Assignments – Let’s Be Lefties for a Day
Kimberly Lavallee
January 9, 2012

As a manager or professional in any business you will most likely encounter both a diverse customer base and employee pool. The importance of being able to relate to and understand the subtle and sometimes not so subtle cultural differences will make the difference between being a successful manger and needing to look for a new job.
This dynamic begins with the employer in the screening process before the person is even hired. Some corporations and government agencies can be wrought with institutionalized discrimination. Institutionalized discrimination is the result of longstanding practices and/or behaviors that have a negative impact on members of subordinate groups (Sullivan, 2005) Examples of this can be found in the teaching and nursing fields. For decades men were thought to be less qualified for these positions. Another example would be that women were thought to be unqualified as factory workers until World War II made it necessary for them to do so. Even after proving themselves capable during the war institutional discrimination was very slow to change, it took decades to dissolves. (Anderson, 1982).
This hiring process can still include discrimination that it not institutionalized depending on the person doing the hiring. Often times the person doing the hiring can harbor their own individual prejudice which can lead to Individual discrimination. Individual discrimination consists of a one on one act by members of the dominant group that harms subordinate group members or their property. (Sullivan, 2005) An example of this would be that large/overweight people have in obtaining and retaining employment. One case in point would be Annette McConnell from Arizona; she was an award winning sales person who was laid off because of her weight. When