to recognize and correct the causes of stress becomes critical. Yet,
some Type A characteristics, such as time urgency and ambition, may decrease as peo-
ple age.
48
The positive aspects of Type A behavior may contribute to success, whereas
the negative aspects can affect a persons health and interpersonal relationships.
IntroversionExtroversion. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), a test
based in Jungian psychology, uses peoples preferences to indicate their overall per-
sonality type.
49
The information can help managers assess how their employees
gather information, make decisions, and evaluate alternatives.
First, we can classify people according to their basic interactions with others.
50
Introverted (I) types tend to be shy; they like quiet for concentration, dislike inter-
ruptions, and work contentedly alone. Having the ability to concentrate intensely
and develop ideas, this type tends to be reflective and inwardly directed. Extroverted
(E) types tend to be outgoing and sometimes aggressive. They like variety, enjoy
functioning in a social environment, often act quickly without thinking, and may
dominate situations or people. This type focuses on people and things.
Second, people acquire information by either sensing or intuition. Sensing (S)
types like action and getting things done. They focus on facts, data, and details.
Although they tend to be pragmatic, precise, and results-oriented, they can reject
innovations. They work steadily and reach a conclusion step-by-step. Intuitive (I) types
dislike doing the same thing repeatedly and enjoy learning new skills. They may leap
to conclusions quickly and often follow their inspirations and hunches. They tend to
be imaginative, creative, and idealistic, but can be unrealistic or scattered.
Third, people make decisions by thinking or feeling. Thinking (T) types excel at
putting things in logical order and respond more to peoples ideas than to their feel-
ings. Characterized as analytical, rational, logical, and impersonal, they can undervalue
Circle the number on the continuum (the verbal descriptions represent endpoints)
that best represents your behavior for each dimension.
Am casual about appointments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Am never late
Am not competitive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Am very competitive
Never feel rushed, even under 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always feel rushed
pressure
Take things one at a time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Try to do many things at
once; think about what I am
going to do next
Do things slowly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Do things fast (eating,
walking, etc.)
Express feelings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sit on feelings
Have many interests 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Have few interests outside
work
Now score your responses by totaling the numbers circled. Then multiply the total
by 3. The interpretation of your score is as follows:
Number of Points Type of Personality
Less than 90 B
90 to 99 B
100 to 105 A
106 to 119 A
120 or more A
FIGURE 3-1
Completing this
questionnaire can help
determine whether you
have a Type A or
Type B personality.
Source: (Adapted from R.W. Bortner, A short rating scale as a potential measure of pattern A behavior,
Journal of Chronic Diseases 22 (1966): 8791 with kind permission from Elsevier Science Ltd, the
Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington OX5 16B, United Kingdom.
feelings or be overly critical. They need to be treated fairly and tend to be firm and
tough-minded. Feeling (F) types like harmony and respond to individuals values and
feelings, as well as to their thoughts. They tend to be persuasive, sympathetic, sensitive,
and loyal. They enjoy pleasing people, but can be overly sensitive or moody.
Fourth, people also differ in the way they evaluate information about the world.
Judging (J) types like to get things finished and work best with a plan. They are
organized, settled, and structured, but dislike interrupting their tasks and can be
closed-minded and inflexible. Perceiving (P) types adapt well to changing situations
and do not mind last-minute changes. They tend to be open-minded, curious, and
flexible. They may begin many projects but have difficulty finishing them, or they
may postpone unpleasant tasks.
Managers can think of employees along combinations of the four dimen-
sionsfor example, introverted-sensing-thinking-judging (ISTJ). Figure 3-2 shows
the 16 combinations, or personality types. Such a categorization may help managers
understand their employees actions, match employees to jobs, and explain differ-
ences in employees perceptions of various situations. Diagnosing these types may
also help managers understand why different employees demonstrate different
styles in performing their work. Managers can then respond to the unique aspects
of each workers personality.
Managers can also think of their own personality types and use this diagnosis to
explain their reactions to work situations. Some evidence suggests that managers
with different types of personalities differ in conflict resolution, risk taking, and task
performance.
51
Consider a manager with a poorly performing employee. A man-
ager with a thinking personality type conducts a logical, systematic inquiry into the
situation before acting. A feeling-type manager, in contrast, might first assess the
employees feelings. The effectiveness of the managers interaction with the
employee will depend on both the managers and the employees personalities and
resulting behaviors.
Machiavellianism. An individual with a Machiavellian personality demonstrates
manipulative and unethical behavior and attitudes.
52
(The term can be traced back to
the principles for government analyzed in a treatise titled The Prince, written by the
Italian political philosopher Niccol di Bernardo Machiavelli around 1500.) The 20-
question Mach IV scale, typically used to measure Machiavellianism, indicates the
degree to which the respondent believes others can be manipulated in interpersonal
situations.
53
High scorers tend more than low scorers to manipulate, persuade others,
win, and regard persons as objects; these are not necessarily negative characteristics
ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTS
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
FIGURE 3-2 The Myers-Briggs Scale identifies sixteen types of personalities.
(I introverted, E extroverted; S sensing, I intuitive; T thinking, F feeling;
J judging, P perceiving.)
for particular types of job holders.
54
Salespeople with high Machiavellian traits, for
example, show higher sales volume but receive lower overall ratings from their man-
agers, likely because of some friction between the manager and salesperson.
55
Self-Efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to peoples perceptions about whether they can
successfully perform a task. It influences the difficulty of goals, commitment to
goals, and tasks selected by employees.
56
A manager can help increase a persons
self-efficacy by giving him a better understanding of a task and its environment. The
manager can also provide training for the employee to help him use his abilities
more effectively and develop better strategies for doing the task.
57
Increasing self-efficacy seems to increase an individuals performance in organ-
izations.
58
Self-schemas (see Chapter 2) influence an individuals self-efficacy. An
individuals knowledge about himself also influences his self-efficacy. So do his
beliefs about the nature of specific aspects of his social situation.
59
INDIVIDUAL VALUES AND ATTITUDES
A persons values and attitudes develop over time, beginning in early childhood.
Values and attitudes are linked to personality and can influence behavior. If man-
agers understand how values and attitudes affect workers, they can diagnose the
reasons for workplace problems more effectively. Once diagnosed, they can also
prescribe ways to solve such problems.
