Deck 8: Managing a New and Diverse Workforce

Question 1

Language training is sometimes part of diversity training.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In the context of the actions that individuals can take to deal with diversity, empathy most likely means:

A) understanding that differences exist among people.
B) tolerating the behavior of others without having to accept it.
C) treating people fairly and equitably.
D) understanding the perspectives of others.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The glass ceiling refers to the obstacles faced by people with disabilities at the workplace.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The major policy through which a company can reflect its stance on diversity is its mission statement.

Question 5

The contemporary perspective on workforce diversity is that:

A) affirmative action is the best way to achieve the goal of greater diversity.
B) diversity seldom becomes a source of conflict in organizations.
C) it is difficult to achieve high levels of productivity in organizations that have a diverse workforce.
D) it is appropriate to acknowledge differences among people as long as people are treated fairly.

Question 6

Which of the following is one of the four individual approaches to dealing with workforce diversity?

A) Job embeddedness
B) Ethnocentrism
C) Continuous supervision
D) Tolerance

Question 7

To manage a diverse organization effectively, managers should first:

A) acknowledge the differences among people.
B) implement ethnocentric staffing strategies.
C) assign organizational roles based on group identity.
D) increase job embeddedness within the organization.

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

A) It requires employers to provide all the accommodations requested by employees with disabilities, even if these accommodations cause undue hardship.
B) It specifies different criteria for dealing with disabilities in men and women.
C) It focuses solely on those disabilities that are permanent in nature.
D) It presents a challenge to managers who try to balance treating everyone the same with treating everyone equitably.

Question 9

Many prison inmates work at paid jobs.

Question 10

In July of 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that existing federal laws regarding sex discrimination should exclude lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees.

Question 11

The resource acquisition argument for diversity suggests that organizations that learn to cope with diversity will generally have higher levels of productivity and lower levels of turnover and absenteeism.

Question 12

Sabrina had to take a 9-year-long career break after she gave birth to twins. She knows that it will take longer for her to get promoted if she were to return to her previous job. Therefore, she decides to open a bakery instead. The given scenario illustrates the concept of _____.

A) the glass cliff
B) the glass ceiling
C) ethnocentrism
D) pluralism

Question 13

The average age of U.S. workers is gradually decreasing.

Question 14

In the context of the arguments that have been proposed on how diversity contributes to competitiveness, the cost argument suggests that organizations that learn to cope with diversity will:

A) generally have higher levels of productivity and lower levels of turnover and absenteeism.
B) become known among women and minorities as good places to work.
C) be able to understand different market segments better than will less diverse organizations.
D) generally be more creative and innovative than will less diverse organizations.

Question 15

The process by which a company understands past mistakes and adapts to its environment is called _____.

A) organizational pluralism
B) organizational learning
C) organizational engineering
D) organizational synergy

Question 16

Which of the following statements is true of the ethnic composition of the workforce in the United States?

A) The percentage of whites has gradually increased in the past 15 years.
B) The percentage of Hispanics has increased in the past 20 years.
C) The percentage of African Americans has gradually decreased in the past 15 years.
D) The percentage of Asian Americans has decreased in the past 20 years.

Question 17

Which of the following statements is true of knowledge workers?

A) They prefer working under an authoritative leader over working autonomously.
B) They require little or no specialized training.
C) They are usually experts in some abstract information base.
D) They include blue-collar workers.

Question 18

Growing birthrates among the post-baby boom generations, which account for larger percentages of new entrants into the labor force, have changed the average age of U.S. workers.

Question 19

Understanding fundamental cultural differences increases one's tolerance in a diverse workforce.

Question 20

Within the United States, the percentage of whites in the workforce has increased in the past 20 years.

Question 21

Which of the following arguments for diversity suggests that organizations with diverse workforces will generally be more innovative than will less diverse organizations?

A) The systems flexibility argument
B) The resource acquisition argument
C) The marketing argument
D) The creativity argument

Question 22

Diversity training is specifically designed to:

A) enable members of an organization to function better in a diverse workplace.
B) help an organization learn and adopt ethnocentric practices.
C) ensure that employees give preferential treatment to colleagues belonging to protected classes.
D) ensure that employees embrace the concept of xenocentrism.

Question 23

Which of the following refers to the cultural composition of a group or organization?

A) Ethnocentricity
B) Xenocentrism
C) Ethnicity
D) Pluralism

Question 24

Which of the following places a heavy emphasis on recognizing and appreciating differences among people at work and attempting to provide accommodations for those differences to the extent that is feasible and possible?

A) Conscious capitalism
B) Diversity management
C) Organizational architecture
D) Social entrepreneurship

Question 25

An organization can promote diversity by:

A) ensuring that diversity exists in its key committees and executive teams.
B) attracting diverse work groups by inducing high levels of job embeddedness in the workplace.
C) encouraging ethnocentrism in the workplace.
D) adopting a hierarchical approach to controlling diversity.

