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The Diverse Workforce: IndividualDifferences, Personality, and Career

DevelopmentLearning Objectives

After completing Chapter 3, you will be able to

1. Discuss the advantages of diversity in the workplace.2. Diagnose the impact of gender, race, age, and physical abilities in the

workplace.3. Identify some dimensions of personality, and show how they influence

behavior in organizations.4. Diagnose the impact of values and attitudes on organizations.5. Identify new forms of careers and their impact on individual and

organizational performance.6. Identify the costs and benefits of family friendliness in the workplace.7. Show how cross-cultural differences can influence behavior and

attitudes in the workplace. 8. Offer two strategies for managing a diverse workforce.

33C h a p t e r

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A Manager’s Preview

Describe . . . Diagnose . . . Prescribe . . . Act� Acknowledge the value of diversity in the workplace.� Remove obstacles encountered by women, minorities, older workers, and

physically challenged employees.� Know how personality differences affect a person’s work.� Recognize the role values and attitudes play in job performance.� Help workers build effective careers.� Develop programs to help workers create work–life balance.

Companies That Seek Diversity Outperform the S&P 5001

N umerous companies have discovered that increasing the diversity oftheir workforce pays off in improved performance, happier customers,and more satisfied employees. Consider Wal-Mart. “Much of Wal-

Mart’s substantial growth has come in urban areas, prompting the retailer todiversify its humongous 800,000 workforce to capitalize on local talent poolsand do what it does best: sell. Catering to minority customers is far more effec-tive when a company addresses the distinctions that drive purchasing decisionsamong various ethnic groups. So putting more people of color on the salesfloor—and in executive positions—is really a no-brainer in this company.”2

Now consider the role Glen Toney plays at Applied Materials, a $4 billionmanufacturer of semiconductor equipment. A 20-year employee of the companyand group vice president of corporate affairs, Toney mentors several of the com-pany’s minority employees and keeps top executives informed about promisingminority workers. He notes that “people who come aboard here have to movefaster than they ever have before, and the organization is complex and can befrustrating.” The fatherly role Toney and others play helps explain the company’sreputation in the Silicon Valley as a good place for people of color to work.3

Toyota tries to locate highly competent minority candidates. A member ofthe minority advisory board commented, “They’ll go outside the automobileindustry to get somebody who is energetic and shows promise and wants tobecome an automobile dealer. Then that person will take an awful lot of school-ing and training.” This enthusiasm about minority employees attracts manyminority customers who recognize a company’s reputation as being minority-friendly.4 Other global companies also benefit from having a diverse workforcethat can relate to its customers from many cultures.

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Maria Elena Lagomasino, the senior managing director of Chase Manhattan’sGlobal Private Banking Group, oversees the investments of some of the world’swealthiest people. Her effectiveness stems in part from her ability to understandpeople from diverse cultures. Her Cuban roots have helped. “If you are bicultural,you understand that there are different ways of doing things . . . When I got intoprivate banking with Latin American customers, I found my ability to understandtheir reality a great advantage.”5

�

These companies recognize the value of a diverse workforce. Each of them hasacknowledged the importance of minority customers and employees. Other com-panies recognize the value of having women, older workers, and physically chal-lenged employees as part of their workforce, and meet the challenge of ensuringthat they have a diverse group of employees.

In this chapter, we look at individual differences that affect performance. Wefirst look at the nature of workplace diversity. Then we examine a series of demo-graphic characteristics of the workforce that affect the workplace. We next explorethe impact of personality, followed by attitudes and values, on individual behavior.We then examine the ways people build careers and how they handle the work–lifechallenges they face. We conclude with a return to issues of diversity in the dot-com,global workplace.

❚ THE DIVERSE WORKPLACEDemographics, competition for talent, marketplace demands, and the changingenvironment call for a diverse workforce. This workforce includes (and treatsequally) men and women, employees with differing ethnic backgrounds, youngerand older workers, physically challenged employees, and other workers who differfrom the dominant group of white, male employees in the United States. By bring-ing a greater pool of talent to the workplace, diversity often results in better deci-sion making, an increased understanding of customers’ needs, and a greaterstaffing ability.

Changes in the workplace have made cultural ethnocentrism, the belief in the pre-eminence of one’s own culture, dysfunctional in a global economy. Managers in theUnited States have rejected cultural ethnocentrism for the following reasons:

� respect for individual and cultural differences;� a legal system that values equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the

workplace;� a global economy that markets goods and services to diverse cultures;� belief in the benefits of hiring workers that resemble their customers; and� an already-changing workforce.

Managers at companies such as Wal-Mart, Applied Materials, Toyota, and ChaseManhattan who understand the uniqueness of each employee can create collabora-tive relationships among people with different skills, abilities, experiences, aspira-

72 PART II Individuals in Organizations

tions, and expectations. Some managers need encouragement to develop positiveattitudes about people different from themselves and to recognize the unique con-tribution and potential of each employee. Understanding the ways people mightdiffer is a first step in dealing with diversity.

The number of women, racial and ethnic minorities, older workers, and physicallychallenged workers has increased in the last decade. These groups will remain a sig-nificant part of the workforce. They bring different and important perspectives to theworkplace that can help companies attain a competitive advantage. In this section, webriefly comment about the issues related to managing these groups of workers.

Women in the WorkplaceA dramatic increase in the numbers and percentage of women in the workplace hasoccurred. This change has resulted from equal employment and affirmative actionlegislation, the feminist movement, and economic realities. Even today, women stillearn less than their male counterparts. For example, full-time working women’searnings were 76 percent of men’s earnings in 1998. White workers, middle-agedworkers, older workers, and those with only a high school education experiencedthe greatest gender earnings wage gap. Earnings of women with college degreesincreased by close to 22 percent in the past two decades. This improvement con-tributed in part to an increase in the earnings differences between white womenand black and Hispanic women in the same time period.6

As their representation has increased, women continue to experience uniqueconcerns and problems. Women’s lives differ from men’s because they have respon-sibility for child bearing and generally assume primary responsibility for child rear-ing. Women more often than men choose to reduce their work commitment topart-time or conduct their careers in a serial fashion, spending time as a full-timewife and mother before reentering the workplace. In one study, part-time work wasassociated with less interference between work and family responsibilities, bettertime management ability, and greater life satisfaction for women.7 In a different,three-year study of 1,000 female managers by Catalyst, a New York research firmthat focuses on women’s issues, the women who worked part-time said they werehappier and more productive than when they worked full-time.8 Part-time workgenerally allows women to better balance work and family needs. Yet part-time workcan also slow a person’s career advancement and result in lower salaries.

The glass ceiling may hinder women’s advancement.9 This invisible barrier tomovement into top management results from discrimination in the workplace, theinability of women and minorities to penetrate the “old boys’ network,” and the ten-dency of executives to promote others like themselves. While the number of topwomen business leaders has increased, their movement onto boards of directorsand top executive positions remains stalled. For example, the chemical industry hasfew women in top-level positions, and women represent less than 10 percent ofboard seats in a survey of 48 companies.10 Sex role stereotyping is more problem-atic in firms with relatively low proportions of senior women.11

Yet some firms have overcome the glass ceiling. Zale Corporation, a large jewelryretailer, has nine women among the 25 in the company’s management group and threeof five executive officers. Neiman Marcus has its first woman CEO; Avon and J.C. Pen-ney have significant numbers of women in top positions. The increase in the number ofwomen in top positions has resulted from women professionals who entered companiesin the 1970s and 1980s and now have the bottom-line experience to assume top-level

CHAPTER 3 The Diverse Workforce: Individual Differences, Personality, and Career 73

positions.12 Even very traditionally male countries have begun to see cracks in the glassceiling. Maria Asunción Aramburuzabala, a vice president of Grupo Modelo, the family-run maker of Corona beer, has broken new ground for women in Mexico. She recentlyled her company in obtaining a 20-percent stake in Grupo Televisa, a Mexican mediagiant. Compaq Computer’s Mexican subsidiary also has a woman leader.13

The same problems apply to women in Europe. While the European workforceincludes 41 percent women, they hold only 29 percent of management jobs, lessthan two percent of senior management jobs, and only one percent of board seats.Women earn up to 40 percent less in manufacturing jobs and 35 percent less inservice jobs. The slow progress results from lack of child care, as well as women’sunwillingness to ask for flexibility.14

Women hold only 14 percent of international management assignments, prima-rily because companies have been unwilling to send them overseas. Myths thatwomen do not want to be international managers and that foreigners may be preju-diced against women expatriate managers have been shown to be untrue. The seniormanager of human resources in Asia for Cisco Systems argues that Western womenare generally well received in other countries because they’re not expected to con-form to the same standards as local women and so can function more as they would inthe same job in the United States. Women’s desire and ability to do high-quality work,as well as support from senior management, further bolster their position abroad.15

