A Focus on Inclusion While in the past many organizations addressed the issue of diversity from the standpoint of compliance (e.g., complying with the legal mandate by employing an Employment Equity and Affi rmative Action Offi cer who kept track of and reported statistics), in recent years there has been a shift in focus from diversity to inclusion.68 As described by Katharine Esty,69 “This sea change has happened without fanfare and almost without notice. In most organizations, the word inclusion has been added to all the company’s diversity materials with no explanation.” As Esty explains, this change represents a shift from a numbers game to a focus on culture, and consideration of how organizations can create inclusive cultures for everyone.
The move from diversity to inclusion occurred primarily because employers began to learn that, although they were able to recruit diverse individuals, they were not able to retain them. In fact, some organizations found that after years of trying, they had lower representation among certain groups than they had earlier.
They pieced together that this was related to the fact that the upper ranks of organizations continued to be primarily white male. In these environments, awareness and diversity training was not enough—they needed to address the issue more deeply. So, they asked different questions: Do employees in all groups and categories feel comfortable and welcomed in the organization? Do they feel included, and do they experience the environment as inclusive?70
Social Identity Theory Such questions are the focus of social identity theory.
Social identity theory was developed by social psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner to understand the psychological basis of discrimination.71 According to the theory, individuals have not one, but multiple, “personal selves.” Which self is activated depends on the group with which the person identifi es. The mere act of identifying, or “categorizing,” oneself as a member of a group will generate favoritism toward that group, and this favoritism is displayed in the form of “in-group” enhancement. This in-group favoritism occurs at the expense of the out-group. In terms of diversity, social identity theory suggests that simply having diversity groups makes that identity salient in peoples’ minds. Individuals feel these identities and engage in in-group and out-group categorizations.
The implications of this theory are pretty obvious. If organizations have strong identities around in-group and out-group based on some type of diversity group categorization, this will work against a feeling of inclusion. The important thing to remember is that simply saying we embrace you is not enough. In organizational contexts these categorizations can be subtle but powerful—and primarily notice- able to those in the “out-group” category. Organizations may not intend to create discriminatory environments, but having only a few members of a group may evoke a strong out-group identity. This may make them feel uncomfortable and less a part of the organization.
Valuing and Supporting Diversity So how do managers and fi rms deal with all this? By committing to the creation of environments that welcome and embrace inclusion, and working to promote a better understanding of factors that help support inclusion in organizations. The concept of valuing diversity in organizations
• Inclusion A work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success.
• Social identity theory is a theory developed to understand the
psychological basis of discrimination.
• In-group occurs when individuals feel part of a group and experience favorable status and a sense of belonging.
• Out-group occurs when one does not feel part of a group and experiences discomfort and low belongingness.
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48 2 Individual Differences, Values, and Diversity
emphasizes appreciation of differences in creating a setting where everyone feels valued and accepted through such things as:72
• Strong commitment from the board and corporate offi cers
• Infl uential mentors and sponsors to provide career guidance and help navigate politics
• Opportunities for networking
• Role models from same-gender, racial, or ethnic group
• Exposure through high-visibility assignments
• An inclusive culture that values differences and does not require extensive adjustments to fi t in
• Reducing subtle and subconscious stereotypes and stigmas
Valuing diversity assumes that groups will retain their own characteristics and will shape the fi rm as well as be shaped by it. As Dr. Santiago Rodriguez, former director of Diversity for Microsoft, says true diversity is exemplifi ed by companies that “hire people who are different—knowing and valuing that they will change the way you do business.”
2 study guide
Key Questions
and Answers
What are individual differences and why are they important?• The study of individual differences attempts to identify where behavioral tendencies are similar and where they are different to more accurately predict how and why people behave as they do.
• For people to capitalize on individual differences, they need to be aware of them.
Self-awareness is being aware of our own behaviors, preferences, styles, biases, and personalities; awareness of others means being aware of these same things in others.
• Self-concept is the view individuals have of themselves as physical, social, and spiritual or moral beings. It is a way of recognizing oneself as a distinct human being.