Question 26

The problem-solving argument for diversity suggests that more diverse organizations will be more competitive because they tend to:

A) promote ethnocentric practices.
B) have a larger pool of unique information.
C) have lower rates of employee turnover and absenteeism.
D) become known among women and minorities as good places to work.

Question 27

Which of the following is a characteristic of a multicultural organization?

A) It promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.
B) It bases gaps in organizational identification on cultural identity groups.
C) It achieves full integration of its informal networks.
D) It achieves partial structural integration.

Question 28

Charles, a manager in a multinational company, leads a team of 10 people from various countries. Although he does not like certain behaviors exhibited by his team members, he accepts them as fundamental cultural differences between himself and them. Therefore, Charles is dealing with the diversity of his team by using _____.

A) pluralism
B) holism
C) empathy
D) tolerance

Question 29

In the context of dimensions of diversity, which of the following suggests that disabilities that are more disfiguring are perceived more negatively?

A) The origin dimension of a disability
B) The nature dimension of a disability
C) The duration aspect of a disability
D) The aesthetic aspect of a disability

Question 30

When every group represented in a company strives to understand every other group better, the company is said to be characterized by _____.

A) pluralism
B) full structural integration
C) ethnocentrism
D) xenophobia

Question 31

A reason for the existence of the glass ceiling in organizations is that:

A) some male managers are still reluctant to promote female managers.
B) there are no laws prohibiting discrimination against women.
C) women are not interested in reaching management positions.
D) women are not as competent as men in managerial positions.

Question 32

Which of the following is a reason for the increased workforce diversity in organizations?

A) Legislation that has forced organizations to hire more broadly
B) The privatization movement
C) Legislation that mandates organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices
D) The increased need for job embeddedness

Question 33

In the context of organizational learning, which of the following statements is true of individual learning?

A) It is a sufficient condition for organizational learning to occur.
B) It does not affect organizational learning in the long run.
C) It is not a cognitive process but mostly depends on social processes and sharing of information.
D) It is a necessary condition for organizational learning to occur.

Question 34

Which of the following is one label that has been frequently used to describe a dedication to build organizations that are accountable, responsible, transparent, and ecologically sustainable?

A) Individual resource management
B) Corporate social responsibility
C) Vertical integration
D) Organizational competitiveness

Question 35

Which of the following statements is true of affirmative action?

A) The sole component of an affirmative action program is job embeddedness.
B) It promotes ethnocentrism among employees.
C) It is similar to diversity management in all aspects.
D) Courts have made it clear that affirmative action may not be the best way to accomplish the goal of greater diversity.

Question 36

A multicultural organization is one that:

A) adopts a hierarchical approach to organizational control.
B) experiences high levels of job embeddedness.
C) achieves full structural integration.
D) promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.

Question 37

Who among the following is a knowledge worker?

A) An assembly-line worker who assembles products in a factory
B) A businessman who owns a group of educational institutions
C) An engineer who develops software applications for a phone company
D) A shareholder of a firm that is involved in knowledge processing operations

Question 38

Which of the following is a difference between individual learning and organizational learning?

A) The individual learning process is cognitive, whereas organizational learning depends more on social processes.
B) Unlike organizational learning, individual learning depends on sharing of information.
C) Individual learning involves a shared vision, whereas organizational learning involves the different goals of employees.
D) Unlike organizational learning, individual learning involves the acquisition of new knowledge.

Question 39

The goods produced by prison inmates at a low cost can compete openly with goods produced by _____.

A) manufacturing companies
B) knowledge workers
C) trading companies
D) unskilled workers

Question 40

In the context of an organization, which of the following is the collective, institutional record of past events?

A) Organizational pluralism
B) Organizational expertise
C) Organizational memory
D) Organizational synergy

Question 41

Which of the following statements is true of a multicultural organization?

A) It achieves partial structural integration.
B) It promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.
C) It bases gaps in organizational identification on cultural identity groups.
D) It is characterized by an absence of prejudice and discrimination.

Question 42

The knowledge workers of an organization:

A) identify more strongly with their organization than they do with their profession.
B) often believe they have the right to work autonomously.
C) require little or no specialized training.
D) include blue-collar workers.

Question 43

The Eduardo Institute, an institute opened by former businesswomen, provides vocational training to underprivileged women. The institute also helps them find jobs, thereby making them financially independent. The management of the school focuses on dealing with social problems rather than on making profits. In the given scenario, the Eduardo Institute is engaged in _____.

A) bureaucratic management
B) greenwashing
C) astroturfing
D) social entrepreneurship

Question 44

Which of the following statements is true of the strategies for dealing with diversity?

A) A person's offensive behavior should be pointed out in a friendly, low-key manner.
B) Tolerance should include accepting and enjoying the behavior of others.
C) Adopting a hierarchical approach to organizational control is the key to effective diversity management.
D) Understanding individual differences involves accommodating all types of behaviors.

Question 45

The glass ceiling is best described as a _____.

