Chapter 2: Environmental Context: Globalization, Diversity, and Ethics

Question 1

Three phases of globalization

Answer 1

1. countries globalizing
2. companies globalizing
3. groups and individuals globalizing (fueled by information technology availability).

Question 2

Reasons for the complexity of cross-cultural management:

Answer 2

1. People are influenced by multiple cultures—national, regional, organizational, functional,
   and professional.
2. Even though people are from the same country, they still have different beliefs, values,
   and behaviors.
3. Counterparts from other cultures are becoming savvy in how to deal with foreigners
   and thus may not be typical of their own culture.
4. Because of the complexity of culture, simplistic categorizations may initially be helpful,
   but turn out to be poor predictors of behavior

Question 3

Laws to Prohibit Discrimination

Answer 3

1. Age Discrimination Act of 1978.
2. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
3. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
4. Civil Rights Act of 1991
5. Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

Question 4

Multicultural organization description

Answer 4

1. Reflects the contributions and interests of diverse cultural and social groups in its
   mission, operations, and product or service.
2. Acts on a commitment to eradicate social oppression in all forms within the organization.
3. Includes the members of diverse cultural and social groups as full participants, especially
   in decisions that shape the organization.
4. Follows through on broader external social responsibilities, including support of other
   institutional efforts to eliminate all forms of social oppression

Question 5

Stages leading to a Multicultural Organization

Answer 5

1. Exclusionary organization
2. Club organization
3. Compliance organization
4. Redefining organization
5. Multicultural organization

Question 6

Exclusionary organization

Answer 6

• Furthest from Multicultural
• devoted to maintaining the dominance of one group over all others on factors such as age, education, gender, or race
• exclusionary hiring practices, discrimination

Question 7

Club Organization

Answer 7

• the maintenance of privileges by those who traditionally have held power
• Women and minorities hired who are deemed to have the “Right” credentials & perspectives
• just end up hiring people “just like us”

Question 8

Compliance organization

Answer 8

• committed to removing some of the discriminatory practices
• women and minorities are hired and promoted to give the appearance of openness and fair play
• the strategy is more in meeting the letter of the law and not in the spirit

Question 9

Redefining organization

Answer 9

• advanced stage organization is characterized by an examination of all activities for the purpose of evaluating their impact on all employees’ opportunity to both participate in and contribute to their own and the firm’s growth and success
• This approach questions the core cultural values of the organization as manifested in the mission, structure, technology, psychosocial dynamics, and products and services
• it engages in visionary planning and problem solving to tap the strength of the diversity

Question 10

Multicultural Organization

Answer 10

• commitment to eliminate social oppression and promote dignity and respect for everyone throughout the organization
• All members of diverse cultural and social groups are involved in the decisions that shape the mission, structure, technology, psychosocial dynamics, and products and services of the organization.

Question 11

Individual Approaches to Managing Diversity

Answer 11

1. Learning

2 Empathy

Question 12

Organizational Approaches to Managing Diversity

Answer 12

1. Testing
2. Training
3. Mentoring
4. Work / Family Programs

Question 13

Reasons for the emergence of diversity

Answer 13

1. The Recognition and Desire for Diverse Viewpoints
2. Competitive Pressures
3. Legislation & lawsuits
4. Changing Workforce Demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, and education)
5. Rapidly Growing Increase in International Business

Question 14

Learning

Answer 14

Many managers are often unprepared to deal with diversity; because of their inexperience,
they are unsure of how to respond. Even those who think they are knowledgeable may
actually need, but not seek, diversity training. For example, one recent study revealed an
interesting counterintuitive finding. Those with low competence in the diversity domain
were unaware of their deficiency and therefore were not motivated to participate in diversity
training, while those who were relatively competent expressed more interest in additional
diversity training and the opportunity to attend a voluntary session.

Question 15

Empathy

Answer 15

• the ability to put oneself in another’s place and see things from that person’s point of view
• Empathy is particularly important in managing diversity because members of diverse groups often feel that only they can truly understand the challenges or problems they are facing.

Question 16

Testing

Answer 16

• A problem that organizations have encountered with the use of tests for selection and evaluation is that they may be culturally biased
• One way to make tests more valid for diverse employees is to use job-specific tests rather than general aptitude or knowledge tests
• Carefully constructed and conducted interviews could be useful in helping identify whether the applicant speaks well, can communicate ideas, and has the necessary personal style for dealing effectively with customers.
• Role-playing exercises could be useful in helping identify the applicant’s ability to focus on problems and solve them to the satisfaction of the customer.
• the applicant could be given a case or exercise in a group setting to assess interpersonal skills
• If pencil-and-paper or online tests are used, then to help ensure that they are not biased, scientific norming could be used

Question 17

scientific norming

Answer 17

This is a process that ensures the tests are equivalent across cultures.

