Chapter 16

Case Apple and the Dreamers

1.Do you consider being a Dreamer a form of workplace diversity? How is it similar to and different from other kinds of workplace diversity discussed in this chapter? ● 2.What are the benefits and risks to employers, such as Apple and others mentioned in this case, of continuing to hire or employ Dreamers? ● 3.Beyond employers, which stakeholders benefit, and which are harmed when a business hires Dreamers? ● 4.Do you agree with Apple's response to the public policy threat to DACA? What else should Apple's managers do now, and why? ● 5.If you were a human resources manager at Apple, what steps would you take (or not take) if DACA protections were rescinded by the government? §

Women and Minority Business Ownership

Some women and minorities have chosen to avoid the glass ceiling by opening their own businesses. •By the mid-2010s, 36 percent of over 28 million U.S. businesses were owned by women, and 15 percent by minorities. àExample: Turkish immigrant Hamdi Ulukaya and Chobani Yogurt. •In 2015, there were almost one million minority-owned business in the United States. •More than 50 percent of these firms were owned by Asians, Hispanics about 32 percent, and African Americans about 11 percent.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Although women and minorities are as competent as white men in management, they rarely attain the highest positions in corporations. Glass ceiling: Invisible barrier that exists in reaching these higher levels is sometimes called the glass ceiling. Recent advances show some cracking of the ceiling. Would adding women to boards improve performance? •More diverse boards avoid a rush to consensus and realistically consider alternative courses of action. •Women bring different life experiences to the table and are more likely to raise multiple stakeholder concerns. •The Aspen Institute has argued that women simply lead differently, demonstrating traits such as empathy, collaboration, and skill at conflict resolution.

What Business Can Do: Diversity and Inclusion Policies and Practices

Actions companies can take to manage diversity and promote inclusion effectively: •Articulate a clear diversity mission, set quantitative objectives, and hold managers accountable. •Spread a wide net in recruitment, to find the most diverse possible pool of qualified candidates. •Incorporate selection techniques that diminish the opportunity for bias. Actions companies can take to manage diversity and promote inclusion effectively: •Identify promising women and persons of color, and provide them with mentors and other kinds of support. •Set up diversity councils to monitor the company's goals and progress toward them: Diversity council: A group of managers and employees responsible for developing and implementing specific action plans to meet an organization's diversity goals.

Work Flexibility

Companies have also accommodated the changing roles of women and men by offering workers more flexibility through such options as: •Flextime. •Part-time employment. •Job sharing. •Working from home.

The Changing Face of the Workforce

Diversity: variation in the important human characteristics that distinguish people from one another. •Primary dimensions: age, ethnicity, gender, mental or physical abilities, race, sexual orientation. •Secondary dimensions: characteristics such as communication style, family status and first language. Workforce diversity: diversity among employees of a business or organization: •Represents both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses.

Sexual Harassment

Government regulations ban sexual and racial harassment. Sexual harassment at work occurs when: •An employee, woman or man, experiences repeated, unwanted sexual attention. •On‑the‑job conditions are hostile or threatening in a sexual way. •It includes both physical and verbal conduct. àExamples: Suggestive touching, verbal harassment •It can also occur if a company's work climate is blatantly and offensively sexual or intimidating to employees. U.S. EEOC is empowered to sue on behalf of victims. •Sexual harassment cases are settled in arbitration hearings so the amounts paid are not made public.

Strategic Advantages of Managing Diversity and Inclusion Effectively

Having a widely diverse workforce boosts innovation, many executives believe. The global marketplace demands a workforce with language skills, cultural sensitivity, and awareness of national and other differences across markets. Companies with effective diversity programs can avoid: •Costly lawsuits. •Damage to their corporate reputations from charges of discrimination or cultural insensitivity.

Racial Harassment

Illegal, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: •Under EEOC guidelines, ethnic slurs, derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical harassment based on race are against the law. •if they create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment or interfere with an individual's work performance.

The Gender and Racial Pay Gap

Pay gap: Women and persons of color on average receive lower pay than white men do. •Gap has narrowed over the past quarter century. •The one group that tops white men in median weekly earnings is Asian-American men; they make about $1.17 for every dollar that a white man earns. •Important reason is education. Possible reasons for gender pay gap: •Sex discrimination. •Women's choices to pursue lower paying jobs or slower advancement. •Occupational segregation: Inequitable concentration of a group in certain job categories. Pink-collar ghetto: sex-typed jobs: •Women have made great strides in entering professional occupations, however "pink collar ghetto" still exists. à Examples: preschool teacher, hairdressers, dental hygienists.

Affirmative Action

Purpose: to reduce job discrimination by encouraging companies to take positive steps to overcome past discriminatory employment practices. •Affirmative action has long been controversial. Backers of affirmative action argue that these programs provide an important tool for achieving equal opportunity. •Women and minorities continued to face discriminatory barriers, and affirmative action levels the playing field. Critics of affirmative action say it is inconsistent with the principles of fairness and equality. •In some cases, one group could be unintentionally discriminated against in an effort to help another group. •These programs can actually stigmatize or demoralize the very groups they are designed to help.

Child Care and Elder Care

Types of programs companies are offering: •Child care. •Elder care. •Parental and family leave. A major source of workplace stress for working parents is concern about their children. Studies have found that child care programs help: •To reduce absenteeism and tardiness. •To improve productivity. •To aid recruiting, by improving the company's image. •To retain talented employees.