A) gender-related problem
B) race-specific issue
C) program in diversity training
D) process in knowledge management

Question 46

A factor that accounts for the increased workforce diversity in organizations is:

A) the privatization movement.
B) the increased need for job embeddedness.
C) changing demographics in the labor force.
D) legal actions that have forced organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices.

Question 47

Identify an organization that has achieved high levels of diversity, can capitalize fully on the advantages of the diversity, and has few diversity-related problems.

A) A xenophobic organization
B) An ethnocentric organization
C) A chronocentric organization
D) A multicultural organization

Question 48

Which of the following organizations is most likely hiring a knowledge worker?

A) A pharmaceutical manufacturing firm that is looking for a receptionist
B) A bank that is looking for customer service personnel
C) A lifestyle magazine that is looking for a reporter
D) A software firm that is looking for an engineer to develop a new product

Question 49

Every time Adrian Inc., a popular fashion magazine based in the United States, launches an edition in a new country, the members of the main editorial team in its headquarters learn the native language of the new country so that they can interact well with the team in the other country. The company also offers language training to its foreign employees on assignments in the United States. In the given scenario, which of the following training is Adrian Inc. most likely offering to its employees?

A) Discipline training
B) Behavioral modification training
C) Knowledge management training
D) Diversity training

Question 50

A factor that has contributed to diversity in organizations is:

A) the privatization movement.
B) the recruitment and promotion of the most talented people available, regardless of gender.
C) the increased need for job embeddedness.
D) the set of laws that mandate organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices.

Question 51

Which of the following is a reason for the existence of the glass ceiling in organizations?

A) Some women choose to suspend or slow their career progression to have children.
B) There are no laws prohibiting discrimination against women.
C) Women make up less than 30 percent of all managers, resulting in females occupying even fewer top management positions.
D) Women are not as competent as men in managerial positions.

Question 52

Which of the following statements is true of equitable treatment of employees?

A) It requires managers to ensure equality through identical treatment of employees.
B) It is possible only in a multicultural organization.
C) It gives everyone an equal opportunity to contribute to and advance within an organization.
D) It promotes ethnocentrism in the work environment.

Question 53

Which of the following organizations most likely trades in knowledge?

A) A consulting firm that sells its expertise in dealing with management problems
B) An automobile manufacturing company that produces custom-made cars
C) A food manufacturing firm that manufactures health products
D) A bookstore that gives free bookmarks with every purchase

Question 54

Employees who add value to a firm simply because of what they know are called _____.

A) knowledge workers
B) free riders
C) expatriates
D) blue-collar workers

Question 55

Who among the following individuals is facing the problem of the glass ceiling?

A) Meryl, who refuses a promotion to a top management position because she is planning to start a family and does not want extra responsibilities at work
B) Anna, who is not given a promotion as she is not technically qualified to manage the work and responsibilities that she would have had to handle if promoted
C) Jamal, who is denied a job by several companies despite being qualified because of his physical disability that resulted from an accident
D) Sean, who feels uncomfortable in his new workplace as he finds it difficult to appreciate and adjust to the new culture

Question 56

In the context of the competitive advantage of diversity, which of the following arguments suggests that organizations that manage diversity effectively are in a better position to attract the right talent from minority groups?

A) The systems flexibility argument
B) The resource acquisition argument
C) The cost argument
D) The marketing argument

Question 57

In the context of human resource management and social issues, which of the following jobs traditionally included manufacturing automobile license plates, repairing roads, or doing the laundry for other state institutions, but that situation has been changing?

A) The job of knowledge workers
B) The job of prison inmates
C) The job of expatriates
D) The job of white-collar workers

Question 58

Which of the following is a factor that contributes to the gradual increase in the average age of U.S. workers?

A) Continuous aging of the baby boom generation
B) Increasing birthrates among the post-baby boom generations
C) Low legal limits for mandatory retirement
D) Low levels of insurance coverage for older workers

Question 59

Offering foreign language courses to employees in a multicultural organization is an example of _____.

A) ethnocentric training
B) vicarious learning
C) knowledge management
D) diversity training

Question 60

Elmer Inc., a software company, has a diverse workforce. Its employees work hard to meet their goals, and therefore, the management of the company has formed several extracurricular groups to help the employees relax. Everyone is free to join any or all of these groups, irrespective of their age, gender, or ethnicity. In the given scenario, which of the following statements is most likely true of Elmer Inc.?

A) It has an ethnocentric work environment.
B) It has achieved full integration of its informal networks.
C) It has a hierarchical approach to organizational control.
D) It has high levels of job embeddedness.

Question 61

Discuss the characteristics of a multicultural organization.

Question 62

Briefly explain the concept of organizational learning.

Question 63

Briefly explain the six arguments used to describe the contribution of diversity to competitiveness.

Question 64

In the context of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, discuss identical treatment versus equitable treatment with an example.

Question 65

Briefly explain the factors that have led to increased workforce diversity.