Companies can increase the likelihood that high-potential women will acceptoverseas assignments in a number of ways. First, they can help them break throughthe glass ceiling and assume top-level management positions. Second, they can cre-ate career development programs that include international assignments. Third,they can develop a systematic way to identify potential expatriates and convincethem to seek international assignments. Fourth, top executives can make surewomen receive predeparture cross-cultural training. Fifth, they can provide supportthat helps women address family needs, such as child care and relocation for theirspouses. Finally, they can publicize successful women expatriates.16

Race in the WorkplaceThe percentage of African Americans in the workplace has increased significantlyin the past 25 years, due in large part to affirmative action requirements.17 NowAfrican Americans have assumed more jobs in the executive suite. Lloyd Ward, forexample, who began his life in a 400-square-foot house with no running water, roseto become CEO of Maytag Appliances after successful stints at Procter & Gambleand Pepsico. Ward notes, “There are many who are systematically excluded. [But]the oppressed have to overcome the prejudices of society. Knock on the door, pullon the handle, and, if you have to, dismantle the hinge.”18

Race combined with gender can create a particularly potent barrier that pre-vents women of color from advancing into executive positions.19 Some AfricanAmerican women have made it to the upper echelons of power and influence.20

They work for companies such as American Express, Kraft Foods, IBM, and Xerox,and hold executive positions such as president, chief executive, executive vice pres-ident, and vice president. Reducing stereotypes and promoting workers on the basisof ability and demonstrated competence presents a major challenge for managers.The Corporate Few, an informal network of African American employees initiatedin 1971, mentors young African Americans.21


In spite of these advances, discrimination continues to exist. Major League Soc-cer (MLS) fined a New England Revolution player $20,000 for using a racial sluragainst a teammate during a practice. The MLS then used the fine to pay for diver-sity training seminars for all league teams’ players, coaches, and administrative per-sonnel.22 NASCAR, the automobile racing organization, suspended two white crewmembers who mimicked the Ku Klux Klan in a prank on an African American crewmember; the drivers who employed the suspended crew members later terminatedtheir employment.23

Racial incidents also occur outside the United States. Ford Motor Company’sDagenham, England, plant experienced a series of racial incidents that contributedto a one-day wildcat strike that shut down the assembly line for Ford Fiestas. Themost recent racial incident occurred when Ford failed to punish a supervisoraccused of pushing an Asian employee; Ford had previously acknowledged thatmanagers had abused this employee for four years, including making him work inan oil-spraying room without protective clothing. Ford CEO Jacques Nasser agreedto establish committees at each of the company’s 13 British plants to ensure thatmanagers pay attention to discrimination complaints.24

Reducing stereotypes and promoting workers on the basis of ability anddemonstrated competence present a major challenge for managers. Texaco, whichagreed to pay $175 million to settle a racial discrimination suit, is becoming amodel employer in diversity initiatives. Three years after the settlement, four in tennew hires and 20 percent of promotions were minorities. The CEO has helpedestablish goals and timetables designed to transform the culture to one that sup-ports and encourages minority retention and advancement.25

Older WorkersOrganizations face a dramatic increase in the number of older workers as the babyboomers age. Predictions call for almost a doubling of the number of senior citi-zens by 2025.26 At the same time, current and projected labor shortages make olderworkers an important source of employees. Wells Fargo & Company, for example,buses retirees from Sun City, Arizona, to the bank’s operations center in Tempe,Arizona.27 Problems in the hiring and advancement of older workers can arise fromstereotypes about their skills, energy, and interests. Managers should recognize thatthe myths about older workers’ inability to learn, slow speed of response, andinflexibility are not true. Older workers can demonstrate the same creativity, adapt-ability, and manageability as younger workers.

Some companies discriminate against older workers. The Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission has accused TJX of harassing and firing workers over age40 because of their age. TJX has also been blamed for subjecting older employeesto a hostile work environment due to verbal harassment, unfair discipline, andovert hostility.28 Age combined with gender or race can have a particularly powerfuleffect in encouraging wage disparities.29

Some companies have begun to institute part-time and modified full-time workarrangements for older workers. This schedule allows them to avoid the boredomoften associated with retirement and to earn additional income. REH Marketingpays senior citizens an hourly rate to ask supermarket shoppers to sample differentproducts.30 Managers will need to work with many of these older Americans whoremain in the workforce after the age of 70.31


Physically Challenged EmployeesThe Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1978 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of1990 have made the workplace in the United States more accessible to people withphysical disabilities. While certain disabilities may prevent a person from performingparticular jobs, managers cannot discriminate in hiring, promoting, evaluating, orcompensating physically challenged workers. For example, managers can’t preventblind, physically handicapped, or deaf workers from holding jobs for which they arequalified. The increased success of disabled workers has helped overcome myths abouttheir inability to perform jobs, fit into a company’s culture, or socialize with otherworkers. Managers should look for qualified people to perform specific jobs and thenmake reasonable accommodations for a disability that doesn’t create undue hardshipfor the employer.32 Microsoft, with the National Business and Disability Council,helped create a coalition of 23 firms that agree to hire disabled professionals.33

By law, organizations must remove physical barriers that prevent access to joblocations for physically impaired employees; for example, they might install specialramps or elevators for wheelchair-bound workers. Some companies even make spe-cial provisions, such as specialized reading equipment for blind employees, to allowphysically challenged employees to perform their jobs. Advances in computer soft-ware have helped some disabled workers perform more successfully. For example,voice recognition and interpretation and speech recognition software support thework of blind or partially sighted employees; IBM’s Home Page Reader lets a blindemployee surf the Web and use it for research, shopping, and e-mail.34 Recent leg-islation also awards states $150 million over five years to develop programs to sup-port disabled citizens who want to work.35

Some argue that the Americans with Disabilities Act has had the unintendedconsequence of increasing the cost of employing disabled workers so much thatfirms find employing them unattractive.36 Increased numbers of lawsuits may havebenefited attorneys more than the disabled employees they represent.37 Yet, partic-ularly in a tight labor market, employees have begun to view disabled employees asan important source of workers. A Sears store manager in Massachusetts, for exam-ple, built a stockroom next to an employee’s work area when he realized that aphysically challenged employee couldn’t walk to the stockroom on another floorbecause of her disability.

❚ PERSONALITYWe can describe workers according to other individual characteristics besides gen-der, race, and age. An individual’s personality influences his job performance.

What Is Personality?Personality refers to a set of distinctive personal characteristics, including motives,emotions, values, interests, attitudes, and competencies. How would you describeGlen Toney’s personality? We might describe him as extroverted and competitive.We might describe him as having a Type A personality or being high in self-efficacy.His heredity and his social, cultural, and family environments likely influenced hispersonality. His personality in turn influences the way he acts. For example, his per-sonality might cause him to naturally set challenging goals and rely on his relation-


ships with others to achieve them. How would you describe the personality of otheremployees of Applied Materials? Of Toyota, Wal-Mart, or Chase Manhattan?

The personalities of top executives can help explain dysfunctional organiza-tions.38 For example, an executive who believes that no one can be trusted often cre-ates an organization in which secrecy and guardedness characterize the culture. Ora manager whose personality reflects a need for control will often create an organi-zation that relies too much on formal controls and direct supervision to accomplishthe organizational goals. An attempted merger between SmithKline Beecham andGlaxo Wellcome collapsed the first time in part because of a clash between thecharismatic CEO of SmithKline and the strong-willed top executive of Glaxo Well-come over who should run the new company. Now they have given the leadership ofthe combined company to a third person, characterized as a patient, highly disci-plined executive who can provide calming and authoritative leadership.39

Measuring PersonalityTrained and certified professionals generally assess personality in three ways:

� Personality inventories require the person to answer questions that describethe respondent’s personality.

� Projective tests require the person to describe what she sees in a picture orrelatively ambiguous stimulus, such as an inkblot. A detailed scoring protocolplaces the person along numerous personality dimensions.

� Simulations, role-playing exercises, and stress interviews require the person tobehave in specific situations. An observation and scoring protocol categorizesthe person along dimensions such as adaptability, assertiveness, or dominance.

Managers might use information collected from these instruments as part ofthe pre-employment screening process or promotion decisions. A 1997 survey bythe Society for Human Resources Management indicated that 22 percent of U.S.companies use personality tests to screen candidates. For example, companies usethe 50-adjective Predictive Index to help determine the most suitable type of workfor potential and current employees. Others use the Sales Success Predictor tomeasure confidence, aggressiveness, initiative, and creativity for potential salespeo-ple.40 After administering a test to help understand an employee’s personality, themanager can examine how personality affects the worker’s behavior. Will theemployee likely work well on a team? Does the employee have a drive to succeed,demonstrate compatibility with others, and have positive feelings of self-worth?41

The manager can then adjust the work situation to better match workers’ personal-ities and hence obtain better outcomes. For example, BellSouth and TManage haveagreed to sell Team Telework Connections, which helps set up telecommuting pro-grams. The package includes personality tests that can help determine whetheremployees are suitable for telecommuting.42

Personality Traits and AttributesPsychological research has identified many traits and attributes, some measured bythe previously mentioned instruments, that compose a person’s personality. In thissection, we examine five personality dimensions, composed of these traits andattributes, that managers could consider in assessing on-the-job behavior. Managerscan benefit by knowing how these dimensions might influence employee behavior.