Values
Values refer to the basic principles and tenets that guide a persons beliefs, attitudes,
and behaviors. Values tend to be relatively stable characteristics, often developed
throughout childhood. They become evident in work and nonwork settings
throughout adulthood. Peoples values can influence their beliefs about money,
social interactions, the importance of work, and other aspects of their work and
nonwork lives. People who demonstrate a work ethic, for example, believe that they
should do a good days work for a good days pay and live a simple life.
Core values are more susceptible to change, and peripheral values are less suscep-
tible. A research study of Israeli workers indicated that organizational influences
affect peripheral values, and nonwork influences affect core values.
60
Managers
would have difficulty changing a workers core values through training or other
interventions, but a parent, spouse, or friend, or even a powerful religious experi-
ence, might alter them. Diagnosing the impact of core values on work situations
helps managers place workers in appropriate situations.
Attitudes
An attitude refers to a persons tendency to consistently respond to various aspects of
people, situations, or objects. We infer attitude from a persons statements about their
beliefs and feelings. We infer peoples attitudes from what they say, what they do, and
how they react. We might, for example, determine a persons job satisfaction by infer-
ring it from her general demeanor on the job or by asking her to describe her satis-
faction. We can also use attitude surveys or other attitude scales to assess employees
attitudes toward their job, co-workers, supervisor, or the organization at large.
61
Diverse workforces include people with varying attitudes. People have an array
of beliefs, formed in large part from their socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds
and other experiences. These varying beliefs likely result in different attitudes.
Research about the relationship between attitudes and behaviors has primarily stud-
ied U.S. workers. Would South African, Dutch, or Chinese workers have the same
attitudes? Would the same behaviors result from the same attitudes? Because we can
only conjecture about the association of attitudes and behaviors outside the United
States, we need to describe and diagnose situations as accurately as possible. Once
we understand particular attitudes and their impact on specific work situations, we
can prescribe ways of changing either the attitudes or the situation to result in more
productive outcomes.
Components of Attitudes. Attitudes have a cognitive, affective, and behavioral
component.
62
I Cognitive. Individuals have beliefs about a certain person, object, or situation
that they accept as true based on their values and experiences. These learned
beliefs, such as you need to work long hours to get ahead in this job, lead to
specific attitudes. Although we have many beliefs, only some lead to attitudes
that have an impact on our behavior in the workplace.
I Affective. People have feelings that result from their beliefs about a person,
object, or situation. A person who believes extra effort deserves praise may feel
angry or frustrated when she puts in extra effort but her manager doesnt
acknowledge it. The affective component becomes stronger as a person has
more frequent and direct experience with a focal object, person, or situation
and as the person expresses her feelings about that object, person, or situation
more frequently.
63
I Behavioral. Behavior occurs as a result of a persons feeling about a focal
person, object, or situation. A person may complain, request a transfer, or be
less productive because he feels dissatisfied with work. The minority
employees at Wal-Mart, Toyota, Applied Materials, and Chase Manhattan have
a series of beliefs and values about their jobs. These may result in feelings of
job satisfaction that in turn affect their performance.
Attitudes can also result from a persons experiences.
64
How easily a person can
call on an attitude affects its impact.
65
Personal experience with the object and the
repeated expression of the attitude increase its accessibility, and the attitude more
frequently affects behavior.
66
Cognitive Dissonance. People may experience cognitive dissonance, which
describes their attempts to deal with situations in which they have contradictory
knowledge, information, attitudes, or beliefs.
67
An employee tries to reduce the
contradictions by redefining the situation. For example, a company might relaunch
an existing product so that it fits better with customers perceptions of what the
brand should be. In this way, the company may recapture customers who previously
spurned the brand.
68
Theorists argue that dissonance is short-lived. People reduce
dissonance by changing their attitudes, forgetting about the inconsistency, reaf-
firming their core values, trivializing the dissonant elements, or misattributing the
cause of the dissonant events.
69
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction results when a job fulfills or helps attain an individuals values, expecta-
tions, and standards, and dissatisfaction occurs when the worker perceives that the
job blocks attaining them.
70
In one study, for example, the empowerment of cus-
tomer contact employees to make day-to-day decisions in the workplace was posi-
tively associated with job satisfaction.
71
In another study, the motivation of classroom
teachers was associated with job satisfaction.
72
Flexibility to balance professional and
personal responsibilities also contributes to job satisfaction.
73
Researchers and prac-
titioners have paid attention to job satisfaction because they believe it affects work-
ers commitment and performance, although a more complicated relationship may
exist between satisfaction, commitment, turnover, and productivity.
74
CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
A career refers to a lifelong sequence of related jobs and experiences. As companies
have downsized and employed more knowledge workers, new types of careers and
career development have become more common.
New Forms of Careers
The globalization of business, rapidly changing environment, and downsizing of
organizations has called for new types of careers. Dot-com companies have experi-
enced rapid growth, rapid collapse, and frequent movement of employees. Compa-
nies more often outsource activities, rely on part-time or contract employees,
decentralize decision making, and create free-form organization structures. Online
recruiting has made job searches more efficient and effective. No longer do people
work for the same company their entire lives. Instead, they move away from tradi-
tional career arrangements and take responsibility for managing their own careers.
In these new career forms, known as protean careers or boundaryless careers, peo-
ples needs and search for self-fulfillment guide and shape their career choices.
75
A
psychological contract that focuses on an individual responding to his own needs
and values rather than to the organizations needs and values has replaced the con-
tract that offers job security in exchange for hard work and loyalty. The new career
has peaks and valleys, turns in all directions, and takes a path unique to the
employee. As part of the process, employees cultivate networks as a way of learning.
The lack of a single-minded direction combined with the need to interact with net-
works of people requires employees to develop multiple and collaborative skill sets
so that they can take advantage of opportunities as they arise. The new career also
involves continuous learning, necessitated by increasingly common short-term
assignments, job rotation, and lateral moves.
Companies strive to develop high-potential employees. These people show a fast
rate of lateral movement through various roles in the company. Managers identify
them as future leaders and so move them quickly into new positions, giving them
special coaching and mentoring.
76
Executives today appear to work harder but show
less commitment to remaining with their companies. Many practice defensive career
management, which involves knowing about available job prospects, even if they
dont plan to change jobs.
