Northouse Ch 2: Diversity in Organizations and Ch 11: Communication
The globalization process is linked to diversity, but beyond this aspect, diversity encompasses the heterogeneity that can exist in a company, such as, in the words of the authors Robbins and Judge (2022): "individual characteristics like age, gender, race, identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and abilities can influence interactions and performance in the workplace." The author shows the change in the labor market in the US, including more women, a higher percentage of people from ethnic minorities, and people over 55 years old active in the workforce.
Companies are part of society, and society has many problems that affect the performance of employees in companies. There is the problem of sexism, misogyny, racism, prejudice against people with disabilities, against the elderly, among others. Even when a legal and institutional framework recognizes a fundamental right, the results to mitigate the harmful effects of the past can take decades or centuries. Historically, it is very recently that some rights were considered, such as the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 in the United States, which ensured women's suffrage and the first national election with women's participation. Even though women have gained more rights over the past century, discrimination and stereotypes still persist, and there are still many challenges to be overcome. Robbins and Judge (2022) define discrimination as: "Noticing a difference between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination, which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their demographic group." And stereotype as: "Judging someone based on one's perception of the group to which that person belongs."
Robbins and Judge (2022) show that in 2016, 46.8% of the workforce was made up of women, but even so, we see a gap in leadership positions and salaries, favoring men. In a 2024 Fortune report, of the top 500 companies in the United States, only 10.4% had female leaders. In a 2024 Forbes report, it is shown that women earn on average 16% less than men. The role of the manager should be to find ways to not perpetuate discrimination (salary is included in this item) and stereotypes. Thinking about this salary issue, Chapko's (2024) work shows how salary transparency can help in this matter. In the article, she shows that 8 American states have salary transparency laws and that these laws, in her words: "caused an 8.57% increase in women's wages."
Robbins and Judge (2022) said that one of the implications for the manager: "Understand your organization's antidiscrimination policies thoroughly and share them with all employees." One of the programs that a company can have to change the status quo is to encourage some training or club to encourage women's leadership and a gender pay equity program, showing that the company cares about closing this gap. This is a global problem; across Europe, there is only one country where women earn more on average than men, as shown in a Euronews report from 2024.
References
Chapko, K. (2024). How do Pay Transparency Laws Impact the Gender Pay Gap in the United States?. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4726&context=cmc_theses
Euronews. (2024, March 8). Gender pay gap in Europe: How do countries compare on narrowing the divide? https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/03/08/gender-pay-gap-in-europe-how-do-countries-compare-on-narrowing-the-divide
Forbes. (2024). Gender pay gap statistics 2024. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/gender-pay-gap-statistics/
Fortune. (2024, June 4). Fortune 500 companies are hitting a milestone for women CEOs in 2024. https://fortune.com/2024/06/04/fortune-500-companies-women-ceos-2024/
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2022). Essentials of Organizational Behavior (15th ed.). Pearson.
Communication is a set of characteristics. When learning about a new culture, in addition to the language, it is necessary to understand these nonverbal nuances. Some colors of clothing and accessories, for example, can be offensive in some situations, in addition to nonverbal language. So, preparation is necessary to avoid making mistakes. Robbins and Judge (2022) showed that in some cultures, communication is more through words. If you want to communicate something, the most effective way is to speak (Germany and Switzerland, for example), but others understand your intention through more subtle means such as gestures, looks, head position, etc. (China and South Korea, for example).
Still focused on the topic, the work of Azhar (2024) shows how nonverbal communication can improve leadership effectiveness. In addition to the need to adapt nonverbal language in the virtual environment. Kevin Harrison showed a real example of training, as shown by Azhar (2024), who says that: "leaders need to adapt their nonverbal communication strategies with sensitivity to cultural differences".
References
Azhar, F. (2024). The role of nonverbal communication in enhancing effective leadership in organizational contexts. Gema Wiralodra, 15(1), 324-333. https://gemawiralodra.unwir.ac.id/index.php/gemawiralodra/article/view/652/497
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2022). Essentials of Organizational Behavior (15th ed.). Pearson
The United States, like other parts of the world that were European colonies, still suffer the effects of this system. Companies, as part of society, reproduce the social impacts. Even though the United States has been independent since 1776, slavery ended in 1865 and the system similar to apartheid ended institutionally in 1964 (there are still many people alive in the country who lived in this era). The massacre on 'Black Wall Street' in Tulsa in 1921, which killed and burned several businesses and properties, shows how the American racist system was against the prosperity of the black community.