Describing and analyzing a person’s personality can suggest some issues managersshould consider in managing that employee.

Internalizers–Externalizers. People differ in the extent to which they believethat their behaviors influence what happens to them:43

� Internalizers feel that they control their own lives and actions.� Externalizers believe others control their lives.

Assume that a manager has two subordinates: Jeff Smith is an internalizer, andStan Jenkins is an externalizer. How might these two men differ in their views of thebest way to advance in an organization? Smith might believe that he can control hisadvancement, whereas Jenkins might not. Smith might take personal responsibilityfor implementing advancement strategies, while Jenkins would probably rely on hismanager’s guidance. Managers need to recognize the nature of employees’ person-alities as part of coaching and developing them. For example, they can answer thequestions shown in Activity 3-3 to help them assess whether their employees areinternalizers or externalizers.

Type A–Type B. Type A or Type B characteristics reflect an individual’s desirefor achievement, perfectionism, competitiveness, and ability to relax.

� Type A individuals feel competitive, are prompt for appointments, do thingsquickly, always feel rushed, and are often angry and hostile.

� Type B individuals are relaxed, take one thing at a time, and express theirfeelings.44

If you complete the scale in Figure 3-1, you will have a sense of whether you havea Type A or a Type B personality. In general, Type A employees are more prone tostress and may suffer more often from poor cardiovascular health.45 A group of Type ACanadian nurses, for example, showed greater job stress and role pressures, but alsohigher job involvement, effort, and attendance, than a group of Type B nurses.46

According to one Silicon Valley consultant, Type A executives can exhibit stressin one of four ways:

� Hostility/impatience. They believe that everyone is incompetent and sointimidate others, who then fear them.

� Compulsiveness/perfectionism. They want to do everything themselvesbecause they can’t live with their own or others’ mistakes.

� Competitiveness. They want to win at all costs. � Chronic tension. They are multitaskers who make others ill at ease by their

hyperactivity.47

Finding ways to recognize and correct the causes of stress becomes critical. Yet,some Type A characteristics, such as time urgency and ambition, may decrease as peo-ple age.48 The positive aspects of Type A behavior may contribute to success, whereasthe negative aspects can affect a person’s health and interpersonal relationships.

Introversion–Extroversion. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), a testbased in Jungian psychology, uses people’s preferences to indicate their overall per-sonality type.49 The information can help managers assess how their employeesgather information, make decisions, and evaluate alternatives.


First, we can classify people according to their basic interactions with others.50

Introverted (I) types tend to be shy; they like quiet for concentration, dislike inter-ruptions, and work contentedly alone. Having the ability to concentrate intenselyand develop ideas, this type tends to be reflective and inwardly directed. Extroverted(E) types tend to be outgoing and sometimes aggressive. They like variety, enjoyfunctioning in a social environment, often act quickly without thinking, and maydominate situations or people. This type focuses on people and things.

Second, people acquire information by either sensing or intuition. Sensing (S)types like action and getting things done. They focus on facts, data, and details.Although they tend to be pragmatic, precise, and results-oriented, they can rejectinnovations. They work steadily and reach a conclusion step-by-step. Intuitive (I) typesdislike doing the same thing repeatedly and enjoy learning new skills. They may leapto conclusions quickly and often follow their inspirations and hunches. They tend tobe imaginative, creative, and idealistic, but can be unrealistic or scattered.

Third, people make decisions by thinking or feeling. Thinking (T) types excel atputting things in logical order and respond more to people’s ideas than to their feel-ings. Characterized as analytical, rational, logical, and impersonal, they can undervalue


Circle the number on the continuum (the verbal descriptions represent endpoints)that best represents your behavior for each dimension.

Am casual about appointments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Am never late

Am not competitive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Am very competitive

Never feel rushed, even under 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Always feel rushedpressure

Take things one at a time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Try to do many things at once; think about what I amgoing to do next

Do things slowly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Do things fast (eating, walking, etc.)

Express feelings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 “Sit on” feelings

Have many interests 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Have few interests outsidework

Now score your responses by totaling the numbers circled. Then multiply the totalby 3. The interpretation of your score is as follows:

Number of Points Type of Personality

Less than 90 B

90 to 99 B�

100 to 105 A�

106 to 119 A

120 or more A�

❚ FIGURE 3-1 ❚Completing thisquestionnaire can helpdetermine whether you have a Type A or Type B personality.

Source: (Adapted from R.W. Bortner, A short rating scale as a potential measure of pattern A behavior,Journal of Chronic Diseases 22 (1966): 87–91 with kind permission from Elsevier Science Ltd, theBoulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington OX5 16B, United Kingdom.

feelings or be overly critical. They need to be treated fairly and tend to be firm andtough-minded. Feeling (F) types like harmony and respond to individuals’ values andfeelings, as well as to their thoughts. They tend to be persuasive, sympathetic, sensitive,and loyal. They enjoy pleasing people, but can be overly sensitive or moody.

Fourth, people also differ in the way they evaluate information about the world.Judging (J) types like to get things finished and work best with a plan. They areorganized, settled, and structured, but dislike interrupting their tasks and can beclosed-minded and inflexible. Perceiving (P) types adapt well to changing situationsand do not mind last-minute changes. They tend to be open-minded, curious, andflexible. They may begin many projects but have difficulty finishing them, or theymay postpone unpleasant tasks.

Managers can think of employees along combinations of the four dimen-sions—for example, introverted-sensing-thinking-judging (ISTJ). Figure 3-2 showsthe 16 combinations, or personality types. Such a categorization may help managersunderstand their employees’ actions, match employees to jobs, and explain differ-ences in employees’ perceptions of various situations. Diagnosing these types mayalso help managers understand why different employees demonstrate differentstyles in performing their work. Managers can then respond to the unique aspectsof each worker’s personality.

Managers can also think of their own personality types and use this diagnosis toexplain their reactions to work situations. Some evidence suggests that managerswith different types of personalities differ in conflict resolution, risk taking, and taskperformance.51 Consider a manager with a poorly performing employee. A man-ager with a thinking personality type conducts a logical, systematic inquiry into thesituation before acting. A feeling-type manager, in contrast, might first assess theemployee’s feelings. The effectiveness of the manager’s interaction with theemployee will depend on both the manager’s and the employee’s personalities andresulting behaviors.

Machiavellianism. An individual with a Machiavellian personality demonstratesmanipulative and unethical behavior and attitudes.52 (The term can be traced back tothe principles for government analyzed in a treatise titled The Prince, written by theItalian political philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo Machiavelli around 1500.) The 20-question Mach IV scale, typically used to measure Machiavellianism, indicates thedegree to which the respondent believes others can be manipulated in interpersonalsituations.53 High scorers tend more than low scorers to manipulate, persuade others,win, and regard persons as objects; these are not necessarily negative characteristics


ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTS

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ

❚ FIGURE 3-2 ❚ The Myers-Briggs Scale identifies sixteen types of personalities. (I � introverted, E � extroverted; S � sensing, I � intuitive; T � thinking, F � feeling; J � judging, P � perceiving.)

for particular types of job holders.54 Salespeople with high Machiavellian traits, forexample, show higher sales volume but receive lower overall ratings from their man-agers, likely because of some friction between the manager and salesperson.55

Self-Efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to people’s perceptions about whether they cansuccessfully perform a task. It influences the difficulty of goals, commitment togoals, and tasks selected by employees.56 A manager can help increase a person’sself-efficacy by giving him a better understanding of a task and its environment. Themanager can also provide training for the employee to help him use his abilitiesmore effectively and develop better strategies for doing the task.57

Increasing self-efficacy seems to increase an individual’s performance in organ-izations.58 Self-schemas (see Chapter 2) influence an individual’s self-efficacy. Anindividual’s knowledge about himself also influences his self-efficacy. So do hisbeliefs about the nature of specific aspects of his social situation.59

❚ INDIVIDUAL VALUES AND ATTITUDESA person’s values and attitudes develop over time, beginning in early childhood.Values and attitudes are linked to personality and can influence behavior. If man-agers understand how values and attitudes affect workers, they can diagnose thereasons for workplace problems more effectively. Once diagnosed, they can alsoprescribe ways to solve such problems.

ValuesValues refer to the basic principles and tenets that guide a person’s beliefs, attitudes,and behaviors. Values tend to be relatively stable characteristics, often developedthroughout childhood. They become evident in work and nonwork settingsthroughout adulthood. People’s values can influence their beliefs about money,social interactions, the importance of work, and other aspects of their work andnonwork lives. People who demonstrate a work ethic, for example, believe that theyshould “do a good day’s work for a good day’s pay” and live a simple life.