77
Some professional-level employees have switched jobs
frequently, taking advantage of offers of promotions and higher salaries. Even in the
dot-com world, some have begun to view this job hopping with skepticism, question-
ing its value for employers and recognizing its toll on employees personal and pro-
fessional lives.
78
Career Stages
Many adults pass through clearly defined stages of biological, social, family, and
career growth and development. People at a particular stage often have common
needs or similar ways of coping with and responding to situations they encounter.
Of course, differences in personality, interests, values, and experiences may cause
variations within stages.
This section presents a career progression that is common in the United States.
In Israel and other countries with mandatory military service for all men (and
women in some cases), the sequence of career stages presented here may be
delayed or altered. Countries such as Sweden, with liberal maternity and paternity
leave policies, may also have workers with different career patterns from the one
described here. Increasingly in the United States, too, individuals pursue serial
careers, a set of unrelated, sequential careers over an individuals life spanfor
example, teacherbankerbed-and-breakfast owner or homemakertravel agent.
Figure 3-3 presents one timeline of career development. People in the entry
stage try to become effective and accepted members of their organizations as
quickly as possible while they learn the jobs ropes and routines. Newcomers seek
information about role demands, feedback about their performance, and technical
information from their supervisors. They seek information about organizational
norms and social relations from their peers.
79
How well they seek and acquire infor-
mation influences their mastery of their job, definition of their role, acquisition of
knowledge about the organizations culture, and extent of social integration.
80
They must spend time learning to get along with their boss and co-workers, as well
as trying to become an effective member quickly.
People in the early career stage become more concerned with advancement and
establishing a career path. In multinational companies, rapid advancement may
require taking overseas assignments.
INFORMATION
GATHERING
Sensing Intuitive Thinking Feeling Judging Perceiving
DECISION
MAKING
EVALUATING
PERSONALITY TYPE
FIGURE 3-3
People move through
numerous stages as they
progress through their careers.
Workers who are typically in their late twenties or early thirties strive for full
membership in an early career. The primary emphasis of such employees must be on
performing effectively, accepting responsibility, managing subordinates, discharg-
ing duties, and developing special skills.
Workers at this stage also should assess to what extent they wish to remain as
technical experts or advance into a managerial position. If they choose to remain
technical, they must ensure that they maintain up-to-date knowledge in their career
field. Today, employees at this stage increasingly find teams supporting and even
replacing middle managers, requiring them to develop new skills and potentially
new ways of advancing in organizations.
Midcareer refers to the period that follows establishment and perceived mastery
and precedes career disengagement.
81
These employees, who typically are between
the ages of 40 and 55, may face a challenging midlife transition in their careers as well
as in their personal lives as they reappraise their accomplishments to date. Some men
at midcareer experience a need to disrupt their habitual behavior and initiate career
exploration, whereas women become concerned with balancing the various aspects of
their lives and ensuring that they have not sacrificed too much time with their families
in favor of career activities and advancement.
82
Resolving these dilemmas may result in
new choices about career and family or an acceptance of old choices as appropriate.
Once past midcareer, individuals in organizations must find a way in late career
to continue to contribute. Depending on the persons skills, interests, and motiva-
tion, and the organizations culture and goals, such employees might help shape
the direction of the organization by sponsoring the career advancement of younger
workers. For executives, this might mean paybackfrequent job changes with final
grooming or competition for the top executive positionor payoffattainment of
the CEO position.
83
At the end of this stage, most employers enter pre-retirement,
which may involve reducing work hours and demands, and eventually retirement.
Another model of career development is possible. Rather than going through a
single set of stages during their adult lives, individuals may progress through a series
of the same stages several times during their lives. As shown in Figure 3-4, they begin
Retirement
Preretirement
Late Career
Midcareer
Full Membership
Early Career
Entry
Age: 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
FIGURE 3-4
People may progress through
several sets of the same
sequence of career stages
during their lives.
with the exploration stage (similar to the entry stage) and continue with the trial
stage (which resembles the early career stage). Next they experience the establish-
ment stage, which resembles full membership. They conclude with a mastery stage
before proceeding to exploration of a new career. This iterative approach fits well
with new forms of careers in which people frequently change organizations and jobs.
Career Planning
Career effectiveness and the individual job effectiveness that accompanies it often
arise from the organizations ability to integrate the employee into the organization
and to help that employee make career transitions effectively. Both employees and
their managers should assume some career planning and development responsibil-
ities. Use of the Web can support information searches, resume development and
posting, and networking regarding career planning. Some executives hire coaches
for their managers to help them develop better skills.
84
Employees should know and understand the implications of their particular
career stage for their satisfaction and job performance. Managers should provide
opportunities to discuss career development issues. They should also give feedback
about reasonable expectations for employees, identifying the employees potential
and providing relevant growth opportunities. Linking employees to appropriate
resources can also help their career development. A lack of such information, in
addition to the dilemmas experienced at various stages of career development, may
contribute to confusion and conflict in the performance of work and nonwork roles.
Employees can benefit by finding a mentor, usually a more senior executive who
helps influence their movement through the organization and affects their career
success. Glen Toney, for example, served as a mentor for employees at Applied Mate-
rials. A mentor typically provides the career and psychosocial functions shown in
Table 3-1.
85
Alternatively, employees can seek developmental support from peers by
becoming part of a relationship constellation, a group of individuals from various depart-
ments in the organization who provide mutual support, friendship, and sponsor-
ship.
86
Mentoring becomes particularly important in a multicultural environment
where nonperformance-related factors can block career progress. In one study of
cross-race mentoring, a supportive mentorprotg relationship only occurred when
both parties preferred to either deny or openly discuss their racial difference.
87
Employees who have experienced extensive mentoring report receiving more pro-
motions, having higher incomes, and being more satisfied with pay and benefits.
88
Diversity appears to affect the mentorprotg relationship. A study of 138
interns on a six-month overseas assignment indicated that those who differed from
their mentors in gender and nationality were less likely to receive support related to
their tasks, careers, or social interactions. In turn, the lack of mentoring was associ-
ated with less learning about international business, poorer socialization during
their assignments, and less impact of the internship on job offers.
89
Organizations
also benefit from mentoring because mentors help perpetuate or change the orga-
nizations culture; improve worker motivation, performance, and retention; or act
as a less formal, less costly monitoring and control system.
