...Abstract Diversity encompasses characteristics that categorizes individuals and allows for self-identification. Diversity presents itself in two different forms, visible and invisible. Those that are visible forms of diversity include ones physical appearance, sex, race, age, ethnicity, speech patterns and language. Those that are nonvisible include characteristics such as religion, national origin, illness and sexual orientation (Clair 2005). When discussing diversity in the work environment, most often times they are discussing the outward, visible characteristics, however invisible social identities are common in the workplace. Gender is one of the most common viewed issues when looking at diversity in the workplace. The glass ceiling and equality issues are analyzed and discussed frequently. Discoveries have been made that support the idea that woman should be on more Boards and should be making more decisions on allocations of monies. This paper seeks to address how diversity impacts an organization and how managers can make diversity work for them. Introduction According to Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2012), Diversity is a term that describes the cultural, ethnic and racial differences in a population. A more comprehensive definition by Gibson et al (2012) indicates that diversity is “an array of physical and cultural differences that constitute the spectrum of human attributes. There are six dimensions of diversity which include: age...
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...corporate big shots running floundering companies while their employees are getting laid off and their benefits cut. All of it being plastered across the news making business and ethics anonyms. The following will discuss how personal differences and preferences impact ethics, how organizational policies and procedures impact ethics, and will examine a case study on dealing with ethical dilemmas. Discuss how personal differences and preferences can impact organization ethics. Values and principles strongly influence an individual’s decision making and behavior. Ethics are values and principles that help individuals distinguish right from wrong. A difference in an individual’s values and principles can result in a difference in what an individual considers to be ethical or unethical. The same can be said for an organization. For example, a person may value people more than an organization. Therefore, that person may not consider an action that is hurting the organization but benefiting the people within the organization to be unethical. Some may not consider an action to be unethical unless the action breaks the law. Ethics are based on a set of values and beliefs. Values and beliefs vary from individual to individual and even organization to organization. Kohlberg developed a model of moral development. In this model there are six stages of moral development: universal, social contract, law and order, interpersonal, instrumental, and obedience and punishment (Hellriegel & Slocum...
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...common goals of the group. It is quite possible that a work team may perform without the presence of conflict, but oftentimes certain measures have been implemented to prevent such conflict from occurring. Occasional conflict, if managed appropriately, can lead to creativity, better decision-making, and improved results. However, too much conflict can lead to a decrease in performance and group cohesion. In global organizations there is an opportunity for cross-cultural differences that may increase conflict. Contained herein are both the positive and negative consequences of conflict, as well as courses of action to understand, prevent, and resolve conflict that occurs within work teams or groups. THE VALUE OF WORK TEAMS A work team is defined as an organized group, committed to the individuals within the group, whose members share the same intent of accomplishing a common goal. Managers have become more inclined to utilize work teams when presented with missions involving problem solving, solution development, and decision making. One advantage a team has over an individual is its diversity of resources, knowledge, and ideas (Townsley, 2009). Teams allow for greater creativity due to the eclectic styles of thinking that collaborate when groups are formed. Benefits derived from using teams include quality improvements...
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...Diversity in Organizations Jessica Luther BUS 610 Charlene Anderson February 15, 2012 Diversity in Organizations Organizations of today are more diverse than ever. Diversity is defined as “the host of individual differences that make people different from and similar to each other.” (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2010) Organizations have to find ways of integrating the differences of the people that work for them into a “common objective” that represents the organization as a whole. Diversity is about the “individual characteristics” that identify the way a person will perform a particular task within the organization. Individuals encompass a myriad of dimensions that make them unique. This paper will identify methods and procedures for analyzing diversity and how they can be used in a cultural diversity program. There are four layers of diversity that differentiate the influential way in which people differ. These four layers are identified as: personality, internal dimensions, external dimensions, and organizational dimensions. Personality is characteristics that make up a person’s identity. Personality is the foundation of the other three layers. The second layer of diversity is internal dimensions. Internal dimensions are classified as characteristics that are uncontrollable such as age, race, gender, social orientation, ethnicity, and physical ability. The third layer of diversity are the external dimensions such as geographic location, income, personal habits...
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...people are managed. This is the reason why cultural differences mandate different management practices. It is believed that Human Resource Management (HRM) practices are the most vulnerable to the cultural differences having significant implications for the appropriateness and design. International HRM has proposed that cultural differences result in varying individual preferences and perceptions that give shape to organizational behavior along with work motivation; conflicts; communications; defining goals; work-orientation; rewarding and performance appraisal, management styles and decision making. Some of the economic theories have also realized the significance of culture in giving shape to behaviors of institutions and individuals. It has been proposed that other than formal, the context of informal institution influences governance structures which coordinate the individual actions taking place within the firms. The significance of studying cultural differences with respect to HRM policies and practices in relevant practices and literature is twofold. Rising cultural diversity due to internationalization of global economy indicates that the global organizations are the most challenging context for implementation and designing of the integrated and unusual HRM practices and policies which address the cross-cultural concerns. Cultural differences on the other hand are significant for studying HRM practices and policies within a comparative context. It has been argued that the...