Core values are more susceptible to change, and peripheral values are less suscep-tible. A research study of Israeli workers indicated that organizational influencesaffect peripheral values, and nonwork influences affect core values.60 Managerswould have difficulty changing a worker’s core values through training or otherinterventions, but a parent, spouse, or friend, or even a powerful religious experi-ence, might alter them. Diagnosing the impact of core values on work situationshelps managers place workers in appropriate situations.

AttitudesAn attitude refers to a person’s tendency to consistently respond to various aspects ofpeople, situations, or objects. We infer attitude from a person’s statements about theirbeliefs and feelings. We infer people’s attitudes from what they say, what they do, andhow they react. We might, for example, determine a person’s job satisfaction by infer-ring it from her general demeanor on the job or by asking her to describe her satis-faction. We can also use attitude surveys or other attitude scales to assess employees’attitudes toward their job, co-workers, supervisor, or the organization at large.61


Diverse workforces include people with varying attitudes. People have an arrayof beliefs, formed in large part from their socioeconomic and cultural backgroundsand other experiences. These varying beliefs likely result in different attitudes.Research about the relationship between attitudes and behaviors has primarily stud-ied U.S. workers. Would South African, Dutch, or Chinese workers have the sameattitudes? Would the same behaviors result from the same attitudes? Because we canonly conjecture about the association of attitudes and behaviors outside the UnitedStates, we need to describe and diagnose situations as accurately as possible. Oncewe understand particular attitudes and their impact on specific work situations, wecan prescribe ways of changing either the attitudes or the situation to result in moreproductive outcomes.

Components of Attitudes. Attitudes have a cognitive, affective, and behavioralcomponent.62

� Cognitive. Individuals have beliefs about a certain person, object, or situationthat they accept as true based on their values and experiences. These learnedbeliefs, such as “you need to work long hours to get ahead in this job,” lead tospecific attitudes. Although we have many beliefs, only some lead to attitudesthat have an impact on our behavior in the workplace.

� Affective. People have feelings that result from their beliefs about a person,object, or situation. A person who believes extra effort deserves praise may feelangry or frustrated when she puts in extra effort but her manager doesn’tacknowledge it. The affective component becomes stronger as a person hasmore frequent and direct experience with a focal object, person, or situationand as the person expresses her feelings about that object, person, or situationmore frequently.63

� Behavioral. Behavior occurs as a result of a person’s feeling about a focalperson, object, or situation. A person may complain, request a transfer, or beless productive because he feels dissatisfied with work. The minorityemployees at Wal-Mart, Toyota, Applied Materials, and Chase Manhattan havea series of beliefs and values about their jobs. These may result in feelings ofjob satisfaction that in turn affect their performance.

Attitudes can also result from a person’s experiences.64 How easily a person cancall on an attitude affects its impact.65 Personal experience with the object and therepeated expression of the attitude increase its accessibility, and the attitude morefrequently affects behavior.66

Cognitive Dissonance. People may experience cognitive dissonance, whichdescribes their attempts to deal with situations in which they have contradictoryknowledge, information, attitudes, or beliefs.67 An employee tries to reduce thecontradictions by redefining the situation. For example, a company might relaunchan existing product so that it fits better with customers’ perceptions of what thebrand should be. In this way, the company may recapture customers who previouslyspurned the brand.68 Theorists argue that dissonance is short-lived. People reducedissonance by changing their attitudes, forgetting about the inconsistency, reaf-firming their core values, trivializing the dissonant elements, or misattributing thecause of the dissonant events.69


Job SatisfactionSatisfaction results when a job fulfills or helps attain an individual’s values, expecta-tions, and standards, and dissatisfaction occurs when the worker perceives that thejob blocks attaining them.70 In one study, for example, the empowerment of cus-tomer contact employees to make day-to-day decisions in the workplace was posi-tively associated with job satisfaction.71 In another study, the motivation of classroomteachers was associated with job satisfaction.72 Flexibility to balance professional andpersonal responsibilities also contributes to job satisfaction.73 Researchers and prac-titioners have paid attention to job satisfaction because they believe it affects work-ers’ commitment and performance, although a more complicated relationship mayexist between satisfaction, commitment, turnover, and productivity.74

❚ CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTA career refers to a lifelong sequence of related jobs and experiences. As companieshave downsized and employed more knowledge workers, new types of careers andcareer development have become more common.

New Forms of CareersThe globalization of business, rapidly changing environment, and downsizing oforganizations has called for new types of careers. Dot-com companies have experi-enced rapid growth, rapid collapse, and frequent movement of employees. Compa-nies more often outsource activities, rely on part-time or contract employees,decentralize decision making, and create free-form organization structures. Onlinerecruiting has made job searches more efficient and effective. No longer do peoplework for the same company their entire lives. Instead, they move away from tradi-tional career arrangements and take responsibility for managing their own careers.

In these new career forms, known as protean careers or boundaryless careers, peo-ple’s needs and search for self-fulfillment guide and shape their career choices.75 Apsychological contract that focuses on an individual responding to his own needsand values rather than to the organization’s needs and values has replaced the con-tract that offers job security in exchange for hard work and loyalty. The new careerhas peaks and valleys, turns in all directions, and takes a path unique to theemployee. As part of the process, employees cultivate networks as a way of learning.The lack of a single-minded direction combined with the need to interact with net-works of people requires employees to develop multiple and collaborative skill setsso that they can take advantage of opportunities as they arise. The new career alsoinvolves continuous learning, necessitated by increasingly common short-termassignments, job rotation, and lateral moves.

Companies strive to develop high-potential employees. These people show a fastrate of lateral movement through various roles in the company. Managers identifythem as future leaders and so move them quickly into new positions, giving themspecial coaching and mentoring.76 Executives today appear to work harder but showless commitment to remaining with their companies. Many practice defensive careermanagement, which involves knowing about available job prospects, even if theydon’t plan to change jobs.77 Some professional-level employees have switched jobs


frequently, taking advantage of offers of promotions and higher salaries. Even in thedot-com world, some have begun to view this job hopping with skepticism, question-ing its value for employers and recognizing its toll on employees’ personal and pro-fessional lives.78

Career Stages Many adults pass through clearly defined stages of biological, social, family, andcareer growth and development. People at a particular stage often have commonneeds or similar ways of coping with and responding to situations they encounter.Of course, differences in personality, interests, values, and experiences may causevariations within stages.

This section presents a career progression that is common in the United States.In Israel and other countries with mandatory military service for all men (andwomen in some cases), the sequence of career stages presented here may bedelayed or altered. Countries such as Sweden, with liberal maternity and paternityleave policies, may also have workers with different career patterns from the onedescribed here. Increasingly in the United States, too, individuals pursue serialcareers, a set of unrelated, sequential careers over an individual’s life span—forexample, teacher–banker–bed-and-breakfast owner or homemaker–travel agent.

Figure 3-3 presents one timeline of career development. People in the entrystage try to become effective and accepted members of their organizations asquickly as possible while they learn the job’s ropes and routines. Newcomers seekinformation about role demands, feedback about their performance, and technicalinformation from their supervisors. They seek information about organizationalnorms and social relations from their peers.79 How well they seek and acquire infor-mation influences their mastery of their job, definition of their role, acquisition ofknowledge about the organization’s culture, and extent of social integration.80

They must spend time learning to get along with their boss and co-workers, as wellas trying to become an effective member quickly.

People in the early career stage become more concerned with advancement andestablishing a career path. In multinational companies, rapid advancement mayrequire taking overseas assignments.


INFORMATIONGATHERING

Sensing Intuitive Thinking Feeling Judging Perceiving

DECISIONMAKING EVALUATING

PERSONALITY TYPE

❚ FIGURE 3-3 ❚People move throughnumerous stages as theyprogress through their careers.

Workers who are typically in their late twenties or early thirties strive for fullmembership in an early career. The primary emphasis of such employees must be onperforming effectively, accepting responsibility, managing subordinates, discharg-ing duties, and developing special skills.

Workers at this stage also should assess to what extent they wish to remain astechnical experts or advance into a managerial position. If they choose to remaintechnical, they must ensure that they maintain up-to-date knowledge in their careerfield. Today, employees at this stage increasingly find teams supporting and evenreplacing middle managers, requiring them to develop new skills and potentiallynew ways of advancing in organizations.

Midcareer refers to the period that follows establishment and perceived masteryand precedes career disengagement.81 These employees, who typically are betweenthe ages of 40 and 55, may face a challenging midlife transition in their careers as wellas in their personal lives as they reappraise their accomplishments to date. Some menat midcareer experience a need to disrupt their habitual behavior and initiate careerexploration, whereas women become concerned with balancing the various aspects oftheir lives and ensuring that they have not sacrificed too much time with their familiesin favor of career activities and advancement.82 Resolving these dilemmas may result innew choices about career and family or an acceptance of old choices as appropriate.