90
Professional employees who bring specialized expertise to organizations, such as
scientists, engineers, teachers, and accountants, face unique career and organizational
issues. These knowledge workers have become particularly valuable in todays econ-
omy. Dot-com companies rely on experts in various functional areas of management,
scientific areas, and graphic design to ensure that their Web businesses are successful.
Managing career development in todays dynamic environment poses signifi-
cant challenges to managers. Low rates of unemployment, high demand for skilled
workers, and rapid turnover in dot-com, other high-technology, and related indus-
tries have made hiring a major preoccupation of some executives. Other companies
have experienced the losses resulting from mergers and acquisitions. While many
workers have left traditional employment for the fast pace and challenges of dot-
com companies, increasingly managers and other professionals have subsequently
returned to more traditional organizations. The Big Five accounting firms, for
example, changed their image so that they could compete with the dot-com com-
panies: They offered signing bonuses, gave stock options to secretaries, flattened
their organizations structures, and reemphasized merit pay. Freddie Mac, the
mortgage investor, had 14 former employees return to the company after sojourns
in high-tech companies; now executives scan Monster.com for the names of former
employees to court.
91
Workers should also ensure that they do not become
plateaued performers, executives and workers who cannot advance because of limited
advancement opportunities and whose job responsibilities never change.
92
Compa-
nies that once had single advancement paths offer alternatives. Procter & Gamble,
for example, has given some of its marketing executives the chance to move off the
TABLE 3-1
Mentors Can Fulfill Numerous Functions for Employees.
Career Functions Psychosocial Functions
Sponsorship
Opening doors. Having connections that will
support the juniors career advancement.
Coaching
Teaching the ropes. Giving relevant positive and
negative feedback to improve the juniors
performance and potential.
Protection
Providing support in different situations. Taking
responsibility for mistakes that were outside the
juniors control. Acting as a buffer when necessary.
Exposure
Creating opportunities for the junior to
demonstrate competence where it counts. Taking
the junior to important meetings that will
enhance his or her visibility.
Challenging Work
Delegating assignments that stretch the juniors
knowledge and skills in order to stimulate growth
and preparation to move ahead.
Role Modeling
Demonstrating valued behavior, attitudes, and/or
skills that aid the junior in achieving
competence, confidence, and a clear
professional identity.
Counseling
Providing a helpful and confidential forum for
exploring personal and professional dilemmas.
Excellent listening, trust, and rapport that enable
both individuals to address central
developmental concerns.
Acceptance and Confirmation
Providing ongoing support, respect, and
admiration, which strengthens self-confidence
and self-image. Regularly reinforcing both as
highly valued people and contributors to the
organization.
Friendship
Mutual caring and intimacy that extends beyond the
requirements of daily work tasks. Sharing of
experience outside the immediate work setting.
Source: Reprinted with permission from K.E. Kram, Mentoring in the workplace. In D.T. Hall and Associates, eds., Career Development in
Organizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), p. 162. 1986 by Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.
traditional management ladder and act as strategic counselors for marketing, with
the opportunity to return to the management track if they wish.
93
DEALING WITH WORKLIFE CHALLENGES
Responding to issues associated with the interaction between work and family has
become particularly important in managing a diverse workforce in the United
States. Family issues vary significantly, depending on the age, marital, parental, and
economic status of employees.
Workplace issues seem to be most critical for adults with child-care responsibil-
ities. The commonality of two-career families, as well as the rise in such nontradi-
tional family styles as single parents, stepfamilies, and divorced parents alternating
child-rearing responsibilities, call for greater attention to workfamily interaction.
For example, both men and women relocate their families because of workplace
promotions. Persuading valuable employees to relocate may mean offering incen-
tives for the trailing spouse. Companies often help the trailing spouse land a new
job or even start a new career.
As the workforce ages, concerns about elder care for parents and aging rela-
tives have become more prominent. More recently, the set of workfamily issues has
expanded to include decisions about how to treat gay and lesbian employees, such
as whether to offer them benefits comparable to those of married workers.
Family-Friendly Benefits
The Family and Medical Leave Act passed in 1993 provides up to 12 weeks of
unpaid leave to all workers employed by companies with 50 or more employees for
the birth of a child, adoption of a child, or care of a seriously ill child, spouse, or
family member, with a guarantee of the workers old job or equivalent job upon
return. While increasing numbers of workers take advantage of the provisions of
this bill, many men, in particular, feel compelled to choose work over family con-
cerns. Leaves of absence in a financial services industry were associated with fewer
promotions and small salary increases; the leaves were negatively related to per-
formance ratings during the year of the leave.
94
The United States lags significantly behind other industrialized countries in
dealing with workfamily issues. Many European countries, for example, have lib-
eral parental leave policies and provide convenient, affordable day-care options for
workers. Japan, in contrast, lags behind the United States; there are no provisions
for maternity leaves or company-sponsored day care.
95
Organizations benefit from helping workers manage the workfamily chal-
lenges. For example, flexible and innovative managers do the following:
I seek equitable, not uniform treatment for workers;
I recognize that employees perform better free from personal pressures;
I realize that flexibility is a competitive issue and management tool;
I measure performance based on value added, not hours worked;
I meet business objectives by helping employees meet personal needs;
I willingly take risks;
I focus on results, rather than rules and procedures;
I respect individuals but acknowledge and respond to differences;
I gain top-level support and backing from peers; and
I produce change within the organization that outlives themselves.
96
Organizations have become more family friendly by introducing programs that
help employees balance the various aspects of their work and family lives in the fol-
lowing ways:
I flexible work arrangements, such as part-time work, job sharing, and flexible
hours;
I parental leaves, such as maternity or paternity leaves, family-care leaves, and
personal days;
I dependent-care services, such as day care, vacation care, sick child care, and
elder care; and
I workfamily stress management, such as workshops, private counseling, and
employee assistance programs.
Alltel Information Services of Little Rock, Arkansas, introduced a telecommut-
ing program (employees work at home) that has reduced turnover, increased job
satisfaction, and resulted in significant cost savings. Employees find that the extra
time available to spend with children, even though telecommuters must arrange for
primary caregivers for children under the age of 10, has been a major attraction.
97
PNC Bank in Pittsburgh offers 200 employees in corporate finance extra-long shifts
with every tenth working day off. Daimler/Chrysler AG includes a workfamily
account in its benefits that employees can use for child care, elder care, retirement
savings, adoption assistance, and education accounts for dependents, among other
uses.
