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Jobs, Diversity, and Leadership

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1. How do you think the growing use of telecommuters, temporary and part-time workers, and virtual teams affect human resource management? How can managers improve recruiting and retention of these employees?

2. Explain how a manager's personal biases and stereotypes may affect an organization's success in creating a workplace that is culturally competent.

3. Shelley Willingham-Hinton, president of the National Organization for Diversity in Sales and Marketing, was quoted in the chapter as saying, "Our country's consumer base is so varied. I can't think of how a company can succeed without having that kind of diversity with their employees." Why should corporations have workforces that mirror the country's diverse consumer base?

4. As a manager, how might you deal with an employee who is always displaying negative emotions that affect the rest of the team? How might you use an understanding of attribution theory and emotional contagion to help you decide what to do?

5. In what ways might the cognitive and affective components of attitude influence the behavior of employees who are faced with learning an entirely new set of computer-related skills to retain their jobs at a manufacturing facility?

6. It is suggested that optimism is an important characteristic for a manager, yet some employees complain that optimistic managers cause them significant stress because they expect their subordinates to meet unreasonable goals or expectations. How might an employee deal with a perpetually optimistic manager?

7. Do you think leadership style is fixed and unchangeable for a leader or flexible and adaptable? Discuss.

8. Suggest some personal traits that you believe would be useful to a business leader today. Are these traits more valuable in some situations than others? How do you think traits differ from strengths?

9. Using Hackman and Oldham's core job dimensions, compare and contrast the jobs of these two state employees: (1) Jared, who spends most of his time researching and debating energy policy to make recommendations that will eventually be presented to the state legislature and (2) Anise, who spends her days planting and caring for the flower gardens and grounds surrounding the state capital building.

10. To keep people motivated in a tough economic environment, some companies have shifted from annual to semiannual bonuses. Do you think offering semiannual is a good way to motivate the kind of behaviors organizations need to survive the economic downturn? What might be some potential problems with this approach?

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Solution Summary

Jobs, diversity and leaderships are examined. The expert explains how a managers's personal biases and stereotypes may affect an organization's success in creating a workplace that is culturally competent.

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1. How do you think the growing use of telecommuters, temporary and part-time workers, and virtual teams affect human resource management? How can managers improve recruiting and retention of these employees?

Using contingent workers is both positive and negative in a company. While the use of part time, temporary and telecommuters can mean less payroll work for human resource managers if managing this portion is outsourced by a contracted company, it can mean more headaches in the long run for the manager. It does save the company some in benefits and actual location space and rent, but it can cost more in productivity and motivation issues if not managed correctly. Contingent workers can save the company extra payroll expense as well. Managers can improve recruiting and retention of these employees by offering incentives or giving the possibility to be hired permanent or full time in the future. This can be quite motivating for the employee. They also should treat the contingent employee just like they would other employees and help them to feel vested in the company.

2. Explain how a manager's personal biases and stereotypes may affect an organization's success in creating a workplace that is culturally competent.

A manager comes to a workplace with a certain cultural background. This background may include various biases and stereotypical thinking. For example, a manager may feel that women should not hold powerful positions in business due to their upbringing and native culture. Another manager may hold the stereotype that younger workers are lazy and unmotivated. Each of these managers must remember to keep their personal biases and stereotypical thinking out of the workplace as they will work in a very diverse setting. They need to remember not to discriminate against others based on race, gender, age, or any other factor regardless of their personal beliefs. This does not always happen and may have a negative impact on the bottom line of the company. This could result in negative employee morale, attrition of employees, and even lawsuits.

3. Shelley Willingham-Hinton, president of the National Organization for Diversity in Sales and Marketing, was quoted in the chapter as saying, "Our country's consumer base is so varied. I can't think of how a company can succeed without having that kind of diversity with their employees." Why should corporations have workforces that mirror the country's diverse consumer base?

Diversity is huge in the workplace in America. The United States really is a melting pot. We have individuals of all races and ethnicities in our country. ...

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