Robbins, Judge, and Vohra

Organizational Behavior
14th Edition

Diversity in Organizations

Kelli J. Schutte
William Jewell College
Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

2-0

Diversity

Surface-level diversity
Deep-level diversity
Diversity Management
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Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Biographical Characteristics
Objective and easily obtained personal characteristics.
Age
Older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work
ethic, and commitment to quality.

Gender
Few differences between men and women that affect job
performance.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Biographical Characteristics (Continued)

Disability
Todays organizations have started making efforts to hire
people with disabilities.

Tenure
People with job tenure (seniority at a job) are more
productive, absent less frequently, have lower turnover, and
are more satisfied.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Other Biographical Characteristics

Religion
May impact the workplace in areas of dress, grooming, and
scheduling. The law prohibits employers from
discriminating against employees on the basis of their
religion.

Sexual Orientation
In June 2009, the High Court of Delhi, in a landmark
judgment, decriminalized homosexual sex between
consenting adults, overturning a 149-year-old British
colonial law
Domestic partner benefits are an important consideration.

Gender Identity
Relatively new issue transgendered employees.
Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
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Behavior, 14e

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Ability
An individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in a
job.
Intellectual and Physical Abilities

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Ability
Made up of two sets of factors:
Intellectual Abilities
The abilities needed to perform mental activities.
General Mental Ability (GMA) is a measure of overall
intelligence.
No correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction.

Physical Abilities
The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity,
strength, and similar characteristics.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Dimensions of Intellectual Ability

Number
Aptitude

Verbal
Comprehension

Memory

Spatial
Visualization

Intellectual
Ability

Deductive
Reasoning

Perceptual
Speed

Inductive
Reasoning

See E X H I B I T 23 for details

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Nine Basic Physical Abilities

Strength Factors
Dynamic strength
Trunk strength
Static strength
Explosive strength

See E X H I B I T 24 for details

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Flexibility Factors

Flexibility Factors
Extent flexibility
Dynamic flexibility

See E X H I B I T 24 for details

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Other Physical Factors

Other Factors
Body coordination
Balance
Stamina

See E X H I B I T 24 for details

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Role of Disabilities
When focusing on ability, it can create problems when
attempting to develop workplace policies that recognize
diversity in terms of disabilities.
It is important to recognize diversity and strive for it in
the hiring process.
An organization needs to be careful to avoid
discriminatory practices by making generalizations
about people with disabilities.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Implementing Diversity Management Strategies

Making everybody more aware and sensitive to the
needs of others.
Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and
Retaining the Diverse Employees

Working with Diversity in Groups

Effective Diversity Programs

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Global Implications
Biographical Characteristics
Not much evidence on the global relevance of the
relationships described in this chapter.
Countries do vary dramatically on their biographical
composition.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Additional Global Implications

Intellectual Abilities
Structures and measures of intelligence generalize across
cultures.

Diversity Management
Diversity management is important across the globe.
However, different cultures will use different frameworks
for handling diversity.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Summary and Managerial Implications

Summary:
Ability
Directly influences employees level of performance.
Managers need to focus on ability in selection, promotion, and
transfer.
Fine-tune job to fit incumbents abilities.

Biographical Characteristics
Should not be used in management decisions: possible source
of bias.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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Summary and Managerial Implications

Diversity Management
Must be an ongoing commitment at all levels of the
organization.
Policies must include multiple perspectives and be long term in
their orientation to be effective.

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education,

Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Copyright 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e

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