98
SAS Institute, a software company, built a 200-child day-care facility at its
headquarters, bringing the companys capacity for preschool child care to 700.
Employees can take their children from the day-care center and have lunch with
them in the company cafeteria. The company also offers a full-time elder-care con-
sultant for employees.
99
Strong Investments gives expectant fathers beepers and
three days off with pay after the birth of a child as part of its father-friendly bene-
fits. Marriott offers effective fathering classes for employees.
100
Other employees are not satisfied with options offered by their employers.
They have chosen to get off the career ladder as a way of achieving more balance in
their lives. These downshifters value their personal life over their career accomplish-
ments. While downshifting may be extreme, the trend to simplify their lives has
become more common for U.S. employees.
101
MANAGING DIVERSITY IN A DOT-COM,

GLOBAL WORKPLACE
As companies continue to search for ways to improve their bottom line and ensure
employee retention and performance, managing issues of diversity, individual dif-
ferences, and professional and personal development become key. Organizations
can take one of three approaches to managing diversity:
I episodic, in which diversity initiatives are isolated from core management
activities, such as by sending employees to short seminars on diversity;
I freestanding, in which managers formalize diversity initiatives but dont fully
integrate them into core management activities, such as by creating an
intercultural exchange program; and
I systemic, in which diversity initiatives are linked with existing systems and core
activities, such as by being made a component of all employee, customer, and
vendor programs.
102
Bestfoods, a global consumer foods business that includes Hellmanns Mayonnaise
and Entenmanns baked goods, uses the last strategy. It links its diversity initiative closely
to the companys business objectives, including both in its core values. The company
wants employees who mirror its customers. This diversity strategy includes five key prin-
ciples: (1) Management is accountable for ensuring diversity in every division; (2) rep-
resentation of women, as well as various racial, ethnic, and other minority groups, goes
beyond quotas to ensuring the ability to spot and hire the best talent; (3) corporate-
wide initiatives regarding retention, development, and advancement focus on recom-
mendations regarding career development, diversity, and worklife balance; (4) the
company administered and still analyzes an employee survey; and (5) diversity training
supports skill development and performance expectations. In 1998, the Womens
Global Leadership Forum met with senior executives from Bestfoods for shared learn-
ing and making recommendations for change. They offered specific proposals in the
areas of career development, diversity, and worklife balance.
103
Several human resources professionals in the Seattle-Tacoma area started the
Professional and Technical Diversity Network as a way of promoting and supporting
a diverse workforce throughout the region.
104
Managers can promote diversity in
the workplace in a number of ways:
105
I focus on bringing in the best talent, not on meeting numerical goals;
I set up mentoring programs among employees of the same and different races;
I hold managers accountable for meeting diversity goals;
I develop career plans for employees as part of performance reviews;
I promote minorities to decision-making positions, not just staff jobs;
I ensure that succession planning helps maintain diversity at all levels of the
organization;
I make managers accountable for ensuring diversity in their divisions or groups;
and
I diversify the companys board of directors.
Top management needs to develop corporate policies that foster diversity. They
may need to give managers rewards for hiring, developing, and promoting women,
minorities, and older workers. They may need to institute programs to support the
diverse workforce. They may need to help managers and other workers learn how
to deal with workers different from themselves. To make the most of the diverse
workforce, managers can follow the advice shown in Table 3-2. In addition to fol-
lowing this advice, managers should conduct diversity training and create structures
that support diversity.
Diversity Training
Many companies conduct diversity training, programs and activities that highlight
differences among workers and offer strategies for handling them. The Society for
Human Resource Management sponsors courses about diversity. Towers Perrin, a
major human resources consulting firm, offers learning rooms where panels talk
with clients employees about racial and ethnic differences, generational issues, reli-
gious questions, and sexual orientation issues.
106
Diversity training helps managers understand and value individual differences
and develop strong diagnostic skills. Dissemination of factual information may
change some beliefs, but more emotion-oriented persuasive techniques and longer-
term educational efforts may be needed to alter them. For example, Bank of Amer-
ica offers mentoring programs and support/discussion groups based on race, eth-
nicity, or sexual orientation.
107
Cross-Cultural Issues
As organizations have become more multinational or even drawn on workers from dif-
ferent cultures in the same country, the importance of integrating home country and
foreign workers has increased. The effects of cultural diversity on firm performance
depend on a firms strategies and the way managers and employees handle diversity.
108
For example, Smurfit Flexible Packaging, a midwestern manufacturer, decided to
improve its safety. The company faced special challenges because the cultural diversity
of the workforce created language barriers that made understanding difficult. Train-
ing workers and ensuring the right attitude toward safety became a major priority.
109
Managers and employees of organizations that operate in more than one coun-
try must deal with the diverse cultures of the global marketplace. Implemented in
1985, Japans Equal Employment Opportunity Act emphasized voluntary compli-
ance and gradual change. Yet, gender inequality persists in the Japanese work-
place.
110
Even there, however, women have begun to speak out about sexual harass-
ment in the workplace. A 1999 law makes sexual harassment a criminal offense and
TABLE 3-2
Building a Diverse Workforce has Positive Consequences for an Organizations
Bottom Line.
Advice to managers regarding diversity:
I Understand that a diverse workforce has different perspectives and approaches
to work and must truly value variety of opinion and insight.
I Recognize both the learning opportunities and challenges that the expression of
different perspectives gives organizations.
I Create an organizational culture that
expects high standards of performance from everyone.
stimulates personal development.
encourages openness.
makes workers feel valued.
I Develop a well-articulated and widely understood mission for the organization.
I Implement a relatively egalitarian, nonbureaucratic structure.
Source: Harvard Business Review (SeptemberOctober, 1996): 7990.
Based on D.A. Thomas and R.J. Ely, Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity,
requires all companies to have written policies prohibiting sexual harassment,
although compliance has been somewhat spotty.
111
Cultural differences affect the way people perceive each other in the workplace,
and these different perceptions affect behavior. Language differences reflect unspo-
ken attitudes, assumptions, and even attributions. They can shape workers views of
the world and actions in the workplace. Some argue that only English should be
allowed in U.S. workplaces because employees who speak limited English may have
difficulty communicating with other employees and with customers. Rituals and cus-
toms can also influence peoples perceptions about their jobs and co-workers. Ameri-
cans, for example, value efficiency and speed, while the Japanese place a higher value
on ceremonies and practices that reflect social standing and mutual respect.