Once past midcareer, individuals in organizations must find a way in late careerto continue to contribute. Depending on the person’s skills, interests, and motiva-tion, and the organization’s culture and goals, such employees might help shapethe direction of the organization by sponsoring the career advancement of youngerworkers. For executives, this might mean payback—frequent job changes with finalgrooming or competition for the top executive position—or payoff—attainment ofthe CEO position.83 At the end of this stage, most employers enter pre-retirement,which may involve reducing work hours and demands, and eventually retirement.

Another model of career development is possible. Rather than going through asingle set of stages during their adult lives, individuals may progress through a seriesof the same stages several times during their lives. As shown in Figure 3-4, they begin


Retirement

Preretirement

Late Career

Midcareer

Full Membership

Early Career

Entry

Age: 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

❚ FIGURE 3-4 ❚People may progress throughseveral sets of the samesequence of career stagesduring their lives.

with the exploration stage (similar to the entry stage) and continue with the trialstage (which resembles the early career stage). Next they experience the establish-ment stage, which resembles full membership. They conclude with a mastery stagebefore proceeding to exploration of a new career. This iterative approach fits wellwith new forms of careers in which people frequently change organizations and jobs.

Career Planning Career effectiveness and the individual job effectiveness that accompanies it oftenarise from the organization’s ability to integrate the employee into the organizationand to help that employee make career transitions effectively. Both employees andtheir managers should assume some career planning and development responsibil-ities. Use of the Web can support information searches, resume development andposting, and networking regarding career planning. Some executives hire coachesfor their managers to help them develop better skills.84

Employees should know and understand the implications of their particularcareer stage for their satisfaction and job performance. Managers should provideopportunities to discuss career development issues. They should also give feedbackabout reasonable expectations for employees, identifying the employees’ potentialand providing relevant growth opportunities. Linking employees to appropriateresources can also help their career development. A lack of such information, inaddition to the dilemmas experienced at various stages of career development, maycontribute to confusion and conflict in the performance of work and nonwork roles.

Employees can benefit by finding a mentor, usually a more senior executive whohelps influence their movement through the organization and affects their careersuccess. Glen Toney, for example, served as a mentor for employees at Applied Mate-rials. A mentor typically provides the career and psychosocial functions shown inTable 3-1.85 Alternatively, employees can seek developmental support from peers bybecoming part of a relationship constellation, a group of individuals from various depart-ments in the organization who provide mutual support, friendship, and sponsor-ship.86 Mentoring becomes particularly important in a multicultural environmentwhere nonperformance-related factors can block career progress. In one study ofcross-race mentoring, a supportive mentor–protégé relationship only occurred whenboth parties preferred to either deny or openly discuss their racial difference.87

Employees who have experienced extensive mentoring report receiving more pro-motions, having higher incomes, and being more satisfied with pay and benefits.88

Diversity appears to affect the mentor–protégé relationship. A study of 138interns on a six-month overseas assignment indicated that those who differed fromtheir mentors in gender and nationality were less likely to receive support related totheir tasks, careers, or social interactions. In turn, the lack of mentoring was associ-ated with less learning about international business, poorer socialization duringtheir assignments, and less impact of the internship on job offers.89 Organizationsalso benefit from mentoring because mentors help perpetuate or change the orga-nization’s culture; improve worker motivation, performance, and retention; or actas a less formal, less costly monitoring and control system.90

Professional employees who bring specialized expertise to organizations, such asscientists, engineers, teachers, and accountants, face unique career and organizationalissues. These knowledge workers have become particularly valuable in today’s econ-omy. Dot-com companies rely on experts in various functional areas of management,scientific areas, and graphic design to ensure that their Web businesses are successful.


Managing career development in today’s dynamic environment poses signifi-cant challenges to managers. Low rates of unemployment, high demand for skilledworkers, and rapid turnover in dot-com, other high-technology, and related indus-tries have made hiring a major preoccupation of some executives. Other companieshave experienced the losses resulting from mergers and acquisitions. While manyworkers have left traditional employment for the fast pace and challenges of dot-com companies, increasingly managers and other professionals have subsequentlyreturned to more traditional organizations. The Big Five accounting firms, forexample, changed their image so that they could compete with the dot-com com-panies: They offered signing bonuses, gave stock options to secretaries, flattenedtheir organizations’ structures, and reemphasized merit pay. Freddie Mac, themortgage investor, had 14 former employees return to the company after sojournsin high-tech companies; now executives scan Monster.com for the names of formeremployees to court.91 Workers should also ensure that they do not becomeplateaued performers, executives and workers who cannot advance because of limitedadvancement opportunities and whose job responsibilities never change.92 Compa-nies that once had single advancement paths offer alternatives. Procter & Gamble,for example, has given some of its marketing executives the chance to move off the


❚ TABLE 3-1 ❚

Mentors Can Fulfill Numerous Functions for Employees.

Career Functions Psychosocial Functions

Sponsorship

Opening doors. Having connections that willsupport the junior’s career advancement.

Coaching

Teaching “the ropes.” Giving relevant positive andnegative feedback to improve the junior’sperformance and potential.

Protection

Providing support in different situations. Takingresponsibility for mistakes that were outside thejunior’s control. Acting as a buffer when necessary.

Exposure

Creating opportunities for the junior todemonstrate competence where it counts. Takingthe junior to important meetings that willenhance his or her visibility.

Challenging Work

Delegating assignments that stretch the junior’sknowledge and skills in order to stimulate growthand preparation to move ahead.

Role Modeling

Demonstrating valued behavior, attitudes, and/orskills that aid the junior in achievingcompetence, confidence, and a clearprofessional identity.

Counseling

Providing a helpful and confidential forum forexploring personal and professional dilemmas.Excellent listening, trust, and rapport that enableboth individuals to address centraldevelopmental concerns.

Acceptance and Confirmation

Providing ongoing support, respect, andadmiration, which strengthens self-confidenceand self-image. Regularly reinforcing both ashighly valued people and contributors to theorganization.

Friendship

Mutual caring and intimacy that extends beyond therequirements of daily work tasks. Sharing ofexperience outside the immediate work setting.

Source: Reprinted with permission from K.E. Kram, Mentoring in the workplace. In D.T. Hall and Associates, eds., Career Development inOrganizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), p. 162. © 1986 by Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.

traditional management ladder and act as strategic counselors for marketing, withthe opportunity to return to the management track if they wish.93

❚ DEALING WITH WORK–LIFE CHALLENGESResponding to issues associated with the interaction between work and family hasbecome particularly important in managing a diverse workforce in the UnitedStates. Family issues vary significantly, depending on the age, marital, parental, andeconomic status of employees.

Workplace issues seem to be most critical for adults with child-care responsibil-ities. The commonality of two-career families, as well as the rise in such nontradi-tional family styles as single parents, stepfamilies, and divorced parents alternatingchild-rearing responsibilities, call for greater attention to work–family interaction.For example, both men and women relocate their families because of workplacepromotions. Persuading valuable employees to relocate may mean offering incen-tives for the trailing spouse. Companies often help the trailing spouse land a newjob or even start a new career.

As the workforce ages, concerns about elder care for parents and aging rela-tives have become more prominent. More recently, the set of work–family issues hasexpanded to include decisions about how to treat gay and lesbian employees, suchas whether to offer them benefits comparable to those of married workers.

Family-Friendly BenefitsThe Family and Medical Leave Act passed in 1993 provides up to 12 weeks ofunpaid leave to all workers employed by companies with 50 or more employees forthe birth of a child, adoption of a child, or care of a seriously ill child, spouse, orfamily member, with a guarantee of the worker’s old job or equivalent job uponreturn. While increasing numbers of workers take advantage of the provisions ofthis bill, many men, in particular, feel compelled to choose work over family con-cerns. Leaves of absence in a financial services industry were associated with fewerpromotions and small salary increases; the leaves were negatively related to per-formance ratings during the year of the leave.94

The United States lags significantly behind other industrialized countries indealing with work–family issues. Many European countries, for example, have lib-eral parental leave policies and provide convenient, affordable day-care options forworkers. Japan, in contrast, lags behind the United States; there are no provisionsfor maternity leaves or company-sponsored day care.95

Organizations benefit from helping workers manage the work–family chal-lenges. For example, flexible and innovative managers do the following:

� seek equitable, not uniform treatment for workers;� recognize that employees perform better free from personal pressures;� realize that flexibility is a competitive issue and management tool;� measure performance based on value added, not hours worked;� meet business objectives by helping employees meet personal needs;� willingly take risks;� focus on results, rather than rules and procedures;


� respect individuals but acknowledge and respond to differences;� gain top-level support and backing from peers; and� produce change within the organization that outlives themselves.96

Organizations have become more family friendly by introducing programs thathelp employees balance the various aspects of their work and family lives in the fol-lowing ways:

� flexible work arrangements, such as part-time work, job sharing, and flexiblehours;

� parental leaves, such as maternity or paternity leaves, family-care leaves, andpersonal days;

� dependent-care services, such as day care, vacation care, sick child care, andelder care; and

� work–family stress management, such as workshops, private counseling, andemployee assistance programs.

