Managing Diversity and Equal Opportunity
With the turn of the 21st century, a dramatic increase is being witnessed in the international flow of labor with repercussion for domestic labor supply and management. The native, racial and emigre mixture of the employees is predominantly important for the workplace. The importance of this domestic cultural multiplicity in the labor force, highlighted by worldwide influences and necessities, has lately encouraged the researchers to focus on the companies' and managers' response to diversity, be it of any form (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
If the workforce of the present times is compared with the one that was found 20 years ago, it will be easy to observe that there are "more white women, people of color, disabled persons, new and recent immigrants, gays and lesbians, and intergenerational mixes (i.e., baby boomers, Generation Xers, and Generation Nexters)" (Riccucci, 2002) today. This situation has given birth to quite a number of challenges for the management at the workplace. The approach with which employers hold this opportunity of diversity is the determining factor that will unmistakably make a distinction between successful and well-organized organizations from those that are uncreative and not capable to meet the requirements and necessities of the people in the 21st century (Riccucci, 2002).
In the present day, municipal and private sector companies are on the edge for creating creative workforces that can actually represent the global population instead of symbolizing the national populace (Riccucci, 2002). This paper discusses the current status of diversity management and equal opportunities and the ways to manage a diverse workforce.
Diversity Management
A diverse workforce can be defined as "a workforce made ... distinct by the presence of many religions, cultures or skin colours, both sexes (in non-stereotypical roles), differing sexual orientations, varying styles of behaviour, differing capabilities, and usually, unlike backgrounds" (as qtd. In Ollapally & Bhatnagar, 2009).
Workplaces where there is a lack of management of diversity are ones where the marginal groups experience a disconnection from the social network. "Diversity management" is a wide-ranging filament of organizational supervision literature that was developed in order to facilitate organizations in countering the increasing diversity that was clearly noticeable in modern-day labor markets. Since 1980s, there have been continuous debates regarding diversity management that mainly emphasized on managing heterogeneity in the staff with respect to demands for "affirmative action" and "equal employment opportunities" which were anticipated for increasing the workers from "minority" groups (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
In earlier times, diversity was perceived in terms of features like race, ethnicity, sexual category and orientation, age, and beliefs regarding politics and religion. On the other hand, diversity management was described as deliberate organizational actions designed to form greater addition of employees from a variety of backgrounds into recognized and unofficial organizational structures through premeditated strategies and agendas (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
On the other hand, the swift globalization of labor markets has changed this filament to add in management of diversity issues to a great extent. In simple words, globalization has made it indispensable for the organizations to effectively deal with the workforce diversity across national boundaries. In addition to this, due to the cosmopolitan urban areas and global markets, a greater miscellany of client and customer groups is present. It has therefore become imperative for the businesses to handle such diversities for achieving better profit margins and competitive edge (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
Equal Employment Opportunities
It was during 1960s that laws in USA were introduced that demanded the employers to offer "equal employment opportunities" (EEO) through "affirmative action" (AA) or "positive discrimination" to minority-group-members or formerly underprivileged groups. In order to stay away from legal actions for disobedience of the anti-discrimination laws, almost all the organizations hired managers (who had specialized knowledge of the EEO/AA2) regulations for the creation of compliance programs (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
The United States of America was followed by New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom in passing out the similar laws. The purpose behind these laws was to grant a "level playing field" for everyone in the market, belonging to any group. The EEO/AA model that was devised to make the employment of more members of marginal and deprived groups obligatory, contributed to the employment of a more extensively diverse workforce (Watson, Spoonley, & Fitzgerald, 2009).
Nevertheless, EEO/AA laws were attacked and criticized in 1990s for being too authoritarian, dogmatic and rigid. According to many, the governments' withdrawal from supporting the enforcement of EEO/AA measures evolved...
Management Development Techniques All business organizations seek to maximize the profitability using the least available resources. The bottom-line in realizing such coveted success is by making their management processes efficient. In this regard, managers will often employ various techniques in developing and improving their existing management styles. This is because new issues always would come up and have to be addressed through the necessary change management initiatives. This study will look
Management accounting is an important factor that helps organizations to map their future directions through providing managers with necessary information for the establishment of strategies that ensures all inputs, processes, and outputs are in line with the organizational goals. Through the information provided by management accounting, managers access information that is critical in formulating policy, making comparison between alternative situations, and evaluate and examine performance. While management accounting has similar
Management vs. leadership in nursing Managers and leaders, though they are often thought to mean the same thing, are actually different people in an organization. Managers are involved in controlling and guiding the activities in the organization through effective supervision and handling while leaders are those who motivate their followers towards meeting a common goal. There are also significant differences in the characteristics and behavioral descriptions of managers and leaders. However,
The use of managerial accounting to keep profit margins where they need to be and make sure that individual product offerings are not a net drain on the company is not the only thing that Thai Airlines can and must do to keep a competitive edge and to protect themselves from things like corporate malfeasance and terrorists attacks, but it is certainly a major thing that should be take
Management Philosophies Samsung Group Samsung group is South Korean company headquartered in Seoul Samsung town. Samsung group comprises of many subsidiary groups that are under the Samsung group. Founded in 1938 by LeeByung-chull as a trading company, Samsung group has grown to diversify into insurance, textile industry, retail and security industries. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the 1960s. It has grown to be the leading manufacturer of cell phones in the
Management Philosophy Management's principal characteristic is the directing and leading towards the achievement of predetermined objectives. An organization runs and works based on defined specific objectives, and the role of management to direct efforts and resources towards the achievement of these objectives. Over the decades, different management approaches and strategies formulation entail in an attempt to find the most suitable approach that can effectively and sustainably direct towards achievement of organizational
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now