Workers from different cultures may also lack knowledge about the ethical
appropriateness of various practices, causing them to act in unacceptable or unex-
pected ways. For example, paying an official to sanction a business act may be stan-
dard operating practice in some South American and Middle Eastern countries, but
not in the United States. Political and economic differences among nations also
create significantly different cultural patterns that may affect the level of education,
experience, and expertise of various workers. Managers need to diagnose cultural
differences and understand their impact in the workplace. Then they can prescribe
ways to ensure effective behavior in cross-cultural situations.
Structures That Support Diversity
Two-career couples benefit from flexible work arrangements and flexible benefits,
where the ability to select from an array of benefits prevents, for example, duplica-
tion of medical benefits and the possibility of selecting child-care reimburse-
ment.
112
Older workers too can benefit from part-time employment or greater flex-
ibility in their work schedules.
Sharing power and influence throughout the organization also encourages
diversity.
113
An organizations culture should reflect the diverse cultural and social
groups that compose it and attempt to eliminate discrimination in the organiza-
tion. Although more than three-fourths of the largest companies in the United
States have diversity programs, not all succeed.
114
A growing number of companies
have special positions that focus on diversity, such as vice president of diversity,
director of multicultural affairs, manager of workforce development, and vice pres-
ident of diversity management. The inability of top management to consider dis-
crimination a major business issue or to spend sufficient time on training can hin-
der the success of diversity programs.
Summary
1. A more diverse workforce often results in improved decision making, better
understanding of customers needs, and increased flexibility in staffing.
2. The number of women, minorities, and older workers continues to increase;
companies must ensure that they meet the needs of these workers and do not
discriminate in their human resources policies and practices.
3. Organizations now employ more physically challenged workers and must
ensure that the workplace does not provide obstacles to their performance.
4. A diverse workforce typically includes people with a variety of personality
types, such as internalizers and externalizers, Type A and Type B, introverted
and extroverted, sensing and intuitive, thinking and feeling, judging, and
perceiving, high and low Machiavellianism, and high and low self-efficacy.
5. An individuals values and attitudes also influence behavior in the workplace;
values describe a persons underlying beliefs, whereas attitudes refer to
peoples tendencies to respond consistently. Attitudes include cognitive,
affective, and behavioral components.
6. Individuals have careers that generally progress through a series of stages that
each have a different set of concerns and issues, although boundaryless
careers have become more common.
7. Companies have introduced family-friendly benefits, such as flexible work
schedules, liberal leave policies, dependent care, and work-stress management
seminars, to help workers meet the challenges faced by two-career families,
single parents, and gay and lesbian workers, among others.
A Managers Diagnostic Review
I Accept the value of diversity in the workplace.
What types of diversity characterize the workforce?
What cross-cultural issues does the organization face?
I Remove obstacles encountered by women, minorities, older workers, and
physically challenged employees.
What special challenges do women, minorities, older workers, and physically
challenged employees face?
What programs exist for managing diversity?
I Know how personality differences affect a persons work.
How would you characterize the personalities of particular employees and
managers?
Do their personalities fit with the situation?
I Recognize how values and attitudes affect job performance.
What beliefs and values do managers and employees hold?
How do these beliefs and values influence their attitudes?
I Help workers build effective careers.
What career stage characterizes each manager and employee?
What career development problems do employees and managers experience?
Does the organization have career development programs?
I Develop programs to help workers handle worklife challenges.
What family issues do workers face?
How well does the organization help them in meeting family and other
nonwork needs?
I Manage diversity and individual differences in the dot-com, global workplace.
Does the organization have diversity programs and offer diversity training?
Do managers effectively handle a multicultural workforce?
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Thinking Critically About Organizational Behavior
1. Why should managers strive for a diverse workforce?
2. How can managers prepare for an increasingly diverse workforce?
3. Will true equality in job opportunities ever exist in the United States?
4. Should managers assess their employees personalities?
5. Should companies attempt to have a workforce with an array of personality
types?
6. Can managers change their employees values and attitudes?
7. Do divergent attitudes cause problems in organizations?
8. What are the implications for managers and employees of the new forms of
careers?
9. Do all adults pass through the same career stages?
10. Should all companies institute family-friendly benefits?
11. Do other countries have the same issues as the United States about employing
a diverse workforce?
12. Does diversity training work?
ACTIVITY 3-1: UNDERSTANDING RACE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES
STEP 1: Draw a picture of yourself on a large piece
of newsprint with colored markers, making the
following assumptions:
Pretend you are to be reincarnated and you can choose how you
will come back . . . as long as you choose a different race and
gender.
STEP 2: On the left side of the paper, answer the fol-
lowing questions:
1. Why did you choose this persona?
2. What do you like about your choice?
On the right side of the paper, answer the following
questions:
1. What do you dislike about your choice?
2. What are you concerned about as you face
the future as this new persona?
STEP 3: Discussion. Your instructor will direct the
students to present their pictures in small groups
or to the class as a whole. Share your answers to
the preceding questions. Then answer the follow-
ing questions:
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each choice?
2. What issues concern you in facing the future
as your new persona?
Source: Adapted and reprinted with permission of the authors,
Bonita L. Betters-Reed and Lynda L. Moore.
ACTIVITY 3-2: TRAVELING TO FOREIGN CULTURES
STEP 1: Your instructor will divide the class into two
groups and provide each group with color-coded
badges. Print your name in bold letters on the
badge and wear it throughout the exercise.
STEP 2: Working with your group members, your
first task is to invent your own cultural cues. You
are to think about the kinds of behaviors and
words that will signify to all members that they
belong together in one culture. For each of the
following categories, identify and record at least
one important attribute for your culture:
Facial expression
Eye contact
Handshake
Body language
Key words or phrases
STEP 3: Now that you have defined desirable cul-
tural aspects for your group, practice them. It is
best to stand with your group and to engage one
another in conversations involving two or three
people at a time. Your aim in talking with one
another is to learn as much as possible about each
otherhobbies, interests, where you live, what
your family is like, courses being taken, and so on,
all while practicing the behaviors and words iden-
tified in Step 2. It is not necessary for participants
to answer questions of a personal nature truth-
fully. Invention is permissible because the conver-
sation is only a means to the end of cultural obser-
vation. Your aim at this point is to become
comfortable with the indicators of your particular
culture. Practice until the indicators are second
nature to you.