• The nature/nurture controversy addresses whether we are the way we are because of heredity or because of the environments in which we have been raised and live.
What is personality?
• Personality captures the overall profi le, or combination of characteristics, that represents the unique nature of an individual as that individual interacts with others.
• Personality is determined by both heredity and environment; across all personality characteristics, the mix of heredity and environment is about 50–50. The Big Five personality traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.
• A useful personality framework consists of social traits, personal conception traits, emotional adjustment traits, and personality dynamics, where each category repre- sents one or more personality dimensions.
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Terms to Know 49
How are personality and stress related?
• Stress emerges when people experience tensions caused by extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities in their jobs.
• Personal stressors derive from personality type, needs, and values; they can infl uence how stressful different situations become for different people.
• Work stressors arise from such things as excessive task demands, interpersonal problems, unclear roles, ethical dilemmas, and career disappointments.
• Nonwork stress can spill over to affect people at work; nonwork stressors may be traced to family situations, economic diffi culties, and personal problems.
• Stress can be managed by prevention—such as making adjustments in work and nonwork factors; it can also be dealt with through coping mechanisms and personal wellness—taking steps to maintain a healthy body and mind capable of better withstanding stressful situations.
What are values and how do they vary across cultures?
• Values are broad preferences concerning courses of action or outcomes.
• Rokeach identifi es terminal values (preferences concerning ends) and instrumental values (preferences concerning means); Meglino and his associates classify values into achievement, helping and concern for others, honesty, and fairness.
• Hofstede’s fi ve national culture values dimensions are power distance, individualism–
collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity–femininity, and long-term/short-term orientation.
• Culture is the learned and shared way of doing things in a society; it represents deeply ingrained infl uences on the way people from different societies think, behave, and solve problems.
Why is diversity important in the workplace?
• Workforce diversity is increasing in the United States and other countries. It is important because of the benefi ts diverse backgrounds and perspectives can bring to the workplace.
• Rather than being something we have to “manage,” diversity should be something we value.
• There are many types of diversity, but the most commonly discussed in the work- place are racial/ethnic, gender, age, disability, and sexual orientation.
• In recent years there has been a shift from a focus on diversity to a focus on inclu- sion. This represents a need to emphasize not only recruitment but retention.
• Social identity theory suggests that many forms of discrimination are subtle but powerful, and may occur in subconscious psychological processes that individuals of out-groups perceive in the workplace.
• Companies can value diversity by promoting cultures of inclusion that implement policies and practices to help create a more equitable and opportunity-based environment for all.
Terms to Know
Americans with Disabilities Act (p. 45) Authoritarianism (p. 33)
Awareness of others (p. 26) Coping (p. 37)
Culture (p. 40) Distress (p. 36) Dogmatism (p. 33)
Emotion-focused coping (p. 37)
Emotional adjustment traits (p. 34) Eustress (p. 36)
Inclusion (p. 47)
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50 2 Individual Differences, Values, and Diversity
Individualism–collectivism (p. 40) In-group (p. 47)
Instrumental values (p. 39) Job burnout (p. 36) Leaking pipeline (p. 44) Locus of control (p. 31)
Long-term/short-term orientation (p. 40) Machiavellianism (p. 33)
Masculinity–femininity (p. 40) Out-group (p. 47)
Personal conception traits (p. 31) Personal wellness (p. 38) Personality (p. 29)
Personality traits (p. 29) Power distance (p. 40) Proactive personality (p. 32) Problem-focused coping (p. 37) Problem-solving style (p. 29) Self-awareness (p. 26) Self-concept (p. 26) Self-esteem (p. 26) Self-effi cacy (p. 27) Self-monitoring (p. 33) Social identity theory (p. 47) Social traits (p. 29)
Stereotyping (p. 44)
Stigma (p. 46) Stress (p. 35)
Terminal values (p. 39)
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (p. 43)
Type A orientation (p. 35) Type B orientation (p. 35) Uncertainty avoidance (p. 40) Universal design (p. 46) Value congruence (p. 39) Values (p. 38)
Workforce diversity (p. 42)
Self-Test 2
Multiple Choice