Alltel Information Services of Little Rock, Arkansas, introduced a telecommut-ing program (employees work at home) that has reduced turnover, increased jobsatisfaction, and resulted in significant cost savings. Employees find that the extratime available to spend with children, even though telecommuters must arrange forprimary caregivers for children under the age of 10, has been a major attraction.97

PNC Bank in Pittsburgh offers 200 employees in corporate finance extra-long shiftswith every tenth working day off. Daimler/Chrysler AG includes a work–familyaccount in its benefits that employees can use for child care, elder care, retirementsavings, adoption assistance, and education accounts for dependents, among otheruses.98 SAS Institute, a software company, built a 200-child day-care facility at itsheadquarters, bringing the company’s capacity for preschool child care to 700.Employees can take their children from the day-care center and have lunch withthem in the company cafeteria. The company also offers a full-time elder-care con-sultant for employees.99 Strong Investments gives expectant fathers beepers andthree days off with pay after the birth of a child as part of its “father-friendly” bene-fits. Marriott offers effective fathering classes for employees.100

Other employees are not satisfied with options offered by their employers.They have chosen to get off the career ladder as a way of achieving more balance intheir lives. These downshifters value their personal life over their career accomplish-ments. While downshifting may be extreme, the trend to simplify their lives hasbecome more common for U.S. employees.101

❚ MANAGING DIVERSITY IN A DOT-COM, GLOBAL WORKPLACE

As companies continue to search for ways to improve their bottom line and ensureemployee retention and performance, managing issues of diversity, individual dif-ferences, and professional and personal development become key. Organizationscan take one of three approaches to managing diversity:

� episodic, in which diversity initiatives are isolated from core managementactivities, such as by sending employees to short seminars on diversity;


� freestanding, in which managers formalize diversity initiatives but don’t fullyintegrate them into core management activities, such as by creating anintercultural exchange program; and

� systemic, in which diversity initiatives are linked with existing systems and coreactivities, such as by being made a component of all employee, customer, andvendor programs.102

Bestfoods, a global consumer foods business that includes Hellmann’s Mayonnaiseand Entenmann’s baked goods, uses the last strategy. It links its diversity initiative closelyto the company’s business objectives, including both in its core values. The companywants employees who mirror its customers. This diversity strategy includes five key prin-ciples: (1) Management is accountable for ensuring diversity in every division; (2) rep-resentation of women, as well as various racial, ethnic, and other minority groups, goesbeyond quotas to ensuring the ability to spot and hire the best talent; (3) corporate-wide initiatives regarding retention, development, and advancement focus on recom-mendations regarding career development, diversity, and work–life balance; (4) thecompany administered and still analyzes an employee survey; and (5) diversity trainingsupports skill development and performance expectations. In 1998, the Women’sGlobal Leadership Forum met with senior executives from Bestfoods for shared learn-ing and making recommendations for change. They offered specific proposals in theareas of career development, diversity, and work–life balance.103

Several human resources professionals in the Seattle-Tacoma area started theProfessional and Technical Diversity Network as a way of promoting and supportinga diverse workforce throughout the region.104 Managers can promote diversity inthe workplace in a number of ways:105

� focus on bringing in the best talent, not on meeting numerical goals;� set up mentoring programs among employees of the same and different races;� hold managers accountable for meeting diversity goals;� develop career plans for employees as part of performance reviews;� promote minorities to decision-making positions, not just staff jobs;� ensure that succession planning helps maintain diversity at all levels of the

organization;� make managers accountable for ensuring diversity in their divisions or groups;

and� diversify the company’s board of directors.

Top management needs to develop corporate policies that foster diversity. Theymay need to give managers rewards for hiring, developing, and promoting women,minorities, and older workers. They may need to institute programs to support thediverse workforce. They may need to help managers and other workers learn howto deal with workers different from themselves. To make the most of the diverseworkforce, managers can follow the advice shown in Table 3-2. In addition to fol-lowing this advice, managers should conduct diversity training and create structuresthat support diversity.

Diversity TrainingMany companies conduct diversity training, programs and activities that highlightdifferences among workers and offer strategies for handling them. The Society for


Human Resource Management sponsors courses about diversity. Towers Perrin, amajor human resources consulting firm, offers “learning rooms” where panels talkwith clients’ employees about racial and ethnic differences, generational issues, reli-gious questions, and sexual orientation issues.106

Diversity training helps managers understand and value individual differencesand develop strong diagnostic skills. Dissemination of factual information maychange some beliefs, but more emotion-oriented persuasive techniques and longer-term educational efforts may be needed to alter them. For example, Bank of Amer-ica offers mentoring programs and support/discussion groups based on race, eth-nicity, or sexual orientation.107

Cross-Cultural IssuesAs organizations have become more multinational or even drawn on workers from dif-ferent cultures in the same country, the importance of integrating home country andforeign workers has increased. The effects of cultural diversity on firm performancedepend on a firm’s strategies and the way managers and employees handle diversity.108

For example, Smurfit Flexible Packaging, a midwestern manufacturer, decided toimprove its safety. The company faced special challenges because the cultural diversityof the workforce created language barriers that made understanding difficult. Train-ing workers and ensuring the right attitude toward safety became a major priority.109

Managers and employees of organizations that operate in more than one coun-try must deal with the diverse cultures of the global marketplace. Implemented in1985, Japan’s Equal Employment Opportunity Act emphasized voluntary compli-ance and gradual change. Yet, gender inequality persists in the Japanese work-place.110 Even there, however, women have begun to speak out about sexual harass-ment in the workplace. A 1999 law makes sexual harassment a criminal offense and


❚ TABLE 3-2 ❚

Building a Diverse Workforce has Positive Consequences for an Organization’sBottom Line.

Advice to managers regarding diversity:

� Understand that a diverse workforce has different perspectives and approachesto work and must truly value variety of opinion and insight.

� Recognize both the learning opportunities and challenges that the expression ofdifferent perspectives gives organizations.

� Create an organizational culture that → expects high standards of performance from everyone.→ stimulates personal development.→ encourages openness.→ makes workers feel valued.

� Develop a well-articulated and widely understood mission for the organization.� Implement a relatively egalitarian, nonbureaucratic structure.

Source: Harvard Business Review (September–October, 1996): 79–90.Based on D.A. Thomas and R.J. Ely, Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity,

requires all companies to have written policies prohibiting sexual harassment,although compliance has been somewhat spotty.111

Cultural differences affect the way people perceive each other in the workplace,and these different perceptions affect behavior. Language differences reflect unspo-ken attitudes, assumptions, and even attributions. They can shape workers’ views ofthe world and actions in the workplace. Some argue that only English should beallowed in U.S. workplaces because employees who speak limited English may havedifficulty communicating with other employees and with customers. Rituals and cus-toms can also influence people’s perceptions about their jobs and co-workers. Ameri-cans, for example, value efficiency and speed, while the Japanese place a higher valueon ceremonies and practices that reflect social standing and mutual respect.

Workers from different cultures may also lack knowledge about the ethicalappropriateness of various practices, causing them to act in unacceptable or unex-pected ways. For example, paying an official to sanction a business act may be stan-dard operating practice in some South American and Middle Eastern countries, butnot in the United States. Political and economic differences among nations alsocreate significantly different cultural patterns that may affect the level of education,experience, and expertise of various workers. Managers need to diagnose culturaldifferences and understand their impact in the workplace. Then they can prescribeways to ensure effective behavior in cross-cultural situations.

Structures That Support DiversityTwo-career couples benefit from flexible work arrangements and flexible benefits,where the ability to select from an array of benefits prevents, for example, duplica-tion of medical benefits and the possibility of selecting child-care reimburse-ment.112 Older workers too can benefit from part-time employment or greater flex-ibility in their work schedules.

Sharing power and influence throughout the organization also encouragesdiversity.113 An organization’s culture should reflect the diverse cultural and socialgroups that compose it and attempt to eliminate discrimination in the organiza-tion. Although more than three-fourths of the largest companies in the UnitedStates have diversity programs, not all succeed.114 A growing number of companieshave special positions that focus on diversity, such as vice president of diversity,director of multicultural affairs, manager of workforce development, and vice pres-ident of diversity management. The inability of top management to consider dis-crimination a major business issue or to spend sufficient time on training can hin-der the success of diversity programs.

