Chapter 2
Learning Outcomes
Challenges for Managers
1 Describe the factors that affect organizations competing in the
global economy.
2 Explain how cultural differences form the basis of work-related
attitudes.
3 Describe the diverse groups that make up today’s business
environment.
4 Discuss the role of ethics, character, and personal integrity in
the organization.
5 Explain five issues that pose ethical dilemmas for managers.
6 Describe the effects of technological advances on today’s
workforce.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
1
Learning Outcome
Describe the factors that affect
organizations competing in the global
economy.
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Four Challenges
Globalization
Diversity
Ethics
Technology
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Remaining Competitive
• Globalizing the firm’s operations
• Managing a diverse workforce
• Keeping up with technological
change and implementing
technology in the workplace
• Managing ethical behavior
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Changing Business
Perspectives
From International (which
implies an individual’s or
organization’s held nationality
is strongly in consciousness)
To Globalization (which
implies the world is free
from national boundaries and
that it is really a borderless world)
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Changing Business
Perspectives
From Multinational Organizations
(in which the organization was
recognized as doing business
with other countries)
To Transnational Organizations
(in which the global viewpoint
supersedes national issues)
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Beyond the Book:
Globalization and Volkswagen
• Since the 1930s, Volkswagen has a
history of profiting from globalization.
• In recent years, drastically increasing
labor costs led to widespread jobslashing and employee negotiations.
• Due to successful compromises and
increased production, VW estimates a
$6+ billion pretax profit for 2007.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
CHANGES IN THE
GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
•
•
•
•
Collapse of Eastern Europe
Union of East and West Berlin
Perestroika
Expansion of business with China
Guanxi – The Chinese practice of building
networks for social exchange
• Creation of the European
Union
• Establishment of the North
American Free Trade Agreement
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
2
Learning Outcome
Explain how cultural differences form
the basis of work-related attitudes.
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Understanding Cultural
Differences
HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS
Collectivism
Individualism
High power distance
High uncertainty avoidance
Low power distance
Low uncertainty avoidance
Femininity
Masculinity
Long-term orientation
Short-term orientation
Reprinted with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY 10510-8020. Cultural
Constraints in Management Theories (Figure), G. Hofstede, Academy of Management Executive 7, (1993). Reproduced
by permission of the publisher via Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Where the U.S. Stands
ON HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS
Collectivism
Individualism
High power distance
High uncertainty avoidance
Low power distance
Low uncertainty avoidance
Femininity
Masculinity
Long-term orientation
Short-term orientation
Reprinted with permission of Academy of Management, PO Box 3020, Briar Cliff Manor, NY 10510-8020. Cultural
Constraints in Management Theories (Figure), G. Hofstede, Academy of Management Executive 7, (1993). Reproduced
by permission of the publisher via Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Developing Cross-Cultural Sensitivity
• Cultural sensitivity training
• Cross-cultural task forces/teams
• Global view of human resource
functions
• Planning
• Recruitment and Selection
• Compensation
• Training and Development
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
3
Learning Outcome
Describe the diverse groups that make
up today’s business environment.
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Diversity
All forms of individual differences,
including culture, gender, age, ability,
personality, religious affiliation, economic
class, social status, military attachment,
and sexual orientation
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Diversity Statistics for the
Workplace
Cultural 2020 Workforce: 68% white non-Hispanic
14% Hispanic
11% African-American
5% Asian
Gender 2020 Workforce: 50% male
50% female
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Beyond the Book:
Anti-Affirmative Action
• Affirmative-action critic Ward Connerly
is campaigning in Arizona, Colorado,
Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma to
ban racial/ethnic preferences by public
institutions.
• Issues of illegal immigration could also
influence voters.
• If petitions are successful, states will
vote on the ban in November 2008.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Diversity Statistics Affecting the
Workplace
Age
By 2030, there will be 70,000,000 older
persons. People over 65 will comprise
20% of the population.
