Kelli J.

Schutte
William Jewell College
Robbins & Judge
Organizational Behavior
14th Edition

Diversity in Organizations
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Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity.
Define the key biographical characteristics and describe how
they are relevant to OB.
Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to
OB.
Contrast the two types of ability.
Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.
Show how culture affects our understanding of biographical
characteristics and intellectual abilities.
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Diversity
Surface-level diversity
Deep-level diversity
Diversity Management
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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.
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Biographical Characteristics (Continued)
Race & Ethnicity
Contentious issue: differences exist, but could be more
culture based than race based.

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


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Other Biographical Characteristics
Religion
May impact the workplace in areas of dress, grooming and
scheduling

Sexual Orientation
Federal law does not protect against discrimination (but state
or local laws may).
Domestic partner benefits are important considerations.

Gender Identity
Relatively new issue transgendered employees.
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Ability
An individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in a
job.
Intellectual and Physical Abilities
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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.
Wonderlic Personnel Test: a quick measure of intelligence for
recruitment screening.
No correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction.
Physical Abilities
The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity,
strength, and similar characteristics.

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Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Intellectual
Ability
Number
Aptitude
Verbal
Comprehension
Perceptual
Speed
Inductive
Reasoning
Deductive
Reasoning
Spatial
Visualization
Memory
E X H I B I T 21
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Nine Basic Physical Abilities
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Strength Factors
Dynamic strength
Trunk strength
Static strength
Explosive strength
Flexibility Factors
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Flexibility Factors
Extent flexibility
Dynamic flexibility

Other Physical Factors

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Other Factors
Body coordination
Balance
Stamina
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.
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Implementing Diversity Management Strategies
Making everybody more aware and sensitive to the
needs of others.
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Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and
Retaining the Diverse Employees
Working with Diversity in Groups

Effective Diversity Programs
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.
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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.

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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.


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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.
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Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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