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...one in the same; there are differences between the two. Teams and groups offer certain differences in real world corporate applications. According to Articlesbase, Difference Between a Group and a Team; Strengths of a team can rely on the fact that the members of a team have similarities in the purpose and there is interconnectivity between the individual members. Whereas a group is larger in number and the group’s strength could be assessed from the fact that they need to be willing to execute the commands of a leader. (David, J. 2009). Although teams and groups deliver different things to an organization they are still the comings together of diverse individuals. Organizations spend time focusing on team building. Teams come together to work equally through their own diverse backgrounds in order to work together to deliver success from their organization. Teams continually work together in an organization to meet certain criteria that has been delegated through them within a single organization. Organizations can use team building to help address smaller issues that higher managerial positions can become unaware of. Teams are able to be the voice that bridges the different steps of an organization together. They can do this by using their skills to speak at staff meetings and to have learning clinics for others to become involved. A team offers skills that can be complimentary to one another to achieve continual growth. Each individual team member must contribute...
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...Date:…………. [Page Break]Communication Theory Paper When working in an organization such as that of Hospice, effective communication is one of the key aspects concerning the care of the patients involved. As in any health care setting, an organization designated to hospice care may face challenges when it comes to communication because of gender differences, cultural differences, and in some cases the inability to communicate effectively with the individuals obtaining service. Circumstances such as these may affect how certain tasks are completed within the organization, whether or not an individual wants to continue using hospice services, and how well employees, patients, and family members interact together. Therefore, to understand some of the challenges facing this type of organization in accordance to communication we will discuss how gender and cultural differences influence communication within the organization Legacy Hospice when it comes to coworkers, managers, patients, families, and caregivers, and improvements that can be made if any. Gender Differences Females When working in an organization dedicated to hospice care one is most likely to encounter both male and female employees who are dedicated to the care and health of the patients involved however, they are also going to encounter different approaches when it comes to styles of communicating. In reference to the organization known as Legacy Hospice it is shown that female employees unlike that of...
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...Motivation within the Organization and its Cultural dimensions as it relates to behavior on individuals. In doing so the author will discuss what Mullins (2013) referred to as Content theories of motivation and show the relationship between such factors on the structure of organizations. Two Content theories will be discussed, which are Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s (1959) Two Factor Theory and the cultural aspect of motivation as mentioned by Handy (1989) and Hofstede (1980) will show the relationship between organizational culture and individuals. The information sort for this discussion will be from various secondary sources such as, academic journals, reference books and the website. The main purpose of this paper is to understand the dilemma faced by executives in organizations that are plagued by the performance and motivational issues of individuals that contribute inefficiency. Discussion Motivation of an individual can be “Intrinsic or Extrinsic” by nature and can be viewed as “the driving force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfill some need or expectation” Mullins (2013). Organizations have learnt that the “correct design of structure is significant in determining the performance of the organization” Drucker (1989) and aids in the encouragement of motivation. This design is guided by what Burns and Stalker (1966) has termed Organic and Mechanistic structural types. The structure of an organization can...
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...Leadership Theory: Comparisons and Contrasts Introduction Leadership is essential for all successful organizations. However, the form of leadership that is practiced by various leaders is vital in determining how the activities of the organization are managed. There are many different forms of leadership practiced in differing environments. Servant leadership and social change models are some of the most common leadership theories used in pursuit of organizational success. This paper will describe in detail the servant leadership and social change models and contrast their methods of leadership. Also I will seek to explain how they could be applied in the leadership role of any given organization. Servant leadership Robert K. Greenleaf introduced the concept of Servant Leadership in his book “Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”. In the description of servant leadership, Greenleaf describes servant leadership as: a natural feeling where the leader feels that they should serve the people first (Greenleaf, 2002) . Greenleaf describes a servant leader as a leader who puts the needs of his or her people first before other personal needs associated with the role. A servant leader will strive to ensure that they prioritize other people’s needs first and ensure that their welfare is paramount. According to Greenleaf, The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority...