Ability
An estimated 50 million disabled live in the
U.S.; their unemployment rate exceeds
50%.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
WOMEN
& OBSTACLES AT WORK
•
•
•
•
Comprise over 60% of the workforce
Earn 32% of all doctorates
Earn 52% of master’s degrees
Earn 50% of undergraduate degrees
BUT
• Hold less than 15.7% of Fortune 500 corporate
officer positions
• Earn 78% of what their male counterparts do
• encounter the glass ceiling in the workplace
a transparent barrier that keeps women from
rising above a certain level in organizations
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Beyond the Book:
Diversity Training Studies
• ‘Diversity training’: term that encompasses a
wide array of specific programs designed to
train employees for receptiveness to diversity
• Studies correlate existing diversity-issues
competence with interest and active
participation in diversity-training programs
• Those with low diversity competence tend to
remain unaware of their low competence
levels
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Diversity’s Benefits & Problems
BENEFITS
• Attracts & retains
the best human talent
• Improves marketing
efforts
• Promotes creativity
and innovation
• Results in better
problem solving
• Enhances
organizational flexibility
PROBLEMS
• Resistance to
change
• Lack of cohesiveness
• Communication
problems
• Interpersonal
conflicts
• Slowed decision
making
4, 5
Learning Outcome
Discuss the role of ethics, character,
and personal integrity in the organization.
Explain five issues that pose ethical
dilemmas for managers.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Employee Rights Issues
Computerized monitoring
Drug testing
Free speech
Downsizing
Layoffs
Due process
AIDS in the workplace
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Ethical
Theories
[Rule-Based Theory]
an ethical theory that emphasizes the character of the act
itself rather than its effects
[Consequential Theory]
an ethical theory that emphasizes the consequences or
results of behavior
[Character Theory]
an ethical theory that emphasizes the character, personal
virtues, and integrity of the individual
Sexual Harassment =
Unwanted Sexual Attention
• Gender Harassment – crude comments;
behaviors that convey hostility toward a
particular gender
• Unwanted Sexual Attention – unwanted
touching, unwanted pressure for dates
• Sexual Coercion – demands for sexual
favors through job-related threats or
promises
Harassment or
Potential Romance?
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Organizational Justice
Distributive Justice –
fairness of the outcomes
that individuals receive
in an organization
Ex. Companies
in Danger
vs.
CEO
Salaries
Procedural Justice –
fairness by which the
outcomes are allocated
in an organization
Ex. Competence vs. Race and
and Skill
Gender
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Individual and Organizational
Responsibility
Whistle-Blower – an employee who
informs authorities of the
wrongdoing of his or her company
or coworkers
– Public Hero
– “Vile Wretch”
Social Responsibility – the obligation
of an organization to behave
ethically
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Rotary Four-Way Test of What We
Think, Say, or Do
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and better
friendships?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
6
Learning Outcome
Describe the effects of technological
advances on today’s workforce.
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Technological Innovation
Technology
The intellectual and
mechanical
processes
used by an
organization
to transform
inputs into products
or services that meet
organizational goals
Examples
Internet – integrates
computer, cable,
telecommunications
technologies
Expert System – computerbased application using a
representation of human
expertise in a specialized
field of knowledge to
solve problems
Robotics – use of robots in
organizations
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Beyond the Book:
Email Emergency
• Employees are increasingly suffering from
inbox glut—receiving sometimes as many as
400 business-related emails a day
• Email-technology companies such as
ClearContext, Seriosity, and Xobni are
stepping up to the plate with new solutions
• Focuses include automatic email filing,
context-sensitive importance flags, and
improved search functions
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Telecommuting
electronically transmitting work from a
home computer to the office
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Alternative Work Arrangements
With Alternative Arrangements –
[Employees]
•
•
•
Gain flexibility
Save the commute to work
Enjoy the comforts of home
[But, they ]
•
•
•
•
Have distractions
Lack socialization opportunities
Lack interaction with supervisors
Identify less with the organization
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Additional Alternative Work
Arrangements
[Hoteling] – employees have mobile file
cabinets/lockers for personal storage; work
spaces are reserved, not assigned
[Satellite Offices] – large facilities broken
into smaller workplaces near employees’
homes
[Virtual Office] – people work anytime,
anywhere, with anyone
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Technological Change Requires
Managers to:
• Develop technical competence to
gain workers’ respect
• Focus on helping workers manage
the stress of their work
• Take advantage of the wealth of
information available to motivate,
coach, and counsel—not to control
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Help Employees Adjust by
• Involving them in decision making regarding
technological change
• Selecting technology that increases
workers’ skill requirements
• Providing effective training
• Establishing support groups
• Encouraging reinvention (creative
application of new technology)
© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.