❚ Summary1. A more diverse workforce often results in improved decision making, better

understanding of customers’ needs, and increased flexibility in staffing. 2. The number of women, minorities, and older workers continues to increase;

companies must ensure that they meet the needs of these workers and do notdiscriminate in their human resources policies and practices.

3. Organizations now employ more physically challenged workers and mustensure that the workplace does not provide obstacles to their performance.

4. A diverse workforce typically includes people with a variety of personalitytypes, such as internalizers and externalizers, Type A and Type B, introverted


and extroverted, sensing and intuitive, thinking and feeling, judging, andperceiving, high and low Machiavellianism, and high and low self-efficacy.

5. An individual’s values and attitudes also influence behavior in the workplace;values describe a person’s underlying beliefs, whereas attitudes refer topeople’s tendencies to respond consistently. Attitudes include cognitive,affective, and behavioral components.

6. Individuals have careers that generally progress through a series of stages thateach have a different set of concerns and issues, although boundarylesscareers have become more common.

7. Companies have introduced family-friendly benefits, such as flexible workschedules, liberal leave policies, dependent care, and work-stress managementseminars, to help workers meet the challenges faced by two-career families,single parents, and gay and lesbian workers, among others.

A Manager’s Diagnostic Review

� Accept the value of diversity in the workplace.

• What types of diversity characterize the workforce?

• What cross-cultural issues does the organization face?� Remove obstacles encountered by women, minorities, older workers, and

physically challenged employees.

• What special challenges do women, minorities, older workers, and physicallychallenged employees face?

• What programs exist for managing diversity?� Know how personality differences affect a person’s work.

• How would you characterize the personalities of particular employees andmanagers?

• Do their personalities fit with the situation?� Recognize how values and attitudes affect job performance.

• What beliefs and values do managers and employees hold?

• How do these beliefs and values influence their attitudes?� Help workers build effective careers.

• What career stage characterizes each manager and employee?

• What career development problems do employees and managers experience?

• Does the organization have career development programs?� Develop programs to help workers handle work–life challenges.

• What family issues do workers face?

• How well does the organization help them in meeting family and othernonwork needs?

� Manage diversity and individual differences in the dot-com, global workplace.

• Does the organization have diversity programs and offer diversity training?

• Do managers effectively handle a multicultural workforce?



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Visit the Gordon homepage on the Prentice Hall Web site at

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for recommended readings, additional activities, Internet exercises, updatedinformation, and links to related Web sites.

❚ Thinking Critically About Organizational Behavior1. Why should managers strive for a diverse workforce?2. How can managers prepare for an increasingly diverse workforce?3. Will true equality in job opportunities ever exist in the United States?4. Should managers assess their employees’ personalities?5. Should companies attempt to have a workforce with an array of personality

types?6. Can managers change their employees’ values and attitudes?7. Do divergent attitudes cause problems in organizations?8. What are the implications for managers and employees of the new forms of

careers?9. Do all adults pass through the same career stages?

10. Should all companies institute family-friendly benefits?11. Do other countries have the same issues as the United States about employing

a diverse workforce?12. Does diversity training work?

ACTIVITY 3-1: UNDERSTANDING RACE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES

STEP 1: Draw a picture of yourself on a large pieceof newsprint with colored markers, making thefollowing assumptions:

Pretend you are to be reincarnated and you can choose how youwill come back . . . as long as you choose a different race andgender.

STEP 2: On the left side of the paper, answer the fol-lowing questions:

1. Why did you choose this persona?2. What do you like about your choice?

On the right side of the paper, answer the followingquestions:

1. What do you dislike about your choice?

2. What are you concerned about as you facethe future as this new persona?

STEP 3: Discussion. Your instructor will direct thestudents to present their pictures in small groupsor to the class as a whole. Share your answers tothe preceding questions. Then answer the follow-ing questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantagesof each choice?

2. What issues concern you in facing the futureas your new persona?

Source: Adapted and reprinted with permission of the authors,Bonita L. Betters-Reed and Lynda L. Moore.


ACTIVITY 3-2: TRAVELING TO FOREIGN CULTURES

STEP 1: Your instructor will divide the class into twogroups and provide each group with color-codedbadges. Print your name in bold letters on thebadge and wear it throughout the exercise.

STEP 2: Working with your group members, yourfirst task is to invent your own cultural cues. Youare to think about the kinds of behaviors andwords that will signify to all members that theybelong together in one culture. For each of thefollowing categories, identify and record at leastone important attribute for your culture:

Facial expressionEye contactHandshakeBody languageKey words or phrases

STEP 3: Now that you have defined desirable cul-tural aspects for your group, practice them. It isbest to stand with your group and to engage oneanother in conversations involving two or threepeople at a time. Your aim in talking with oneanother is to learn as much as possible about eachother—hobbies, interests, where you live, whatyour family is like, courses being taken, and so on,all while practicing the behaviors and words iden-tified in Step 2. It is not necessary for participantsto answer questions of a personal nature truth-fully. Invention is permissible because the conver-sation is only a means to the end of cultural obser-vation. Your aim at this point is to becomecomfortable with the indicators of your particularculture. Practice until the indicators are secondnature to you.

STEP 4: You now should assume that you work fora business organization that operates in the cul-ture you defined and practiced. This businesshas decided that it would like to explore thepotential for doing business with companies in aforeign culture. Your awareness of the globalmarketplace tells you that to plan an effectiveapproach to a foreign country’s business leadersyou must first understand the culture of thatcountry.

You are to learn as much as possible aboutanother culture. To do so, you will send fromone to three representatives, when designated byyour instructor, on a “business trip” to the otherculture. These representatives must, as much aspossible, behave in a manner that is consistentwith your culture as defined in Step 2. At thesame time, each representative must endeavor tolearn as much as possible about the people inthe other culture, while keeping eyes and earsopen to cultural attributes that will be useful infuture negotiations with foreign businesses.(Note: At no time will it be considered ethicalbehavior for the representative to ask directquestions about the foreign culture’s attributes.These cultural attributes must be gleaned fromfirsthand experience.)

While your representatives are away, you willreceive one or more exchange visitors from theother culture who will be interested in learningmore about your organizational culture. You muststrictly adhere to the cultural aspects you definedin Step 1 and practiced in Step 3 as you respondto the visitor(s).

STEP 5: When told to do so by your instructor, all rep-resentatives return to their native cultures. Eachgroup then discusses and records what it has learnedabout the foreign culture based on the exchange ofvisitors. The aim is to try to decipher the behaviorsexpected of members of the other culture. Thisinformation will be shared with all group membersand will serve as the basis for orienting the next rep-resentatives who will make a business trip.

STEP 6: The instructor will select one to three differ-ent group members to make another trip to theother culture to check out the assumptions thatyour group has made about the other culture.This “checking out” process will consist of actuallypracticing the other culture’s cues to see whetherthey work. Both groups will be standing and con-ducting their business of getting to know oneanother as in Steps 3 and 4.

STEP 7: The travelers return and report on findingsto the home group, and the group then preparesto report what it learned about the other culture.

STEP 8: Discussion. With the entire class, answer thefollowing questions:

1. What did you learn about the other culture?2. How easily did you learn about the other

culture?3. What is the effect of having people from two

different cultures interact?

Source: By Susan R. Zacur and W. Alan Randolph, Travelingto foreign cultures: An exercise in developing awareness ofcultural diversity, Journal of Management Education 17(4)(November 1993): 510–513. Reprinted with permission ofSage Publications, Inc.


ACTIVITY 3-3: LOCUS OF CONTROL TEST

STEP 1: Answer the following questions about theway you feel. In the column, mark a Y for yes andan N for no next to each question.

_____ 1. Do you believe that most problems willsolve themselves if you just don’t fool withthem?

_____ 2. Do you believe that you can stop yourselffrom catching a cold?

_____ 3. Are some people just born lucky?_____ 4. Most of the time, do you feel that getting

good grades means a great deal to you?_____ 5. Are you often blamed for things that just

aren’t your fault?_____ 6. Do you believe that if somebody studies

hard, he or she can pass any subject?_____ 7. Do you feel that most of the time it

doesn’t pay to try hard because thingsnever turn out right anyway?

_____ 8. Do you feel that if things start out well inthe morning, it’s going to be a good dayno matter what you do?

_____ 9. Do you feel that most of the time parentslisten to what their children have to say?

_____ 10. Do you believe that wishing can makegood things happen?

_____ 11. When you get punished, does it usuallyseem it’s for no good reason at all?

_____ 12. Most of the time, do you find it hard tochange a friend’s opinion?

_____ 13. Do you think that cheering more thanluck helps a team to win?

_____ 14. Did you feel that it was nearly impossibleto change your parent’s minds aboutanything?

_____ 15. Do you believe that parents should allowchildren to make most of their owndecisions?

_____ 16. Do you feel that when you do somethingwrong there’s very little you can do tomake it right?

_____ 17. Do you believe that most people are justborn good at sports?

_____ 18. Are most of the other people your agestronger than you are?

_____ 19. Do you feel that one of the best ways tohandle most problems is just not to thinkabout them?

_____ 20. Do you feel that you have a lot of choicein deciding who your friends are?

_____ 21. If you find a four-leaf clover, do youbelieve that it might bring you goodluck?

_____ 22. Did you often feel that whether or notyou did your homework had much to dowith what kind of grades you got?

_____ 23. Do you feel that when a person your ageis angry at you, there’s little you can do tostop him or her?

_____ 24. Have you ever had a good-luck charm?_____ 25. Do you believe that whether or not

people like you depends on how you act?_____ 26. Did your parents usually help you if you

asked them to?

