California State University, Northridge

MGT 360

Organizational Behavior, Version 1.1

Bauer & Erdogan

1)While the American workforce is becoming more diverse, the world’s workforce is not.

 

 

2. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment with regard to race, color, sex, religion and national origin.

 

 

3. With the passage of a number of laws in the United States prohibiting discrimination against race, color, gender, religion, national origin and age, complaints filed charging discrimination have largely been eliminated.

 

 

4. A more diverse work team produces higher quality decisions because more alternatives are considered.

 

 

5. Employees who are discriminated against experience more stress at work but are no more likely to leave their jobs than those who have not faced discrimination.

 

 

6. When discrimination complaints are filed, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) acts as a mediator between the company and the complainant.

 

 

7. In firms pursuing a growth strategy, there is a negative relationship between racial diversity in the firm and company performance.

 

 

8. The similarity/attraction phenomenon suggests that individuals are attracted to those who are similar to them.

 

 

9. Race, age, and attitudes are examples of surface level diversity.

 

 

10. Deep-level diversity traits are most important for early interactions in the workplace, but as time goes on, surface traits become more important.

 

 

11. A group with three older males and three younger women will have a strong faultline.

 

 

12. Research indicates that groups with strong faultlines can perform well if certain norms are established.

 

 

13. It is a commonly held stereotype that men are more relationship-oriented than women.

 

 

14. One of the explanations for the wage gap between men and women is that women pursue occupations that are lower-paying than those pursued by men.

 

 

15. Though the glass ceiling was a legitimate issue a few years ago, today the number of women in executive positions of organizations is roughly the same as the number of men at that level.

 

 

16. One rationale provided for the existence of the glass ceiling for women is that women are viewed as having personality characteristics that are not associated with successful leaders.

 

 

17. Ethnic minorities experience a wage gap and a glass ceiling even more severe than that faced by women.

 

 

18. Denny’s Restaurants were able to successfully institute diversity training efforts that increased the numbers of minority members of its board and management team as well as the number of minority franchise owners.

 

 

19. Research indicates that older employees exhibit higher absenteeism than their younger counterparts.

 

 

20. The Age Discrimination Act makes it illegal to discriminate against employees age 40 or older.

 

 

21. Research suggests that age diversity in a work team can lead to higher performance.

 

 

22. Reasonable accommodation for religious reasons does not require schedule modifications although it may require modifications to a firm’s dress code.

 

23. Reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities may require the firm’s purchase of some equipment for the disabled employees’ use but does not require any schedule or job duty modifications.

 

 

24. Disclosing sexual orientation is the key to explaining work attitudes of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender employees.

 

 

25. To break the ice in an interview situation, an interviewer could legally ask, “What are some of the traditions your family practices for Christmas”?

 

 

26. One suggestion for building a culture that respects diversity is that managers should be accountable for diversity-related goals.

 

 

27. Affirmative action programs are among the most controversial diversity management methods available.

 

 

28. Preferential treatment programs for minorities can be illegal in some cases.

 

 

29. Research suggests that some employees have a stigma attached to them because they were hired under an affirmative action program.

 

 

30. In the United States, the workforce is becoming increasingly multicultural.

 

 

31. An expatriate is an employee who is temporarily assigned to work in a foreign country.

 

 

32. Low power distance societies view an unequal distribution of power as relatively acceptable.

 

 

33. Companies high in uncertainty avoidance prefer predictable situations and have low tolerance for ambiguity.

 

 

34. In collectivist cultures, the importance of family is critical to understanding the nature of the society.

 

 

35. In high power distance companies, participative decision making is a regular process.

 

36. Feminine cultures are more likely to be characterized by a separation of gender roles than masculine cultures.

 

 

37. Developing an openness to different experiences is a very viable method to prepare oneself for a global career.

 

 

38. To enhance their cultural intelligence, employees should become experts in one culture.

 

 

39. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture is superior to other cultures.

 

 

40. Ethical standards held in different societies may emphasize different behaviors as ethical or unethical.

 

 

41. Managing diversity effectively may have different meanings in different cultures.

 

 

 

42. IBM is a pioneer in programming for a diverse workforce.

 

 

43. IBM’s diversity management task forces acted on issues that were either based in reality or perception.

 

 

44. IBM, like other firms today, has little difficulty finding minority representation in the computer science and engineering fields.