Question 18

Training

Answer 18

• Surveys indicate that the majority of U.S. companies have diversity training and have moved into the mainstream from the traditional role of merely equal employment opportunity compliant following profile:
  (1) large size,
  (2) positive top-management beliefs about diversity,
  (3) high strategic priority of diversity relative to other competing objectives,
  (4) presence of a diversity manager, and
  (5) existence of a large number of other diversity of supportive policies

Question 19

Two ways training plays a key role in managing diversity

Answer 19

• One way is by offering training to diverse groups. Members from a diverse group can be trained for an entry-level skill or how to more effectively do their existing or future job.
• The other approach is to provide training to managers and other employees who work with diverse employees. In recent years a number of approaches have been used in providing such diversity training.

Question 20

Awareness Training

Answer 20

is valuable to shift perceptions, but may not lead to behavioral change

Question 21

Diversity Training

Answer 21

• diversity-related games are used as supplements to other forms of training and they are often employed as icebreakers to get diversity training sessions started or to maintain participant interest during a long program.
• major key to the success of diversity training is top-management support for diversity;
• also important are mandatory attendance for all managers, long-term evaluation of training results, managerial rewards for increasing diversity, and a broadly inclusionary definition of diversity in the organization
• Those going through the diversity training may see the value and gain some relevant knowledge, but then do not transfer this training back to the job. A major reason for this transfer problem is a lack of confidence or self-efficacy (i.e., the trainees do not believe that they can successfully carry out the diversity training objectives back on the job in their specific environment
• A major problem of training in general, and diversity training in particular, is the transfer problem
• Those going through the diversity training may see the value and gain some
  relevant knowledge, but then do not transfer this training back to the job. A major reason
  for this transfer problem is a lack of confidence or self-efficacy (i.e., the trainees do not believe that they can successfully carry out the diversity training objectives back on the job in their specific environment)

Question 22

Mentoring

Answer 22

• A mentor is a trusted counselor, coach, or advisor who provides advice and assistance
• There are a number of specific benefits
  that mentors can provide to those they assist, including the following:
  1. Identify the skills, interests, and aspirations the person has
  2. Provide instruction in specific skills and knowledge critical to successful job performance
  3. Help in understanding the unwritten rules of the organization and how to avoid saying
  or doing the wrong things
  4. Answer questions and provide important insights
  5. Offer emotional support
  6. Serve as a role model
  7. Create an environment in which mistakes can be made without losing self-confidence
• One problem is that mentors may become overly protective and encase those they mentor into a “glass bubble” by shunting them into jobs with adequate pay and professional challenges, but eliminate all chance of further advancement

Question 23

work-to-family conflict

Answer 23

• was found to be linked to job dissatisfaction, turnover intentions, and stress

Question 24

family-to-work conflict

Answer 24

• resulted in stress and absenteeism

Question 25

work/family programs

Answer 25

• programs to help solve the reality of dual-career families and working parents, could include:
  1. Child / elder care
  2. Adoption benefits
  3. Leave / Time off policies
  4. Convenience benefits
  5. Life-cycle accounts
  6. Health promotion benefits
  7. Education assistance
  8. Housing assistance
  9. Group purchase programs
  10. Casual day program

Question 26

Cultural influences on ethical behavior

Answer 26

come from family, friends, neighbors, education, religion, and the media

Question 27

Organizational influences on ethical behavior

Answer 27

come from ethical codes, role models, policies and practices, and reward and punishment systems

Question 28

External forces influences on ethical behavior

Answer 28

include political, legal, economic, and international developments

Question 29

Stajkovic and Luthans social cognitive model of ethics across cultures

Answer 29

This model uses national cultures as the social foundation for institutional (ethics legislation), organizational (codes of ethics), and personal (values and self-regulatory mechanisms) factors that interact to
influence the perception of ethical standards and actual ethical behavior across cultures
1. institutional factors
2. organizational factors
3. personal factors

Question 30

the cost of illegal, unethical practices

Answer 30

• recent research studies find a statistically significant relationship.
• 67 Fortune 500 firms that were convicted of
  acts such as antitrust violations, product liabilities, and acts of discrimination with 188 firms in the same time period that were not.
• The results indicated that the convicted firms had significantly lower returns on assets and returns on sales

Question 31

Global Mindset

Answer 31

is defined as a set of individual attributes that enable an individual to influence individuals, groups, and organizations from diverse social/cultural/institutional systems

Question 32

Corporate social responsibility

Answer 32

may be defined as, “engaging in economically sustainable business activities that go beyond legal requirements to protect the well-being of employees, communities, and the environment.”