_____ 27. Have you felt that when people wereangry with you it was usually for noreason at all?

_____ 28. Most of the time, do you feel that you canchange what might happen tomorrow bywhat you do today?

_____ 29. Do you believe that when bad things aregoing to happen, they just are going tohappen no matter what you try to do tostop them?

_____ 30. Do you think that people can get theirown way if they just keep trying?

_____ 31. Most of the time, do you find it useless totry to get your own way at home?

_____ 32. Do you feel that when good thingshappen, they happen because of hardwork?

_____ 33. Do you feel that when somebody your agewants to be your enemy, there’s little youcan do to change matters?

_____ 34. Do you feel that it’s easy to get friends todo what you want them to do?

_____ 35. Do you usually feel that you have little tosay about what you get to eat at home?

_____ 36. Do you feel that when someone doesn’tlike you, there’s little you can do aboutit?

_____ 37. Did you usually feel that it was almostuseless to try in school because mostother children were just plain smarterthat you were?

_____ 38. Are you the kind of person who believesthat planning ahead makes things turnout better?

_____ 39. Most of the time, do you feel that youhave little to say about what your familydecides to do?

_____ 40. Do you think it’s better to be smart thanto be lucky?

STEP 2: Scoring the scale. Using the following scor-ing key, compare your answers to the ones on thekey. Give yourself one point each time youranswer agrees with the keyed answer. Your score isthe total number of agreements between youranswers and the ones on the key.

Scoring Key

1. Yes 21. Yes

2. No 22. No

3. Yes 23. Yes

4. No 24. Yes

5. Yes 25. No

6. No 26. No

7. Yes 27. Yes

8. Yes 28. No

9. No 29. Yes

10. Yes 30. No

11. Yes 31. Yes

12. Yes 32. No

13. No 33. Yes

14. Yes 34. No

15. No 35. Yes

16. Yes 36. Yes

17. Yes 37. Yes

18. Yes 38. No

19. Yes 39. Yes

20. No 40. NoTotalScore:

INTERPRETING YOUR SCORELow Scorers (0–8)

Scores from zero to eight represent the range forabout one-third of the people taking the test. As alow scorer, you probably see life as a game of skillrather than chance. You most likely believe that youhave a lot of control over what happens to you, bothgood and bad. With that view, internal-locus-of-control people tend to take the initiative in every-thing from job-related activities to relationships andsex. You are probably described by others as vigilantin getting things done, aware of what’s going onaround you, and willing to spend energy in workingfor specific goals. You would probably find it quitefrustrating to sit back and let others take care ofyou, since you stressed on the test that you like tohave your life in your own hands.


Although taking control of your life is seen as the“best way to be,” psychologists caution that it hasits own set of difficulties. Someone who is respon-sible for his or her own successes is also responsi-ble for failures. So if you scored high in this direc-tion, be prepared for the downs as well as the ups.

Average Scorers (9–16)

Since you’ve answered some of the questions in eachdirection, internal and external control beliefs foryou may be situation specific. You may look at onesituation—work, for example—and believe thatyour rewards are externally determined, that nomatter what you do you can’t get ahead. Inanother situation—love, perhaps—you may seeyour fate as resting entirely in your own hands.You will find it helpful to review the questions andgroup them into those you answered in the inter-nal direction and those you answered in the exter-nal direction. Are there any similarities in thekinds of situations within one of those groups? Ifso, some time spent thinking about what it is inthose situations that makes you feel as though thecontrol is or is not in your hands can help you bet-ter understand yourself.

High Scorers (17–40)Scores in this range represent the external control

end of the scale. Only about 15 percent of thepeople taking the test score 17 or higher. As ahigh scorer, you’re saying that you see life gener-ally more as a game of chance than as one whereyour skills make a difference.

STEP 3: Discussion. In small groups or with the classas a whole, answer the following questions.

DESCRIPTION1. What was your score?2. What type of personality does this represent?3. How does this compare to scores of others in

the class?

DIAGNOSIS4. What behaviors and attitudes is each

personality type likely to demonstrate?5. What are the implications for encouraging

organizational effectiveness?


ACTIVITY 3-4: FAMILY FRIENDLINESS AT ABC MANUFACTURING

STEP 1: You have just been appointed the firstWork/Family Director at ABC Manufacturing, aFortune 200 manufacturer of consumer goodssuch as personal grooming products, stationeryproducts, cleaning products, and food products.The new CEO of ABC has stated that one of histop priorities is to make ABC more “familyfriendly.”

The new CEO believes that making the com-pany more family friendly will reduce its turnoverrate, attract better-quality employees from acrossthe country, and increase the productivity of itscurrent workforce. His first step was to create andfill the position you now hold. The company hasexperimented with flexible working hours and jobsharing in a few, selected divisions. When thesponsoring managers changed, these programsgenerally became defunct. No organization-widepolicy or set of programs exist.

ABC currently has 20,000 employees world-wide. It has 20 manufacturing plants, 45 regionalsales offices, and a large corporate office thatincludes marketing, research and development,engineering, human resources, financial, andadministrative staffs.

The new CEO has given you a first-year budgetof $500,000 and a staff of four. He has promisedthat both the budget and staff can increase if thenew programs show tangible results.

STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, as directedby your instructor, develop a comprehensive planfor making ABC Manufacturing more familyfriendly. Consider the different types of workersABC employs and the various locations in whichABC operates. Include in your plan the programsyou want to introduce, the priority you assign toeach program, the expected costs of the pro-

Source: By Stephen Nowicki, Jr., and B. Strickland in TheMind Test by Rita Aero and Elliot Weiner (New York: WilliamMorrow, 1981), pp. 20–23. Reprinted with permission.

grams, and their likely impact. Develop a timelinefor introducing the programs.

STEP 3: With the entire class, share the plans youdeveloped. What elements do they have in com-

mon? What costs and benefits will likely accom-pany these plans? What options will likely have thegreatest impact? How do programs differ for thevarious locations outside the United States? Isfamily friendliness the same in all cultures?


ACTIVITY 3-5: DESIGNING A DIVERSITY PROGRAM

STEP 1: You have just been hired as the new Directorof Diversity for StateBank, one of the top 50 banksin the United States. While StateBank began sev-eral diversity initiatives about five years ago, it lim-ited these activities to workshops that helpemployees become more sensitive to gender,racial, ethnic, and religious differences.

Although surveys suggest that attitudes amongStateBank’s employees are changing, you believethat the company has not done all it can to addressdiversity in the workplace. For example, morethan 90 percent of top and middle managers aremales, while 50 percent of new hires at lower levelsare females. African Americans hold 15 percent ofentry-level positions but only 3 percent of middlemanagement positions and no top-level positions.

Three bank tellers recently filed a sexual harass-ment suit against their branch manager.

The bank has renewed its commitment toaddressing the diversity issue, particularly becauseits customer base has become more diverse as thebank has grown. Top management has given you alarge budget and a small staff to improve thediversity program in the bank.

STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, as directedby your instructor, develop a comprehensivediversity program for StateBank.

STEP 3: Share your plans with the entire class. Identifythe key elements of a comprehensive diversity pro-gram. What would the program you proposed cost?What benefits would it likely offer to StateBank?

ACTIVITY 3-6: SELECTING A DIVERSITY CONSULTANT

STEP 1: You are the vice president of humanresources for a growing high-technology com-pany. The company’s executive team has agreedthat employees should participate in a diversitytraining and awareness program. The consultanthas designed a program that company employeeswill conduct for other company employees. Infact, you have been asked to select a group of fivepeople from your existing employees to form a“train-the-trainer” group. These five people willtrain a group of 20–30 other employees, who willthen actually conduct the training.

STEP 2: Individually or in small groups, prepare alist of criteria for selecting individuals to join the“train-the-trainer” group. Offer a rationale for thelist you prepare.

STEP 3: Share your conclusions in writing or orally withthe entire class. Consider the following questions:

1. What qualifications make a person a gooddiversity trainer?

2. How can you validate these qualifications?3. Does a person need to be a member of a

minority group to conduct this training?

Gordon Ch 03

Documents

diversity oftheir workforce

companys minority employees

competent minority candidates

manyminority customers

happier customers

older workers

impact of values

value of diversity