STEP 4: You now should assume that you work for
a business organization that operates in the cul-
ture you defined and practiced. This business
has decided that it would like to explore the
potential for doing business with companies in a
foreign culture. Your awareness of the global
marketplace tells you that to plan an effective
approach to a foreign countrys business leaders
you must first understand the culture of that
country.
You are to learn as much as possible about
another culture. To do so, you will send from
one to three representatives, when designated by
your instructor, on a business trip to the other
culture. These representatives must, as much as
possible, behave in a manner that is consistent
with your culture as defined in Step 2. At the
same time, each representative must endeavor to
learn as much as possible about the people in
the other culture, while keeping eyes and ears
open to cultural attributes that will be useful in
future negotiations with foreign businesses.
(Note: At no time will it be considered ethical
behavior for the representative to ask direct
questions about the foreign cultures attributes.
These cultural attributes must be gleaned from
firsthand experience.)
While your representatives are away, you will
receive one or more exchange visitors from the
other culture who will be interested in learning
more about your organizational culture. You must
strictly adhere to the cultural aspects you defined
in Step 1 and practiced in Step 3 as you respond
to the visitor(s).
STEP 5: When told to do so by your instructor, all rep-
resentatives return to their native cultures. Each
group then discusses and records what it has learned
about the foreign culture based on the exchange of
visitors. The aim is to try to decipher the behaviors
expected of members of the other culture. This
information will be shared with all group members
and will serve as the basis for orienting the next rep-
resentatives who will make a business trip.
STEP 6: The instructor will select one to three differ-
ent group members to make another trip to the
other culture to check out the assumptions that
your group has made about the other culture.
This checking out process will consist of actually
practicing the other cultures cues to see whether
they work. Both groups will be standing and con-
ducting their business of getting to know one
another as in Steps 3 and 4.
STEP 7: The travelers return and report on findings
to the home group, and the group then prepares
to report what it learned about the other culture.
STEP 8: Discussion. With the entire class, answer the
following questions:
1. What did you learn about the other culture?
2. How easily did you learn about the other
culture?
3. What is the effect of having people from two
different cultures interact?
Source: By Susan R. Zacur and W. Alan Randolph, Traveling
to foreign cultures: An exercise in developing awareness of
cultural diversity, Journal of Management Education 17(4)
(November 1993): 510513. Reprinted with permission of
Sage Publications, Inc.
ACTIVITY 3-3: LOCUS OF CONTROL TEST
STEP 1: Answer the following questions about the
way you feel. In the column, mark a Y for yes and
an N for no next to each question.
_____ 1. Do you believe that most problems will
solve themselves if you just dont fool with
them?
_____ 2. Do you believe that you can stop yourself
from catching a cold?
_____ 3. Are some people just born lucky?
_____ 4. Most of the time, do you feel that getting
good grades means a great deal to you?
_____ 5. Are you often blamed for things that just
arent your fault?
_____ 6. Do you believe that if somebody studies
hard, he or she can pass any subject?
_____ 7. Do you feel that most of the time it
doesnt pay to try hard because things
never turn out right anyway?
_____ 8. Do you feel that if things start out well in
the morning, its going to be a good day
no matter what you do?
_____ 9. Do you feel that most of the time parents
listen to what their children have to say?
_____ 10. Do you believe that wishing can make
good things happen?
_____ 11. When you get punished, does it usually
seem its for no good reason at all?
_____ 12. Most of the time, do you find it hard to
change a friends opinion?
_____ 13. Do you think that cheering more than
luck helps a team to win?
_____ 14. Did you feel that it was nearly impossible
to change your parents minds about
anything?
_____ 15. Do you believe that parents should allow
children to make most of their own
decisions?
_____ 16. Do you feel that when you do something
wrong theres very little you can do to
make it right?
_____ 17. Do you believe that most people are just
born good at sports?
_____ 18. Are most of the other people your age
stronger than you are?
_____ 19. Do you feel that one of the best ways to
handle most problems is just not to think
about them?
_____ 20. Do you feel that you have a lot of choice
in deciding who your friends are?
_____ 21. If you find a four-leaf clover, do you
believe that it might bring you good
luck?
_____ 22. Did you often feel that whether or not
you did your homework had much to do
with what kind of grades you got?
_____ 23. Do you feel that when a person your age
is angry at you, theres little you can do to
stop him or her?
_____ 24. Have you ever had a good-luck charm?
_____ 25. Do you believe that whether or not
people like you depends on how you act?
_____ 26. Did your parents usually help you if you
asked them to?
_____ 27. Have you felt that when people were
angry with you it was usually for no
reason at all?
_____ 28. Most of the time, do you feel that you can
change what might happen tomorrow by
what you do today?
_____ 29. Do you believe that when bad things are
going to happen, they just are going to
happen no matter what you try to do to
stop them?
_____ 30. Do you think that people can get their
own way if they just keep trying?
_____ 31. Most of the time, do you find it useless to
try to get your own way at home?
_____ 32. Do you feel that when good things
happen, they happen because of hard
work?
_____ 33. Do you feel that when somebody your age
wants to be your enemy, theres little you
can do to change matters?
_____ 34. Do you feel that its easy to get friends to
do what you want them to do?
_____ 35. Do you usually feel that you have little to
say about what you get to eat at home?
_____ 36. Do you feel that when someone doesnt
like you, theres little you can do about
it?
_____ 37. Did you usually feel that it was almost
useless to try in school because most
other children were just plain smarter
that you were?
_____ 38. Are you the kind of person who believes
that planning ahead makes things turn
out better?
_____ 39. Most of the time, do you feel that you
have little to say about what your family
decides to do?
_____ 40. Do you think its better to be smart than
to be lucky?
STEP 2: Scoring the scale. Using the following scor-
ing key, compare your answers to the ones on the
key. Give yourself one point each time your
answer agrees with the keyed answer. Your score is
the total number of agreements between your
answers and the ones on the key.