 

 

45. IBM’s culture of respecting diversity seems to be creating a competitive advantage for the firm.

 

 

 

 

FILL IN THE BLANK

 

 

46.                                   refers to the ways in which people are similar or different form each other.

 

47.                                         _                                                                           prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

 

48. The tendency for individuals to be attracted to similar individuals is called the

                                 -                                    phenomenon.

 

49. Demographic traits like race, gender and age are part of                                            diversity.

 

50. Diversity in values, beliefs and attitudes is called                                                                           

diversity.

 

51. An attribute along which a group is split into subgroups is called a                                                  .

 

52. A generalization about a particular group of people, like “men never ask for directions” is an example of a                                                                                  .

 

53. The fact that women earn 79% of what men earn demonstrates the                                          

                        .

54. The                                                is the invisible barrier faced by women and minorities where they are represented in lower level occupations in the firm but not at the higher and executive levels.

 

55. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits employment discrimination against individuals age                                                                               and over.

 

56. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in employment against individuals with physical or mental disabilities if they are otherwise qualified to do their jobs with or without                                                                                                                   .

 

57.                                                         programs are those designed to recruit, promote, train and retain employees belonging to a protected class.

 

58. The values, beliefs and customs that exist in a society are the                                            .

 

59. An American citizen working in an American company located in Japan would be called a(n)     .

 

60.                                                                       are cultures where people have stronger bonds to their groups and group membership forms a person’s self-identity and

                                                     are cultures where people define themselves as individuals and form looser ties with their groups.

 

61. A society that views an unequal distribution of power as relatively acceptable would be categorized as a                                                                                                      culture.

 

62. Cultures that are comfortable in unpredictable situations and have high tolerance for ambiguity are called                                                                                                                           cultures.

 

63. A                        culture values achievement, competitiveness and the acquisition of money and other material objects.

 

64.                                                                          is a person’s capability to understand how a person’s cultural background influences one’s behavior.

 

65.         is the belief that one’s own culture is superior to other cultures.

 

 

 

 

SHORT ANSWERS

 

 

66. What are some of the benefits of diversity?

 

 

67. Briefly describe the similarity/attraction phenomenon.

 

 

68. Define and give an example of surface diversity.

 

 

69. Define and give an example of deep-level diversity.

 

 

70. Define and provide an example of a faultline.

 

 

71. Define the term stereotype and give an example.

 

 

72. What is the earnings gap?

 

 

73. What is the glass ceiling?

 

74. A number of research studies have focused on older workers in the workplace. What were some of the findings that impact the management of the workplace?

 

 

75. What are some accommodations that must be made for those with religious issues in the employment relationship?

 

 

76. What is an example of a reasonable accommodation for a disabled individual that a firm might make?

 

 

77. What is a program that can be a part of a larger affirmative action initiative?

 

 

78. Define Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism dimension and give an example of each type of culture.

 

 

 

79. Define Hofstede’s low-high power distance dimension and give an example of each type of culture.

 

80. Define Hofstede’s low-high uncertainty avoidance dimension and give an example of each type of culture.

 

 

 

81. Define Hofstede’s masculinity/femininity dimension and give an example of each type of culture.

 

 

 

82. IBM was a pioneer in creating programs to value and develop a diverse workforce prior to federal legislation requiring such programs. Briefly discuss one of the programs IBM instituted that values diversity.

 

 

83. Briefly discuss the task forces that IBM established under Louis Gerstner to promote diversity in the firm, and address the masculine culture of the firm at the time.

 

 

ESSAY

 

84. What lessons do the IBM diversity management task forces offer to other firms?

 

 

85. Why would companies consider implementing diversity programs?

 

 

86. Michael is a new manager for a Fortune 500 firm. He is preparing for his first assignment, which is to complete a diversity audit of his firm. What are some of the areas he should consider for assessment?

 

 

87. You are being interviewed for a position in a financial services firm. The last three questions that the interviewer asked of you have been illegal questions. What can you do?

 

88. You are an organizational behavior consultant who has been brought into a firm to present some best practices with regard to managing demographic diversity. What are some of those best practices which you could present in a seminar?

 

 

89. You are an advisor for international business students. You are meeting with freshmen business students this afternoon. What are some recommendations you could make to these students to prepare them for global careers?

 

 

90. You are an organizational behavior consultant who has been hired to present a training seminar to managers in a Fortune 500 firm about suggestions for managing cultural diversity in the firm. What are some of the topics you will consider presenting during the seminar?