1. Individual differences are important because they ____________. (a) mean we have to be different (b) reduce the importance of individuality (c) show that some cultural groups are superior to others (d) help us more accurately predict how and why people act as they do
2. Self-awareness is ____________ awareness of others. (a) more important than (b) less important than (c) as important as (d) not at all related to
3. Self-effi cacy is a form of ____________. (a) self-awareness (b) self-esteem (c) nurture (d) agreeableness
4. Personality encompasses ____________. (a) the overall combination of characteris- tics that capture the unique nature of a person (b) only the nurture components of self (c) only the nature components of self (d) how self-aware someone is
5. People who are high in internal locus of control ____________. (a) believe what happens to them is determined by environmental forces such as fate (b) believe that they control their own fate or destiny (c) are highly extraverted (d) do worse on tasks requiring learning and initiative
6. Proactive personality is ____________ in today’s work environments. (a) punished (b) missing (c) becoming more important (d) losing importance
7. People who would follow unethical orders without question would likely be high in ____________. (a) internal locus of control (b) machiavellianism (c) proactive personality and extraversion (d) authoritarianism and dogmatism
8. Managers who are hard-driving, detail-oriented, have high performance standards, and thrive on routine could be characterized as ____________. (a) Type B (b) Type A (c) high self-monitors (d) low Machs
9. Eustress is ____________ stress, while distress is ____________ stress. (a) construc- tive, destructive (b) destructive, constructive (c) negative, positive (d) the most common, the most relevant
10. Coping involves both ____________ and ____________ elements. (a) cognitive, intellectual (b) promotion, prevention (c) problem-focused, emotion-focused (d) cultural, psychological
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Next Steps 51
11. When it comes to values, ____________. (a) instrumental values are more important than terminal values, (b) value congruence is what seems to be most important for satisfaction (c) it is rare that people hold similar values (d) most cultures share the same values 12. Culture is ____________. (a) a person’s major beliefs and personal orientation
concerning a range of issues (b) the way a person gathers and evaluates information (c) the way someone appears to others when interacting in social settings (d) the learned, shared way of doing things in a particular society
13. The demographic make-up of the workforce ____________. (a) has been relatively stable (b) is not related to managerial practices (c) has experienced dramatic changes in recent decades (d) is becoming less of an issue for management.
14. Companies that ____________ experience the greatest benefi ts of workforce diversity.
(a) have learned to employ people because of their differences (b) have learned to employ people in spite of their differences (c) have not worried about people’s differences (d) implemented diversity programs based only on affi rmative action 15. The experience in which simply having various diversity groups makes that group
category salient in peoples’ minds is an example of ____________. (a) stigma (b) leaking pipeline (c) inclusion (d) social identity theory
Short Response
16. What are individual differences and why are they important to organizational behavior?
17. What is more infl uential in determining personality: nature or nurture?
18. What values were identifi ed by Meglino and associates, and how do they relate to workplace behavior?
19. With respect to diversity and inclusion, what do we know about environments that are most conducive to valuing and supporting diversity?
Applications Essay
20. Your boss has noticed that stress levels have been increasing in your work unit, and has asked you to assess the problem and propose a plan of action for addressing it.
What steps would you take to meet this request? What would be the fi rst thing you would do, what factors would you take into consideration in conducting your assessment, and what plan of action do you think would be most promising?
Next Steps
Top Choices from The OB Skills Workbook
Cases for Critical Thinking
Team and Experiential Exercises
Self-Assessment Portfolio
• Xerox • What Do You Value in
Work?
• Prejudice in Our Lives
• How We View Differences
• Alligator River Story
• Turbulence Tolerance Test
• Your Personality Type
• Time Management Profi le
• Personality Type These learning activities from The OB Skills Workbook are suggested for Chapter 2.
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52
Balance through Fitness
FYI: 83% of women say that work–life balance is important to their job satisfaction.f Quick Summary
• Stroller Strides encourages new moms to socialize with women like themselves while regaining their pre-pregnancy fi tness.