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...Organizational Profile Learning Team A ETH/316: Ethics and Social Responsibility Organizational Profile Organizations have different purposes and mission statements from one another. They can range in their functions towards a community. For example one organization can be formed to bring awareness of injured soldiers. Another example of an organization is that they can provide meals to the elderly. Organizations take a responsibility and involvement in a community. A community can influence individuals to form an organization. An organization should always have room for improvement. No individual is perfect and this also can be implied for this topic. Organizations will always have tiny flaws that would need to be either worked on or addressed. Similarities and Differences between the Organizations Often community organizations will differ from one another but still tackle the same issue – serving the community to improve it. Many ways are available to go about achieving these improvements, but ultimately each organization’s responsibility is to somehow give back to the community, whether focused on individuals or the community at large. One example is the Meals on Wheels program. Meals on Wheels are a national organization that targets individuals in need such as the elderly who have problems keeping themselves well fed. Even though this program targets the older population, citizens have a potential for some day making use of it themselves. Even if he or she is...
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...Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA Abstract Purpose – The use of teams in organizations given the current trend toward globalization, population changes, and an aging workforce, especially in high-income countries, makes the issue of diverse team building critical. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of team diversity and team performance through the examination of theory and empirical research. Specifically, the paper seeks to answer the question: “How might individuals with diverse characteristics such as culture, age, work experience, educational background, aptitude and values, become successful team members?”. Design/methodology/approach – A review of theories that are pertinent to individual differences and team formation, including social identity theory, mental models, inter contact theory, social comparison theory, and chaos theory, was conducted. Team formation and diversity literature were reviewed to identify ways of developing diverse and effective teams. Findings – It is a truism that working together in teams is a smart way of achieving organizational performance goals. This paper discusses the theories, research and practices that underlie the development of efficient and effective teams. It demonstrates that recognizing the underlying individual differences, mental models, and assumptions that team members bring to the organization can help build teams that...
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...effective communication is definitely one of the very important aspects with regard to the care of the patients. As in any health care setting, an organization established to hospital care may stand in front of challenges when it come to communication for the reason that of gender and cultural differences, and in some cases the lack of ability to communicate effectively with the individuals obtaining service. Circumstances such as these may have an effect on how certain tasks are achieved within the organization, whether or not an individual want to continue using hospital services and how to a huge degree employees, patients, and family members interact together. Therefore, to comprehend various challenges facing this type of organization with accordance to communication we will address how gender and cultural differences does impact communication within an organization of a hospital, especially when it involves fellow coworkers, managers, patients, families, and caregivers along with improvements that can be made if any. Having work in an organization dedicated to hospital care one will come across both male and female employees dedicated to the care and health of the patients; however, one is also going to come across different approaches when it come to styles of communicating. Having worked at Cooper Hospital an organization that provides wide-ranging medical services to the residents of southern New Jersey, it is known female employees unlike that of male employees...
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...| | |“How Personal Can Ethics Get?” | |Janice Lowe | |Strayer University | | | | | | | | | | | |Lab Assignment #1 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment | |of the Requirements for the Course | |CIS 500: Business...
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...February 4, 2010 Making a difference at a company or in an organization is based on how well the employees within the organization perform. Whether a person’s career is at a large organization, a small organization, or the individual is self employed the people are the rock that make the organization successful. The culture of an organization, the behavior of the organization, how diversified the organization’s workforce is, and the communication of management with employees, and employees with management, are keys that effect the organization’s behavior. This paper will provide a brief analysis of the culture and behavior of an organization at which I was employed. Organization cultures are the beliefs that are shared by the employees. The three main functions of a culture are: shared values, beliefs, and behavioral norms. Shared values are what people at an organization and in a community feel are very important. For example, the organization were I was employed valued a non-confrontational environment. Any confrontation was dealt with swiftly and without prejudice no matter what employees were involved. The word value is defined as “a principle, standard, or quality. Values help employees at an organization find purpose, and meaning in the work that is connected to the individuals and their employment. Organizational behavior, according to Organizational Behavior, tenth edition, is the study of individuals and groups in an organization. Whenever people interact...
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...cultures respect other people’s differences and the variety of human cultures or societies. In general, cultural diversity therefore refers to the existence of different value systems and multiplicity of subcultures in a multicultural or plural society or any other setting. Cultural diversity therefore calls for people to appreciate other people’s culture by respecting their way of life and the way they perform their different rituals, taboos and other cultural practices (Lee, et al, 2011). One of the most important developments in the history of Human service has been the realization that many overall markets are up of significantly different groups Culture may be defined as ‘ The way of life of a people ,including their attitudes , values , beliefs , arts, sciences, modes of perception , and habits of thought and activity .Culture defines how individuals live and behave in an environment and how their perceptions are shaped which affect the mutual relationship between both the individuals who are part of that environment and those who interact with that environment .For organizations , cultural differences are becoming more and more important . With globalization, workforce diversity has increased and cultural impacts are shaping organization‘s performance. These cultural differences have profound impact over Human service practices such as training; staffing, mergers and acquisitions .How culture influences Human services practices Differences in cultures affect many organizational...
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