Scoring Key
1. Yes 21. Yes
2. No 22. No
3. Yes 23. Yes
4. No 24. Yes
5. Yes 25. No
6. No 26. No
7. Yes 27. Yes
8. Yes 28. No
9. No 29. Yes
10. Yes 30. No
11. Yes 31. Yes
12. Yes 32. No
13. No 33. Yes
14. Yes 34. No
15. No 35. Yes
16. Yes 36. Yes
17. Yes 37. Yes
18. Yes 38. No
19. Yes 39. Yes
20. No 40. No
Total
Score:
INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE
Low Scorers (08)
Scores from zero to eight represent the range for
about one-third of the people taking the test. As a
low scorer, you probably see life as a game of skill
rather than chance. You most likely believe that you
have a lot of control over what happens to you, both
good and bad. With that view, internal-locus-of-
control people tend to take the initiative in every-
thing from job-related activities to relationships and
sex. You are probably described by others as vigilant
in getting things done, aware of whats going on
around you, and willing to spend energy in working
for specific goals. You would probably find it quite
frustrating to sit back and let others take care of
you, since you stressed on the test that you like to
have your life in your own hands.
Although taking control of your life is seen as the
best way to be, psychologists caution that it has
its own set of difficulties. Someone who is respon-
sible for his or her own successes is also responsi-
ble for failures. So if you scored high in this direc-
tion, be prepared for the downs as well as the ups.
Average Scorers (916)
Since youve answered some of the questions in each
direction, internal and external control beliefs for
you may be situation specific. You may look at one
situationwork, for exampleand believe that
your rewards are externally determined, that no
matter what you do you cant get ahead. In
another situationlove, perhapsyou may see
your fate as resting entirely in your own hands.
You will find it helpful to review the questions and
group them into those you answered in the inter-
nal direction and those you answered in the exter-
nal direction. Are there any similarities in the
kinds of situations within one of those groups? If
so, some time spent thinking about what it is in
those situations that makes you feel as though the
control is or is not in your hands can help you bet-
ter understand yourself.
High Scorers (1740)
Scores in this range represent the external control
end of the scale. Only about 15 percent of the
people taking the test score 17 or higher. As a
high scorer, youre saying that you see life gener-
ally more as a game of chance than as one where
your skills make a difference.
STEP 3: Discussion. In small groups or with the class
as a whole, answer the following questions.
DESCRIPTION
1. What was your score?
2. What type of personality does this represent?
3. How does this compare to scores of others in
the class?
DIAGNOSIS
4. What behaviors and attitudes is each
personality type likely to demonstrate?
5. What are the implications for encouraging
organizational effectiveness?
ACTIVITY 3-4: FAMILY FRIENDLINESS AT ABC MANUFACTURING
STEP 1: You have just been appointed the first
Work/Family Director at ABC Manufacturing, a
Fortune 200 manufacturer of consumer goods
such as personal grooming products, stationery
products, cleaning products, and food products.
The new CEO of ABC has stated that one of his
top priorities is to make ABC more family
friendly.
The new CEO believes that making the com-
pany more family friendly will reduce its turnover
rate, attract better-quality employees from across
the country, and increase the productivity of its
current workforce. His first step was to create and
fill the position you now hold. The company has
experimented with flexible working hours and job
sharing in a few, selected divisions. When the
sponsoring managers changed, these programs
generally became defunct. No organization-wide
policy or set of programs exist.
ABC currently has 20,000 employees world-
wide. It has 20 manufacturing plants, 45 regional
sales offices, and a large corporate office that
includes marketing, research and development,
engineering, human resources, financial, and
administrative staffs.
The new CEO has given you a first-year budget
of $500,000 and a staff of four. He has promised
that both the budget and staff can increase if the
new programs show tangible results.
STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, as directed
by your instructor, develop a comprehensive plan
for making ABC Manufacturing more family
friendly. Consider the different types of workers
ABC employs and the various locations in which
ABC operates. Include in your plan the programs
you want to introduce, the priority you assign to
each program, the expected costs of the pro-
Source: By Stephen Nowicki, Jr., and B. Strickland in The
Mind Test by Rita Aero and Elliot Weiner (New York: William
Morrow, 1981), pp. 2023. Reprinted with permission.
grams, and their likely impact. Develop a timeline
for introducing the programs.
STEP 3: With the entire class, share the plans you
developed. What elements do they have in com-
mon? What costs and benefits will likely accom-
pany these plans? What options will likely have the
greatest impact? How do programs differ for the
various locations outside the United States? Is
family friendliness the same in all cultures?
ACTIVITY 3-5: DESIGNING A DIVERSITY PROGRAM
STEP 1: You have just been hired as the new Director
of Diversity for StateBank, one of the top 50 banks
in the United States. While StateBank began sev-
eral diversity initiatives about five years ago, it lim-
ited these activities to workshops that help
employees become more sensitive to gender,
racial, ethnic, and religious differences.
Although surveys suggest that attitudes among
StateBanks employees are changing, you believe
that the company has not done all it can to address
diversity in the workplace. For example, more
than 90 percent of top and middle managers are
males, while 50 percent of new hires at lower levels
are females. African Americans hold 15 percent of
entry-level positions but only 3 percent of middle
management positions and no top-level positions.
Three bank tellers recently filed a sexual harass-
ment suit against their branch manager.
The bank has renewed its commitment to
addressing the diversity issue, particularly because
its customer base has become more diverse as the
bank has grown. Top management has given you a
large budget and a small staff to improve the
diversity program in the bank.
STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, as directed
by your instructor, develop a comprehensive
diversity program for StateBank.
STEP 3: Share your plans with the entire class. Identify
the key elements of a comprehensive diversity pro-
gram. What would the program you proposed cost?
What benefits would it likely offer to StateBank?
ACTIVITY 3-6: SELECTING A DIVERSITY CONSULTANT
STEP 1: You are the vice president of human
resources for a growing high-technology com-
pany. The companys executive team has agreed
that employees should participate in a diversity
training and awareness program. The consultant
has designed a program that company employees
will conduct for other company employees. In
fact, you have been asked to select a group of five
people from your existing employees to form a
train-the-trainer group. These five people will
train a group of 2030 other employees, who will
then actually conduct the training.
STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, prepare a
list of criteria for selecting individuals to join the
train-the-trainer group. Offer a rationale for the
list you prepare.
STEP 3: Share your conclusions in writing or orally with
the entire class. Consider the following questions:
1. What qualifications make a person a good
diversity trainer?
2. How can you validate these qualifications?
3. Does a person need to be a member of a
minority group to conduct this training?

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The Diverse Workforce: Individual

MANAGING DIVERSITY IN A DOT-COM,

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