A person of European origin normally does not identify only as 'European', but as being grandchildren, great-grandchildren of Italians, Germans, Swiss, etc. They usually keep their surnames and know at least a little about their family's culture. Because of slavery, many black families had their surnames, language and culture erased. Many African-Americans (this also happens in Brazil and other parts of the world) only know that they have African origins, but they do not have more detailed information about their origins, if their ancestors came from Nigeria, Angola or Kenya, for example.
This past colonial capital and post-independence of the United States concentrated on the population of European origin and in addition to the boycotts that black communities suffered, this affects the current work system. Over time, with the achievement of rights, the scenario is gradually changing.
I myself have worked at a company that had a racial equality program, which is already a step forward, but it seemed very false, because in the company's high positions there were absolutely no black leaders, showing a certain hypocrisy of the program.
One way to promote racial equity is through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements in the company, as shown in the study by Folberg et al. (2024).
Current impacts: in the CNBC report it shows that: "Black people make 76 cents to white people's dollar, according to the Department of Labor". Of the Fortune 500 companies, only 1.6% of the CEOs were black. FSU and the MBA program are an important environment for changing this scenario, in stimulating the increase of black leadership.
For a social analysis, I brought the Statista infographic in the references showing the wage gap by ethnic group in the USA in 2022.
References
CNBC. (2024, February 15). Racial wage gap starts as early as 16—Here’s why. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/15/racial-wage-gap-starts-as-early-as-16-heres-why.html
Fast Company. (2024). How America is failing Black business leaders. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91029231/how-america-is-failing-black-business-leaders
Folberg, A. M., Dueland, L. B., Swanson, M., Stepanek, S., Hebl, M., & Ryan, C. S. (2024). Racism underlies seemingly race‐neutral conservative criticisms of DEI statements among Black and White people in the United States. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joop.12491
History.com Editors. (n.d.). Tulsa massacre: Before and after photos of Black Wall Street. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/tulsa-massacre-black-wall-street-before-and-after-photos
McGregor, J. (2024, February 9). For the first time ever, a record number of Black CEOs lead Fortune 500 companies. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2024/02/09/black-ceos-fortune-500-high-workplace-diversity/
Statista Research Department. (2023). Mean earnings by educational attainment and ethnic group in the U.S. in 2022. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/184259/mean-earnings-by-educational-attainment-and-ethnic-group/
I gave a personal account of having worked at a company that had a racial equality program. However, I believe that this program did not reach the level of Deep-level diversity, since this company in question does not have any black leaders. I see that this issue of discrimination greatly affects people's positions and salaries within the company, and this empirical observation is confirmed by the data presented in this discussion.
Imagine how many talents are wasted or ideas are appropriated due to this issue of racism and discrimination. An emblematic business case in the United States that illustrates this situation is the creation of the Jack Daniel's brand; the formula for the drink had the crucial help of a former slave, Nathan “Nearest” Green. This case became public, but there are probably many others that we will never know about.
This stress, frustration, and hard work for little recognition certainly affect health. An example of this is the athlete Surya Bonaly, who was exceptional, but did not won gold medals because of racism.
Donald Watts showed that discrimination affects health, and furthermore, when people seek treatment they are still discriminated against as shown by Garrett et al. (2024): "More than one-third (36%) of Black adults reported they or household members experienced racial discrimination when they had seen a health-care professional".
For those of us who are preparing to become leaders through MBA knowledge, something we can do is reflect on these issues and not perpetuate these stereotypes, encourage deep-level diversity wherever we are going to work or where we are working, so that the company can encourage more integration, creativity and not lose talents that often do not reveal themselves due to the social structure.
References
Andscape. (2018, February 22). Former Olympian Surya Bonaly says don’t call her a rebel, call her fearless. https://andscape.com/features/former-olympian-surya-bonaly-says-dont-call-her-a-rebel-call-her-fearless/
Garcia Cano, R. (2024, August 30). Jack Daniel’s DEI initiative: Spirit industry impact. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/08/30/jack-daniels-dei-initiative-spirit-industry-impact/74999105007/
Garrett, E., Ma, C., Ochoa-Dominguez, C. Y., Navarro, S., Yoon, P., Hughes Halbert, C., & Farias, A. J. (2024). Black cancer patients navigating a health-care system of racial discrimination. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 116(2), 258-263.
Miller, Z. (2024, September 1). Jack Daniel’s ending its DEI initiatives is truly absurd. The Root. https://www.theroot.com/jack-daniels-ending-its-dei-initiatives-is-truly-absurd-1851638497
White, A. (2022, April 20). ‘The judges didn’t accept me’: Why is figure skating still so white? Metro. https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/20/the-judges-didnt-accept-me-why-is-figure-skating-still-so-white-16466566/
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