• Market efforts and low franchising fees helped Stroller Strides expand to more than 300 franchisees in just over fi ve years.
• Stroller Strides partnered with leading stroller manufacturer BOB to create a fi tness-specifi c model; founder Lisa Druxman published Lean Mommy, a physical and emotional fi tness guide for new mothers, Fit4Baby and BodyBack classes, videos and accessories.
After the birth of her fi rst child, Lisa Druxman was eager to both get in shape and get back to work. She decided to blend her passion for fi tness with motherhood and developed a series of exercises she could perform while out walking her baby. As a fi tness instructor, it was only natural for her to teach the workouts to other new moms. They liked it—lots—and Stroller Strides was born.
Since then, Druxman’s business has grown by leaps and bounds. In its fi rst year, Stroller Strides expanded to coach more than 300 moms in 12 locations.a Today, the company boasts more than 300 franchisees teaching fi tness in over 1,200 locations.b,c
And Druxman hasn’t stopped there. She has developed Fit4Baby, BodyBack classes, videos and accessories. She also wrote L.E.A.N. Mommy, a book advising new moms how to maintain physical and emotional fi tness.
There’s another side to Stroller Strides—the
“balance” side of things. Owning a franchise gives working mothers what they want—the chance to succeed at work without losing touch with their families. “The home-based business model has great appeal, as it’s
both low-cost and lifestyle-friendly.”
Druxman says. “Our franchisees have the fl exibility to create their business hours around the needs of their family.”d Her tips for success include:
1. You create the vision and the road map of how to get to the goal.
2. Delegate. Hire out everything you can so that there is progress when you are with your family.
3. Partner up. You may be able to get twice as much done if you have a like-minded partner.
4. Work smart. Make sure the time you do have is spent on the Most Important Things.
5. Get spousal support. Get buy-in with parenting as you grow your business.e
“My work gives me satisfaction, stimula- tion and inspiration.
Motherhood keeps me grounded and reminds me daily of what is truly important.”
—Lisa Druxman, founder of Stroller Strides.
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➠
533 Emotions, Attitudes, and Job Satisfaction
the key point
The work-life balance issues faced by new moms and dads are prime examples of how emotions test us in everyday living. When we’re feeling good there’s hardly anything better. But when we’re feeling down, it takes a toll on us and possibly others. OB scholars are very interested in how emotions, attitudes, and job satisfaction infl uence people’s behavior. There’s a lot to learn that can help you both personally and in your career.
chapter at a glance
What Are Emotions and Moods?
How Do Emotions and Moods Influence Behavior?
What Are Attitudes and How Do They Influence Behavior?
What Is Job Satisfaction and Why Is It Important?
what’s inside?
ETHICS IN OB
WATCH OUT FOR FACEBOOK FOLLIES
FINDING THE LEADER IN YOU
DON THOMPSON SHOWS THE POWER OF LISTENING TO EMOTIONS
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
MOODS AND CRASH
RESEARCH INSIGHT
JOB SATISFACTION SPILLOVER ONTO FAMILY LIVES
feelings deserve our attention
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54 3 Emotions, Attitudes, and Job Satisfaction
How do you feel when you are driving a car and are halted by a police offi cer?
You are in class and receive a poor grade on an exam? A favorite pet passes away?
You check e-mail and discover that you are being offered a job interview? A good friend walks right by without speaking? A parent or sibling or child loses his job?
Or, you get this SMS from a new acquaintance: “Ur gr8☺!”?
These examples show how what happens to us draws out “feelings” of many forms, such as happy or sad, angry or pleased. These feelings constitute what schol- ars call affect, the range of emotions and moods that people experience in their life context.1 Affects have important implications not only for our lives in general but also our behavior at work.2 Lisa Druxman, featured in the opening example, might have allowed her frustration at having no time to hit the gym turn into a negative affect toward her work and personal life. Instead, she took the initiative and developed a series of exercises she could perform while walking with her baby. She then took it a step further and started Stroller Strides, a company whose franchises provide moms with a chance to succeed—with their career and their families.